A South African-born lawyer, Anne Heyman, and her husband raised more than $12 million to help care for families ripped apart by the genocide. Taking their model from Israel’s Youth Villages, which created new families for children whose parents had died in the Holocaust, the couple aim to help the 95,000 children orphaned in Rwanda’s genocide.

Vincent de Paul Ruhumuriza was born in Rwanda just a few months before genocide consigned his father to an unknown grave and traumatized his mother so badly she still screams and shakes at any mention of that time.

But, helped by a model of healing dating back to the Holocaust, the 25-year-old has finished his education and blended into a new family, where individuals grieving lost loved ones have rebuilt their lives by caring for each other.

“People should not be driven by the past,” the bearded young man told Reuters this week, as the country prepared to mark a quarter of a century since Hutu militias killed around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. “I want to grow into someone who will benefit society.”

Seven years ago, Ruhumuriza’s life was on course to become another small tragedy in a nation where every family is touched by grief.

He and his mother lived in poverty. His father’s death in the genocide was a mystery – the only time he ever tried to ask about it, his mother had a breakdown.

“Other people … told how she was beaten, how she was tortured, got raped,” he said. “She became like a mad person. She got traumatized.”

THE PLACE WHERE TEARS ARE DRIED

Then, in 2014, just as Ruhumuriza was about to drop out, his school got in touch with the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village, whose Hebrew-Kinyarwandan name translates as “the place where tears are dried”.

The village was set up in 2008 by a South African-born lawyer, Anne Heyman, who had worked in the United States. Heyman and her husband raised more than $12 million to help care for families ripped apart by the genocide, taking their model from Israel’s Youth Villages, which created new families for children whose parents had died in the Holocaust.

Rwanda’s genocide, sparked by the assassination of the president, lasted around 100 days and stopped after rebels fought their way to the capital, led by Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s current ruler.

More than 95,000 children were orphaned, the United Nations estimates, and around 300,000 children were killed. For some of the survivors, Heyman’s village offered healing and purpose.

“Having 15 children around you can calling you Mama, and you helping them to conquer their past, that is a great contribution to the nation,” said Emeritha Mukarusagara, a slender, bespectacled 57-year-old with long braids who became a foster mother after being widowed in the genocide.

She spent months hidden by a neighbour, heavily pregnant, terrified and filled with grief for her murdered husband. She keeps his picture on her phone but still cannot discuss his death.

Since then, she has fostered dozens of vulnerable children, including Ruhumuriza, who needed families.

NEW PURPOSE

A shy teenager, he arrived into a large, boisterous community where children live 15 to a house, watched over by a strict but loving foster parent they are all encouraged to call Mama. It was strange to call another woman Mama, he said. It was even stranger to have a brother. He liked it.

Ruhumuriza threw himself into his studies, becoming the school president, learning about Steve Jobs, and forming a deep bond with his foster mother. When he graduated and found a job in the construction industry, and a steady paycheck, he asked her what he should do with it.

Go home, she said. Build a house for the lonely woman who gave birth to you.

“Now my mother lives in the house I built,” he said proudly. “Mama Emeritha is one of my cornerstones … she is one of the best advisors I have.”

Ruhumuriza is one of more 850 children who has passed through the village’s 26 houses. But although the children of the genocide have grown up, many more come seeking refuge: those orphaned by accidents and disease. Refugees from Burundi. Children at risk of abuse.

Ruhumuriza, which was also the name of Mukarusagara’s murdered husband, has a special place in his foster mother’s heart.

“Every time I saw him, I remembered my dead husband. He was as kind as my husband,” she said with a sigh.

“At his wedding party, I will put on the best attire I have and sit next to his mother.”

By Katharine Houreld. Editing by Robin Pomeroy.

All of us have characteristics and behaviors that define us – to ourselves and others. Keeping a vision of positivity, growth and longevity is crucial for us to maintain a healthy and thriving business, career and life.

Incorporating the Genshai principles has worked for me and many others. I encourage everyone to give Genshai a chance. The ancient word means, “Never treat another person in a manner which makes them feel small, including yourself.”

This sacred word draws upon our ability to step into our excellence, showing our true greatness and utilizing these traits for the betterment of our lives and the betterment of humanity as a whole. Within the principles and teachings of Genshai lies the knowledge of five elements.
Ask yourself which people in your life represent the five principles below:

Fire (Ignite) – Challenges you to be passionate about how you show up in the world and serve as a light within it. They kindle our possibilities

Water (Flowing) – Connects you to the ebb and flow of the experiences of your heart. They help us relate to others and exemplify compassion.

Wind (Freedom) – Liberates thoughts and ideas and gives them flight. They lift us and breathe into our dreams.

