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Cherie Booth QC to name Survivors Fund Humura Centre
20th February 2007
Cherie Booth QC is to officially name the Survivors Fund’s new research and testimony centre – Humura – at a ceremony in Rwanda on 23rd February 2007.
The Centre at Gacurabwenge in Kamonyi, 25 km south of Kigali, is to be named Humura, meaning 'calm' in kinyarwanda. It is appropriately named as the centre will serve as a sanctuary to enable survivors to meditate and reflect upon their past experience and remember their loved ones, to come to terms with the reality of genocide and to find the courage to rebuild their broken lives.
Most critically though, it will provide a safe haven that will address the trauma experienced by orphan survivors. The centre will enable this most vulnerable group of survivors to give their testimonies in a holistic programme that will ensure that their memories are properly and accurately recorded at the same time as providing the psychological support so vital when recalling this traumatic past. Humura will also ensure that the young survivors have a physical space consecrated to the memory of their families, relatives and friends.
Humura has been built through donations ranging from £5 to £7000, from individuals and organisations from across the UK. The money has paid for the laying of the foundations, the building of the infrastructure, roofing and plastering. A further £200,000 is required to finish, paint, equip and furnish the building.
Ahead of the naming ceremony, Cherie Booth QC, commented:
“The importance of Humura cannot be overemphasised. It will serve to document the atrocities of the Rwandan genocide to act as both a proof and resource to teach the lessons of genocide. Furthermore, it will permanently preserve memories of the genocide to ensure that they are available for posterity, increasingly important to prevent those that try to deny the genocide.”
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