Kigali Genocide Memorial
Newsletter
Welcome
Dear friends of the Kigali Genocide Memorial,
The last few months have been very eventful for us and we would like to share some of our accomplishments,
as well as what’s in store for the following weeks ahead.
Save the date:
November 27th, 2018
#GivingTuesday
For the first time, the Kigali Genocide Memorial is joining the movement of #GivingTuesday on its 7th year event. #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving, powered by social media. It kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end the year giving. On the 27th of November, we invite you to join the philanthropic movement by taking part in our mission to teach peace and fight hatred in the world.
JOIN THE #GIVINGTUESDAY MOVEMENT
- 1. Help us to teach peace and fight hatred globally.
- 2. Champion Humanity by changing hearts and minds.
- 3. Support the documentation and preservation of memory.
- 4. Support Parents Training on Peace and Values Education.
- 5. Expand Peace and Values Education to communities facing violence and division.
Aegis Trust presents Rwanda Education Board with new resources
The Aegis Trust officially handed over new Peace and Values Education (PVE) teaching and learning materials (Teacher Guidebook and Model Lesson Plans book) to the Rwanda Education Board (REB) at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Peace School in September 2018. This was the next step following the successful integration of the PVE programme into Rwanda’s national education curriculum in 2016.
On 6th November 2015, Aegis Trust signed an MoU with REB to partner in the development of the Peace and Values education project: The aim of the project is to help develop the Education for Sustainable Peace in Rwanda (ESPR) programme which was successfully integrated into Rwanda’s national curriculum in February 2016. The programme was developed in close collaboration with Radio La Benevolencija, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the Government of the United Kingdom - Department for International Development (DfID) and the Kingdom of Belgium.
Three new publications were developed: a Teacher Guidebook, a Model Lesson Plans Book and a Reference Book on PVE.
“The Teacher Guidebook and the Model Lesson Plans book were written by educators for educators to create a
culture of peace within their classrooms and schools. While the journey may have challenges, it is possible
to
create a school environment – and a community – in which everyone feels safe, valued and respected,” said Dr
James Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Aegis Trust.
“To achieve this, we must teach peace. Creating a
school-wide culture of peace will not happen overnight. Starting when children enter school at a young age,
we
need to actively teach peace and model peaceful ways of communicating and living together.”
The Teacher Guide Book and Model Lesson Plans book suggest ways to make every lesson a positive and
memorable
experience, while qualifying every teacher as a teacher of peace. By including activities revolving around
Peace
and Values Education (PVE), it helps make the subjects more meaningful and interesting, increasing the
quality
of teaching and learning.
Participants at the hand over event included central and local government leaders, project donor agencies,
local
community stakeholders and Aegis Trust management and partner representatives.
The guest of honour was Dr
Irenee
Ndayambaje, the Director General of Rwanda Education Board.
Kigali Genocide Memorial celebrates access to the new Visual History Archive of genocides
Kigali Genocide Memorial celebrated the access to the Visual History Archive, a home to more than 55,000 testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust, the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and other genocides and mass atrocities around the world
On October 9th, a Rwanda landing page on IWitness was launched: IWitness is an online platform with testimonies used for educational resources and contextualized activities to encourage critical thinking among teachers and students.
The Director of the Memorial spoke on the importance of this platform which will be hosted and accessed by the public through a computer lab inaugurated today. He thanked partners in this project which will contribute a great deal to the mission of the memorial in learning and genocide prevention.
“We are grateful to every partner in this initiative who made it possible for the Kigali Genocide Memorial
to be
the first beneficiary and host in Africa of this important educational tool, which will contribute immensely
to
genocide prevention and peace building”.
Honore Gatera, Director of the Kigali Genocide Memorial.
The Visual History Archives was developed by USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute of Visual History and Education based in California (United States of America) and Aegis Trust as a long lasting partner in providing first hand testimonies from the witnesses of Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Dr. Kori Street, Senior Director of Programs and Operations at USC Shoah Foundation stressed on the role these archives will play in facilitating those in research field on Genocide. “This is a good news for researchers and scholars in the field of genocide who were desperately trying to get resources, they can now come to the Kigali Genocide Memorial”.
