New York City — Rwanda Cultural Exchange
By Amy Rathgeb

For several years, my colleague, Yael Glick, and I taught a class on genocide to New York City public high school students. Our students were always moved by what they learned about the 1994 Rwandan genocide and had insightful questions about life in post-genocide Rwanda. Our students have often struggled academically, and it was clear that this topic tapped into their interest and compassion. We were unable to answer many of their questions, and wanted to find a way to help them (and us) understand what life is like today in Rwanda for survivors of the genocide. In the summer of 2007, after receiving a grant from Fund for Teachers, Yael and I traveled to Rwanda to work with young genocide survivors on documenting their lives through photography, video and writing.

Great strides have been made in Rwanda to heal after the genocide of 1994, but many survivors are still marginalized and neglected. The government has built villages to accommodate the large number of widows and orphans, including the village where we worked, called Umudugado, outside the capital city, Kigali. We met daily with a group of young Rwandans who had been orphaned during the genocide. Many of them belong to the Association of the Orphans of Nsanga, which represents 47 "child-headed households" in Umudugado. These young people were orphaned as children in the genocide and have been raising younger children since 1994. There are also a number of widows living in Umudugado, as well as parents who lost their children.

Our Rwandan students in Umudugado spent a month photographing the daily life of their village and taking portraits of one another. They showed a great amount of creativity and sensitivity as photographers. After the month was over, we celebrated their work with a final art exhibit in the village. In the following months, our students from New York began communicating with the Rwandans by email, sending each other text and photos.

In the summer of 2008, Kuleba Exchange will bring four New York City high school graduates to Umudugado to meet the Rwandan students in person and engage in a two week cultural exchange that we hope will be transformational for everybody. The students will use photography as a medium for self-expression and exploration. In different ways, these young people from New York and Rwanda have experienced so many obstacles and have big hopes and dreams for their future. The online interaction between the New York and Rwandan students was so inspirational, showing so much potential for compassion and understanding, and we look forward to the seeing what will grow from their work this summer. Check for updates on our website: www.kulebaexchange.org.

Kuleba means to look or to see in Kinyarwanda, the official language of Rwanda. We want to help young people see the world around them with broadened perspectives and the tolerance that is born from exposure.