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Photo-Exhibition: "Rwanda - Back to Life. TenYears after the


From "Frank Imhoff" <FRANKI@elca.org>
Date Tue, 23 Mar 2004 11:06:26 -0600

Photos: 'Rwanda - Back to Life, Ten Years after the Genocide'
LWF German National Committee Display to Tour Germany, Finland, Rwanda

STUTTGART, Germany/GENEVA, 23 March 2004 (LWI) - Ten years after the genocide
in Rwanda, in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed and thousands
more fled the country, tens of thousands of genocide-related suspects await
trial in overcrowded prisons. Some of the refugees have returned and now try
to find their way back to life. But the path to normalcy and peace is not an
easy one. 

To mark the tenth anniversary of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the German
National Committee (GNC) of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is presenting
a new concept of a photo exhibition that portrays not only the scars of the
Rwandan massacre but also people's strong will to overcome trauma and
injustice. "Rwanda - Back to Life, Ten Years after the Genocide" focuses on
signs of reconstruction and hope, reconciliation and new life. 

The exhibition, displayed in an earlier version "Rwanda - Back to Life," in
2001, will be inaugurated on the genocide commemoration day, April 7, in
Kibungo, south east of the Rwandan capital Kigali, and in the German capital
Berlin. A Finnish version will be shown in Helsinki.

The exhibition has been prepared by the GNC/LWF in collaboration with German
aid organizations Bread for the World and Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe,
Protestant press service * epd, and Action by Churches Together (ACT)
International, the Geneva-based global alliance of churches and aid agencies
working to save lives and support communities during emergencies.

In 30 panels (50x75 cm) mounted with around 80 photos taken between 2000 and
2003, photographer Thomas Lohnes portrays victims and perpetrators, the
arduous search for truth during the Gacacas (community-run courts), problems
encountered by returnees, and the situation of street children and people
living with HIV/AIDS. There are photos also depicting the LWF Department for
World Service (DWS) work in Rwanda. Brief reports and explanations by
journalists Regina Karasch and Rainer Lang accompany the images.

During the 100-day commemoration of the genocide in Rwanda, a tri-lingual
version of the exhibition - English, French and Kinyarwanda will travel
through the country's main provincial towns. The LWF/DWS country program will
coordinated the process. 

Next month's German tour of the new version of the exhibition will open at
the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development in Berlin. Further sites
include St Thomas Church in Leipzig (end April/May), Munich (July), Gera
(October) and Speyer (December.) There are plans to also display the photos
in Strasbourg, France and Vienna, Austria. 

A Finnish version of the exhibition opens at the German Embassy in Helsinki,
April 22. It has been organized in collaboration with FinnChurchAid, the
development and relief organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Finland. 

"Rwanda - Back to Life, Ten Years after the Genocide" can be hired from the
GNC/LWF, Diemershaldenstr. 45, D-70184 Stuttgart, Germany, Tel. +49 711 2159
364, Fax +49 711 2159 123, E-mail LWB@diakonie.de. Different language
versions can be requested.

Accompanying the exhibition is an 88-page German-language photo
documentation, which can be ordered at the LWF/GNC or from bookshops at the
price of EUR 11.80 (523 words)

[The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund (Sweden), the LWF now has 136 member
churches in 76 countries representing 62.3 million of the almost 66 million
Lutherans worldwide. The LWF acts on behalf of its member churches in areas
of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology,
humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, and the various aspects
of mission and development work. Its secretariat is located in Geneva,
Switzerland.)
 
[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service. Unless
specifically noted, material presented does not represent positions or
opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the dateline of an article
contains the notation (LWI), the material may be freely reproduced with
acknowledgment.]

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