Spirit (Grace) – Elevates our awareness of the nature and goodness of humanity. They bring out the divine in our souls.

Earth (Grounding) – Brings us stability through practical advice, acceptance, and reliability. They escort us through life’s changes.

Depending on the situation, personal relationships and our ingrained behaviors, we can be each of these elements. For example, you might represent fire to your business partner. Maybe you are water to your spouse. You are possibly Earth to your child. We harbor all these characteristics, but one is often more predominant. Which one describes you? Which one could use some work today?

We are all work in progress. It’s our responsibility to keep evolving and doing our best to leave Earth in a better shape than we found it. Through a collective and coherent effort, we all have a profound effect on each other and the environment around us. We call this the “The Genshai Effect.” Through positive thought, we develop positive patterns of behavior. Through decisive action, we generate positive characteristics. These characteristics sculpt us into the people we present to the world each day. There has never been a more critical time than the present for us to use these practices in our lives and workplaces, regardless of whether you work in corporate, retail, food, construction or anything else.

All of us can find happiness and success in our lives, especially within our careers. It’s possible with the Genshai Mind. When we implement these beliefs and practice them regularly, the positivity can benefit our way of life, our way of thinking and our way of doing business. With Genshai at the forefront of our minds, we can see the effects on our fellow employees, customers, communities, economies and humanity in general.

When I realized Genshai was something I identified with, I could at last identify and align myself  against a mindset that I had been trying to cultivate. It helped me realize a way of being in the world that I had already chosen to live by. It also made me focus on authentic and important lessons that were necessary to grow internally as a person and be successful at a higher level in life.

As I strive to live as a Genshai Warrior, I share these principles as often as possible. The more frequently I give it away, the stronger and more successful I become. My prior relationships and friendships have deepened. I have made many new relationships with people who share the same thinking and similar goals in life; one’s that revolve around a genuine commitment to growth through positivity.

In life, we can sometimes become stagnant, rest on our laurels or get too comfortable; unable to see what greatness, happiness, success and legacy is right in front of us. I encourage you to go to www.genshai.com to learn more and to assess what element represents your life force. Let’s all step into our excellence and share the Genshai gift. Amazingly, that gift is you!

Robert W. Payne will release his book “Chaos Agent” (working title) in early 2019. He grew up mostly in Bolingbrook, Illinois (south of Chicago) and is an agent of change based on his life experiences. He is a member of the Genshai team – a word meaning, “Never treat another person in a manner which makes them feel small, including yourself.” 

During a sudden downpour in 2012, Paul Cummins sought refuge in a public library. He explored the archives and came across wills written by soldiers fighting in the first world war. One written phonetically, captivated him.

Paul is dyslexic and the phonetics made it easier for him to read. He realized that it was the will and last testament of a woman who had disguised herself and gone off to fight and make the ultimate sacrifice in the trenches. A phrase: “Blood swept lands and seas of red where angels fear to tread” shot out. Paul was overwhelmed and it made him think about the war’s massive death toll. There were 888,246 British and Commonwealth fatalities during World War One.

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Fueled with a crazy idea, Paul embarked on an audacious quest to create nearly a million handmade ceramic poppies – a lone ceramics guy who became a real leader with a vision that inspired thousands of volunteers to help make an impossible vision possible.

Quests Are Part of Every Culture’s Folklore

Since the dawn of civilization, quests have been a driving force behind humankind’s’ progress. Take JFK’s moonshooting quest; or Nelson Mandela’s and Martin Luther King’s noble quests for all persons to be free regardless of color or creed. But consider too the Polynesian islander in a dug-out canoe who one-day said: “Let’s go that way!” No one had ever been that way before. No one even knew what existed that way. Quests are amazing, they overcome the impossible, are open to anyone and they change the world.

Why Are Quests Important in 2019?

We are living through revolutionary times. Every 150-200 years forces of progress collide. You can see these disruptive periods in history: The Age of Enlightenment, The Renaissance, The Age of Discovery and The Industrial Revolution; when everything changes. The same is happening now.

At Davos, the World Economic Forum called our current age: The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Not to knock them, but they could have been more creative – we are living in the Age of Quests. Never before have so many doors of progress opened up in the fields of science, health, engineering, education, entertainment and space travel. Perhaps the defining quest of our age will be a human colony on Mars. But you do not need to travel to the red planet for your own quest. Explore any of the 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and you will discover a multitude of questing opportunities awaiting real leaders. When leaders get these four qualities right, amazing results happen, as Paul’s quest demonstrates:

Is There a Better Way?

