Keeping Memories

Teaching Resource Pack

Refugee Awareness Week

Keeping Memories 2

Refugee Awareness Week

Table of Contents

Background: A Brief History of Rwanda p.3

Teaching Resources in Context p.4

How to use these Resources p.5

Factsheet: Common Misconceptions about Refugees and Asylum Seekers p.6

Three Paintings p.8

Card sort exercise (ordered) on the difference between refugees and asylum seekers p.11

Transcripts for Audio in Slideshow p.12

A Citizenship Test (with no answers) p.16

Feedback Questionnaire p.17

Please note that these resources are designed to be used in conjunction with ‘rYico Refugee Awareness Week Power Point Slides’ and ‘rYico Refugee Awareness Week Lesson Plan’.

Acknowledgements These resources, including Power Point Slides and Lesson Plans © Rwandan Youth Information Community Organisation (rYico).

Copyright of individual testimonies, photographs, paintings and poems remains with the contributor.

Author: Monica Davison

Paintings and Iconic Images of Rwanda © Patrice Shema

Photographs of participants © Jackie McCullough and Rafael Casarini

Photograph of Gorilla © absoluteafrica.com

Photograph of Genocide Memorial © Andrew Sutton / Survivors Fund (SURF)

Photograph of Olympic Stadium © John Curnow

Photograph of Rwandan MP © women-without-borders.org

Caterpillar Game in Anti-Bullying Week and elements of Black History Month © Paul Ginnis, replicated with permission from Paul Ginnis (2002), Teacher's Toolkit: Raise Classroom Achievement with Strategies for Every Learner, Crown House Publishing

Cover image © Hannah Johnson

rYico has made every effort to ensure that the content of this publication is accurate, but takes no responsibility for errors or omissions herein.

These resources are distributed free of charge thanks to a grant from The Heritage Lottery Fund and are intended for educational use. Their contents may not be copied, reproduced, republished, posted, broadcast or transmitted in any way without first obtaining rYico’s permission or that of the copyright owner.

Keeping Memories 3

For the teacher

Background: A Brief History of Rwanda

For hundreds of years Rwanda has been home to three groups of people: Hutus, Tutsis and Twas. Originally, Rwandans could change which group they belonged to, since each simply represented a social class. In the late 19th century, as a result of German and then Belgium colonial rule, these identities became fixed and the Tutsis were selected as the rulers of the country, even though they were a minority group.

In the 1930s the Belgians introduced I.D. cards that stated the holder’s ethnicity, cementing the idea that Tutsis, Hutus and Twas were racially different.

In 1959, the Hutu majority revolted against the Belgians and Tutsis, and took power for themselves, ruling over Rwanda for the next 30 years. Throughout this period, Tutsis faced institutionalised discrimination and experienced sporadic outbursts of violence.

In 1990 the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) – a group that was pre-dominantly made up of Tutsis who had fled Rwanda in the 1950s – invaded Rwanda, which began a civil war. The Hutu political elite, fearful of losing power, began to pursue increasingly extremist policies. This culminated in the 1994 genocide, which began when the President of Rwanda’s plane was shot down on 6 April 1994, and was only ended by the RPF’s victory on 18 July 1994.

Approximately 200,000 people participated in the killing. In just one-hundred days 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus had been killed, 250,000 women had been raped, 2 million refugees had fled Rwanda, and over 100,000 children had been made orphans. This whole process was carried out in full view of the international community and, infamously, the UN failed to intervene.

In search of reconciliation between Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda three main solutions have been pursued: prosecuting the perpetrators, educating survivors and the next generation, and passing legislation that seeks to diminish ethnic difference. Reconciliation is an ongoing process, and is something that will take decades to fully realise.

Tutsi ID card at massacre site Nyamata Church, Rwanda © Aegis Trust

Keeping Memories 4

For the teacher

Teaching Resources in Context

Rwandan Youth Information Community Organisation (rYico) is a small UK charity that works to support and empower vulnerable young people in Rwanda as well as raise awareness of Rwanda and Rwandans in the UK.

These teaching resources are part of rYico’s Heritage Lottery funded project, Keeping Memories: Rwandans in the UK, which began in 2011. The initiative celebrates the rich heritage of the UK Rwandan Community as well as commemorating the 1994 genocide. A key aim of our project is to provide young people with the opportunity to learn from the personal experiences of project participants to foster intergenerational and intercultural understanding.

