Laura Waters Hinson and the power of forgiveness
Could you forgive someone who killed your entire family? That’s the question raised in a documentary called As We Forgive, produced, directed and edited by young filmmaker Laura Waters Hinson.
The film follows two Rwandan women who get the chance to face the people who killed their loved ones during the 1994 genocide - a common real-world occurrence after the government released tens of thousands of killers back into their communities as the prison system buckled under the volume of cases. People were forced to forgive and to reconcile… because otherwise what do you do?
One project has led to repentant killers building homes as restitution for the damage they caused - “taking the hands that were used to kill, and using them to heal”. There are so many, in fact, that they don’t have enough tools to help the construction effort, so she is part of an organisation called “Living Brick” which allows people to donate materials.
But why do survivors choose to forgive? Some decide because of their faith; some decide because it’s pragmatic to live without violence and with stability. Not everyone is forgiving - but it’s a growing movement. And if people can do that - isn’t there hope for the rest of us?
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