Fifteen years ago, David Mwambari was a normal 13-year-old, anticipating his
weeklong Easter break from school in his hometown, Butare, Rwanda. War had
come to the northern parts of his country; but even as refugees poured into Butare,
the residents held steadfast to their belief that their town would continue to be a
sanctuary, a place where Tutsis and Hutu lived and worked together in peace.
That belief shattered as Hutu youth death squads, aided by the government, invaded
the town in April 1994 and systematically tortured, raped and murdered unarmed
men, women and children. Over the course of a few days, scores were left dead or
wounded, homes were destroyed and families torn apart, as Mwambari, his parents
and three sisters fled for their lives.
Despite the hardships he and his family encountered, Mwambari, a graduate student
in the Pan African Studies Program in Syracuse University's
College of Arts and
Sciences, never lost hope. As the United Nations commemorates the 15th anniversary
of the Rwanda Genocide on April 7, Mwambari and his international partner-Y-
generation Against Poverty-will publicly launch Sanejo: Building Tomorrow's
Generation. Information about the U.N. commemoration is available at
http://www.un.org/preventgenocide/rwanda/.
More than three years in the making, Sanejo is a nonprofit, grassroots organization
that aims to rebuild African communities through promoting education and cultural
exchanges. The organization, to be based in Kigali, will be formally dedicated in
May, when Mwambari returns to Rwanda for the summer break. Sanejo's partner
organization, Y-GAP (http://www.y-gap.org), is an Australian-based, youth-run
charity that works with schools, universities, and nonprofit and corporate partners to
engage youth in international development projects that improve the lives of others.
"As I worked my way through high school and college, I prayed every day that
when I am in a position where I am no longer paying for my education, I will do
something to help other youth access education so they, too, can learn to see beyond
the horror they have experienced and have hope for the future," Mwambari says.
Sanejo founders plan to begin by focusing on five community projects-one project
for each of the years Mwambari has been pursuing his university education. The first
project is to work with the community of Ruhango to refurbish the school
Mwambari's grandfather envisioned before he was murdered during the genocide,
along with many of Mwambari's extended family members.
"My grandfather tried to do something for the community," Mwambari says. "They
cut him short. I want to complete his dream. Sanejo's first project is dedicated to his
memory."
Mwambari is no stranger to grassroots organization and the sweat equity needed to
succeed. After his immediate family escaped the slaughter, they settled in Nairobi,
Kenya, where his father completed master's degrees in theology and psychological
counseling, and his mother worked as a registered nurse.
Mwambari worked part time to help pay for high school and continued working his
way through Runder College in Nairobi, earning a diploma in business
administration in 2003. One of his jobs was as a cultural tour guide in East and
Central African countries. When he could no longer balance classes and lead the trips,
he started his own business in which he organized, instead of leading, the tours.
Mwambari's dream was to be accepted into the United States International
University (USIU) in Nairobi, but he first had to learn English, which he now speaks
fluently along with French and African languages. These include his mother tongue,
Kinyarwanda, and Swahili, spoken in East Africa. After finally being accepted at
USIU, he earned a bachelor's degree in international relations and psychology in
2007 and a master's degree in international relations in 2008. He came to SU last fall.
The world seemed to open up for Mwambari after he entered USIU. He became
active in the Rwandan Youth Diaspora in Kenya, serving as vice chair for two years.
He joined the Board of Not for Sale Campaign International as the East Africa
director. Not for Sale is a nonprofit organization that educates and mobilizes
opposition to global trafficking of human beings. He earned a scholarship to spend a
semester at Shorter College in Rome, Ga., as part of the USIU exchange program,
followed by a scholarship to attend the Institute for International Mediation and
Conflict Resolution in Cape Town, South Africa.
"I have been fortunate to have met some extremely good people who have mentored
me and who didn't give up on me, including my family and friends," Mwambari
says.
Mwambari's extensive travel in Africa and abroad has enabled him to connect to
people and organizations from all over the world. He is frequently invited to speak
about the African youth diaspora, rehabilitating child soldiers, and post-genocide
youth in communities, high schools and universities, and at major international
conferences. His speaking engagements include the 17th annual Africa Diaspora
Conference at the University of Sacramento, the Sweet Mother Tour Conference at
Harvard University and the World Youth Alliance International Conference in
Nairobi.
Mwambari has represented Rwandan youth in diaspora at the Annual National
Dialogue at the Rwandan Parliament in Kigali, and he has organized monthly
reconciliation events. He spends his SU semester breaks doing volunteer work in East
Africa.
"Education opened my eyes," Mwambari says. "It gives you tools to learn to think
for yourself so you can resist things from which you cannot benefit-conflict and
war. Education gave me language, context, presentation-everything. It has
empowered me to share my hope with others, and Sanejo will be the vehicle. There is
hope even in the most hopeless situations."
