October 2006

Coffee and Conflict: Livingston Leads Trip to Rwanda

Steven Livingston, GW associate professor of media and public affairs and international affairs, and Kim Easson, an expert on the international coffee trade, traveled to Rwanda to assist with the Maraba Coffee Cooperative, bringing together Hutu and Tutsi farmers.

By Jamie L. Freedman

Rwanda—the name alone conjures up one of the darkest periods in recent world history. Over the course of 100 days in 1994, nearly 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by Hutu extremists in the small African nation, while much of the world stood silently by.

Steven Livingston, associate professor of media and public affairs and international affairs at GW, was in nearby southern Sudan studying that country’s civil war when the Rwandan genocide began unfolding in April 1994. A political scientist specializing in media and war coverage, he tried desperately—although ultimately unsuccessfully— to get into Rwanda with a group of fellow journalists to see what was happening for himself.

“I saw bodies washing up in Lake Victoria,” says Livingston, who wrote extensively about the crisis and was involved in events marking the 10th anniversary of the genocide. “It ended up becoming an important event in my life, and I resolved to return to the region with students to focus on how Rwandan society has managed to come to grips with its history.”

Livingston wanted to concentrate on not only the genocide but also the significant strides Rwanda has taken in the past dozen years. “Combining my interest in political conflict with a friend’s interest in Rwanda’s expanding coffee industry, I organized a group trip to examine the role of the specialty coffee industry as a basis for national reconciliation and social harmony.”

Accompanied by Kim Easson, an expert on the international coffee trade, six undergraduate students, a reporter, and the owner of a large coffee wholesaling company on the West Coast, Livingston spent a week traveling around Rwanda. The trip focused on the Maraba Coffee Cooperative, a USAID-funded enterprise that brings together Hutu and Tutsi farmers. “The Hutus and Tutsis get to know and understand each other by working side by side processing coffee, helping erode the distrust and anger that remains between the two ethnic groups,” says Livingston.

In the coffee cooperatives the group visited, Livingston’s students saw the work of the farmers and the importance of the cooperatives’ work in Rwanda. On a lighter side, they also led Rwandan children in games of “Hokey Pokey” and “Ring Around the Rosie.” “It was wonderful to see these amazing students surrounded by 40 laughing children,” says Livingston. “The students experienced something profound on this trip. What they saw, the people they met, and the power of the places they visited will remain with them for the rest of their lives.”

The group also experienced solemn moments, including visits to genocide memorials throughout the country. “We visited a memorial in Kigali containing the remains of 250,000 people,” says Livingston. “We also visited a church where 11,000 Tutsis were massacred.” He explains that Tutsis and moderate Hutus often sought shelter in churches, where, tragically, they were slaughtered instead. “Today, these churches stand virtually untouched as national genocide memorials, with bones, clothing, and other personal items packed between the pews.”

Throughout their travels, the group was accompanied by a 22-year-old Rwandan genocide survivor who had watched her parents die. “She was a physical link between the genocide itself and the reality of Rwanda today and helped interpret history for us,” says Livingston.

Livingston, who has taught at GW for 16 years and served as interim director of the School of Media and Public Affairs and director of the Political Communication Program, also put his media skills to work in Rwanda. He arrived a week before the others to conduct a four-day media workshop for some 30 Rwandan government officials, covering topics such as international image and the principles of a vibrant free press in a democracy. Part of the State Department’s speaker program, the workshop took place at the Hotel Des Mille Collines, the real-life “Hotel Rwanda.”

All in all, he says, the trip was a profoundly moving experience. “I took away with me the indomitable spirit of the Rwandan people and the hope that the cycle of violence has been broken,” says Livingston, who plans to return to the region next year. “Our group experienced a wide range of emotions—from incredible sadness at seeing memorials filled with the remains of genocide victims to absolute elation
at the progress Rwanda has made and at the warmth of its wonderful people.”

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu