Next Gen News

In 1994, against enormous odds, saved two men hundreds of Tutsis during the genocide in Rwanda. Finally united, they remember the extraordinary story of their first meeting

In a park in London, two men greet each other like old friends. One is gray-haired and Americans, the other a big Rwanda in an elegant suit. They hug. The American wipes tears from his eyes. The last time the two men met was in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, in 1994: the year of the genocide in which 800,000 people were killed in 100 days.

The two men, Jean-Francois Gisimba and Carl Wilkens met a few times this year but in the most extreme circumstances. Together with Jean-Francois 'brother, Damas, saved them more than 400 children and hundreds of adults from the Interahamwe, the Hutu militia intent on eliminating the Tutsi " inyenzi "Or" Cockroaches ".

Carl was the only American who stayed through the genocide. By negotiating with key militia figures including Colonel Tharsisse Renzaho, the prefect of Kigali, he managed to get supplies of water and food through to people in dire need. Renzaho had told him there was an orphanage that needed help.

"He said: 'Be ready to be evacuated.'"

By the next day, more militia had surrounded the orphanage. The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the Tutsi rebel army fighting their way back into Rwanda, were now close to the capital. "Bombs were landing like rain from the hills," Jean-Francois says. "I thought: now we are going to die.

More than 17 years later, Carl and Jean-Francois has again because the Gisimba orphanage (even by Jean-Francois Damas and run) money needs met. Next week is the 25th Anniversary of the orphanage 's Foundation. "We want to have a future \," said Jean-Francois.

In London, the power of the Americans, the Rwandan and says, "I never knew if it was the right decision, was left at the orphanage \."

"It was the right decision," Jean-Francois answers. "But what about my question - why did you help us,"

Carl does not abandon its Rwandan staff and friends, but Jean-Francois, he is shaking his head. "They were on the other side of town so why get into all the roadblocks Cross to bombs and bullets to the orphanage?"

Carl looks at him as if he should know. Jean-Francois, finally, is a man who resorted to know hundreds in the orphanage, it meant almost certain death to leave. "Why did these people?" He asks.