The UCLA Darfur Action Committee Presents a talk with Carl Wilkens who refused to leave Rwanda when the violence broke out in 1994 and he relates his experiences during the genocide.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Room 10383, Bunche Hall
10th floor
UCLA campus
Los Angeles, CA 90095

Carl Wilkens headed up the Adventists Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA) in Rwanda and was the only American who chose to stay while the rest evacuated as the killing began. In describing that day and watching the cars and trucks rolling by, he says, “This sadness just came over me. …If people in Rwanda ever needed help, now was the time. And everybody's leaving.” In the weeks that followed, he recounts what he tried to do to help, including enlisting Rwanda's Hutu prime minister to stop the massacre of children in an orphanage. “There were times of real hopelessness. I basically had to say to myself, ‘There's nothing I can do about that.' I could spend a lot of time in anger about why other people weren't making a difference, weren't doing it, but that wasn't going to help anything.”

Please feel free to bring your lunch. Light desserts will be provided.

The UCLA Darfur Action Committee (DAC):
The UCLA Darfur Action Committee is a coalition of activists and student groups working to end the genocide in Darfur. We are engaging in campaigns of education, letter-writing, divestment, and fundraising. For more information email ucladac@yahoo.com, call (310)780-0736, or visit our website at www.international.ucla.edu/darfur. Weekly meetings are held at 8pm at UCLA in the Student Activities Center Conference Room 4.

The time has now been CONFIRMED; Mr. Wilkens will be at UCLA in room 10383 Bunche Hall at noon. Light desserts will be provided; please feel free to bring your lunch.

Cost : Free and open to the public; parking is available in lot 3 for $7.

www.international.ucla.edu/darfur

Sponsor(s): African Studies Center, Darfur Action Committee, UCLA Darfur Action Committee