Stories from Rwanda: Agency, Editing and New Audiences
Lead Research Organisation:
King's College London
Department Name: English Language and Literature
Abstract
Rwandan government figures state that over a million people died during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The country's infrastructure was destroyed, family memory ruptured and Rwandan society left severely wounded. Survivor testimony and artistic explorations of the past play key roles in opening up new ways to remember genocide and explore post-conflict identities. However, in the aftermath of genocide, many stories were told by outsiders with little understanding of Rwanda's cultural and historical complexity.
Zoe Norridge's leadership fellowship Stories from Rwanda explored creative interdisciplinary approaches to foregrounding Rwandan voices in narratives about the genocide against the Tutsi. This grant supported, amongst other elements, the translation of Yolande Mukagasana's survivor testimony Not My Time to Die, writing and photography workshops with Rwandan artists, and a special issue of Wasafiri on Human Rights Cultures.
During this fellowship the PI and partners identified two unanticipated challenges:
1) A concern that foregrounding survivor voices fails to empower Rwandans if survivors are not also in positions to lead testimonial projects. Too often survivors feel their stories are instrumentalised and retold in manners that make them uncomfortable and may cause pain.
2) The realisation that there is a significant gap in UK resources for teaching the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. This is in part because, unlike the Holocaust, more recent genocides are not in the national curriculum. With the exception of Ishami Foundation materials, resources that do exist don't tend to involve survivors in their conceptualisation or delivery.
This follow-on-funding proposal responds to these challenges by drawing on AHRC-funded research insights into the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and arts-based approaches in foregrounding Rwandan voices.
Much of the work centres around 100 Stories, a collection of testimony from survivors, alongside stories from other Rwandans including rescuers, children of survivors and genocide perpetrators. Led by artist and genocide survivor Jo Ingabire Moys, these stories foreground significant moments from past and present, grounded in sensual and emotional detail, that offer wider insights on genocide. Showcasing survivor leadership, Norridge has supported this project since its inception and now seeks to assist Ingabire in collecting fifty new stories and moving onto a new project: editing and publishing the whole collection as a paperback book. This builds on her existing relationship with Rwanda's Huza Press who have agreed to publish the work. Together, the team will develop collaborative methodologies for editing the stories and build expertise amongst Rwandan publishing professionals in the areas of cover design and editing testimony.
The complete survivor-led collection of 100 Stories will offer a valuable resource for UK teachers. To facilitate their use in UK classrooms, the PI, postdoc and Ishami Foundation's CEO Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE (also a genocide survivor) will work alongside Genocide80Twenty at Hampton School, to map ways in which educators currently draw on Rwandan survivor testimony and develop resources to support teachers working with written and in-person testimony in the classroom. All the 100 Stories projects in the UK and Rwanda are supported by UK-based Rwandan survivor and mental health specialist Philomene Uwamaliya. She will also assist with the development of advisory guidelines for NGOs and genocide educators, in the UK and Rwanda, on collaborative working with survivors when producing materials featuring genocide testimony.
These active collaborations producing new materials for new audiences will support genocide education whilst also giving survivors more ownership over the ways in which their stories are used.
Zoe Norridge's leadership fellowship Stories from Rwanda explored creative interdisciplinary approaches to foregrounding Rwandan voices in narratives about the genocide against the Tutsi. This grant supported, amongst other elements, the translation of Yolande Mukagasana's survivor testimony Not My Time to Die, writing and photography workshops with Rwandan artists, and a special issue of Wasafiri on Human Rights Cultures.
During this fellowship the PI and partners identified two unanticipated challenges:
1) A concern that foregrounding survivor voices fails to empower Rwandans if survivors are not also in positions to lead testimonial projects. Too often survivors feel their stories are instrumentalised and retold in manners that make them uncomfortable and may cause pain.
2) The realisation that there is a significant gap in UK resources for teaching the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. This is in part because, unlike the Holocaust, more recent genocides are not in the national curriculum. With the exception of Ishami Foundation materials, resources that do exist don't tend to involve survivors in their conceptualisation or delivery.
This follow-on-funding proposal responds to these challenges by drawing on AHRC-funded research insights into the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and arts-based approaches in foregrounding Rwandan voices.
Much of the work centres around 100 Stories, a collection of testimony from survivors, alongside stories from other Rwandans including rescuers, children of survivors and genocide perpetrators. Led by artist and genocide survivor Jo Ingabire Moys, these stories foreground significant moments from past and present, grounded in sensual and emotional detail, that offer wider insights on genocide. Showcasing survivor leadership, Norridge has supported this project since its inception and now seeks to assist Ingabire in collecting fifty new stories and moving onto a new project: editing and publishing the whole collection as a paperback book. This builds on her existing relationship with Rwanda's Huza Press who have agreed to publish the work. Together, the team will develop collaborative methodologies for editing the stories and build expertise amongst Rwandan publishing professionals in the areas of cover design and editing testimony.
The complete survivor-led collection of 100 Stories will offer a valuable resource for UK teachers. To facilitate their use in UK classrooms, the PI, postdoc and Ishami Foundation's CEO Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE (also a genocide survivor) will work alongside Genocide80Twenty at Hampton School, to map ways in which educators currently draw on Rwandan survivor testimony and develop resources to support teachers working with written and in-person testimony in the classroom. All the 100 Stories projects in the UK and Rwanda are supported by UK-based Rwandan survivor and mental health specialist Philomene Uwamaliya. She will also assist with the development of advisory guidelines for NGOs and genocide educators, in the UK and Rwanda, on collaborative working with survivors when producing materials featuring genocide testimony.
