News & Events

I am pleased to send you my best wishes for the New Year 2012. All the best to you, your family, and all your loved ones!

Keep in touch. 

Joseph Sebarenzi’s family

I will speak about Rwanda and ethnic conflict at Drew University in Madison, Wisc. on April 3. The lecture in the Dorothy Young Center for the Arts will be preceded by a 1:00 p.m. book signing. The event will also include remarks by community builder and anti-genocide activist Joyce Reilly C’74, a member of the Center for Holocaust/Genocide Study’s Board of Associates, and a performance by the Drew University Ubuntu Pan-African Choir. Read an article about this event on the Drew University website.

The Conflict Transformation across Cultures-CONTACT program started in 1997 with fourteen participants. Today, CONTACT has hundreds of alumni from all over the world.

“When I was looking at the world map with my daughter, I discovered how great CONTACT was. I told her that I know people from everywhere. I know all these countries now, not only with names with its real people. CONTACT gave me the opportunity to know how they feel and think. Now, I look at the map and feel how great it is to know people from all over the world. –Waheed Zahran, Palestine

“My time in CONTACT enhanced my understanding of our humanity. Who are we? Where are we coming from? CONTACT enabled me to see where I am in the larger picture of humanity. Now, I’m a part of the greater community of peacebuilders. –Bisrat Abebe Bisrat, Ethiopia

On 7 p.m., March 3, Mr. Sebarenzi speaks at Colorado State University’s Lory Student Center Theater. The speech was organized by Hillel, the United Men of Color, and the Associated Students of Colorado State University.

God Sleeps in Rwanda is published in the United Kingdom under a slightly different title: God Sleeps in Rwanda: A Personal Journey of Transformation. This is a paperback with a different cover and colors:

Click the image to visit Amazon UK to purchase the book.

Mr. Sebarenzi appeared on CNN in New York on November 18, 2009, and argued among other things that:

“Instead of having a president that is too powerful, (Rwanda) should have a powerful parliament, judiciary, and a civil society”, he said. Author Philip Gourevitch, who wrote a prize-winning account of the massacres, “We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families,” offered a more optimistic assessment.  Read more here

On Nov. 22, the Washington Post published a review of God Sleeps in Rwanda by Stephen Kinzer, author of “A Thousand Hills: Rwanda’s Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It.”

In his memoir, “God Sleeps in Rwanda,” Joseph Sebarenzi presents a thoughtful critique of Kagame’s regime. His tale is a provocative warning to the many outsiders who are ready to canonize Kagame.

Read more of Kinzer’s review.

When it comes to doing business, Rwanda is the African nation to watch. The 2009 World Bank Doing Business report hailed the central African nation for its extensive fiscal and economic reforms aimed at attracting foreign investments. Rwanda has also been praised for its quick recovery after the 1994 genocide that cost nearly 1 million lives in only 90 days. Fifteen years later, Rwanda boasts one of the cleanest capital cities in the region, booming construction, and a per-capita income that outpaces neighboring countries.

Joseph Sebarenzi will be speaking at SIT/Graduate Institute in Brattleboro Vermont on October 16, 2009 at 7:00 PM at IC Building. The event is open to the public..

I will be speaking at Smith College on October 15, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in the Neilson Browsing Room. The event will be open to the public.