Dr. Therese Seibert

I am thrilled to be leading my third, faculty-led, travel-abroad course to Rwanda, which will introduce an amazing group of five Keene State College students to Rwandan culture and history, including the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi. KSC students will be joined by four students from Weber State University that is located in Ogden Utah.  The students have been preparing for this study abroad course throughout the spring semester, learning about Rwandan culture and the genocide.They have also worked hard to prepare for our service work in Rwanda, which includes obtaining a generous $800 donation from Keene State's Student Affairs division that will be used to purchase 100 medical insurance policies for low-income Rwandans living in a rural area. In addition, these students made a formal presentation about Rwanda and this trip to the Springfield Rotary Club.  They have also collected medical supplies that will be distributed to orphanages and books that they will hand deliver to a school in  Butare, which is in southern Rwanda. While there, we will draw on Katie and Kelly's teacher training as we spend a day with kindergarten students at Butare Primary School. My deepest appreciation to Charlie Christianson for all his support in our fundraising efforts.  

The first two weeks of the trip involves travelling throughout Rwanda so that students can experience Rwanda’s culture and ecological wonders and challenges.  I want to thank Professor Thomas Durnford for teaching us survival French that will come in handy as we trek across this beautiful country. Destinations include genocide memorials, Akagera Park, Nyungwe Forest, African markets, Lake Kivu, and National University of Rwanda (NUR). In the last two weeks of the trip, students will participate in an international Peace Building Institute (PBI) sponsored by the Rwandan NGO Never Again Rwanda (NAR). In order to enhance cross-cultural understanding, NAR designs their PBI to include 9 American students and 9 Rwandan students. Two of our students, Kelly and Alex, will actually make a formal presentation at the PBI on perpetrator behavior, based on the scholarship of KSC Professor James Waller.  Mariellen is reading books on aid to Rwanda in order to prepare for PBI discussions on development, and Mark is reading scholarship on post-genocide trauma in Rwanda and how hope factors into healing from genocide-induced trauma.  Many thanks to Kelly and Mark for creating this blog that allows us to share our experiences!  And special thanks to Marianne O'Brien, Office Administrator for the School of Sciences and Social Sciences for all of her warmth and support. And most of all I want to thank the staff at Never Again Rwanda for making this trip a reality; we can't wait to visit and work with you!