Janvier Mujalibu (left) was one of three Rwandan Genocide survivors to accept the 2009 Niarchos Prize for Survivorship on behalf of the people of Rwanda, for their resilience 15 years after genocide.  Janvier lost his family to the genocide when he was in his early twenties. He now empowers young survivors through education and information technology, and raises funds to support child-headed households.

"Thank you.  My name is Janvier Mujalibu.  In 1994 I was about 21 years old, and I joined the army of the Rwandan Patriotic Front.  As a soldier in the Rwandan Patriotic Front that stopped the 1994 genocide against Tutsi, I … tell the story as a witness of mass killing of thousands of Tutsi including my family and relatives.  My colleagues and I endured an ordeal of burying great numbers of relatives…many of us here live with those images in our memories. 

I consider myself among the lucky ones to have three surviving siblings out of my family of nine people.  We buried the remains of my young sister and two brothers, which I found in an animal feed store several days after they were killed.  This remains my worst traumatic experience.  Since I was a soldier we had to carry on liberating the country, and save as many people as we possibly could.  I had no time to mourn.  Many of us could not cry – we had to stop the carnage.

It has been a couple of years since I decided to have a positive perspective by working for the well being of survivors.  The inspiration comes from the youth who are determined to rebuild their lives for a better future among survivors.  We have created new families to restore and reclaim our identity and our pride as Rwandans… Our main focus is to help those students who are dropping out of school for various reasons, and for those who are family heads, to support as colleagues a number of small projects to generate income, fundraise and support the needy.  Such projects include farming, running bakeries, running gas generators to produce electricity to run those bakeries, and home design for weddings and other functions.  As a result, we have inspired hope and resilience through these groups for survivors, because these projects are offering jobs, scholarships and scholastic materials for the people, and shelter for survivors who have no homes. 

Let me conclude by paying tribute to the Republic of Rwanda for this leadership.  Rwanda has changed for the better.  We now have programs such as universal primary education. Our cities are so clean…IT development has gone deep into Rwanda, and the establishment of survivor funds gives us hope.  We feel like a new nation.  My special thanks to Mr. Jerry White and Survivor Corps for your hospitality and care.  I believe that together we shall contribute to a safer world free from genocide.  I pray the rest of the world joins us to rise above and give back.  Thank you very much." 

WATCH Janvier's speech [youtube]

See acceptance speeches from other 2009 Niarchos Prize honorees:

Albert Gasake - Rwanda

Geraldine Umutesi - Rwanda

Nomika Zion - Israel

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish - Palestine