Read more about the article 20 Years After Genocide, Rwanda Resurges
Claudin Mukakalisa (26), and her son Jeandediue Ufiteyezu (11) Gisazi, Rwanda (source: Jonathan Torgovnik for Intended Consequences)

20 Years After Genocide, Rwanda Resurges

Claudin Mukakalisa (26), and her son Jeandediue Ufiteyezu (11)
Gisazi, Rwanda
(source: Jonathan Torgovnik for Intended Consequences)

Today marks the 20th anniversary of one of the most horrific events in modern history. Between April and June of 1994, an estimated 800,000 Tutsis were killed in the span of 100 days in the small central African country of Rwanda. The ramifications of this genocide continue to this day. In Intended Consequences, Jonathan Torgovnik, MediaStorm and our partners at Foundation Rwanda examined particularly tragic stories left behind by the Hutu militia – the lives of the women they held captive, raped – and left pregnant.

20 years later, Rwanda is able to tell a story that once seemed unlikely, one of optimism and resurgence. Jules Shell, Executive Director & Co-founder of Foundation Rwanda, offers a glimpse into the challenges and triumphs survivors of the genocide face today.

What signs of recovery have you seen in Rwanda over the past two decades? 

Jules Shell: Rwanda has made great strides since the genocide, in the rebuilding of the country. There has been a lot of development and investment, in particular in building the capacity of the government to deliver essential services such as primary education and healthcare. However, there are still great challenges for the country which is still one of the least developed in the world (ranked 167 out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index 2012). Vulnerable and marginalized populations within the country, such as women genocide survivors, and their children born of rape, still have particular challenges resulting from the genocide – which is why Foundation Rwanda is specifically focused on delivering support specifically to them.
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charity: water September Campaign for Rwanda

This September, charity: water is celebrating its birthday by bringing water to everyone in one country--Rwanda. The Rwandan people overcame the darkest time in their history, and together, rebuilt their nation. Now, they're working to give clean water to everyone. Help charity: water raise $1.7 million to give clean water to every community in the Shyorongi and Ngoma sectors of Rwanda. The people of Rwanda are rewriting their story. And it starts with clean water for everyone. Learn more and donate at www.charitywater.org/september/. Also, check out 5 Questions with Scott Harrison, Founder of charity: water on the Official YouTube Blog. Smile at the Man Who Did This To You Jonathon Torgovnik and Jules Shell co-founded Foundation Rwanda, an organization that brings support to woman who bore children as a result of rape during the 1994 genocide and their children. Watch Jules Shell at TEDxScottAFB tell the remarkable stories of Annet and Agathe…

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Intended Consequences named as first web winner of Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards

Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism today announced the 2010 winners of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards. MediaStorm is honored to be the first web recipient of a duPont Award, for Intended Consequences, by Jonathan Torgovnik. From their site: In painfully intimate interviews photojournalist Jonathan Torgovnik explores an unfathomable question: can a mother can love a child born out of rape. The women profiled in this haunting multimedia presentation were caught in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when mass rapes resulted in the birth of an estimated 20,000 children. It spotlights an issue which had not been as widely covered as other war crimes in Rwanda, and is the first Web-based production to win a duPont Award. The women speak simply about their brutal experiences, their isolation and suffering, and the way forward. The producers made excellent creative choices that contributed to the impact of the reporting without resorting to sensationalism. The…

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Intended Consequences wins Anthropographia Award for Multimedia and Human Rights

We are pleased to announce that Intended Consequences by Jonathan Torgovnik has won The Anthropographia Award for Multimedia and Human Rights. Congratulations also to Marcus Bleasdale, whose still project The Rape of a Nation won the The Anthropographia Award for Photography and Human Rights. The multimedia piece, produced by MediaStorm, also received an Honorary Mention. Anthropographia’s aim is to create new spaces for photojournalism; new spaces that encourage the promotion of human rights, expose social injustice and underline the multiple realities of our current world. The jury shortlisted 24 photography essays as well as 10 multimedia pieces which will be displayed on large scale exhibitions internationally. Projects will be screened at the New York Photo Festival, and at several other locations. Full listing, along with all of the winners, on the Anthropographia site.

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