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By Ed Murphy
Our speakers at our meeting on April 16th wereShoshon Tama-Sweetand Taylor Smith. Shoshon is Director of Global Impact for “These Numbers Have Faces”. Taylor is a Community Engagement Advocate for the organization. Taylor started by reflecting that she went to her first Rotary meeting, and several thereafter, with the Rose Festival Princesses. She said she was impressed by the caliber of the people in Rotary. She said she realized then that the power of people coming together is what makes dreams come true. Taylor began her journey with These Numbers Have Faces in college, when she connected with a girl named Lucy, from South Africa. They were both orphans, but both had a tremendous support system. Now Lucy has graduated with a Master’s degree.
Shoshon explained that the program invests in some of Africa’s bravest students to become educated, empowered, trained, ethical leaders. They work with young people, 15-25 years of age, who are making critical life choices at that point. These young people are incredibly hopeful, despite where they grew up.
And where did they grow up? In Rwandan refuge camps. Shoshon reminded us that it was 21 years ago, in April, that genocide began on a massive scale in Rwanda. One million people were killed – 10,000 a day for 100 days. Shoshon commented that these were intimate, up close killings, carried out with machetes and sticks. The violence finally ended in Rwanda, but it continued across the border in Congo. Consequently, 600,000 refuges left Congo to cross into Rwanda. In late 1996, there was an attack on the refuge camps, and 2000 people were killed, many of them children. That was the last chapter in the rampage of violence and ethnic cleansing. But that was not the end of the story.
Children who survived the genocide were placed in refugee camps. There are four camps, containing 85,000 Congolese refugees. Many children have spent the last 18 years of their lives in the camps, in homes made of sticks and mud, with plastic tarp roofs. Shoshon has been there on more than one occasion. He said that it is a very difficult place – essentially, it is an open air prison, without an expiration date. The refugees are not Rawanda citizens. They have no rights and few opportunities. They work hard, hauling wood for cooking, washing clothes by hand, etc. They earn just 25¢ a day; the global poverty level is $1,00/day. They have limited access to education. But, Shoshon declared, hope exists. Compassion exists. He said the core of the community is organized around religion and education. The students are highly motivated. The talent is there. He told stories of young men and women who won excelled in school, and won awards and scholarships. And he asserted that schools are vital – because without education, the only alternative is violence.
You can learn more about the work being done by Shoshon, Taylor and many others at www.thesenumbers.org, where you will also be able to watch a short video. You can also find them on Facebook, at https://www.facebook.com/thesenumbers?fref=ts.
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