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Never
Again: Entire Upper School Participates in “Rwanda Day”
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These two words, long associated with the Holocaust, were used in 1994 at the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. They have proven to be hollow words. Paul Kagame, the first democratically elected President of Rwanda following the genocide, has said, “Never again became wherever again.”
On October 22 the entire Upper School set aside its usual schedule of classes to explore together various aspects of the Rwandan genocide. Throughout “Rwanda Day” students enjoyed opportunities to reflect on their readings, discuss issues with guest speakers (including two CCES alumni with personal experience of Rwanda), view two different movies about the genocide, and share such learning experiences as the choir’s performance of the Rwandan national anthem and a Rwandan-themed art exhibit in the US Art Gallery. “Rwanda Day” was the culmination of activities that had begun more than a month earlier when CCES alumna Katherine Chisholm ’01 spoke at assembly about her experience working in Rwanda with the Zambia HIV Research Group. Her comments personalized what the students were learning from their readings. “Rwanda Day is a wonderful example of what happens when the collective creativity and inventiveness of CCES teachers combines with the intellectual curiosity and seriousness of purpose of our students,” commented US Director Pete Sanders. “It was another exemplary case of CCES at its best.” Fifth
Annual All-School Read "Rwanda Day marked the fifth annual All-School Read,” noted US librarian Anne Howson. “Over the years, an ad hoc committee comprised of different faculty members selected books on important issues about which we needed to become more aware. So far we’ve covered a wide range of topics.” Hotel
Rwanda
In response to a student’s question about what he could do as a student, Dunn urged students to “commit to making a difference in the world” and to commit “not to be oblivious.” Recommending the book Three Cups of Tea recounting the author’s involvement in building schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Dunn commented that “building one school has more impact than our entire military.” Answering
the Tough Questions This was followed by a screening of the award-winning documentary by a Furman University graduate, As We Forgive. This powerful film asks the question, Is it possible to forgive someone who murdered your family, and explores the Rwandan government’s decision to pursue a program of reconciliation rather than incarceration for the estimated 50,000 perpetrators of the genocide. Presentations by two professors from Furman University, Prof. Jen Lambert and Dr. Liz Smith, explored the social and political forces that can move a society to carry out an otherwise unthinkable genocide such as the one that occurred in Rwanda. Smith emphasized the role that language plays in such a process: the propaganda that frames the issues, the dehumanizing language that aids moral disengagement, and the expression of a world view that is fundamentally inhumane. She also discussed the social conditions and psychological mechanisms that facilitate malevolent behavior, including the suspension of one’s moral system in the face of great personal risk. Lambert explored the question, Why does the international community allow genocide to occur? She identified questions of perceived costs and perceived national interests: a weighing of the cost and benefits of becoming involved. In addition, she pointed out that our international bodies, such as the United Nations, are good at peace-keeping, not peace-making.
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as a School Have Moral Choices He also made a case for the relevance of Rwanda Day to the students present. “We as a school also have a choice,” he said, “and we choose to be intentional about the spiritual, moral, and academic development of our students. So much so that when they graduate we hope and pray that they will see that they have the potential to be people of influence in this world, and that by serving the needs of others before themselves they can help to reduce the possibility of another genocide—and, for that matter, eliminate the things that create such a division between those who have and those who have not.” Continued:
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Commenting
that “the world didn’t do anything to stop it or even
know about it until the movie Hotel Rwanda came out,”
he noted the important role journalism plays in bringing the world’s
attention to such issues. “In 1994 this was a tiny story on
the side,” he said, and coming as it did a year after the
disaster in Somalia, and recognizing that the U.S. could not cure
all the evils in the world, the Clinton administration decided not
to get involved in civil wars. Today, once again, the world is ignoring
another genocide,
this one in Darfur. 
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