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Rwanda survivor speaks about Darfur
Rwanda Genocide survivor says action must be taken to stop atrocities occurring in Darfur
Rachel Crews
Issue date: 4/20/07 Section: News
Students and faculty gathered in Milam Auditorium Thursday night to hear the story and plea for action by Stephanie Nyombayire, a survivor of the Rwanda Genocide.
Her plea was to remember the Rwanda atrocities and to help end the same occurrence taking place in Darfur.
"As you know, more than 400,000 Darfuris have died and 3 million people have been chased out of their homes, again, not because of anything they have done but because of who they are," Nyombayire said.
Students and faculty were moved when Nyombayire's speech began with her own tragic experiences 13 years ago in the Rwandan Genocide, to which she lost 100 family members.
Currently the Sudanese government's campaign continues to take lives. It has been a four-year struggle.
Nayombayire is a student at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia, where she and other students began the Genocide Intervention Network in Fall 2005.
The group is now a 501 C3, a non-profit organization, working out of Washington D.C. Their goal is to build an educated constituency to fight genocide.
The horror of genocide is not merely the death toll but the safety and prosperity that is totally stolen from those who are lucky enough to escape the Janjaweed attacks, Nayombayire said.
"Women and young girls, as young as 7 years old, are praying that when they go to get firewood they will not be raped," Nayombayire said. "And men are reduced to sitting in the camps and waiting for the international community to remember that their lives are worthy of being saved."
Nayombayire was filmed in MTVU's film "Sudan Documentary: Translating Genocide."
Junior Talia Filipele saw this documentary, which she said inspired her to begin OSU's chapter of STAND, the Student Anti-Genocide Coalition.
"I saw this documentary on TV and basically it inspired me to start a club or organization to raise awareness for Darfur," Filipele said.
The OSU chapter of STAND was put together in February and is now beginning to look into working with the Black Cultural Center.
Her plea was to remember the Rwanda atrocities and to help end the same occurrence taking place in Darfur.
"As you know, more than 400,000 Darfuris have died and 3 million people have been chased out of their homes, again, not because of anything they have done but because of who they are," Nyombayire said.
Students and faculty were moved when Nyombayire's speech began with her own tragic experiences 13 years ago in the Rwandan Genocide, to which she lost 100 family members.
Currently the Sudanese government's campaign continues to take lives. It has been a four-year struggle.
Nayombayire is a student at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia, where she and other students began the Genocide Intervention Network in Fall 2005.
The group is now a 501 C3, a non-profit organization, working out of Washington D.C. Their goal is to build an educated constituency to fight genocide.
The horror of genocide is not merely the death toll but the safety and prosperity that is totally stolen from those who are lucky enough to escape the Janjaweed attacks, Nayombayire said.
"Women and young girls, as young as 7 years old, are praying that when they go to get firewood they will not be raped," Nayombayire said. "And men are reduced to sitting in the camps and waiting for the international community to remember that their lives are worthy of being saved."
Nayombayire was filmed in MTVU's film "Sudan Documentary: Translating Genocide."
Junior Talia Filipele saw this documentary, which she said inspired her to begin OSU's chapter of STAND, the Student Anti-Genocide Coalition.
"I saw this documentary on TV and basically it inspired me to start a club or organization to raise awareness for Darfur," Filipele said.
The OSU chapter of STAND was put together in February and is now beginning to look into working with the Black Cultural Center.
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Marisa Martin
posted 4/23/07 @ 4:01 PM PST
Marisa Martin and Len Shulwitz are also Co-founders of OSU STAND.
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