Rwandans in USA commemorate Genocide

Rwandans and friends of Rwanda in the USA will on Sunday gather in Maryland to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and renew their commitment to Never Again, according to a media advisory e-mailed to The New Times by event organisers.Once more, this year, world renowned genocide scholars and academics will shed more light on this genocide, while challenging the international community to revisit the yet to be fulfilled “Never Again” promise, during the event to be held at the Sheraton Silver Spring Hotel.More than one million people were killed during the Genocide against Tutsi.Under this year’s theme, “Let’s commemorate the Genocide while striving for self-reliance,” participants will have the opportunity to learn through discussions ranging from the need and urgency of documenting survivors’ testimonies, trauma and transitional justice in post-Genocide Rwanda, Genocide denial, and survivors’ needs today, the statement reads in part.A keynote speech will be delivered by Patricia Crisafulli, co-author of Rwanda, Inc.: How a Devastated Nation Became an Economic Model for the Developing World. Crisafulli will speak about the resilience of the Rwandan people and the interconnectedness of Rwanda’s post Genocide goals toward self-reliance, according to the organisers. Survivors testimonies In addition to survivors testimonies by Kizito Kalima and Tabitha Mugenzi, other speakers at this year’s commemoration programme include Clotilde Gasarabwe Mbaranga, UN Assistant Secretary-General in charge of safety and security, Dr. Zachary D. Kaufman, author of Social Entrepreneurship in the Age of Atrocities: Changing our World, Taylor Krauss, a documentary filmmaker and Founder of Voices of Rwanda, and Dr. William J.Froming, Vice President for Academic Affairs at Palo Alto University.Others are Dr. Gatsinzi Basaninyenzi, Associate Professor at Alabama A&M University and member of the Holocaust Educators Network and the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Dr. Chantal Kalisa, Director and Associate Professor at University of Nebraska-Lincorn and author of Violence in Francophone African and Caribbean Women’s Literature, and Dr. Karen B. Froming, Clinical Psychologist and Clinical faculty at the University of California, San Francisco and Palo Alto University and Teacher of Self-help Trauma Treatment Techniques” at the National University of Rwanda. The programme is organised by the Rwandan Community in USA in partnership with the Embassy of Rwanda in Washington D.C.