Carl Wilkens, an aid worker who remained in Rwanda during the genocide when other Americans fled, spoke after school last week in the Social Studies Resource Center.
Students and faculty filled every seat and overflowed onto the floor and hallways to hear Wilkens speak on Wednesday, Feb. 10.
“I felt that no matter what your race is or where you live, you could relate to his lessons on dehumanization,” junior Ally Messick said. “It [Wilkens’ presentation] really put everything in a global perspective, reiterating the fact that we are all on one planet and in this together.”
Students also found Wilkens’ stories about youth who had spearheaded humanitarian programs on their on initiative particularly inspiring.
“I thought it was amazing that high school students our age started a fund [to aid Africa] and have collected thousands of dollars,” she said.
Junior Wes Rapaport agreed, “I think his presentation encouraged everyone everywhere to do what they believe in.”
Wilkens began his presentation with pictures of friends from his experiences in Rwanda in an effort to bring the audience closer to genocide victims.
“I’m trying to get people in America sitting on their full stomachs to imagine a genocide,” Wilkens said. “Not the horrors necessarily, but the exclusive thinking that my world would be better without you in it.”
Wilkens emphasized the similarity between us and Africans, and by extension, between us and the world.
“Can’t you think of someone who’s exactly like this little boy?” he asked, pointing to a photograph of a guilty-looking African child. “And I don’t mean a black person. I mean anyone who has ever had those adorable eyes and that sheepish expression.”
“How could the world be better without this boy in it?” he said.
The genocide wasn’t about Hutus versus Tutsis, Wilkens said, adding that there is probably more turmoil between ethnic groups in the United States than between Hutus and Tutsis.
“There was a lot of intermarriage between Hutus and Tutsis,” Wilkens said. “In fact, thousands of Hutus were killed [in the genocide] because they refused to kill their Tutsi wives and children.”
“The genocide was planned by a small group of people who said they would never share power,” Wilkens said. “A genocide is hard to pull off. It’s not a spontaneous event that springs from ethnic tensions.”
Wilkens said that the distinctions we draw between people from different parts of the planet are false.
“Them are us,” Wilkens repeated. “Not us and them. We tend to divide people, but we all live on one planet. We are all the children of God.”
For Wilkens, the decision to remain in Rwanda was clear.
“The question for my wife and I was never whether we should help them [Rwandan victims],” Wilkens said. “It was a matter of how we were going to help them.”
His faith in the heroes of the Bible inspired him to do what he knew was right.
“If I really believed God was there for them, why wouldn’t he be for me?” Wilkens said. “I can’t say I’ll pray for you, but I have my American passport so I’m leaving.”
“This doesn’t enter into a lot of people’s minds, but we always have a choice,” Wilkens said. “Nobody takes away our choice but ourselves. They may try to limit or restrict them, but we always have a choice, even if it’s a choice to suffer.”
Although the United Nations sent in peacekeepers in response to an early genocide warning in Rwanda, the country subsequently voted to pull out after ten soldiers were killed.
“It was a mission gone bad,” Wilkens said. “The Nigerian ambassador [to the United Nations Security Council] begged and pleaded for us not to withdraw. At that point, Madeline Albright [the U.S. ambassador] was convinced the decision to withdraw was wrong.”
“She called government officials in the U.S., and they demanded that she vote as they had told her to,” he continued. “She did, and we removed our soldiers from Rwanda.”
Suddenly, the thousands of refugees in the U.N. camps were not safe anymore.
“Thousands of Rwandans had battled their way to these U.N. camps, thinking that they would be a safe haven from the violence,” Wilkens said. “Then one day, there was talk that the soldiers were leaving. And these people panicked.”
“People told teenage boys to lie down in front of the U.N. trucks so they wouldn’t leave,” he said. “And the boys listened.”
“The truck drivers were conflicted; they didn’t want to abandon these people but ten of their own men had been killed,” he continued.
“But when they [U.N. soldiers] fired the guns, the boys left and let the trucks drive away,” he said.
Even abandoned, Wilkens did not doubt the strength of the civilians.
“They weren’t armed with guns,” Wilkens said. “They were armed with something much more powerful: they had stories. They [genocide sponsors] never get them all; there are always a few voices to tell the story.”
From all of his experiences, Wilkens cited the strength of relationships as the most important lesson he could pass on.
“Relationships are the best precaution,” he said while sharing the reason why he refused offers of weapons as self-defense. “The most active activism is building relationships. I had never used a gun, and I wasn’t going to start then.”
On the other hand, fear of relationships, people, and the unknown can be detrimental, Wilkens said.
“Fear is a terrible paralyzer, the people inspired me,” Wilkens said. “It blows me away that our neighbors would come out and stay in front of our gate [to defend us].”
“They could trust us because our kids had played together,” he said.
Wilkens encouraged listeners to do everything they could for issues they care about.
“Critics say, ‘Why are you so worried about Africa when we have so many problems at home?’,” Wilkens said. “That’s a sure sign they’re not doing anything about the problems at home.”
“There’s no reason why we can’t deal with both,” he stressed.
“People say it’s hard to do the right thing,” Wilkens said. “Well, it’s even harder to do the wrong thing.”
How you can help:
1. Call 1-(800)-GENOCIDE before 2 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and speak with a legislative assistant on foreign affairs to be updated on the status of our government’s actions against genocide.
“The most effective activism is about building relationships,” Wilkens said. “Ask for their [the legislative assistants’] name, their college; you’re building a relationship with them. And you’re going to be calling at least every month, not to nag them, but to show that you care about genocide and to figure out what’s going on.”
2. Join World Outside My Shoes on Facebook; this is Carl Wilkens’s Facebook page.
“Use the Internet and use your social networking sites to find other aid groups,” Wilkens said.
If you see a group that will donate money a group if you join, why not join? There’s only a risk that money will be used to help someone, Wilkens said.
3. Visit Youth For Human Rights and learn more about human rights violations. Stay informed.
4. If you want to donate money, you can research independent Web sites that rate charities.
“Be smart about your giving,” Wilkens advised. “If 80 or 70 cents of your dollar goes to genocide victims, that’s still cool. If 30 cents go there, well that’s not ideal but that’s still better than nothing. Don’t just not do it because there are corrupt people between us and them.”
“But most importantly, pick up trash. Thank the people who work at McDonald’s and Taco Bell,” Wilkens said. “There are little things that you can do to make every place you leave a better place in the end.”
“You can always make a difference,” Wilkens emphasized. “We all are capable of incredible good and incredible bad… even in the same hour. Don’t underestimate that power.”
Further reading and viewing:
Carl Wilkens recommended these books and movies as ones that rehumanized genocide victims, and told their stories with honest, unabashed detail.
The Translator by Daoud Hari – more information
Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza with Steve Erwin – more information
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin – more information
3 Points: Tracy McGrady and the Darfur Refugees, a documentary film by Josh Rothstein – watch on Hulu – more information
Lost Boys in Sudan, a documentary film by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk – more information
Hotel Rwanda, a historical drama film by Terry George, et al. – more information