Miracle Corners of the World (MCW) - Local Change Through Global Exchange(TM)

Jacqueline’s Human Rights Corner

SAVE THE DATES!

Rwanda Genocide Remembered: Commemoration in Film and Dialogue
Sunday, April 6, 2008 / 4:00-6:00 pm / The Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, NYC

‘Never Again’?: Implications and Actions around the World
Monday, April 7, 2008 / 2:00-4:00 pm / Tishman Auditorium, NYU Law School, NYC

MCW’s Fourth Annual Gala Dinner
Monday, April 7, 2008 / 6:00-9:30 pm / Kimmel Center, New York University, NYC

More information on these events

Click here for photos of these events

RECENT NEWS

Rwanda's Bugesera District Donates Land for Miracle Corners Rwanda-Nyamata Community Center

In January, Co-Founder Eddie Bergman and Associate Executive Director of Field Programs Alfie Hanssen, currently based in Rwanda, visited the new site for MCW's upcoming community center. The center is expected to be operational by the end of summer 2008.

Drawing on the MCW community center development model in Tanzania and Sierra Leone, the mission of the MCW community center in Rwanda will be to empower Rwandans, with a special focus on the 1994 genocide survivors, to rebuild their lives and to become agents of positive change in their community, country, and in the world at large.

Below: Hanssen, Silas Nyirindekwe (Vice Mayor of the Bugesera District), and Bergman at the site.

Currently, Jacqueline's Human Rights Corner is planning for a community center in Rwanda, where the country's inhabitants are still recovering from one of the most devastating genocides. In the next year, Jacqueline hopes to raise $200,000 for this project. If you would like to contribute to this project, please contact Jacqueline at Jacqueline@miraclecorners.org or send money contributions to:

           Miracle Corners of the World
           ATTN: Jacqueline’s Human Rights Corner
           166 Madison Avenue, Fifth Floor
           New York, NY 10016 USA

Learn more about MCW's Rwanda project

Mission

Jacqueline’s Human Rights Corner is motivated by Jacqueline Murekatete’s commitment to prevent future genocide. Established in April 2007 as an MCW partner program, this initiative aims to work with governments, educational institutions, businesses, NGOs, and individuals interested in genocide prevention, youth, human rights, and Rwanda to:

Raise awareness of the crime of genocide by helping Rwanda survivors participate in a wide-range of educational forums, helping design genocide prevention curriculum, and assisting with the collection of survivor and witness testimonies.

Help Rwandans rebuild their lives and their country by establishing a community center, based on the MCW model and tailored to Rwanda’s post-genocide conditions.

Then and Now

One of the worst genocides in history took place in the space of 100 days, between April and June, in 1994 in Rwanda, a small country with a population of more than eight million people, in Central East Africa. The Hutu majority, in control of the government, embarked on a campaign to exterminate minority Tutsis and Hutu sympathizers.

The present Rwandan government estimates that over a million people lost their lives. Among these were Jacqueline’s mother, father, six brothers and sisters, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, teachers, and friends.

Since that catastrophic event, Rwanda has come a long way, yielding such fruits as a new constitution, governance reforms, and a new, inclusive government devoted to preserving and promoting peace and reconciliation.

These positive developments have created an optimal environment for civil society to help genocide survivors, their families, and communities, where the depth of need is matched only by the strength and determination of the people. The 2007 report on the living conditions of survivors conducted by the Ministry in charge of Social Affairs in Rwanda contain stark statistics such as the following:

120,080: Very vulnerable survivors
39,685: Shelterless
28,904: Orphans Living in households headed by children
49,656: Widows
27,498: Disabled during the genocide
15,438: Children and youth with no access to school
8,000: Graduates from High School with no access to higher education

Jacqueline’s Human Rights Corner is an MCW project founded by Rwandan genocide survivor Jacqueline Murekatete, who is working with a global team to adapt the MCW youth empowerment model in ways that meet the needs of genocide survivors and embody the spirit of MCW’s commitment to social change.

Ways to support Jacqueline’s Human Rights Corner:

Invite Jacqueline Murekatete to speak to your community, school, youth group, organization, temple, church, etc.

Volunteer or intern with MCW;

Host a parlor/salon;

Send a tax-deductible contribution payable to Miracle Corners of the World:

           Miracle Corners of the World
           ATTN: Jacqueline’s Human Rights Corner
           166 Madison Avenue, Fifth Floor
           New York, NY 10016 USA

Join our mailing list.

Join the Jacqueline's Human Rights Corner Team

For more information, contact Jacqueline at: Jacqueline@miraclecorners.org