MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN

Friends of Amahoro, let us not mourn the departure of Stefan from his worldly body, let us rather remember the magic moments which we shared with him. I will read some words of wisdom from Shantideva: "limbs are cherished because they are parts of the body; why then are other people not cherished because they are parts of humanity?"

Stefan was known as a philosopher even from his earliest years as a child and he was often misunderstood, yet he had a heart full of compassion for everyone who he met. He had a sense of humour which would sometimes drive me crazy because he would never appear to be serious. However deep down inside he felt very seriously the suffering of mankind. With respect to the genocide in Rwanda Stefan felt acutely the burden of guilt at the failure of Western governments; the French, the Belgian, the British and American, his own United Nations for whom he worked and the World - this load was too heavy for one man to try and bear and eventually it broke him.

In the words of Kenneth Kraft, from Inner Peace, World Peace:
"Nonviolence belongs to a continuum from the personal to the global, and from the global to the personal. One of the most significant Buddhist interpretations of nonviolence concerns the application of this ideal to daily life. Nonviolence is not some exalted regimen that can be practiced only by a monk or a master; it also pertains to the way one interacts with a child, vacuums a carpet, or waits in line. Besides the more obvious forms of violence, whenever we separate ourselves from a given situation (for example, through inattentiveness, negative judgments, or impatience), we 'kill' something valuable. However subtle it may be, such violence actually leaves victims in it's wake: people, things, one's own composure, the moment itself. According to the Buddhist reckoning, these small-scale incidences of violence accumulate relentlessly, are multiplied on a social level, and become a source of the large-scale violence that can sweep down upon us so suddenly.....One need not wait until war is declared and bullets are flying to work for peace, Buddhism teaches. A more constant and equally urgent battle must be waged each and every day against the forces of one's own anger, carelessness, and self-absorption."
In other words: if we start small, we can achieve great things; such as world peace. This philosophy of nonviolence was dear to Stefan's heart.

So was the work which we started together with the Amahoro Foundation. This work will continue. We will assist our Rwandan friends to build the Stefan Stec Centre for Further Education in Kigali - this will be my personal mission for the coming years and I know that I have the full support of the Board of Directors of Amahoro and our friends.

My soul-mate has departed but the magic moments which we shared together still remain with me. He is still connecting people of goodwill.