Archive for 2009
“They are still killing”
Huye, Rwanda
2 August 09
Domitilie breaks down into tears describing how she found the body of her husband Paul, hacked to death near their home in Huye, Rwanda. Paul Rutayisire survived the genocide that ended in 1994. A gang of murderers killed him in October 2007. After fighting back tears she said, ” Whenever I think [...]
Inside a Rwandan Prison
Kigali, Rwanda
Guards armed with semiautomatic weapons struggle to unlock a heavy steel door before finally opening it, unleashing a burst of joyful music from an all male chorus wearing bright orange and pink.
A 5-piece band sounding much like Rusted Root tries vainly to excite the crowd full of thieves, killers and orchestrators of the Rwandan [...]
Building Reconciliation
Pacifique uses a machete to chop wood to stoke the fire for lunch while a few feet away the man who killed her brother and sister thrusts a shovel into wet cement being used to finish construction of her house. This is what reconciliation looks like for many villagers in Rwanda after the genocide here [...]
What reconciliation looks like
Jean Gihana calmly admits that he armed and directed a band of killers in his neighborhood during the Rwandan genocide. Confessing got him out of prison early, and today he counts survivors as his friends.
“For the one person who I killed, I have apologized to his family.” Jean said in an interview outside a seminar [...]
A Survivor’s Fear & Hope
“I don’t know what is in other people’s hearts.” Fifi explained to us, and then nodded somberly, yes, the genocide could happen again. Fifi is the only survivor of the genocide from her family. It is clear she is fearful, “I have to be vigilant. There aren’t police officers to protect everyone.”
She lives alone, an [...]
6,000 victims, 12 survivors
Charles Mugabe should not be alive. Now he spends his summer vacations guiding visitors through the church turned memorial where he watched his twin brother die. He witnessed a killer decapitating a woman with a machete, hid for 3 days in piles of bodies and then escaped killers for 3 weeks by swimming through swamps. [...]
Greetings from Rwanda
Hundreds of jubilant Rwandans were blasting air horns, cheering, and dancing greeted the Reconciliation’s Reach at the Kigali international airport today. Boys with bright green wigs and gold jerseys alongside men with elaborate masks and children pounding drums all stood by as we exited the airport into the 80 degree dry, dusty sunshine.
While the crowd [...]
Documentary Team Leaving for Rwanda
UPDATE: Our team is leaving for Rwanda beginning Sunday July 12th, 2009-August 11th. Come back here for updates.
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The Fourth of July is a time for celebration of liberation, quality time with family and friends and good food… in Rwanda. 15 years ago on America’s birthday in 1994 is the date many Rwandans point to as [...]
Heading to Rwanda
The Fourth of July is a time for celebration of liberation, quality time with family and friends and good food… in Rwanda. 15 years ago on America’s birthday in 1994 is the date many Rwandans point to as the turning point in their national nightmare. On July 4th, 1994 exiled Rwandan fighters took over the [...]
The Final Countdown
When we celebrate our independence across America on this Fourth of July, Rwandans will observe the 15th anniversary of the liberation of their capital, Kigali, and the beginning of the end of the genocide, a 100 day systematic slaughter of 1,000,000 human beings.
This horrible chapter in the history of humanity is creating an unlikely opportunity. [...]
Great news!
Today, your support for Reconciliation’s Reach has led to a major grant award from the Germeshausen Foundation in Boston. The trustees believe in our mission of preventing violence and managing conflict and have generously donated $10,000 to support our efforts.
This grant brings us one significant step closer to sending our filmmaking team to Rwanda this [...]
Boston Students Find Meaning in Rwanda’s Lessons
“Learning about Rwanda… it gives people the opportunity to open their eyes about things that are going on in our neighborhoods (in the United States) so we can buckle up and make change. So, I think it’s very important to learn it.” High School senior Maceyo Branch reacted to seeing a preview of Reconciliation’s Reach [...]
“We Have All Been Hurt”
“Each one of us knows what it is like both to be wronged and to commit wrong against another,” wrote Jordan J. Ballor in a recent review of “As We Forgive” a book which explores the process of forgiveness and reconciliation in response to the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
The notion that Rwandans can teach Americans [...]
The Pain of April
15 years ago this month years of tension, violence, and hatred exploded into genocide in Rwanda. For millions of Rwandans, April will always be a month of pain. In our initial investigation for our documentary film project Reconciliation’s Reach one survivor, Felesta Mukasangwa said to us, “Whenever April comes, I remember what happened to me, [...]
Thank You for Supporting Reconciliation’s Reach
So many generous people came out to our benefit concert in Boston to support our documentary film project Reconciliation’s Reach, last night.
Thank you for visiting our site and a special thank you to those who joined us at the event. Your support is testament to the fact that the lessons Rwandans can teach us have [...]
Thank You!
Hundreds of people came out to our benefit concert in Boston to support our documentary film project Reconciliation’s Reach, last night. Thank you for visiting our site and a special thank you to those who joined us at the event. We will share pictures with you soon. Your support is testament to the fact that [...]
TONIGHT: Rock Out for Rwanda
Our big benefit concert is tonight, Thursday March 26th in downtown Boston and the prizes keep rolling in. We are happy to share that we will be raffling off tickets for a New England Patriots regular season game on top of all the other great items already donated (complete prize list here). So please join [...]
Talking Reconciliation @ Broccoli Hall
As we prepare for our benefit concert event on Thursday March 26th, we’re talking about the power of reconciliation with high school students.
“We’re all on this rock together.” That’s the reason a high school student at Corwin-Russell School at Broccoli Hall gave for why reconciliation in Rwanda is important and relevant in his life. The [...]
Rock Out for Reconciliation’s Reach
As we prepare for our benefit concert event on Thursday March 26th, reconciliation is on the minds of world leaders everywhere.
Pope Benedict the XVI will visit Africa for the first time as leader of the Catholic church next week. His mission? “The first trip to Africa is a trip of hope and overall reconciliation,” according [...]
Buzz Word: Reconciliation
Everywhere you look reconciliation is in the news and on the minds of world leaders right now. This week Reuters reports that a dozen Palestinian groups began a dialogue with the goal of reuniting Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
In Afghanistan’s troubled Helmand province, Governor Gulbag Mangal told the BBC the keys to defeating [...]
A Plan for Peace in Sudan
Today the world may have witnessed a breakthrough that could finally lead to an end to the genocide in Darfur. It has been widely reported that the Sudanese government reached a cease-fire deal with a leading rebel group fighting to stop the government’s genocidal mission. While the deal is not comprehensive and leaves much room [...]
Announcing: Rock Out for “Reconciliation’s Reach”
We are happy to announce the opportunity for those of you in the Boston area to Rock Out for Reconciliation’s Reach. Making a documentary film overseas is an expensive venture and we need your support to make it happen. So we have put together a night full of fun complete with a great lineup of [...]
President Obama’s First Action
President Barack Obama’s first official act was to sign a presidential proclamation declaring Tuesday, January 20th a “National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation.”
With this proclamation the President recognizes the value of reconciliation in healing a country:
We are in the midst of a season of trial. Our Nation is being tested, and our people know great [...]
Genocide Orchestrator Sentenced
A United Nations tribunal sent the chief orchestrator of the Rwandan genocide to prison for the rest of his life for crimes against humanity on December 18th, 2008. Colonel Theoneste Bagosora was involed in peace talks outside Rwanda in the early 1990s but grew tired of the process. The indictment against him said he was [...]