Over the past months, HSF has co-ordinated four workshops with Hampton schools (London), The European School (Culham in Oxford), Bilton School in Rugby and Sandhurst School in Bracknell to enable students to meet with and interview UK-based survivors of the Rwandan genocide about their lives before, during and after genocide and their experiences in the UK.
The project has been made possible due to the work of SURF education coordinator, Andy Lawrence, and Drew Sutton (expert on filming interviews having undertaken that for SURF Rwanda for 10 years, Shirley Murgraff (expert in coordinating recording Holocaust survivors). However, it is down to the generosity of the participating survivors that have given their time and experience, as well as the students and teachers of the participating schools.
As the genocide is still so recent, many survivors are unable to speak publicly about their experiences due to the trauma that results from evoking the memories of that time. However, due to their commitment to share their story with more young people, the concept of the project evolved. One of the survivors Bosco Ngabonzima said:”I really enjoyed sharing my story with the pupils and I am proud of the education work. I would love to be involved in the future to raise awareness about the genocide and share my experience with this future leadership of the world”.
HSF co-ordinator explained the importance of testimonies. He told the students that Sustaining the memory of the genocide is an important way of remembering our loved ones who were killed and cannot longer tell their stories. Trough testimonies, survivors want to remind the rest of the world of the devastating consequences of crimes against humanity and why they must never be allowed to happened again. He added that education the public about the atrocities which occurred in Rwanda is necessary if we are to build a more tolerant, creative and harmonious society in UK and beyond.
A concluding event is to be staged in September with all the participants in the programme, which will bring together the survivors whose interviews have been recorded, as well as the students that filmed them, marking the launch of a new online archive with highlights from the interviews.
The event will be conjoined with a student conference, Speaking2Survivors, convened by Hampton School, which will present an opportunity for students from schools across the UK to submit questions to the survivors, along with questions from a number of dignitaries, to learn more about and from their experience.