Voices of Rwanda
The article, "Voices of Rwanda: Healing the Wounds of Genocide" is about Taylor Krauss and how he started the nonprofit "Voices of Rwanda," an oral history project that documents survivors' stories of genocide. After meeting a tailor who told him to listen to his story from the Holocaust at the Fortunuff Video Archives at Yale, Krauss went and watched it. "I sat down and listened ... and somehow, the history of the Second World War, of the Holocaust, changed to me. It made sense to me, because I had to confront this individual in front of me on this TV screen." Later when Krauss, a film student from Yale, was with a documentary crew in Rwanda in 2004, he thought, "With all these organizations that are investing in Rwanda, building roads, doing HIV research, setting up museums, why isn't anyone recording history like this?" He hopes that by sharing these stories he can help Rwanda heal.
Other Resources:
Voices of Rwanda
Fortunoff
Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies
- Many people remember feeling transformed after hearing survivor's speak in the classroom. Why do you think that experience has "transformed" so many people? What can we learn from hearing survivor's stories that we cannot learn any other way?
- Antoinette, the only survivor from her family, shares her story, "I think the reason I have strength to talk is, if I die without telling my story here ... my family's name will disappear from the root." Why is it important for survivors to share their stories? How does it impact the healing process?
- One of Krauss' employees heard a story so similar to her own it made her cry. Krauss thought she should go home. She refused saying, "It's good for me. It's good for me to know I'm not alone." Why do you think she felt it was important to hear someone else's story? Why might some people, including victims of violence be resistant to hearing other stories from survivors?
