Witness to Rwanda's Genocide Speaks to Students in Cleveland

Cleveland, Ohio - On May 9th, over 150 educators, students and community members attended a Community Conversation with Carl Wilkens at Cleveland Heights High School. Wilkens was the head of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) in Rwanda and was the only American to remain during the 1994 genocide. He discussed the topic, "Responsibility and Choice in our Global Community."

Wilkens spoke about his sense of obligation to help people, and particularly his efforts to protect children in an orphanage. Wilkens also spoke to Facing History students at three schools, St. Martin de Porres (which also invited students from Shaw High School), Magnificat, and Hathaway Brown High Schools. He made a powerful impact on students seeking to learn from his experience about what they can do to prevent further violence today. Following the assembly at St. Martin de Porres, students who participate in a Facing History Transitional Justice study group met with Wilkens to discuss an action plan they could create to promote awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur. The Transitional Justice group has been meeting during the 2006-2007 to examine how societies respond and heal in the aftermath of mass violence.

Community Conversations is a national speaker series offered by Facing History and The Allstate Foundation that examines issues of civic responsibility.