I was officially accepted to attend Global Youth Connect’s Rwanda Delegation from August 1-23, 2012.
Global Youth Connect (GYC), founded in 1999 by international youth leaders, is a non-profit organization that aims to “empower young activists from around the globe through a combination of cross cultural human rights learning workshops, volunteer service, and sustained human rights activism aligned with grassroots NGOs, policy makers, and other stakeholders” (Global Youth Connect, http://www.globalyouthconnect.org).
They organize delegations all of the world, but Rwanda particularly caught my attention.
Why Rwanda? I suppose many would raise their eyebrows at the idea of going to Rwanda and I bet most people’s initial reactions are of fear and horror. Some don't even know where it is. For example, I called Bank of America recently to set my security settings before the trip and the staff questioned me whether Rwanda was in Africa.
Rwanda is one of those places that touches my heart and my desire to go there has not only been about seeing the gorillas but also to learn from humankind’s own failures. I studied Rwanda and the genocide during my master’s program and I am deeply interested in post-genocide nations as a whole. Even walking the streets of Prague, I am reminded of the horrific events of the 20th century in Europe. When I think of going to Rwanda, I get a lump in my throat. It is so much more to experience a place and its people, rather than reading about them in a textbook or on the news. I will be meeting survivors who have lived through one of humankind's most grotesque atrocities. More than 800,000 people were brutally and systematically murdered over the course of a couple of months. I am going to hear their stories.I am going with an open mind and an open heart.
The GYC program encompasses everything that I want to experience. The description of what I will be doing is below:
International participants will join with Rwandan peers in a Learning and Action Community to learn about human rights achievements and challenges in Rwanda (and the world) and to take concrete action steps together to support current and future efforts for human rights protection and promotion, both in Rwanda and abroad. Through a combination of workshops, site visits, advocacy meetings, and volunteer service with grassroots NGOs, we will learn and act on numerous key human rights issues in Rwanda, including but not limited to: gender and human rights, human rights of children, LGBTI populations, historically marginalized indigenous groups, refugees, domestic workers, poverty reduction, public health, juvenile justice, freedom of expression and the arts.
In advance of and during the delegation, all participants will examine the roots of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and see how its legacy has impacted the country and its people, particularly Rwandan youth, and also how the country is attempting to rebuild today (Global Youth Connect, http://www.globalyouthconnect.org)
I feel privileged to be a part of this opportunity and I hope that my participation will do some “good” in this world of chaos.