Fifth Annual Gatumba Memorial Gathering

Concord – During the night of August 13, 2004, in a United Nations-run refugee camp in Burundi, Africa called Gatumba, 166 innocents from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were mercilessly slaughtered by armed factions. These 166, the 116 others who were maimed and injured, and their traumatized families, were almost exclusively members of the Banyamulenge tribe, who had earlier been forced from their homes in the southern Kivu region of the DRC.

Since that horrific night, hundreds of Gatumba Survivors and their families have been relocated to safety in North America, to communities from Colorado to Maine and from Texas to Canada, aided by numerous international governmental organizations, nonprofit groups, and countless volunteers. Families of Gatumba Survivors are now living throughout the US, and dozens have resettled in New England.

On Saturday August 15, 2009, the Fifth Annual Gatumba Memorial Gathering will be held at NHTI, Concord's Community College. This event, which is open to all Gatumba Survivors (with some events open to the public as well) will help the Survivors and their families rekindle old bonds and forge new connections, pay respects to those who were murdered, and continue healing raw emotional wounds. Sponsorships to bring the Survivors to the Memorial are being obtained daily.

Privately, the Survivors, who generally are deeply religious, will have the chance to hold services and remembrances of those lost in a peaceful and safe location. On a greater scale, the Survivors will use this event as a platform to pressure the international community to bring these evildoers to justice, to protect the 2,000-plus remaining Banyamulenge from the threat of genocide, reunite families torn apart by violence and resettlement, and to call for a cessation of violence against all civilian populations throughout the Congo and the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Events open to the public will be held from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm on Saturday, August 15, and will include presentations and speakers on the Gatumba Massacre and the situation in the Great Lakes Region, including Rose Mapendo, UNHCR Humanitarian of the Year. This will also present opportunities to get involved as a force for change with different types of organizations, and provide a chance to meet the Survivors.

This gathering is being spearheaded by three nonprofit groups - the Gatumba Refugees Survivors Foundation, the Contocook United Methodist Church of Concord, NH, and Mahoro Association, with gracious support from Mapendo International. The staff and students of NHTI have been instrumental in organizing and hosting this year's event.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Olivier Mandevu, President, Gatumba Refugees Survivors Foundation, Inc., (518) 210-1169, , www.gatumbasurvivors.org

Dr. Kigabo Mbazumutima, Mahoro Association, (623) 930-0209,

David Carpenter, Secretary, Gatumba Refugees Survivors Foundation, Inc., (802) 948-2887,

ATTACHMENT: 2009 Gatumba Memorial Information Sheets
                     (tentative schedule, participants & speakers, weblinks, etc)