Last Saturday, October 10, Orange County for Darfur co-sponsored An Evening With Carl Wilkens in collaboration with 15 other organizations, and with over 150 attendees in Irvine, CA. The evening prior, the same collaboration held a screening of Shake Hands With The Devil, a documentary featuring Romeo Dalliare on his visit back to Rwanda ten years after the genocide. The screening was held in order to help familiarize attendees with the Rwanda genocide prior to hearing Carl Wilkens tell his own story on Saturday evening.
OCFD decided to bring Carl to our local community after I first heard Carl speak. He was in attendance as part of the GI-Net Carl Wilkens Fellowship retreat last February. Carl spoke from his heart, and his personal story as the only U.S. citizen that did not leave Rwanda when the 1994 genocide began, speaks to our often under-recognized common humanity. His willingness to stay contributed to hundreds of lives being saved. At a time of so much division within the U.S., we wanted to hold an event that would not only deliver an anti-genocide message, but would also recognize how many groups have been subjected to de-humanizing treatment.
Currently on a national bike tour with his wife, Teresa, Carl speaks of our need to eliminate the concept of “other” as the means to end genocide, recognizing that the world is better off with everyone in it.
Or check out this video:
Barbara English is a member of Orange County for Darfur.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
Tags: Activism, California, Carl Wilkens
