Thanks for taking the time to visit this JustGiving page. If you do not already know it, here is Hyppolite Ntigurirwa's story:

My father was killed and given to the dogs to eat. I never have a chance to bury him. Lots of people of my family died from genocide. When I was 7 years old I passed my nights in the bush hiding among dead bodies hoping not to be killed. I happen to know some of the killers. Some were just neighbors others were my family friends. This was a direct result of taught hatred. 

When I was in school I started a student’s theater club for reconciliation. The club was to include all ethnic groups even if parents and elder siblings were not willing to support inter-ethnic friendships. We presented plays themed on forgiveness and reconciliation. On the day of a presentation, we could invite the whole community to watch. The results were sometimes dramatic: we witnessed the power of performing arts for reconciliation and forgiveness. In my high school and university studies and now as after my university studies in sociology I continued implementing the same idea and strategy. It works well. Almost everybody can be excited by watching our theater-group, and our mission for reconciliation and forgiveness is a need that includes the whole community; thus, parents, leaders, students, religious believers, teachers supported and continue supporting us in many ways. 

The misinterpretation, suspicion, hatred and conflict around ethnic identity are my greatest fear for the future progress of my country and the region. When people are united they are stronger than anything. It’s true. So, it makes me feel insecure when I hear someone in my community who still does not understand reconciliation between our ethnic groups, and still thinks that belonging to one ethnic group means you have to hate the others. 

I have been thinking that everybody would feel sorry about genocide, and want more coherence between the three ethnic groups in Rwanda. However, we still have very strong and strange socio-ethnic conflicts while it is only 20 years after genocide which took away lives more than a million people. 

These identity and belongingness issues were at the basis of the Rwandan tragedy, and because I was so directly affected, I am fearful when I see the signs of these issues being reanimated in minds of my fellows Rwandans. My future and the future of my nation depend on finding a way past these dividing issues, so that we can go forward united and strong. 

My country, the region, Africa and the entire world need people who can use the skills and knowledge they possess with passion and compassion to address and to solve our problems. Social and ethnic conflicts are among the most complex and important issues to be solved in Rwanda, the region and Africa. 

I personally experienced the consequences of a planned and taught hatred. Within that same story, I experienced also the power of discovering forgiveness and creating reconciliation. Finally, it requires deep research in the field of ethnicity and de-ethinicisation,  experience, education, inter-group dialogue, hard work and innovation to effectively address such issues. I strongly believe that, we, young generation need all these skills to help us to find uniting solutions for the best of our world. Thus, I need the interactive, creative and research experiences, knowledge and skills offered by your university as I know you are the best and right one who can help me to get that package of knowledge, research, skills and experiences which will help me to save my country, region and Africa within your Master’s program in Sociology. 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.