In both Rwanda and the UK, there are a number of commemorations to mark the anniversary. Where possible, SURF tries to provide support – whether that be financially, or just by being in attendance.

Sam Munderere, a programme manager at SURF Rwanda, attended a commemoration in Nyanza, in the Southern Province of Rwanda. The commemoration remembered those victims of the genocide who were thrown into the local river, many like Athanasia Musabyimana, whilst still alive. Athanasia, now a nurse, was fortunate. She survived, as due to a machete wound the killers left her for dead. Her husband died in the river.

Sam offered the following reflection on the commemoration:

Where do survivors get the power to face their everyday undefeatable challenges? Where do they get the power to live normally again despite the vacuum of inimitable loss? How do they deal with the many setbacks and obstacles on their path? Where do they get the power to laugh and sing?

I ask these questions because there are people in the world who are having a hard time accepting the reality that befell Tutsis.

I am filled with admiration because these innocent survivors, who are mostly widows and orphans, have proved so strong in rebuilding their lives.

Their bodies and families may have been broken, but their remarkable reserves of courage have enabled them to win a resounding victory against the loathing and violence of the killers.

SURF this month has supported a number of commemoration events in the UK, in Newcastle, Liverpool, Birmingham and London, made possible due to funding from the Awards for All programme of the BIG Lottery Fund.

The commemoration period continues into May, and SURF’s work to remember the victims of the genocide – and to support the survivors – continues too.

]]> http://survivors-fund.org.uk/blog/april/feed/ 0 http://survivors-fund.org.uk/blog/claims-and-contentions/ http://survivors-fund.org.uk/blog/claims-and-contentions/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:21:41 +0000 davidrussell http://survivors-fund.org.uk/blog/?p=378 A number of articles of late have raised awareness of the lack of support that survivors in Rwanda have received, and continue to receive, from international development agencies.

In yesterday’s Observer, there is a fascinating profile of the Dutch writer Linda Polman and her new book War Games. Polman narrates the tragic tale of “how the humanitarian aid industry, the media and warmongers the world over are locked in a cycle of mutual support.” The Observer comments:

Perhaps the most striking case in the book deals with the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda in which the Hutu killers fled en masse across the border to what was then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). There, in Goma, huge refugee camps were assembled and served by an enormous array of international agencies, while back in Rwanda, where Tutsi corpses filled rivers and lakes, aid was not so focused.

Sixteen years on from the genocide, the victims of the genocide – the Tutsi survivors – still are awaiting to benefit from the aid raised in their name – and continues to be raised in their name.

In the Development in Practice Journal, Noam Schimmel delivers an incisive argument on “Failed aid: how development agencies are neglecting and marginalising Rwandan genocide survivors”.

It illustrates that genocide survivors remain impoverished and marginalised, and that development aid agencies only tangentially, if at all, acknowledge their vulnerability and take steps to empower them to realise their rights.

This is a contention that SURF Founder, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt OBE, expounds on in her new book You Alone May Live. In an earlier article, also in Development in Practice, Mary wrote that for survivors, “Humanitarian and development efforts will not achieve lasting benefits without better coordination and the ability to act on lessons learned.”

SURF is a small organisation, with only a director and a part-time administrator in our one office outside Rwanda. However, of any international development agency we provide the greatest level of funding to survivors’ organisations in Rwanda.

Where is the funding from the many large international development agencies active in Rwanda, which have the capacity and the remit to support local community organisations? Why are they not as well proving the tailored support still critically needed by survivors in Rwanda?

We plan to do more to advocate for international development agencies to better support survivors. We can do more to coordinate efforts, and we will.

There are two questions that we have been exploring: how can SURF serve as a more effective resource to our partners in Rwanda, and in which areas do they want us to focus our fundraising and advocacy efforts in the UK.

There are no straightforward answers. However, there is a view shared that SURF Rwanda should focus on Monitoring and Evaluation, for which the office here was originally established in 2003, and Mentoring.

Mentoring includes both capacity-building (enabling the partners to access more resources to do what they are already doing well) and organisational development (enabling those partners in need of support to work more effectively through access to training and technology).

We recognise that each partner has different needs, just as each partner has different priorities as determined by the survivors that they represent. This is the challenge for SURF, assessing how we prioritise our limited resources and add greatest value to our partner’s work.

Though the partners have many pressing priorities, there was a consensus that education, shelter, healthcare and income-generation were particularly important at this present time. Underpinning them all is the need for stronger advocacy.

To address those needs, SURF will continue to focus.

Charities Advisory Trust: Through its Good Gifts and Card Aid programme we are now supporting even more widows and orphans through an array of livestock projects across Rwanda

Network for Africa, Inspire!Africa and Jubilee Action: Through the the support of this alliance of funders we have been able to open a new health clinic in Ntarama, and will be opening an new maternity ward before the year’s end, to serve widowed and orphaned survivors in the area.

Sigrid Rausing Trust:  With our partner AVEGA Eastern Region we have been able to scale up work to combat Gender Based Violence (GBV) against women survivors to the Kamonyi District whilst deepening our related work in the Rwamagana District.

Foundation Rwanda: This year we launched a new educational programme to support 150 children born to women survivors raped during the genocide, which we hope to extend to a further 50 children in the new year.

The Pears Foundation, Comic Relief, The Funding Network and the BBC Radio 4 Appeal: All have made valuable contributions to an array of our other programmes this year as well.

As Christmas (and Chanukah) approaches, we are preparing for our end of year appeal at SURF. The support of such foundations is critical, but the support that we receive from individual donors is equally important.

