ARTS AND LECTURES SERIES SHARES POWERFUL MESSAGE
NANCY ROSSINGOL
PRIDE STAFF WRITER
This semester’s first Arts & Lectures Series event started out with a bang last Thursday night, Feb. 3. Presenter Carl Wilkens pounded his fists on the wall to demonstrate how the killing squad came banging on his neighbors door. Wilkens’s neighbor was one of more than 800,000 people who lost their lives in 1994 during the 100 day long genocide in Rwanda.
“Every time a life is taken on this planet, it’s like dropping a stone,” Wilkens said, “and sometimes the little ripples are hardly noticed when they reach the shores of America, and sometimes they grow into something like a tsunami.”
Along with his wife, Teresa, and their three children, Wilkens moved to Kigali, Rwanda in 1990 as part of a humanitarian aid effort. When the killings began in April 1994, Teresa and the children left Kigali for safety, but Wilkens stayed behind as head of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International. He was the only known American to remain in Rwanda during the genocide. Wilkens and his wife now dedicate their time to educating the public through their nonprofit organization, World Outside My Shoes.
In order to bring an end to war and genocide, Wilkens believes we should stop thinking in terms of “us” versus “them,” or “me” and the “other.” He said as a global community, we need to shift to a “we” mentality.
“That’s where I think our hope lies,” Wilkens said. “I think stories are so much more powerful than guns [because they] have the ability to connect us, to realize there’s no us and them. There is simply us,” he continued. He also stressed the importance of service as a way to change the way we think.
Wilkens showcased photos of doctors, nurses, neighbors and children. First, was an elderly traditional healer Rwandan woman, Sula Karuhimbi, her face framed by a bright orange scarf. She had kind eyes. One member of the audience commented that she reminded him of Mother Teresa. Karuhimbi hid and protected 17 people on her own property during the genocide. Some considered her a “witch doctor,” and Karuhimbi used that label to her advantage, telling the killing squads that evil spirits inhabited her house.
“Labels are so convenient, but at times they are so deadly,” Wilkens said. During his recent return to Rwanda, Wilkens visited the Kigali Memorial, and viewed the plaque honoring Karuhimbi. He continued, “How do you memorialize something as horrific as this?”
Wilkens spoke with much admiration and respect of Rwandan women, and of his own wife and daughters, telling heartwarming stories of generosity, courage, and resiliency, and heartwrenching stories of the devastating damage caused by mass rape of Rwandan women. Wilkens called the “sense of stability,” security, and purpose that women possess the “girl effect.”
Throughout the presentation, many audience members had tears in their eyes. When asked why he came to see Wilkens, sophomore Conner Brown said, “Because he went through such an incredible time in history.” “Being able to hear Carl Wilkens speak is amazing,” Political Science major Gabriella Pruitt added.
The Office of Arts & Lectures presents 20-40 events every year featuring authors from a variety of genres, music, dance, drama, art and photography. Whether you are a student, faculty member, staff member or member of the public, you will find an event of interest. Best of all, every event is free.
For more information, see csusm.edu/al/calendar.html, or call the Office of Arts & Lectures at (760) 750-8889.