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April 17, 2009

Only American who remained during genocide speaks locally

By Cass Rains, Staff Writer

The only American to stay in Rwanda during the genocide of 1994 told an audience of more than 75 people to get past the “us and them” mentality and see each other as equals.

Carl Wilkens, former head of Adventist Development and Relief Agency Interna-tional in Rwanda, was the only American who chose to remain in the country after the genocide began in 1994. His choice to stay and try to help resulted in preventing the massacre of hundreds of children over the course of the genocide.

Wilkens’ visit was sponsored by Enid Public Schools, Waukomis Public Schools and Enid YWCA’s Stop Racism and Prejudice Youth Challenge.

As a witness to the Rwandan genocide, he urged those in attendance to see each other as people.

“It’s so important to realize humanity is just humanity,” Wilkens said. “Genocide is all about identity. My identity. Your identity.”

An estimated 800,000 to 1 million Tutsis and Hutus were killed over a 100-day period, an estimated 20 percent of Rwanda’s population. Most of those killed were Tutsis.

“They are hardly two tribes,” Wilkens said of the two major groups of people in Rwanda. He said the two groups speak the same language and have similar religious beliefs. “There were many Hutu people who died in the genocide because they stood up against the genocide.”

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying the Rwandan president was shot down as it neared the capitol’s airport, only miles from Wilkens’ home at the time. That act often is cited as the catalyst for the Rwandan genocide.

By the next night, soldiers were at the gates of Wilkens’ home, after visiting a neighbor’s home and killing him and his wife.

“The people who came out that night when the militias came to our gate were our neighbors,” Wilkens said.

He said his neighbors were not armed with guns, but with stories and told the soldiers their kids played with his kids.

“They were armed with their stories,” Wilkens said. “They saved our lives.”

During his stay, Wilkens saw families torn apart and was never far from the dangers the genocide and fighting brought.

“For 88 nights I slept in the hallway of my home in Rwanda,” he said. “They were raining mortars so frequently our African gray parrot began whistling like a mortar.”

Fifteen years later, Wilkens said things are improving in Rwanda and surrounding countries, but there still are areas in turmoil, most notably Sudan.

He said the best way to help was to develop relationships and express to leaders how important of an issue it is.

“We have to know one another,” he said. “We have to care. If we are going to move forward we have to move forward together.”

For information about Wilkens go to www.worldoutsidemyshoes.com.

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