Rwanda 2014 - 20th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, Jul 1-14

Rwanda 2014 - 20th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide
July 1-14, 2014 (Tentative)

Contact: msdzagar@gmail.com (Dani Zagar, School Board 42; Fellow, Genocide Education Canada)

Dear Colleagues, please read below the electronic circular from my friend, and colleague, Rich Hichens of Genocide Education Canada.   I attended one of Rich's study trips to Rwanda in 2009, and it changed my life. This will be the third trip Rich has organized, and I can't recommend it enough.   Please give it a read, and some serious consideration.

Don't miss this truly once-in-a-lifetime trip to Rwanda to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide. Just 20 spots are available!  Because of the nature of the trip, we invite teachers to bring a partner, a family member, or a friend.

Beginning on the night of April 6-7, 1994, and lasting just 100 days, the tiny African country of Rwanda was engulfed in a genocidal frenzy.  In just 100 days, some 1,000,000 people were killed -- that's 10,000 people per day!  Not even that Nazis could achieve that pace of killing at Auschwitz!  What was even more shocking than that pace of killing was the fact that many victims were chopped to death by machetes!  And, what was even more shocking than that was the fact that many victims were killed by people that they knew -- by neighbours, friends, and even family!  This was a genocide in which most perpetrators were truly ordinary people.  But, what was most shocking of all was that the international community knew what was happening in Rwanda, but all but a few looked away.  Rwanda was the first genocide to happen in the era of 24-hour cable news, which helped make the world smaller than ever, but the international community turned its back on Rwanda.

In July, a group of Canadian teachers will travel to Rwanda on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the genocide to learn more about what happened there in 1994 and why and about reconstruction and reconciliation. Teachers will struggle with the questions surrounding ethnic identity in Rwanda, the origins of the genocide, the perpetrators, and the response of the international community.  There will be a particular focus on reconstruction and reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda.  In addition to visiting the major killing sites, such as Murambi (the "Auschwitz" of Rwanda, where some 50,000 people were killed), teachers will meet with government ministers and with not-for-profit organizations, including survivor organizations.  In addition to meeting with survivors, teachers will also meet with perpetrators in a prison in Kigali.  One of the results of the genocide was a huge refugee population, and teachers will also visit a refugee camp.  Teachers will also meet with Rwandan counterparts and with Rwandan students.  Teachers will also attend the official 20th anniversary Liberation Day ceremonies in Amahoro Stadium in Kigali.

Teachers will also have a chance to see and "feel" Rwanda. Teachers will travel to eastern Rwanda for a stay at the Akagera Game Lodge and a Rwandan safari, to southern Rwanda to watch (and participate) in a dance with Rwandan 
Intore dancers, and to western Rwanda to the beautiful Lake Kivu, which borders Congo.  Rwanda is also famous for its 600-pound mountain gorillas, and permits will be sought for teachers who are interested in a trek to visit 
the gorillas.*

Itinerary (includes):

- Kigali Memorial Center
- Nyarabuye memorial site (in the east, near Akagera Park), a Catholic Church used as a refuge and a place to where many international dignitaries made a pilgrimage after the genocide
- Nyamata memorial site (outside of Kigali), a Catholic Church used as a refuge
- Ntarama memorial site (outside of Kigali), a Catholic Church used as a refuge
- Murambi memorial site (in the south, near Butare), where the school classrooms have hundreds of preserved corpses
- Bisesero memorial site (in the west, near Lake Kivu), a site of heroic resistance
- King's Palace Museum (in Nyanza)
- Ethnographic Museum (in the south, near Butare)
- Akagera Game Lodge and Rwandan safari
- Lake Kivu
- sites in Kigali include the "Hotel Rwanda" (Hotel des Mille Collines) and the headquarters of the United Nations 
Assistance Mission for Rwanda, which was led by Canadian General Romeo Dallaire

Price: $3,000** (estimated)***

*Permits permitting!  All costs associated with a gorilla trek are not included in the trip cost, i.e. are extra!*

**Accommodation is shared.  Food is not included. Teachers are responsible for getting to and from Toronto 
for the flights to and from Kigali.**

***Final price may be a little higher, and the final price may be lower.  Teachers only pay what the trip costs, and 
they will know the cost in advance.***

==========
Rich Hitchens, BA, MA, MA
Founder & President
Canadian Centre for Genocide Education
764 Blackacres Blvd
London, ON  N6G 0J1
Phone: 519-615-1917
E-Mail: rich@genocideeducation.ca
URL: genocideeducation.ca