A snapshot of what one former Rwandan refugee has been involved in the past year illustrates how Initiatives of Change can impact situations through initiatives inspired by the energy of personal change and supported through teams of motivated volunteers.
In October, the Resolution Institute awarded its annual Michael Klug Award to Amiel Nubaha, who arrived in Australia with his family in 2009 as refugees from Rwanda. The Chair of the Institute’s Board wrote: ‘You [Amiel] stand out as someone who is getting on with the challenging job of making a difference on the ground and paving a unique pathway for community driven peace-making.’
In a WhatsApp post to ‘the IofCA family’, Amiel explained that ‘my journey with the Rwandan diaspora community in Australia began back when I was completing high school in Queensland, Australia. At that time, I experienced deep anger and frustrations—not only with myself but also with the lack of young voices involved in decision-making in my community. Struggling with my identity and unhealed past traumas, I felt my voice was unheard, bound by cultural norms that discouraged questioning certain narratives.’ Boldly, in 2018 he put himself forward to run for President of the Rwandan Association of Queensland, and to his amazement, he won with an overwhelming majority of the votes and was elected as one of the youngest Multicultural Community Leaders in Queensland.
It was around this time, while at Griffith University, that Amiel encountered IofC. He describes it as ‘an experience that reshaped [his] life. [He] realised that leading a wounded community in healing requires beginning with [his] own transformation.’ Enlisting two other students, Mu Shwe from Myanmar and Naome Rusera from Rwanda, he explored the individual-to-society link through a series of ‘Community trustbuilding dialogues’ alongside IofC senior volunteer and mentor, Barbara Lawler. All three were supported by IofC to participate in successive Caux Scholars Programs, both in Switzerland and India. For Amiel, who graduated in 2019 with a double degree in Law, Criminology and Criminal Justice, this reinforced his career calling in the field of mediation, peacebuilding and conflict transformation.
The Michael Klug award makes special mention of the way Amiel has not only provided the Rwandan community ‘with leadership and service [but also] reached out to First Nations and Indo-Pacific peoples addressing the same issues of past trauma and reconciliation’.
Amiel’s work with First Nations communities begun in earnest right after graduation when he moved to the Aboriginal community of Cherbourg to work as a State Youth Justice Officer for over 2 years. There, during COVID lockdown, he initiated a zoom series called ‘Effective Leadership in Times of Crisis’ with mainly local Queensland speakers.
Amiel’s reaching out to ‘the Indo-Pacific peoples’ began more recently. This time last year, Amiel was selected for the Youth Leadership Summit in Nuku’alofa, organised by the Pacific-Australia Youth Association to explore the challenges and opportunities facing the Pacific region. The experience prompted contemplation on Australia’s national identity and ‘the potential for ethnic communities in Australia to strengthen bonds with neighbouring nations.’
Amiel returned to Brisbane determined to involve young Pasifika people in a Life Matters workshop that he, Mu Shwe and Naome Rusera had begun to plan: the first ever Life Matters program in Queensland. From 31 May – 2 June, after months of preparation, some 40 individuals participated. This included but was not limited to members of the Pasifika community, the African diaspora and Indonesians. The Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland (ECCQ), where Naome is an Executive Officer, funded four of the participants.
‘An incredibly enriching and transformative experience,’ concluded Taalolo Tupai, a Samoan-Australian student from a chiefly family. Augusta Lokea, a Papua New Guinean-Australian, was inspired by Nenden from Indonesia: ‘Her strategy of understanding and breaking down intergenerational trauma gave me an insight into my own family. I’m learning to have deep conversations which can be a struggle for ethnic parents.’
Nenden had come for Life Matters with four others from IofC Indonesia, at the start of a month’s program with IofC Australia building ‘collective’ action between IofC teams in both countries. Amiel is part of promoting that partnership, having got to know the movers behind IofC Indonesia during a visit in 2023.
Undergirding all this is Amiel’s consistent work with his Rwandan community in Australia. In October, he stepped down after two years of service as Chairperson of the Federation of the Rwandan Communities in Australia, a network he helped to set up to work for ‘a vibrant and united Rwandan community… where every member, regardless of their background, can thrive and give back to their community and contribute to Australia’.
Within the Rwandan diaspora community, where many are still traumatised, embracing the suffering of all ethnic groups is sensitive, even risky. In April 2024, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda, the Federation organised a national memorial service at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra. This poignant event was attended by a diverse audience, including Australian politicians and peacekeepers who served in Rwanda with the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) from 1993 to 1996. The service highlighted the importance of honouring the victims and survivors while serving as a reminder to Australia of the need for vigilance against hatred and the responsibility to promote peace and justice both domestically and globally.
Thanking his ‘incredible team’, he wrote that ‘we must remain humble, inclusive and committed to serving all Rwandans, regardless of their political views, backgrounds or gender’.
To his IofC friends Amiel posted: ‘My heart is full of gratitude for each one of you who have supported my journey, invested in my growth and believed in this path of transformation. My IofC community has become my anchor, helping me refine my vision and ground myself in principles of trust, friendship and non-violence. Through this, I’ve had the honour of modelling a compassionate approach to leadership and inspiring others toward personal change as a foundation for peacemaking.’
Amiel’s ‘day job’ has now taken him to Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, where he works as a Senior Project Manager for a Mediation and Peacemaking Initiative. Last month, workshops on conflict resolution processes were conducted for community first responders, including law enforcement agencies as part of efforts to begin designing community-led peacemaking services.
Amiel says his life’s journey, particularly in the refugee camps during childhood, ‘taught [him] the importance of clinging to hope which, in times of great uncertainties, weaves a soft thread of resilience to carry us through challenges, revealing the extraordinary strength found in the ordinary acts of believing in a brighter future.’
To cap this year of ‘ordinary acts’, in November after many months of careful cultural negotiations, Amiel married ‘[his] beautiful Alice’, who is also Rwandan Australian, in Brisbane. Who knows what the year ahead might bring them both?
— By Mike Brown