Only a Camera Lens between Us
When conflicts end,/they leave behind hundreds of thousands of soldiers/to be reintegrated into society/and millions of small arms/to be destroyed. This work is done by experts/in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR). Seya Rumiko is one of these experts. This is her story.
As a child,/Seya was always drawn to the “unknown.” In her mind,/foreign countries seemed so far away,/and, of course, “unknown” to her. She got all excited/when she opened her atlas and found Africa.
When Seya was a high school student,/she was shocked to see a photo/of a dying mother and her small child/in a refugee camp for Rwandans. She asked herself:/“What am I doing here in Japan,/looking at this photo while eating snacks?” She thought,/“There is only a camera lens between us,/but there is a crucial difference/between my life in Japan and their lives.” She was living in a country/where she could make a difference/if she wanted;/those refugees had no choice/but to accept their plight.
Visits to Rwanda
As a university student,/Seya began to read about conflicts in the world,/talked with specialists,/and saved money from part-time jobs/to visit Rwanda. In 1997,/when she was a junior,/her dream came true. She visited Rwanda,/hoping that she might be of some help/to the people there/who had been devastated by severe conflicts/between the majority Hutu and the minority Tutsi peoples. During the conflicts,/somewhere between 800,000 and one million people were killed/in about three months,/and two million people/fled to refugee camps.
While staying with a family/which had survived the genocide,/Seya tried to learn about what had happened. Most people, however,/simply remained silent;/their trauma had not been healed yet,/and they couldn’t bring themselves to reveal their true feelings/to an outsider. Seya felt/that she was of no use to them. She realized/she lacked skills, knowledge, and experience,/all of which are absolutely necessary/to help solve the problems of people/like those she met in Rwanda.
In her fourth year,/Seya made plans to go to the UK/for her graduate work. She knew that she had to narrow down her area of specialty/in the field of conflict resolution. She spent hours in the library/reading books,/as well as collecting information/from the websites of international organizations and NGOs. In three months,/she had absorbed so much information/that she could not decide what to specialize in. Then all of a sudden,/the following sentence jumped out at her:/“Conflict areas are now faced with the problem/of how to reintegrate ex-soldiers and child soldiers into society.” This is it,/Seya thought.
In 1999,/Seya started her graduate work in the UK. While she was a graduate student,/she was asked by a Japanese NGO/to work in Rwanda. Part of her mission/was to open their office in Kigali,/the capital of Rwanda,/and to initiate a project/to provide job training for women/who had lost their husbands in conflicts. She selected 10 trainees,/most of whom were single mothers in their 20s and 30s,/and taught them sewing and dressmaking skills/so that they could support themselves.
Project in Sierra Leone
When the Kigali project was almost finished,/Seya heard about a DDR project/which was in progress in Sierra Leone. She decided to go there/in order to observe the actual DDR process/with her own eyes,/but she faced challenges. Could she find people/who understood the local situation/and knew in detail what the problems were? If not,/how could she ever dream of working as a specialist/in conflict resolution? Seya was undaunted. She made contacts/and was able to visit camps for war victims/as well as a care center for former child soldiers. She even had an interview/with one of the top leaders of the DDR projects.
Having finished her graduate work in 2001,/she was back again in Sierra Leone/in January 2002. This time/she was not a visitor but a UN volunteer;/her mission was to facilitate the reintegration of ex-soldiers into society/by providing them with job training. Working together with a team of 15 staff members/from various countries,/Seya gradually developed her expertise in DDR.
After a ceasefire,/there is still much work to be done. Soldiers may be thrown into the streets with no jobs,/no houses to live in,/and no money to support their families. There is always a risk/that ex-soldiers will return to armed conflict. They must be able to return to society/and lead productive lives. This is reintegration.
From 2003 to 2005,/Seya was in Afghanistan with the DDR team,/which disarmed 63,380 soldiers/and collected more than 12,000 heavy weapons/and almost 58,000 small arms.
A Child Soldier in Sudan
In 2009,/Seya found herself in Sudan/with a mission to launch a new project/to support vulnerable youths,/including child soldiers. She knew/that she must earn the trust of these children/and of the communities/to which they would return. Trust plays an important part in DDR.
