The Pain of April

15 years ago this month years of tension, violence, and hatred exploded into genocide in Rwanda. For millions of Rwandans, April will always be a month of pain. In our initial investigation for our documentary film project Reconciliation's Reach one survivor, Felesta Mukasangwa said to us, "Whenever April comes, I remember what happened to me, almost every day the whole month." Because this year is the 15th anniversary of the quickest genocide in history the world's attention will once again be focused on Rwanda. World leaders, international media, and Rwandans will spend much of April commemorating the bloody and horrible events of the 100 days in 1994 that ended with 1,000,000 people dead.

One million people were murdered.

Rwanda and Rwandans have progressed in those 15 years. Organizations like REACH in Rwanda are helping to rebuild communities by focusing on individual relationships. Their method seems to be working. But there are still concerns about Rwanda's future, as reported in Rwanda on April 1, “genocide ideology was still rampant in several schools.” This makes the work of REACH and similar groups even more vital to the future of Rwanda . In the documentary film Reconciliation's Reach we will investigate whether REACH's efforts are creating lasting peace. We have seen examples where this seems to be happening. Please look through our site to learn more about our mission, REACH, our team and how you can help make a movie and have a positive impact on your community.

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