The
Canadians who traveled to Rwanda in July, 1999, include teachers and community
workers from southern Ontario and a CAW member from Montreal. The group's
trip was coordinated by the Canadian non-government organization Hope
For Rwanda's Children Fund which works in collaboration with Rwanda's
Tumurere Foundation to assist some of the half-million orphans the
genocide left behind. Hope
was created in 1995 by a group of concerned Canadians and Rwandans in the
Toronto area.
One of the founders of the group is Leo Kabalisa, a Rwandan-Canadian teacher who manged to escape from his country before the genocide began. He returns to his home to try and find out how his father, four brothers, twelve cousins and eight nieces were killed and where they are buried.
Also in the group is Dr. Carole Ann Reed, Director of Education at Toronto's Holocaust Education and Memorial Centre. President of Hope For Rwanda's Children Fund is Shyrna Gilbert.