LONDON, ENGLAND.- The Brunei Gallery at the School of Oriental and African Studies will present Rwandan Courage & Survival, an exhibition presented by the Survivors Fund, 13 July – 23 September 2006. This new exhibition by the Survivors Fund (SURF) is entitled Heroes of Our Time: Rwandan Courage & Survival. It presents a history of the genocide and focuses on the plight of survivors today through the stories of four heroic survivors – Siméon Karamaga , Daphrose Mukangarambe, Cassien Mbanda and Ange Cendrine Mukayitesi.

The exhibition is a first for Survivors Fund. Through a series of testimonies, photographs, short films and boards it provides a detailed history of Rwanda, setting the context as to how the colonial years sowed the seeds for the genocide of 1994.

More importantly though, Heroes of Our Time: Rwandan Courage & Survival tells the stories of the survivors of the genocide and raises awareness about the issues that they face today. This is reflected in the focus of SURF’s work: a call for action and justice - for the international community to do more to protect survivors that are today vulnerable to intimidation, assault, and even murder, in reprisal for giving evidence and testimony at gacaca trials. As well, the exhibition focuses on the need to ensure that the memory of the genocide is preserved, the importance of provide a safe sanctuary for survivors suffering emotional and psychological distress and finishing the work of burying the victims of the genocide.

The Survivors Fund is a British-based charity set up and run by Rwandan Mary Kayitesi Blewitt. It works to raise awareness of the plight of the survivors of the Rwandan genocide and to secure support and funding to help improve their lives.