Paul Cummins left the library asking: Is there a better way? – To commemorate a century since the start of WW1. He devised an inspired solution: A ‘sea of red’ ceramic poppies, filling the moat around the Tower of London. “Ceramics are transient and fragile, like we are” says Paul in an interview with the Guardian. “They feel part of our very humanity. Societies have always been carbon-dated by their ceramics and pottery. I settled on poppies because of their color and links to war remembrance.”

An Inspiring Destination

The goal: 888,246 ceramic poppies created and planted before 11 November 2014. There was no ambiguity and his quest was crystal clear.

 

Challenging The Impossible

Making nearly one million ceramic poppies is an immense undertaking. Paul wanted the poppies to be individual, like every soldier. So, the ceramic flowers were lovingly handcrafted. But Paul operates alone out of a small studio. He needed an army of supporters to craft the 3,500 daily poppies required to meet his quest’s target and deadline. Plus, his quest required a poppy planting odyssey. It was calculated that one person working on their own would take three and a half years to plant all the poppies. In the end, 300 artists worked day and night for a year crafting the poppies; and, over 27,000 people volunteered their time planting, and ultimately removing, the scarlet sea of remembrance.

Delivering Meaningful Benefits

Quests require innovations. Paul devised a revolutionary way to fund his quest and the sale of poppies raised over £10m for charities. Perhaps the greatest achievement though was the estimated five million people who came in person to pay homage, and for a time, the installation was the most viewed photograph on Google.

So, what can you take with you as you look towards 2019? Today because of breakthrough technologies, anyone anywhere, with a radical idea, leveraging the power of social can embark on a meaningful quest. It’s never been easier to make a real difference in the world. Few leaders think in terms of their business and quests. The great ones like Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Paul Cummins do it intuitively and they achieve remarkable results.

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The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.

This years Nobel Peace Prize is intended to send the message that “women, who constitute half of the population, are used as a weapons of war, and they need protection, and the perpetrators have to be held responsible and prosecuted for their actions,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said after announcing the winners today.

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Both laureates have made a crucial contribution to focusing attention on, and combating, such war crimes. Mukwege is the helper who has devoted his life to defending these victims. Murad is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others. Each of them in their own way has helped to give greater visibility to war-time sexual violence, so that the perpetrators can be held accountable for their actions.

A physician, Mukwege has spent large parts of his adult life helping the victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since the Panzi Hospital was established in Bukavu in 2008, Dr. Mukwege and his staff have treated thousands of patients who have fallen victim to such assaults. Most of the abuses have been committed in the context of a long-lasting civil war that has cost the lives of more than six million Congolese.

Mukwege is the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts. His basic principle is that “justice is everyone’s business”. Men and women, officers and soldiers, and local, national and international authorities alike all have a shared responsibility for reporting, and combating, this type of war crime.

His enduring, dedicated and selfless efforts in this field didn’t go unnoticed by the Nobel selection committee. He has repeatedly condemned impunity for mass rape and criticized the Congolese government and other countries for not doing enough to stop the use of sexual violence against women as a strategy and weapon of war.

Murad is herself a victim of war crimes. She refused to accept the social codes that require women to remain silent and ashamed of the abuses to which they have been subjected. She has shown uncommon courage in recounting her own sufferings and speaking up on behalf of other victims.

She is a member of the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq, where she lived with her family in the remote village of Kocho. In August 2014 the Islamic State (IS) launched a brutal, systematic attack on the villages of the Sinjar district, aimed at exterminating the Yazidi population. In Nadia Murad’s village, several hundred people were massacred. The younger women, including underage children, were abducted and held as sex slaves. While a captive of the IS, Nadia Murad was repeatedly subjected to rape and other abuses. Her assaulters threatened to execute her if she did not convert to their hateful, inhuman version of Islam.

She is just one of an estimated 3,000 Yazidi girls and women who were victims of rape and other abuses by the IS army. The abuses were systematic, and part of a military strategy. Thus they served as a weapon in the fight against Yazidis and other religious minorities.

After a three-month nightmare Nadia Murad managed to flee. Following her escape, she chose to speak openly about what she had suffered. In 2016, at the age of just 23, she was named the UN’s first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.

This year marks a decade since the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1820 (2008), which determined that the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict constitutes both a war crime and a threat to international peace and security. This is also set out in the Rome Statute of 1998, which governs the work of the International Criminal Court. The Statute establishes that sexual violence in war and armed conflict is a grave violation of international law. A more peaceful world can only be achieved if women and their fundamental rights and security are recognized and protected in war. 

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is firmly embedded in the criteria spelled out in Alfred Nobel’s will. Mukwege and Murad have both put their personal security at risk by courageously combating war crimes and seeking justice for the victims. They have thereby promoted the fraternity of nations through the application of principles of international law.

