Dec 2, 2011

Stand up

Carl Wilkens, recognized as the only American in Rwanda to remain after the genocide started in 1994, spoke in the Brainerd campus cafeteria Friday, Dec. 2, giving a one-hour talk about the courageous people who took a stand during that period when more than 800,000 people were killed. Wilkens is the former head of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International in Rwanda. He is credited with saving hundreds of lives, aided by the people he befriended -- especially the calming, honorable older women of the region where he and his family resided. He is advising his audiences that even the smallest gesture that builds relationships can stop racism, bullying, and intolerance. Even a Facebook acknowledgment can counter forces that create chaos and destabilize nations such as Rwanda, where mineral exploration feeds the consuming world's lust for high technology such as modern communication tools. For more, go to http://www.genocideintervention.net/