About Rwanda: The Genocide Education Project

Rwanda History timeline

2010-01-25T19:50:00.000-05:00

This is a brief timeline. I hope to post a more comprehensive one soon.

Should students learn about genocide crimes in schools?

2010-01-25T07:42:00.002-05:00

I have visited many schools around the USA to speak about the crime of genocide. The majority of teachers and student groups that organize the lecture often have some knowledge about the crime of genocide in general, and sometimes have heard of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda.

Reacting to my lectures, letters that I have received from students often express sentiments of gratitude for having been offered the opportunity to learn more about the crime of genocide. Most of them suggested that the experience of listening to a speaker allowed them to reflect on their own personal lives as individuals, family and community members. While some talk about issues that concern them most such as family members hooked on drugs and alcohol, domestic violence, child abuse, school and community based violence ( i.e. gang violence), lack of opportunity to learn and discuss what is going on outside of their safe environment, lack of courses on global studies in schools, etc..., other students connected my lectures to community problems such as hate crimes, gang violence, and rising intolerant behaviors in some parts of the country.

Although students' reactions offer me comfort and extra energy to reach even more schools, I would really like to hear thoughts and ideas from students, teachers and community members about the idea of offering classes on genocide studies to High school students and what they should expect to learn / gain from these classes. If you happened to have a different view on this, I'd like to hear your opinions as well.

Rwanda Consulting is blogging

2009-07-28T19:00:00.002-04:00

It is not until I lost my job as a Social Worker for a homeless program that I realized it was time to shift gears. For seven years, I have been involved with education sector, mainly as a public speaker on Genocide and war crimes. I visited schools throughout the country, and worked with various organizations to raise awareness about genocide and other human rights abuses.

Moving forward, I want to focus on public education about the crime of Genocide, reason why Rwanda Consulting was created to provide education services to schools and other community educators. Our initial project is to create an extensive curriculum on the Genocide that school teachers and community educators can use as a guide to raise awareness in schools and communities. The curriculum project for Middle and High School teachers is underway; we expect to have it ready very soon.

What to expect in this curriculum?

We approach the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda as part of a history which continues to evolve. Students and teachers will be introduced to ancient Rwanda and its journey till today. Along the way, we will examine the history of Rwanda as part of African and world history, highlighting long term impacts of colonial and post-colonial discrimination policies that allowed the seeds of hatred to blossom into a near-perfect execution of a genocide plan decades later. Unfortunately, Rwanda is a perfect example of the imperfect and detrimental legacy of colonialism, especially in Africa.

Rwanda is also a good case for examining global response to national and regional problems on political, legal, and humanitarian fronts. Post-genocide Rwanda demonstrates the challenges of post-conflict management and shows a glim of hope and resiliency.

Furthermore, Rwanda has emerged as a leading nation with strong economic and gender equality, anti-corruption, and environmental protection policies. Therefore, a study of Rwanda as part of the overall world history can engage students' critical thinking on global issues and responsibilities of each human being to protect this planet. This can be achieved by promoting mutual understanding, respect for human rights, protection for the most vulnerable world citizens, and investment in healing man-made ills to the planet.

For more information about the curriculum project, please visit our website at www.rwandaconsulting.org and send us a note of interest.