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Remembering Rwanda

Throughout the months of March, April, and May, a series of commemorative events will be held in the Washington, DC area to mark the 10 year anniversary of the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

Between April and July 1994, the Rwandan genocide saw the slaughter of close to one million men, women, and children and the exodus of hundreds of thousands more to neighboring countries. The "Remembering Rwanda" commemoration has been organized both to remember the victims and the survivors of this horrific event, and to generate a public conversation about the failure to prevent the Rwandan genocide and the lessons that can be learned from that failure.

The full Calendar of Events is available for download (PDF). For more information, contact Nicole Rumeau at rumeaunv@wwic.si.edu or 202/691-4097.

A Prayer for Rwanda

This prayer was offered by Reverend Mpho Tutu at the opening of a commemorative reception for the diplomatic community held at the Woodrow Wilson Center on April 12. Tutu is a Clergy-Resident at the Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia and the daughter of Bishop Desmond Tutu.

God weeps over each death
As though it were the only death.
The God who knows each hair on our head
The God who has written our names on the palm of his hand
Does not catch us up in a numberless genocide, in an anonymous
Sea of blood and violence
And let us die unnamed
But God knows us, God gathers every tear of grief every tear of terror into her bottle
And God weeps
God weeps with our tears
God rages against our complicit silence
When, I wonder, will "never again" mean
NEVER AGAIN?
When will we stop claiming that our hands are tied
When, in fact, our hands are folded?
Which death will be enough of death?
In silence let us remember and reflect….

Sponsoring organizations for Remembering Rwanda events include:

  • United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
  • Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
  • Center for Strategic and International Studies
  • Council on Foreign Relations
  • Refugees International
  • International Crisis Group
  • Fund for Peace
  • Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  • Search for Common Ground
  • Center for American Progress
  • Citizens for Global Solutions
  • United States Institute of Peace
  • Embassy of Rwanda
  • Genocide Watch

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