Nicolás Medina Mora Pérez Photo
A missionary’s tale kept students rapt — & got them thinking.
After hearing a firsthand account of the Rwandan massacre, a city seventh-grader said that she wants to travel the world to fight genocide anywhere it happens. She and her classmates also learned that they can also stay here and fight hatred at home.
The lessons took place Tuesday morning at St. Martin DePorres Academy (pictured), a parochial school in the Hill noted for the academic success of its students.
Carl Wilkens, a former Adventist missionary who was among the handful of foreigners who refused to leave Rwanda during the ethnic cleansing of 1994, came to the school to talk about his experiences.
Wilkens (pictured) spoke candidly about his experiences, relating them to those of the students.
“You may think there’s a long stretch between bullying and genocide,” he said, “but in both cases, the people doing it are thinking, ‘My world would be better without you.’”
He went on to argue that since thoughts spawn actions, changing hateful thoughts can prevent hateful actions. He added that narratives are powerful tools to change the way people think.
“Enemies are not born,” Wilkens said. “They are constructed. And that means that they can be deconstructed. And how do we do that? Through stories. Stories can make people see that it’s never ‘my world,’ but always ‘our world.’”
Wilkens told the students about a Tutsi man called Emmanuel, who was 9 years old at the time of the Rwandan genocide. As he flipped through Emmanuel’s Facebook profile, Wilkens told his audience that the young man had witnessed his parents’ death at the hands of Hutu paramilitaries.
Somehow, Wilkens went on, Emmauel managed to escape. The boy joined the mass of refugees trying to leave the country; he walked all the way to the border, only to collapse by the road a few miles away from safety.
“The first day,” said Wilkens, “Emmanuel could raise his head, but not get up. The second day, he couldn’t even lift his head — just open his eyes and see the feet of hundreds and hundreds of people walk past him. He thought he was going to die.
“Then a mom came — a mom maybe like your mom, or maybe like the mom you want to be. She helped him, and they escaped together. They are friends to this day.”
After his talk, Wilkens opened the floor to questions.
“Do you regret any of your actions?” asked one of the younger students.
“That’s a big question,” Wilkens replied, visibly shaken. “I could tell you that I regret never learning the local language, but that’s not what you are getting at. I’m going to be honest with you. There are a lot of things I regret, but I still haven’t found a way to talk about them in public.”
Students interviewed after the conference said that Wilkens’ talk touched them.
“It was very inspiration[al]!” said seventh-grader Jenasta Shuler (at center in photo). “It changed my life. Now I want to go somewhere where this is happening and stop it.”
When asked about his favorite part of the talk, seventh-grader Manny Brito replied that he liked Wilken’s stories about the Panzi Hospital for women, located in Congo.
“I liked the part about the kids in the Congo,” he said, “because my sister is about to give birth.”
Wilken’s visit to the Catholic school also helped students reflect about their faith. The students were asked their thoughts on why God allow the horrors of Rwanda.
“Because He wanted to test us,” replied one.
“Because He wanted to show us that we all come from Him,” said another.
“Because,” offered a third, “He wanted to let us be free.”
I hope he told them this.
US chose to ignore Rwandan genocide
Classified papers show Clinton was aware of 'final solution' to eliminate Tutsis
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/mar/31/usa.rwanda