Carl Wilkens, an American aid worker who was the only U.S. citizen to choose to remain in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide began, will speak at Bellarmine University this coming Tuesday, September 27 at the Amy Cralle Theater. As the former head of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International in Rwanda, Wilkens sent his wife and children away and remained to help prevent the massacre of 400 Rwandan orphans at the hands of the Hutu Akazu militia.
Wilkens is the author of I’m Not Leaving (2011), a memoir about his experience, and was featured in Frontline’s “Ghosts of Rwanda” on PBS. His humanitarian work has been recognized with a 2005 Medal of Valor from the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Wilkens’ visit is cosponsored by the QEP and the Bellarmine chapter of STAND, a student anti-genocide coalition.
The event, which begins at 7:00 p.m., is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Jason Cissell, director of media relations and social networking, at 272-8329 or jcissell@bellarmine.edu.
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Photo: Flickr/The Dilly Lama
