SURF’s Founder, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt OBE, helped to register AVEGA-AGAHOZO (agahozo is a kinyarwanda word, which means “dry one’s tears”) in 1995, which she chronicles in her recent book, You Alone May Live. AVEGA was the first partner of SURF, with funding raised by Comic Relief in 1997. And I was privileged to attend its 15th Anniversary event this summer in Kigali – at which the First Lady, Mrs Kagame, opened the new AVEGA clinic.

SURF continues to support the work of the organisation today, along with a number of other dedicated funders including Msaada and CAFOD .

Odette is one of five remarkable “Unsung Heroes” that have been shortlisted for the Guardian International Development Achievement Award. She is one of a number of incredible widows that make the work of AVEGA possible, and your vote for her will be a vote for all the team that now helps over 25,000 widows of the genocide in Rwanda.

To register your vote click on this link or the thumbnail below, and vote Odette Kayirere.

Thank you!

I felt isolated, desperate and trapped. I seemed to be the only person who understood what had happened in Rwanda, but no one wanted to hear me. I visited NGOs working in Rwanda and the UK Department for International Development, pleading for funds to be channelled to survivors. As had happened in Rwanda, I was informed politely that funds were already committed to the country, and with the emergency period coming to an end, there were no more earmarked for it.

With a letter from SURF published in today’s International Herald Tribune, our pleading continues.

In addition, the new Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, recently stated that he has “put DFID staff on notice now, that every time I visit our work overseas I’m going to be asking how are you engaging with local people and civil society, as well as their government?”

We hope that this will result in future funding from DFID Rwanda being channelled directly to survivors, rather than exclusively to Government.

Andrew Mitchell in his review of Linda Polman’s War Games, emphasises that “we need to face up to the difficult issues that Polman raises” which includes the mistakes made in the immediate aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, when more international funding was channelled to the perpetrators of the genocide than to the survivors.

An excellent overview of the international development landscape in Rwanda published by the Institute for Philanthropy this week, features the work of SURF partner AVEGA, and concludes:

As a brief visitor to the country it is all too easy to see the huge strides that the nation has taken since 1994 as evidence of reconciliation, but as with so much in Rwanda – still waters run deep. Non-violent coexistence is not the same as peace: tensions may go unexpressed violently but they are still very real.

Having now worked in Rwanda for sixteen years, SURF is no brief visitor to the country. However, we are still learning how deep the still waters run – as we hope international funders do so too.

The lecture was followed by a panel discussion in which SURF Founder, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, offered a powerful reflection on the issue:

Forgiveness without justice is a betrayal of my family. Forgiveness is between me and my God. It is not a matter of national policy.

Individuals who have to deal with the aftermath of horrendous atrocities should not also be robbed of their independence to decide when to forgive or not.

Forced forgiveness is insensitive, intrusive and morally isolating. Those who choose not to subscribe to society’s pressure to comply and be seen to forgive should be given that right to do so.

Violence can and is justified – not in revenge, but in defence. That defence for survivors is ever necessary today, as perpetrators continue and try finish what they almost succeeded in doing in 1994.

The full text of Mary’s address is available here: Forgiveness Presentation.

The lecture was an initiative of The Forgiveness Project, in which Mary’s story is featured alongside that of Archbishop Tutu.

The Independent newspaper also featured a report on the event.

A shared challenge for all survivors is dealing with the psychological effects of the genocide. As such, the focus of this year’s commemoration in Rwanda is on managing cases of trauma. It will also be the theme for the commemoration events across the UK this month.

Trauma is also a focus of You Alone May Live, the book published today by SURF Founder, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt. In the book Mary documents how she provided support to AVEGA Agahozo in the immediate aftermath of the genocide, which lead to the establishment of SURF.

AVEGA was formed as a solidarity group to help widows of the genocide deal with trauma, and continues to address that need amongst its members through programmes such as that supported by CAFOD. In the UK, SURF partners with the Medical Foundation which delivers invaluable support to survivors still affected by trauma now living here.

Noam Schimmel this week writes in the Journal of Humanitarian Assistance that because of the trauma that survivors continue to experience living in Rwanda, they should be given the right of settlement outside of Rwanda:

For many survivors, remaining in Rwanda post-genocide poses insurmountable obstacles to their psychological health and well being. They are subject to flashbacks and continuous retraumatization. Many find themselves trapped in the fears prompted by their experiences, the sadness and pain, and the wounds that cannot heal because justice is so incomplete and because thousands of the perpetrators of the genocide have been freed leaving survivors feeling vulnerable and despondent that justice is not and will not be done.

It is for this reason, why focusing on addressing the trauma of survivors even beyond the commemoration is so important.

In addition, you can hear today SURF Patron Lindsey Hilsum report on Witness on the BBC World Service of her time in Kigali at the outbreak of the genocide on April 6th 1994.

This festival continues to have relevance today. In relation to Rwanda, there are a couple of parallels that can be drawn.

The case of Charlotte Umutesi has been in the news currently in Canada, a survivor that fled from Rwanda due to threats against her life. Her application for residency rejected on the basis that she would not be subject to the risk of persecution if returned to Rwanda.

It is impossible to give informed comment on every individual case, however her situation is similar to a number of survivors in the UK, whose application for asylum is still under consideration and whose claims continue to be questioned. It is without question though that some survivors are still under threat, as reported by IBUKA, which documented the killing of 26 survivors in 2009.

As we approach the anniversary of the genocide, we remember not only the victims but also the survivors of the genocide. A remarkable exhibition of photos of survivors by Myriam Abdelaziz, draws our attention to the challenges that survivors continue to face in Rwanda today.