Seya met a boy named Michael,/who had been a soldier in the civil war/for five years. When the war ended,/he had been transferred to the police force. Now he wanted to go back to school. But he couldn’t figure out/how to proceed. Seya offered to help him,/but he didn’t trust her. Too many people had made promises/that they did not keep. First,/Seya had to gain Michael’s trust. Then she had to persuade Michael’s senior officers/to allow him to return to school. She succeeded in both tasks.
Michael’s future would be difficult and uncertain. He would have to learn to trust other people. He would have to learn to trust himself.
Seya told him/that he was now on his own. “This is your life,/not mine,”/she said. “You must think for yourself from now on.” Michael answered,/“Now I know what I’m going to do. This is my life.” One small success for Seya Rumiko.
As an Expert
Now,/with her experience and expertise,/Seya is convinced/that just having knowledge and skills is not enough/to find a solution. You don’t go to areas/devastated by war and conflicts/with a ready-made solution. Seya believes/that in order to find a solution,/you need to meet people and listen to them.
Seya is also convinced/that giving too much assistance/can deprive people of the willpower/to stand on their own two feet. She says,/“All I can do/is to create an option and assist them a little bit. It is up to the people on the ground/to manage their own lives and society.”
There is much to be done. There are not enough people. There is not enough money. There are successes,/but success is limited.
Seya says,/“I feel/that even if we manage to create something positive,/there are some situations/where we cannot solve everything.” Asked when her work will be over,/Seya says,/“Our work will be over/when people tell us/they don’t need us anymore.”
In dealing with the plight of people/with different cultural backgrounds,/Seya often finds herself in difficulty. But she has no regrets/about choosing a career as a DDR specialist. When things get difficult,/she tells herself,/“Never try to find excuses/for not doing something. Perhaps you may not be able to find a perfect solution to the problem,/but you can start thinking what you can do/to solve 10 percent of the problem. At least/that’s a step in the right direction.”
Seya remains undaunted. Her colleagues say/that she does not allow herself/to be overwhelmed by emotion/even in the face of terrible situations. She believes/that it is not enough for us/to sympathize with people in trouble. Her current ambition/is to work closely with people on the ground/to prevent the tragic consequences of conflict.
When conflicts end,/they leave behind hundreds of thousands of soldiers/to be reintegrated into society/and millions of small arms/to be destroyed. This work is done by experts/in Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR). Seya Rumiko is one of these experts. This is her story.
As a child,/Seya was always drawn to the “unknown.” In her mind,/foreign countries seemed so far away,/and, of course, “unknown” to her. She got all excited/when she opened her atlas and found Africa.
When Seya was a high school student,/she was shocked to see a photo/of a dying mother and her small child/in a refugee camp for Rwandans. She asked herself:/“What am I doing here in Japan,/looking at this photo while eating snacks?” She thought,/“There is only a camera lens between us,/but there is a crucial difference/between my life in Japan and their lives.” She was living in a country/where she could make a difference/if she wanted;/those refugees had no choice/but to accept their plight.
Visits to Rwanda
As a university student,/Seya began to read about conflicts in the world,/talked with specialists,/and saved money from part-time jobs/to visit Rwanda. In 1997,/when she was a junior,/her dream came true. She visited Rwanda,/hoping that she might be of some help/to the people there/who had been devastated by severe conflicts/between the majority Hutu and the minority Tutsi peoples. During the conflicts,/somewhere between 800,000 and one million people were killed/in about three months,/and two million people/fled to refugee camps.
While staying with a family/which had survived the genocide,/Seya tried to learn about what had happened. Most people, however,/simply remained silent;/their trauma had not been healed yet,/and they couldn’t bring themselves to reveal their true feelings/to an outsider. Seya felt/that she was of no use to them. She realized/she lacked skills, knowledge, and experience,/all of which are absolutely necessary/to help solve the problems of people/like those she met in Rwanda.
In her fourth year,/Seya made plans to go to the UK/for her graduate work. She knew that she had to narrow down her area of specialty/in the field of conflict resolution. She spent hours in the library/reading books,/as well as collecting information/from the websites of international organizations and NGOs. In three months,/she had absorbed so much information/that she could not decide what to specialize in. Then all of a sudden,/the following sentence jumped out at her:/“Conflict areas are now faced with the problem/of how to reintegrate ex-soldiers and child soldiers into society.” This is it,/Seya thought.
