The Swarthmore Lecture: Mending broken hearts
This year’s Swarthmore Lecture, Mending Broken Hearts; Rebuilding Shattered Lives: Quaker Peacebuilding in Eastern Africa, will be given by Cécile Nyiramana (Rwanda Yearly Meeting) and Esther Mombo (Highlands Yearly Meeting, Kenya).
They have been actively involved in Quaker peacebuilding work in the region for many years.
Cécile and Esther talked about their lives and witness to Ann Floyd and Harry Albright, two members of the committee appointed to oversee the Lecture.
It is only the fifth time that the Swarthmore Lecture has been given by more than one person, and the first time that the lecturers have been African. Could you tell us a little about your personal backgrounds?
Cécile: My name is Cécile Nyiramana. I am married to Emmanuel and I am the mom of two children, Justine and Cedrick. I was born in a big and Christian family of ten children. It was a very happy family, though Dad had three wives.
Esther: My name is Esther Mombo. My mother had Quaker roots and heritage and my father had roots in the Seventh Day Adventist church. This is due to the way in which the areas were divided by the denominations at the time – according to [the] spheres of influence policy [used] by missionary societies. The colonial authorities had granted different churches certain territories, so people from one area tended to be associated with a given church.
You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.