If you like this, subscribe here for more stories that Inspire The Future.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.

This years Nobel Peace Prize is intended to send the message that “women, who constitute half of the population, are used as a weapons of war, and they need protection, and the perpetrators have to be held responsible and prosecuted for their actions,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said after announcing the winners today.

If you like this, subscribe here for more stories that Inspire The Future.

Both laureates have made a crucial contribution to focusing attention on, and combating, such war crimes. Mukwege is the helper who has devoted his life to defending these victims. Murad is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others. Each of them in their own way has helped to give greater visibility to war-time sexual violence, so that the perpetrators can be held accountable for their actions.

A physician, Mukwege has spent large parts of his adult life helping the victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since the Panzi Hospital was established in Bukavu in 2008, Dr. Mukwege and his staff have treated thousands of patients who have fallen victim to such assaults. Most of the abuses have been committed in the context of a long-lasting civil war that has cost the lives of more than six million Congolese.

Mukwege is the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts. His basic principle is that “justice is everyone’s business”. Men and women, officers and soldiers, and local, national and international authorities alike all have a shared responsibility for reporting, and combating, this type of war crime.

His enduring, dedicated and selfless efforts in this field didn’t go unnoticed by the Nobel selection committee. He has repeatedly condemned impunity for mass rape and criticized the Congolese government and other countries for not doing enough to stop the use of sexual violence against women as a strategy and weapon of war.

Murad is herself a victim of war crimes. She refused to accept the social codes that require women to remain silent and ashamed of the abuses to which they have been subjected. She has shown uncommon courage in recounting her own sufferings and speaking up on behalf of other victims.

She is a member of the Yazidi minority in northern Iraq, where she lived with her family in the remote village of Kocho. In August 2014 the Islamic State (IS) launched a brutal, systematic attack on the villages of the Sinjar district, aimed at exterminating the Yazidi population. In Nadia Murad’s village, several hundred people were massacred. The younger women, including underage children, were abducted and held as sex slaves. While a captive of the IS, Nadia Murad was repeatedly subjected to rape and other abuses. Her assaulters threatened to execute her if she did not convert to their hateful, inhuman version of Islam.

She is just one of an estimated 3,000 Yazidi girls and women who were victims of rape and other abuses by the IS army. The abuses were systematic, and part of a military strategy. Thus they served as a weapon in the fight against Yazidis and other religious minorities.

After a three-month nightmare Nadia Murad managed to flee. Following her escape, she chose to speak openly about what she had suffered. In 2016, at the age of just 23, she was named the UN’s first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.

This year marks a decade since the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1820 (2008), which determined that the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict constitutes both a war crime and a threat to international peace and security. This is also set out in the Rome Statute of 1998, which governs the work of the International Criminal Court. The Statute establishes that sexual violence in war and armed conflict is a grave violation of international law. A more peaceful world can only be achieved if women and their fundamental rights and security are recognized and protected in war. 

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is firmly embedded in the criteria spelled out in Alfred Nobel’s will. Mukwege and Murad have both put their personal security at risk by courageously combating war crimes and seeking justice for the victims. They have thereby promoted the fraternity of nations through the application of principles of international law.

If you like this, subscribe here for more stories that Inspire The Future.

Heads of State and Government arrived in New York to the annual debates at the United Nations General Assembly; they were hosted by President María Fernanda. 

The new President of the General Assembly, H.E. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, of Ecuador, took the oath of office on 17^th September and officially opened the General Assembly a day later with a pledge to dedicate her presidency to women and girls. She said: “I want to support those women who have entered politics; who are demanding equality in the workplace; those women and girls who are victims of violence and those girls and adolescents who demand access to quality education.”

President Espinosa Garcés is the first woman of the Latin America and Caribbean Group to preside over the General Assembly.

The 73^rd session of the General Assembly focused on gender equality, migration and refugees, decent work for all and the role of youth in peace and security. The session also focused on supporting the rights of the disabled, climate action and revitalization of the work of the UN.

Ms. Espinosa Garcés is committed to bringing the UN closer to the people and people closer to the UN in order to make the Organization relevant to everyone.She has dedicated her year in office and that of her team to ensuring that the UN delivers seven days a week, every week. Her slogan has been abbreviated to: D.A.R.E which stands for “Delivery, Accountability, Relevance and Efficiency.”

Along with the statements from world leaders, the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, will also include high-level events on the elimination of tuberculosis and tackling of non-communicable diseases, as well as a special session on global peace in honor of former South African President Nelson Mandela

A statue of Mr. Mandela will also be unveiled at the UN Headquarters in New York in recognition of his lifetime of efforts to promote peace and security and protect human rights, both pillars of the United Nations.