Younger people may not remember the African country of Rwanda, but the civil war and genocide there in 1994 remains one of the most harrowing events in recent history.
Carl Wilkens, the former head of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) in Rwanda and an American who chose to remain in the country during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, will today Thursday 18, tour the US to tell his experience while in Rwanda at that time.
He will be at the Austin Public Library, in the City of Austin, Texas in the United States of America, today from 6:30 to 8:30 pm to share his stories about his experience in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide with local residents.
Kirsten Lindbloom, head of Austin’s Human Rights Commission noted, “It’s a unique opportunity for people in the area to hear a firsthand account of something that’s really foreign for most of us,”
Wilkins yesterday Wednesday, had a presentation at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, following a screening of his “Ghosts of Rwanda,” an award-winning Frontline documentary on the Rwandan Genocide While at Austin Public Library, his new book, “I’m not leaving,” will be available as well.
In his recent presentation, Wilkens noted, “I can still hear very clearly the sound of the hoes thwacking into the earth…the men swinging them were not gardening, they were digging up mass graves. Take a moment to try and put yourself in the shoes of the family members and friends who had loved ones taken from them.”
He also pointed out: “serving is more than just staying alive; serving is learning how to live again.”
Jean de Dieu Mucyo, the Executive Secretary of Rwanda National Commission against Genocide confirmed Wilkens’s genocide testimonies and documentation.
Mucyo said,“wilkens came to Rwanda during the 15 genocide commemoration and gave us testimony about his life in Rwanda during the genocide. His speeches and writings are really based on the truth about the 1994 mayhem”.
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