Ange Sandrine who features in the photo above, is also featured in a new exhibition – Survivors&Memory – at Southwark Cathedral in London, from 31st March to 27th April. The exhibition of photographs from Rwanda between 2001 – 2008 is by Drew Sutton. There is a private view at 7pm on March 31st to which all SURF supporters are invited.

In a Message from Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks on the forthcoming publication of You Alone May Live, by SURF Founder Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, he writes:

“It is all too easy, after events such as these, to think of the victims. It is much harder to think of the survivors and what they need in order to survive.”

To that end Mary and SURF continue to work.

Mary was interviewed on the BBC World Service about the forthcoming release of her book, You Alone May Live, which is to be released next month. It is an important book about grief and survival in the face of unimaginable trauma. It traces the arc of Mary’s own extraordinary journey from a childhood in exile in Burundi, Tanzania and Uganda, to trying to come to terms with the loss of her family in the genocide, to setting up the Survivors Fund (SURF).

“Poignant, sad and sometimes overwhelming, this book records Mary’s story but also encompasses the painful testimonies of those who survived and shared their memories with her.”

Mary remains to this day a tireless advocate for the cause of survivors, and serves as an ambassador for SURF. As a small organisation, her support is critical in enabling us to inform, educate and engage more people of the situation for survivors today.

Mary will be undertaking a series of events to launch the book, including a panel discussion with Archbishop Desmond Tutu on 12th May in London. I will be flagging up further events on our e-newsletter, for which you can subscribe here.

We dearly hope that you will support the publication of the book. Copies can be pre-ordered from Amazon. Your support as ever, is greatly appreciated!

Survivors Fund (SURF) has been involved in marking the commemoration in a variety of ways. Our Co-Chair, Liliane Umubyeyi, was interviewed for a film that will be screened at the national event at the Guildhall later today. Our trustee, Jean Louis Mazimpaka, was interviewed for a podcast for the Holocaust Memorial Day website.

Andy Lawrence, a teacher from Hampton School, and the education coordinator for SURF, also developed a lesson plan to be used for the theme of HMD this year, A Legacy of Hope.  Further resources are available from the new SURF education blog that Andy has developed with our webmaster, Liam Dempsey, more about which on a later post.

SURF Founder, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt OBE, spoke at the Brent Council HMD ceremony, and I have been organising the Tower Hamlets HMD programme – including the staging of the SURF exhibition, Heroes Of Our Time, with photos by Andrew Sutton.

The Holocaust ended 65 years ago, and the world then said “never again’. Less than 40 years later, one million Tutsis and a number of moderate Hutus were killed in one hundred days during the Rwandan genocide. That is why we must remember.

You can show your support by lighting a virtual candle of remembrance.

Thank you.

The efforts of our founder, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, and our coordinator, Gabo Wilson, have been critical in raising the funding from Comic Relief for projects that have included:

A one million pound house building programme providing shelter to 2,000 survivors

Click here to view the embedded video.

The construction of 50 memorial sites providing a decent burial to 300,000 victims

Click here to view the embedded video.

Awareness of SURF’s work has been helped greatly by Comic Relief films featuring Fergal Keane and Paul Bradley which appeared on Red Nose Day. Both Paul and Fergal have continued their support as Patrons of SURF.

This year has been challenging for SURF, as for the first year since our establishment we received no new funding from Comic Relief, as it undertook a strategic review of its grant making. Despite the fact, we have been able to sustain and in some instances even extend our work here in Rwanda.

Visiting our new health clinic in Ntarama has been a special moment on this visit, as the project has been some years in planning.  Seeing the site of a village of new houses built with funding from the Isle of Man Government as well as two young supporters – Sammy and Natalie Kattan – is particularly exciting too. More on that in the next post.

As the New Year approaches we will soon be launching our annual appeal. Online donations are now even easier through Virgin Money Giving, so we hope that you will be willing to extend your support too.

Appointed as a Visiting Fellow at the Research Centre for Leadership in Action at the Robert F. Wagner School for Public Service at New York University, she has been progressing her research into trauma in young survivors of the Rwandan genocide, a report of which has recently been published. The research is ongoing and will feed into SURF’s development of mental health interventions to provide greater support to survivors of the genocide in Rwanda. It will have particular relevance to our work with women survivors who have been subject to gender-based violence, a matter which Eaves highlights in its most recent newsletter below.

Mary is also launching a new initiative, banking clothes and shoes. Both have incredible value in Rwanda, not only for survivors that cannot afford to buy their own but also for resale to enable survivors to generate income. Suits can be used to “dress for success” for young survivors to access for job interviews to secure jobs. Thus, clothes and shoes can be banked for money as well as employment opportunities.

If you have any clothes or shoes, new or second-hand, please do let Mary know at mkb@survivors-fund.org.uk and she will arrange collection. As well, if there is anyone who can make available some storage space, it would be massively appreciated too.

SURF’s Founder, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, appeared on GRITtv with Laura Flanders to talk about the importance of securing justice for survivors in Rwanda in discussion with the award-winning filmmaker, Anne Aghion. Anne’s most recent film is My Neighbour, My Killer – an emotional journal for co-existence in Rwanda. 

SURF’s Co-Chair, Liliane Umubyeyi, and myself were interviewed last night on Dubai’s Nightline with James Piecowye.  As Liliane raises in her interview, it is still very difficult for survivors to speak about their personal experiences just 15 years after the genocide. Thus, survivors like Liliane, and SURF Trustee, Jean Louis Mazimpaka, who will feature in the Guardian’s Experience series next month, are even more critical to conveying to the wider public the realities for survivors who may not be able to raise their voice themselves. For that, I for one am grateful.