Dear Friends
We write with sorrow in our hearts to share the tragic news of the passing of our dear friend Caritas Mukankusi. Caritas touched many of us during her life as a committed, inspired and inspiring peacebuilder. Many of us will remember her deep felt retelling of her own experiences as a principled and courageous human being during the tragedy of the Rwandan genocide.
Caritas passed away in the first few days of April, and the circumstances surrounding exactly what happened are still not clear. Perhaps other members of our network will be able to share more details as we seek to absorb the regret and sadness that comes with the loss of those we hold close to us.
African Insider Mediators Platform participants will recall the role she played in support of our collective efforts during her facilitation of our consultation meeting at Liliesleaf in Johannesburg in September last year. Indeed Caritas is a longstanding champion of the efforts to build the Coalition for Peace in Africa and the ACTION for Conflict Transformation network movement and spent many weeks and months of her life strengthening the African and Global movements for peace. Her role as an activist and her understanding of the importance of recognising and valuing the different contributions of women and men helped many of us to feel valuable in our own efforts to end all forms of discrimination and to unleash the full potential of every human being.
In response to the funeral and events surrounding the death of the late Nelson Mandela in December last year Caritas shared the sadness she was feeling, in a piece of writing. We share this with all of you now in the hopes that in reading her words we remember also the spirit with which she lived her life, and the call she made to all of us to emulate and remember the legacy of Madiba, and to find the ways in which each of us can make our contribution to the other world that Caritas was helping to dream, to live and to make possible.
Our deepest condolences to her friends and family.
Hamba Kahle Caritas, go well!