Dr. Jean-Damascene Gasanabo, the Director General of Research and Documentation Centre at National Commission for the Fight against the Genocide said that the platform will be a great tool for learning especially for young people in Rwanda. “It is key for our young people to learn from our past because if they don’t, there is a risk of raising a generation which is not capable of preventing genocide from repeating again,”
The joy of having this online platform accessible to educators was expressed by Zacharie Benedata, an IWitness Teacher Ambassador who praised the efforts by partners in developing this great tool that will support the implementation of Rwanda’s new national competence-based curriculum. “The platform is so instrumental for us educators in facilitating the delivery of peace and values education in the new curriculum using testimony based content, one of the methodologies we have found most liked by many of our students,”
Launch of the Ubumuntu Global Campaign: Let’s champion humanity together
During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, many brave children, men and women risked their lives to save Tutsi that were being hunted down: In the Rwandan culture, these rescuers are said to have demonstrated their ubumuntu. Ubumuntu, in English, can be translated to ‘humanity’, which is used to describe a combination of empathy, kindness and bravery.
The Kigali Genocide Memorial, in collaboration with Aegis Trust, launched the Ubumuntu global campaign to help support their goal to champion humanity. Through education, Aegis Trust strives to prevent mass atrocities by helping divided communities move from mindsets of mistrust, to shared responsibility for long-term peace and stability.
Today, we want to celebrate these rescuers and encourage every single person to embrace their ubumuntu; in doing so, we help prevent mass atrocities in the world. The campaign encourages everyone who purchases the pin to share their photo and story of what the pin means to them and their Ubumuntu experience on social media.
Each pin sold helps support the amazing work of the Aegis Trust (aegistrust.org) and the Kigali Genocide Memorial (kgm.rw).
“I wear this badge to honour of my grandparents; they were killed during the 1994 Genocide against the
Tutsi.
They went too soon. They were caring. Humanity is choosing to spread love, empathy, kindness, hope, joy
peace
and to leave a legacy.”
Aude Kamanzi, Survivor.
“My visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial has been a deeply moving experience. The Genocide in Rwanda was a grim reminder of the worst aspects of humanity. Rwanda’s response, as a nation, to this tragedy, has been one of restraint, reconciliation and peace. I salute the conscious effort of the Rwandan Government and the indomitable spirit of the people of Rwanda. May the departed souls rest in peace.”
July 24, 2018
“Take history as a mirror, cherish peace. I pay my respects to the victims of the Genocide.”
July 23, 2018
“Thank you for sharing the history of the Genocide with me and my colleagues. It is a story that must continue to be told and this memorial does so in an incredibly moving way.”
August 7, 2018
“Visiting the Genocide Memorial constantly reminds me of the atrocities that took place in 1994. However, it gives me hope to see where Rwanda is headed. The survivors have learnt self-reliance and the future is surely bright.”
“Thanks for the lessons and memories preserved in this place. The history of the Genocide in Rwanda should be in all African schools’ curriculum so that these atrocities should never happen again on our planet.”
“I feel an overwhelming sadness for what happened to the people of Rwanda. But there is hope the future for the whole world to learn from this and respect each other and live in peace.”
With your generous support, we can continue to educate our visitors on the threat of division in communities leading to mass atrocities and the importance of promoting peace.
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Update your detailsThe Kigali Genocide Memorial is the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The memorial plays a vital role in remembrance, learning and rebuilding lives: It honours the memory of more than one million Rwandans killed in 1994. Through its education and peace-building programmes, we hope to inspire the next generation of Rwandans and internationals to champion humanity. We provide support to survivors with the Rebuild Lives programme. The memorial was opened in 2004 on the 10th commemoration of the Genocide. Each year, it welcomes more than 100,000 visitors. The memorial is funded and managed by Aegis Trust on behalf of the National Commission for the Fight against the Genocide (CNLG). For more information, visit www.kgm.rw