Arcadia to Hold Forum on Rwandan Genocide

Arcadia University will hold a free forum, “African Solutions to African Problems: Healing after the Rwandan Genocide,” on Monday, April 8. Originally developed in Rwanda and Burundi, the program brings together 20 people from both sides of the conflict – 10 Tutsi and 10 Hutu – in a workshop aimed to restore normal relationships and begin a process of healing and reconciliation.

Facilitated by Amy Cox, Administrative Director of the IPCR, and Theoneste Biximana, Co-founder and Coordinator of Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC), the three-hour workshop will begin at 6:30 p.m., in the Grey Towers Castle Rose and Mirror Rooms.

The Rwandan genocide was a mass slaughter in 1994 that resulted in an estimated 500,000 to one million Tutsi deaths at the hands of the Hutu government. HROC brings together 10 survivors of the genocide and family members of the Hutu perpetrators in order to help the victims share their grief and heal, and to help the Tutsi and Hutu rebuild their relationship to strengthen the fabric of communities torn apart by a long history of violence.

Anyone wishing to attend should register at http://agliffpt.org/program/hroc.htm, or contact Arcadia’s IPCR (267-620-4753). The workshop is made possible by support from the Public Education for Peacebuilding Support Initiative of the United States Institute for Peace. 

Arcadia University is located at 450 S. Easton Road, Glenside.