In 2012, Professor Donald E. Miller and Lorna Touryan Miller offered the Pomegranate Foundation the unique opportunity of holding a rare collection of eyewitness testimonies from Rwanda genocide survivors.

These interviews were filmed by Professor Miller and Lorna Touryan Miller in Rwanda between 2008-2010.

SOLACE MINISTRIES

Professor Miller and Lorna Touryan Miller met the survivors through Solace Ministries — a Rwandan, Christian, non-political, non-profit organization dedicated to helping widows and orphans of the 1994 Tutsi Genocide.    Solace was created in 1995 by survivor Jean Gakwandi who believes the first step in the healing process is to listen to survivors.  Giving testimony only happens when the survivor is ready to speak about what he or she has witnessed. The healing process, Solace believes, unfolds not in an instant, but over years.

Solace is organized into 60 communities throughout Rwanda, each offering an alternative family for survivors.  Trauma counseling by trained staff, many of whom are themselves survivors — is offered.  The organization helps orphans to become self-sufficient through education, mentoring and advocacy, related to their problems.  It also offers health clinics and related programs for medical issues relating to HIV/AIDs and other health needs of orphans and widows.

You can learn more about Solace Ministries by going to their web-site: http://www.solacem.org