The U.S. Embassy is proud to announce the award of a USD $87,000 (approximately 63.5 million RWF) grant from the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation to the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG). This grant will provide training to local Rwandan experts in artifact and structural conservation at Nyamata genocide memorial. While Nyamata memorial site will most directly benefit, the training and preservation skills these experts acquire will help them to conserve other sites as well, providing a lasting contribution to the conservation of Rwanda’s historical and cultural heritage.
Joined by CNLG Executive Secretary Dr. Jean Damascène Bizimana, Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Thomas Perriello, and the Mayor of Bugesera, U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda Erica J. Barks-Ruggles announced the grant at Nyamata genocide memorial in the presence of survivors of the massacre.
“Very early in my time as Ambassador, I visited Nyamata genocide memorial. It was one of the most powerful experiences I have had in Rwanda,” Ambassador Barks-Ruggles said. “The memory of what happened here – and in so many other places across Rwanda during the genocide – must be preserved. The evidence must be preserved, so that no one will ever be able to deny what happened.”
The grant was made possible through the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation, which supports the preservation of cultural sites, objects, and forms of traditional expression in more than 100 countries around the world.
