SURF Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Aiding Survivors
On Monday, 16th July, SURF celebrated 10 years of supporting survivors of the Rwandan Genocide in a moving ceremony at City Hall, London. The event gave the London-based international charity the opportunity to thank its supporters from over the years, and to raise awareness of the many difficulties still facing survivors in Rwanda today.
The evening featured a series of presentations and performances from an all-star cast of SURF's supporters and patrons. BBC reporter Fergal Keane (pictured above), spoke of the strength of survivors and their ongoing need for support. Lord Cotter addressed the vital support that the British government has given to survivors through its ongoing support of SURF's projects. In an heartfelt reading, actress Joanna Lumley (pictured left) recited the testimony of a Rwandan mother who survived the genocide. Cherie Booth highlighted SURF's successes following her visit to Rwanda earlier this year, and formal proceedings were concluded by SURF Co-Chairs Sarah Westcott and Liliane Umubyeyi, who lauded the tremendous efforts and work of SURF's founder and director, Mary Blewitt.
The evening was rounded off by a moving performance by Cecile Kayirebwa, a renown Rwandan vocalist (pictured right). The event programme is available for download as a PDF.
As the event also marked the 13th anniversary of the end of the Rwandan genocide, SURF marked the occasion with the official launch of its new DVD/CD-ROM, featuring films, images and audio materials of testimonies from survivors, documentaries about SURF's work and an update on the building of the Humura Centre. (The videos contained on the DVD are available in the Media Library section of this website.)