Rwandan/Burundian Genocide
For an introduction to the Rwandan/Burundian Genocide, please view the video above. You can also find a more expansive summary document on the THGC website here.
The Interviews
Serge Gasore - Fort Worth, TX
Serge Gasore was only eight years old when war came to his small village of Ntarama. He lost his family before spending months evading capture, fighting off attackers, and helping fellow Tutsis survive the violence. He came to the United States in 2005 to attend Abilene Christian University on a track scholarship. Serge and his wife are the co-founders of Rwanda Children, which provides aid to vulnerable children in his home village of Ntarama.
Explore Serge's Testimony with OHMS
Valentine Iribagiza - Bedford, TX
Valentine was only ten years old when violence came to her village in Rwanda. Her family fled to the nearby Roman Catholic Church to seek sanctuary. She barely survived the ensuing Nyarubuye massacre at the church (an estimated 20,000 deaths), enduring injury, deprivation, and starvation before rescue and recovery. Friends from the United States found Valentine after seeing her picture in the Rwandan National Museum and invited her to come visit them in Vermont. She then procured a student visa to study at the University of New Hampshire before eventually relocating to Texas.
Explore Valentine's Testimony with OHMS
Gilbert Tuhabonye - Austin, TX
Young Gilbert Tuhabonye was attending school in Kibimba on October 21, 1993, when violence between Hutus and Tutsis erupted into mass atrocities. It would be a day that changed his life forever. Escaping fire and slaughter, he made his way to a local hospital before finding assistance. Gilbert then came to the US as part of an Olympic training program and received a track scholarship from Abilene Christian University. He is now the award-winning running coach of Gilbert’s Gazelles Training Group in Austin and the co-founder of the Gazelle Foundation, which seeks to improve the lives of people in Burundi regardless of tribal affiliation.