In 1999,/Seya started her graduate work in the UK. While she was a graduate student,/she was asked by a Japanese NGO/to work in Rwanda. Part of her mission/was to open their office in Kigali,/the capital of Rwanda,/and to initiate a project/to provide job training for women/who had lost their husbands in conflicts. She selected 10 trainees,/most of whom were single mothers in their 20s and 30s,/and taught them sewing and dressmaking skills/so that they could support themselves.
Project in Sierra Leone
When the Kigali project was almost finished,/Seya heard about a DDR project/which was in progress in Sierra Leone. She decided to go there/in order to observe the actual DDR process/with her own eyes,/but she faced challenges. Could she find people/who understood the local situation/and knew in detail what the problems were? If not,/how could she ever dream of working as a specialist/in conflict resolution? Seya was undaunted. She made contacts/and was able to visit camps for war victims/as well as a care center for former child soldiers. She even had an interview/with one of the top leaders of the DDR projects.
Having finished her graduate work in 2001,/she was back again in Sierra Leone/in January 2002. This time/she was not a visitor but a UN volunteer;/her mission was to facilitate the reintegration of ex-soldiers into society/by providing them with job training. Working together with a team of 15 staff members/from various countries,/Seya gradually developed her expertise in DDR.
After a ceasefire,/there is still much work to be done. Soldiers may be thrown into the streets with no jobs,/no houses to live in,/and no money to support their families. There is always a risk/that ex-soldiers will return to armed conflict. They must be able to return to society/and lead productive lives. This is reintegration.
From 2003 to 2005,/Seya was in Afghanistan with the DDR team,/which disarmed 63,380 soldiers/and collected more than 12,000 heavy weapons/and almost 58,000 small arms.
A Child Soldier in Sudan
In 2009,/Seya found herself in Sudan/with a mission to launch a new project/to support vulnerable youths,/including child soldiers. She knew/that she must earn the trust of these children/and of the communities/to which they would return. Trust plays an important part in DDR.
Seya met a boy named Michael,/who had been a soldier in the civil war/for five years. When the war ended,/he had been transferred to the police force. Now he wanted to go back to school. But he couldn’t figure out/how to proceed. Seya offered to help him,/but he didn’t trust her. Too many people had made promises/that they did not keep. First,/Seya had to gain Michael’s trust. Then she had to persuade Michael’s senior officers/to allow him to return to school. She succeeded in both tasks.
Michael’s future would be difficult and uncertain. He would have to learn to trust other people. He would have to learn to trust himself.
Seya told him/that he was now on his own. “This is your life,/not mine,”/she said. “You must think for yourself from now on.” Michael answered,/“Now I know what I’m going to do. This is my life.” One small success for Seya Rumiko.
As an Expert
Now,/with her experience and expertise,/Seya is convinced/that just having knowledge and skills is not enough/to find a solution. You don’t go to areas/devastated by war and conflicts/with a ready-made solution. Seya believes/that in order to find a solution,/you need to meet people and listen to them.
Seya is also convinced/that giving too much assistance/can deprive people of the willpower/to stand on their own two feet. She says,/“All I can do/is to create an option and assist them a little bit. It is up to the people on the ground/to manage their own lives and society.”
There is much to be done. There are not enough people. There is not enough money. There are successes,/but success is limited.
Seya says,/“I feel/that even if we manage to create something positive,/there are some situations/where we cannot solve everything.” Asked when her work will be over,/Seya says,/“Our work will be over/when people tell us/they don’t need us anymore.”
In dealing with the plight of people/with different cultural backgrounds,/Seya often finds herself in difficulty. But she has no regrets/about choosing a career as a DDR specialist. When things get difficult,/she tells herself,/“Never try to find excuses/for not doing something. Perhaps you may not be able to find a perfect solution to the problem,/but you can start thinking what you can do/to solve 10 percent of the problem. At least/that’s a step in the right direction.”
Seya remains undaunted. Her colleagues say/that she does not allow herself/to be overwhelmed by emotion/even in the face of terrible situations. She believes/that it is not enough for us/to sympathize with people in trouble. Her current ambition/is to work closely with people on the ground/to prevent the tragic consequences of conflict.