10 June 11 - A million people lost their lives during the Rwandan genocide of 1994 – but four hundred, many of them children, were saved from the brutal slaughter thanks in large part to the courage of two men: Rwandan journalist Jean-Francois Gisimba and American aid worker Carl Wilkens.
Together with Jean-Francois’ brother, Damas, against all odds they turned the Gisimba’s family-run orphanage – the Gisimba Memorial Centre – into a sanctuary in the eye of the storm, defying the murderous Interahamwe militia on a daily basis and displaying exceptional courage in the face of death.
Visiting Southwell Minster together next Wednesday evening to give a public talk about their experiences, they are being brought together, for the first time in seventeen years, by the Aegis Trust.
“Next week the Gisimba orphanage celebrates its 25th anniversary,” says Aegis Chief Executive Dr James Smith. “However, despite praise not only for the heroism of its founders but for the quality and love shown in its care of Kigali’s orphans, it needs much more help to continue its good work into the future. We are proud to be giving it our support, and would urge others to join us – both at Southwell Minster next Wednesday, and online through www.support.aegistrust.org/gisimba.”
Responsible for establishing the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda’s capital in 2004, at a site where around 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide lie buried, the Aegis Trust today also runs the Genocide Archive of Rwanda, to preserve and document this history. It coordinates genocide education programmes in Rwanda to help unite the youth, and it runs a social programme that provides essential support to widows and orphans of the genocide.
