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Reading of the Testimonies NYC to be staged on 7th April by Survivors Fund
New York – 07 March 2008
The Rwandan Survivors Fund (SURF), has announced plans to stage a Reading of the Testimonies NYC in Washington Square Park on Monday 7th April 2008 to mark the 14th anniversary of the 100 day Rwandan Genocide.
Students from across New York will gather in Washington Square Park for the Reading of the Testimonies of 100 young survivors of the Rwandan genocide from 10am to 2pm. These testimonies, highlighting the personal stories of young survivors (many now orphans), represent just a small proportion of the young survivors that SURF supports through IBUKA and its grassroots partners in Rwanda: AOCM, Uyisenga N'Manzi, Solace Ministries and AVEGA.
Reading of the Testimonies NYC will specifically call on the Office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) to recognize HIV+ survivors of the genocide as an at-risk population for antiretroviral (ARV) treatment as part of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Despite the fact that many survivors are HIV+ today due to a systematic program of rape and deliberate infection during the genocide and are particularly vulnerable, PEPFAR currently does not recognize survivors as an at-risk population for HIV and AIDS counselling, testing and treatment.
The event follows the success of the first Reading of the Testimonies staged in Trafalgar Square in London in 2004, which helped to secure £4.25 million funding from the British Government to provide antiretroviral treatment to 2,500 women survivors raped during the genocide and deliberately infected with HIV and AIDS. Reading of the Testimonies NYC will be the first outdoor event to be held in New York to mark the anniversary of the genocide. By taking the commemoration into a public space, and webcasting it, the event will convey to young survivors in Rwanda that, students in New York remember the genocide, the survivors and its victims
Students from across New York are being invited to participate in the Reading of the Testimonies NYC. Those interested can apply online, and visitors to the site can learn more about SURF’s work to support survivors. The event is staged in association with Jacqueline’s Human Rights Corner, Kuki Ndiho, Foundation Rwanda, Voices of Rwanda and Orphans of Rwanda. It will be lead by Mary Kayitesi Blewitt OBE, Founder of SURF, with the support of a number of survivors and Rwandan students. The event is co-sponsored by the Wagner Student Alliance for Africa and International Public Service Association.
Speaking about the forthcoming event, SURF’s Founder Mary Kayitesi Blewitt OBE said:
There is a thread that runs through all the work of Survivors Fund, a motivation to ensure that the voice of survivors is heard, that the memory of the genocide is kept alive and that the victims are never forgotten. This Reading of the Testimonies is hugely important as it will demonstrate that the students of New York not only remember the one million Rwandans who died in 1994, but that they care about those still living with the legacy of the genocide.
She added:
There are thousands of HIV+ survivors in Rwanda dying from AIDS, with no help and no hope. The Reading of the Testimonies NYC is a demand for action to ensure that these survivors are not ignored and abandoned by the international community for a second time. As well, in light of the ongoing genocide in Darfur, we hope that the event will raise awareness of the importance of acting to prevent genocide - and the repercussions that result from inaction, as witnessed in Rwanda.
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