Media Coverage

Opus Winner Says ‘Yes I Can’
Seattle University Spectator
Emily Holt
November 19, 2008

Media Credit: Braden VanDragt
The Opus Prize recipients receive a standing ovation from a sell-out crowd at Benaroya Hall Nov. 18.

When the Burundian government sent a boy with a rifle to kill yesterday's Opus Award winner, Marguerite "Maggy" Barankitse, she looked the boy in the eye and told him he was making a mistake.

"You are not going to kill me. You don't want to kill me," she said. "No, you want a life. You want an education. You want an opportunity to make something of yourself."

She invited the boy to come live with her at Maison Shalom, the school she founded in Burundi, Africa. Today, he is one of her biggest advocates and is among the thousands of children Barankitse has saved from the violence and hunger that plagues Burundi.

Last night, students, professors and community members packed into Benaroya Hall to celebrate the winner of the $1 million Opus Foundation Award, honoring faith-based humanitarian leaders from around the world. Seattle University played a role in the judging process and honored their role with a choir and string quartet performance that had the house dancing in the aisles by the end of the night.

Barankitse joined Krishnammal Jagannathan and Michael Woodward, the $100,000 award winners, to share their stories of enduring faith in the midst of conflict and deprivation.

Jagannathan founded Land for Tiller's Freedom in India, an organization dedicated to giving land titles to women of the Dalit, the lowest caste in Indian society. At 82 years old, she works in rice paddies alongside the women she says suffer from a "double slavery" of owing to their gender and poverty.

Her son, Bhoomikumar Jagannathan, says he and many others see his mother in a line of political activists following directly from Tolstoy to Ghandi to his grandmother to his mother. He said he and all three Opus recipients believe in an idea called "sarvodaya," or uplifting the world.

"These are three heroes […] who have committed their lives to service," said Jagannathan.

Michael Woodard, a Presbyterian minister from North Carolina, founded Jubilee House, an organization now dedicated to making an area in Nicaragua devastated by the 1998 Hurricane Mitch self-sufficient. He dedicated his award to his wife, who he said was his "one choice" for whom all is work is done.

"If I had to live like most in these communities live, I might stick my head under the pillow and not get up," said Woodard. "But they get up."

Seattle University students Tuseef Chaundry, Emily Griffin and Matt Lyons traveled to meet with the humanitarians to hear their stories of inspiration and community service.

Matt Lyons, senior e-commerce and humanities major, said he immediately developed camaraderie with Barankitse over their shared Christian faith.

When Barankitse took the stage to accept the award, she asked for two minutes of silence, admitting she had forgotten her speech in all the excitement.

"You don't need speech," she said, asking everyone to stand and pray for all the children dying from the current war in Burundi. She was moved to found Maison Shalom in 1993 when ethnic Tutsis stripped her naked, tied her up and made her watch their massacre of 72 Hutus at the Catholic bishop's residence.

Barankitse is distinct as a woman in Burundi not only because of her service but also because she has remained unmarried. Her mother warned her that she would bring shame to her family for her decision. Yet Barankitse said she would find children. Her school now helps 300,000 families.

She joked some people consider her to be like Mother Theresa, but she said when she was invited to the Vatican, no one recognized her because she was just a normal woman like many of those with whom she works.

"You understand that I am normal […] Normal women think that we can do as special woman [do] because of our vocation to love," she said.

Aline Ndensako, a lifelong friend of Barankitse, said she admires her friend's courage.

"She shows her heart. She shows her feeling. And then she just does," Ndensako said.

When people told Barankitse she could not complete her vision, she merely said, "Yes I can." She called all of the Seattle U community to share in her belief she is fulfilling God's work.

All of the leaders were inspirational for many Seattle U students who are committed to serving their community.

"All of these people, they have done something big for humanity," said Destiny Delgadillo, a junior international studies and Spanish major who would like to work in rural development. "They are my role models."

Rose Slavkovsky, a junior international studies and French major who teaches ESL, said the evening highlighted Seattle U's mission.

"At Seattle U, we are encouraged to follow that longing in our hearts, to serve where our talents can be most put to use, and these three people are an example of what can be done when you really dedicate your life to a certain cause," she added.

For Barankitse, the work may be personal, but it comes from a higher power.

"I know this work is not my work. God gives me children, and he must give me enough love, enough energies, to work," she said. "I know that evil will not take the last word. Never. Never."