Any donations that you can give, to help us to deliver our mission to rebuild the lives of survivors, will be forever gratefully received. From myself, and survivors such as Albert, thank you.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We recently updated and referenced the statistics. As well, through the work of one of dedicated volunteers, Matthew Betts, we undertook the translation of the Rwandan National Institute of Statistics Report on the Census of 1994 Genocide Survivors – which is only at present available online in French.

Worth noting within that report is the percentage of survivors which have asserted one or more cases of land ownership. This will become a pressing issue in light of the land registration programme, supported by the UK Department for International Development which is due to be completed by 2014. As the Financial Times recently reported, “the hardest part is resolving disputes without violence.” Many vulnerable survivors require support to ensure that they are aware of when and how to claim their land rights in this process.

Through the process though, one begins to realise that numbers can only ever tell so much. It is the survivors and their story which lie behind the statistics that convey a fuller picture, such as Ange:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Survivors Fund is often asked to comment on such news stories, which presents an opportunity to convey our perspective. However, due to the requirements of the media for a sound bite, it is always a challenge to convey our position in such few words. It is easier for us to do so in our newsletter, the October issue of which we have just published (to receive future issues, just sign up here).

However, on this announcement, we released the following:

“The arrest today of Idelphonse Nizeyimana is a positive development in the ongoing work for retributive justice for survivors. But there are still many more genocidaires at large, and still survivors of the genocide do not receive the support from the international community to deliver at the very least restorative justice to rebuild their lives. Until that situation changes, justice will never have been truly served.”

There were many points that we may have stressed, such as the cost and duration of trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) which has amounted to more than $1 billion over the past fifteen years resulting in the conviction of less than 40 genocidaires. Though the ICTR has delivered some landmark rulings, is this money well spent, and how much more money will be required to now try Nizeyimana?

It is without question that the arrest is a positive development, but might justice be better served by trying him in Rwanda – an expedited and less expensive process? Then the UN may be more able to meet its resolution to provide greater assistance to survivors – where arguable justice would be better served.

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity present our advocacy work to the Fellows and Scholars of the NYU Reynolds Programme in Social Entrepreneurship.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As a Graduate Fellow of the programme, I am quickly realising how valuable the learning is proving to be in developing some of SURF’s work. This includes a new solar lamp project that we have developed with THRIVE, an Indian NGO, which will be our first dedicated social entrepreneurial project – one that is truly sustainable, scalable and pattern-breaking.

However, such income-generating activities are only possible in an environment where survivors are secure – and thus the vital importance of advocacy. The presentation was invaluable to enable me to think about this aspect of our work through a much broader lens. The challenge ahead is to now develop some of these ideas to ensure that SURF can contribute even more to support advocacy by and for survivors.

Attending the graduation of the 12 students SURF has sponsored through UNILAK was a happy time. Attending the funeral of the parents of our Co-Chair, Liliane Umubyeyi, was certainly a sad time.

A visit to Rwanda is often an experience of mixed emotions. As the Times of India reports, the situation for many survivors continues to be precarious. However, through the work of the survivors’ organisations that SURF partners, such as IBUKA and AVEGA, one can evidence how it is possible to make a difference – in particular through the solidarity and support that such groups offer.

SURF tradionally has not worked often with volunteers, but over the past 2 weeks the contribution made by the Conservative Party group has been remarkable. Reading through the Graduate Career Development Guide that they have developed, as well as sitting in on the presentations that they have given to hundreds of students, there will be a legacy to the project that will benefit young survivors long after their departure.  For that we are grateful.

Though such educational projects are vital, so is the ongoing work on burial that SURF is able to undertake through the support of Comic Relief. The funeral last weekend for Liliane’s parents, was held at the Never Again memorial site, adjacent to SURF’s new Survivor’s Centre in Kamonyi. The strength of Liliane, as well as the other survivors who participated in the ceremony, was remarkable. Though the genocide was 15 years ago, the emotional scars are still raw. However, as we learned that day from the survivors – though it is traumatic to hold such a funeral, it is ultimately for the best knowing that family has finally been laid to rest with dignity.

Towards both these ends, the burial of the victims and education of the survivors, SURF will continue to strive.

SURF on BBC Radio 4 Appeal

The broadcast refers to SURF’s housebuilding programme. This has been made possible due to the generosity of a number of donors, in particular Comic Relief. A short film about the programme is available on youtube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Also referenced is SURF’s antiretroviral treatment programme to support 2,500 women survivors raped and infected with HIV during the genocide. It is funded by the Department for International Development – more information about which was featured in our earlier blog post: DFID’s Support for Survivors.

As Lindsey mentions, “any sum can help SURF gather testimonies and build memorials, to ensure the victims will never be forgotten.” The recording of testimonies has been particularly important to our work, to raise awareness of the situation of survivors today. We are staging a Reading of the Testimonies at the Whitechapel Gallery on 12th July 2009, more information about which we have just released online – so we hope that you are able to join us then.

This Sunday, BBC Radio Berkshire began a six-part broadcast of the recent visit of two SURF trustees – Sam and Jeff Hunt – to Rwanda. Sam and Jeff both live in Berkshire, and Sam teaches there too – at Sandhurst Comprehensive School. The broadcast is in the form of an interview by Clare Catford with Sam and Jeff, and features an audio travel diary. It presents a fascinating insight into the lives of individual survivors, and can be accessed here (at 02:35:00). Subsequent editions will be broadcast each Sunday at around 830am.

The PBS Online Newshour features a remarkable slide show of images taken by photojournalist Kathryn Cook. The haunting photos were taken primarily at the survivors’ villages of Kinyinya and Kamonyi – built by SURF through funding from Comic Relief. This gives a complementary insight into the lives of survivors – through the lens.

SURF is grateful for all media support that we receive, ultimately helping us in raising awareness of the ongoing challenges for survivors in Rwanda.