Marking the 15th anniversary of the start of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide of the Tutsis and launching the ‘Candles for Rwanda’ initiative, on the night of 7 April 2009, ten thousand candles were lit across the national stadium in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, to create a stunning aerial image. They spelt out the word ‘hope’ in three languages – Kinyarwanda, English and French – surrounding a memorial flame. You can view footage and images from the mass candle-lighting here in the gallery.
In the film above, screened in the national stadium following the candle-lighting, public figures from around the world join Rwandans to remember the victims and express support for the survivors. All are among those lighting ‘Candles for Rwanda’ as part of this hundred-day initiative to lift the destitute among Rwanda’s genocide survivors out of extreme poverty. Survivors like Darling, Rusarika and Anne-Marie, who feature in this short film – success stories who demonstrate just how far a little support can go.
From April 7th, 1994, an estimated million children, women and men were murdered in 100 days because they were Tutsis. Hutus that opposed the radical government were also killed. The world turned a blind eye and failed to protect people from destruction.
Today, however, you too can join the stars to remember the victims and help the survivors by lighting a candle of hope for Rwanda. For every donation made through this site to help survivors rebuild their lives, a candle will be lit on your behalf at the Kigali Memorial Centre, where over 250,000 victims of the 1994 genocide lie buried; a visual sign of remembrance, telling survivors that they and their loved ones will no longer be forgotten.
“I am moved that prominent figures around the world are lighting candles with us here in Rwanda.... Over the next 100 days, through technology and modern media, people will be brought together in a most positive way. When we look back, we once only had bad news to share from our country. Now we are moving forward hand in hand.”Hon. Joseph Habineza, Rwanda's Minister of Sports and Culture