These active collaborations producing new materials for new audiences will support genocide education whilst also giving survivors more ownership over the ways in which their stories are used.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Zoe Norridge (Principal Investigator) |
| Description | This grant addresses two insights from the earlier Stories from Rwanda leadership fellowship, whose main purpose was to foreground Rwandan voices in commemoration of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. These insights were: 1) Concern that foregrounding Rwandan voices is not enough if Rwandans are not in positions to lead testimonial projects and inform editing and circulation. 2) Identification of lack of centring of Rwandan survivors in resources available to UK schools for teaching the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The grant's key achievements respond to these two insights. Firstly, we have now completed collection of 100 stories about the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi for a collection that was initiated and conceptualised by genocide survivor Jo Ingabire Moys, with support from PI Zoe Norridge. Ingabire Moys has led this process, and we are currently completing editorial sign off with the one hundred contributors from across Rwanda and Europe. The key finding here is that survivor leadership in testimonial projects results in more nuanced, varied and far-reaching work that engages with contemporary lived realities. The challenge has been that equitable editorial processes engaging a wide range of stakeholders require enormous time and budgetary commitment. Secondly, we have now developed two sets of guidelines: guidelines for schools organising a visit from a genocide survivor speaker; and guidelines for genocide survivor speakers sharing their testimony. Curriculum resources will be developed once the 100 Stories collection has gone to print. Key findings here include: teachers and survivors have many insights into how to make these processes beneficial but no preceding work had gathered these insights into widely available resources; teachers and survivors have expressed a great need for such resources; and again equitable ways of working require investment in time, teaching practices, and development of robust processes for managing such school visits. |
| Exploitation Route | Genocide educators (including teachers, NGOs and museums) and academics engaged in testimonial projects will both be able to draw on the 100 Stories collection in their work and reflect on how this collection extends other existing narratives that are not survivor-led. We hope that this will lead to a change in practice. The 100 Stories collection will be launched by Huza Press, the editors and contributors in Rwanda in July 2024. Secondary school teachers in the UK (and potentially beyond - there has been some interest from Rwanda) will be able to use the guidelines to invite a genocide survivor speaker for the first time, to advocate for resources and support from the hosting institution, and to improve the quality of the visit for both students and survivors. Genocide survivor speakers in the UK and beyond will be able to use the speaker guidelines to make informed decisions about how to balance their speaking and wellbeing, how to prepare for talks, and how to manage difficulty before, during and after talks. They will also have tools to help with self-regulation. Survivors of genocides in Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur have expressed that these guidelines are both practical and helpful. We designed them for use in the UK but again, there has already been interest in Rwanda. Our partner, the Ishami Foundation, will be promoting the guidelines in the UK and Rwanda. We are also circulating to key organisations in the field, including Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Remembering Srebrenica. Further work could explore how insights from the guidelines in the UK context could be adapted for use in Rwanda. The PI and partners are currently discussion options for further funding applications to support this work. |
| Sectors | Education Culture Heritage Museums and Collections |
| Description | This grant is ongoing so these impacts are preliminary. So far: * Rwandan stakeholders in the 100 Stories collection have felt ownership of their stories and how they are to be disseminated * Jo Ingabire Moys, the Rwandan editor of the collection, has developed skills in project management, interviewing and editing * UK secondary school teachers involved in development of the guidelines have gained insights from survivors and best practice of other teachers * Genocide survivors involved in development of the guidelines have appreciated the foregrounding of their expertise, and benefited from sharing insights |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Description | Guidelines for hosting genocide survivor speakers in schools |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | These guidelines have already proved helpful for stakeholders involved in their development through offering space for reflection on best practice in delivery of genocide education. When we make them public this month, we hope they will: * Encourage teachers to host visits from genocide survivors * Make these visits more beneficial for students, teachers and survivors * Support teachers in addressing urgent issues facing students around prejudice, discrimination, bullying, precarity and grief |
| Description | Sharing your story: Guidelines for genocide survivors |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | Survivors involved in the development of the guidelines have reported that they have been helpful with understanding and regulating emotions when sharing stories. When they become public this month we hope they will support more survivors from Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan, Cambodia and other genocides in sharing their stories in the UK and internationally. |
| Description | Partnership with Ishami Foundation |
| Organisation | Ishami Foundation |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have partnered with the Ishami Foundation on all aspects of this grant including: * Support for the collection of 100 Stories for publication with Huza Press later this year * Development of guidelines for hosting survivors in UK secondary schools * Development of guidelines for genocide survivors sharing their experiences in public |
| Collaborator Contribution | Eric Murangwa Eugene MBE has been essential to our discussions throughout. Eric has advised on and in some cases facilitated collection of stories and sign off processes. He has also been instrumental in the development of the guidelines, offering guidance and feedback at every stage from the initial interviews and workshop to the subsequent drafts. |
| Impact | Sharing your story: Guidelines for genocide survivors Guidelines for hosting genocide survivor speakers in schools |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | Workshop with teachers and genocide survivors |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | Workshop at King's College London to develop guidelines for secondary schools hosting visits from genocide survivors, and curriculum resources for teachers to help prepare students for such visits. Workshop was attended by three secondary school teachers who are extensively engaged in Holocaust and genocide education, and three survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Also present were the PI Zoe Norridge, PDRA Anna Katila, a volunteer from the Ishami Foundation and postgraduate taught student researching genocide. Conversations directly informed the production of guidelines which are now at final design stage (following subsequent rounds of feedback with wider groups of survivors and teachers). We also decided to produce guidelines for survivor speakers themselves as a direct outcome of these conversations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |