The Rotunda

Issue date: 3/3/10 Section: Features

Media Credit: blisted.breakthrough.tv Paul Rusesabagina

By Tate Leftwich
Rotunda Reporter

Over thousands of lives were saved in 1994 during the Rwandan genocide fought between the Hutus and Tutsis'. It was Paul Rusesabagina who helped save these lives by allowing many of them to initially take refuge in his home and eventually moving large masses of people into the Hotel Rwanda that he worked at. One million people were killed in the three months during this genocide. Rusesabagina came to speak at Longwood at the Blackwell Auditorium on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. Lancer Productions, as well as other organizations on campus sponsored the event.

Rusesabagina shared his experiences with the school as well as providing encouraging words to the students for the future. The first day that Rusesabagina started helping others was an unplanned heroic act that started with housing over 34 people in his home and was as he says, "the scariest day of my life." Rusesabagina was nearly killed for helping to save these lives and explains his experience as going "face to face with evil." Rusesabagina lives his life with the viewpoint of "believing in the power of words, not weapons."

Rusesabagina has a message for all the Longwood students: "I am handing over my responsibilities for you young people. You are tomorrow's leaders. I would like to see the young people from Longwood University to become involved in helping to save the great lakes of Africa. Over 10 million people have been killed there and no one talks about it. Sending letters to President Obama to help mend the great lakes of Africa is my wish." When asked how Rusesabagina defined success he replied, "When I do everything it's from the beginning to the end. Everything I do, I do it fully and never half-way."

Desiree Gregory from Lancer Productions had this to say about the event; "I think it went very well. Our thought process was that Longwood is so brought up on citizenship and he [Rusesabagina] is the kind of example we want to promote."

Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Tim Pierson, commented on the event; "Fantastic. I think everyone thought it was a privilege to have him here. He is a reminder to us to not be complacent."

For anyone interested in learning ways to helping out the people in the great lakes of Africa, you can visit Rusesabagina's foundation, Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation, online at www.HRRFoundation.org.

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