The project is centred around material from interviews with ten members of the UK Rwandan community which were undertaken by trained student volunteers from the University of Sussex. We created a multimedia exhibition of photographs, audio from the interviews, text and paintings which toured nationally throughout 2012-2013. This was accompanied by an event series of open evenings, seminars, film screenings and music.

rYico has produced an interactive website which includes a online version of the exhibition, and a colour book which explores some of the major topics from the interviews. To view the exhibition or to request a copy of the book for your school, visit www.ryico.org/keepm. The audio files from the interviews, as well as the transcripts and the book, are publically available in full from Sussex University Special Collections archive.

Keeping Memories runs in partnership with the West Midlands Rwandan Community Association (WMRCA).

This is a resource for Refugee Awareness Week. We also have teaching resources for Black History Month and Anti Bullying Week. To access these files please visit: www.ryico.org/keepm/?page_id=30

Rwandan Youth Information Community Organisation (rYico) Community Base 113 Queens Road Brighton BN1 3XG

Telephone: + (0)1273 234836 Email: info@ryico.org www.ryico.org/keepm

Keeping Memories 5

For the teacher

How to use these Resources

These resources are designed to be used as part of PSHE lessons. However, if your school does not have specific time allocated to PSHE it will still be possible to use these resources. Each lesson is split up into smaller tasks, lasting on average fifteen minutes. These tasks can be tackled in form time over a number of days. Alternatively, it is also possible to use the case studies as a basis for group discussion.

These resources are aimed at students in Key Stage 4 (14-16 year olds) and are designed to accommodate a range of abilities.

rYico has chosen not to specify specific timings for the activities as we are aware that different classes will be working at different levels. The lessons are designed so that they can be adapted to be used in the most appropriate manner for your class.

These resources should be used from the front of the class using a SMART Board. If pupils wish to hear more testimonies, please encourage them to visit www.ryico.org/keepm/?page_id=24

This document should be used in conjunction with a set of PowerPoint slides, entitled ‘rYico Refugee Awareness Week Power Point Slides’. You will find this file located in the same folder as this kit.

This document should be used in conjunction with a lesson plan, entitled ‘rYico Refugee Awareness Week Lesson Plan’. You will find this file located in the same folder as this kit.

In order to view some of the resources embedded into the PowerPoint’s it may be necessary to download ‘Quicktime’. This is free to download at the following address: www.apple.com/uk/quicktime/download

Please note that some pages in this kit will need to be printed in multiple copies according to the needs of your class.

These resources are provided free of charge. It is very important to us to collect feedback to ensure that our project is meeting its aims and reaching a broad range of people. We have included a short feedback form and we highly appreciate you filling it in and sending it back to: info@ryico.org.

Keeping Memories 6

For the teacher

Factsheet: Common misconceptions about refugees and asylum seekers

Asylum seekers are ‘scroungers’ or ‘benefit cheats’ Asylum seekers do not come to the UK to claim benefits. In fact, most know nothing about welfare benefits before they arrive and had no expectation that they would receive financial support.

Under UK law, asylum seekers are banned from working, forcing them into the very dependence on benefits for which they are criticised.

Most asylum seekers are living in poverty and experience poor health and hunger. Many families are not able to pay for the basics such as clothing, powdered milk and nappies.

Most asylum seekers and refugees in the UK are skilled and eager to work but are prevented from doing so by red tape and barriers like ignorance and prejudice.

Asylum seekers ‘jump the queue’ for council housing Asylum seekers do not jump the queue for council housing and they cannot choose where they live. The local council does not pay for the accommodation allocated to them. It is nearly always ‘hard to let’ properties, where other people do not want to live.

Asylum seekers are often left homeless or housed in sub-standard hostel accommodation.

Asylum seekers and refugees ‘take our jobs’ Asylum seekers are prohibited from working under UK law.

Refugees are allowed to work, but find it extremely difficult to enter employment due to employers’ ignorance of the law and requirements for employers to complete long and confusing paperwork for the Home Office.

Refugees or asylum seekers are ‘illegal immigrants’ There is no such thing as an ‘illegal’ or ‘bogus’ asylum seeker. Under international law, anyone has the right to apply for asylum in any country that has signed the 1951 Convention and to remain there until the authorities have assessed their claim. The Convention has saved millions of lives. No country has ever withdrawn from it.

It is recognised in the 1951 Convention that people fleeing persecution may have to use irregular means in order to escape and claim asylum in another country – there is no legal way to travel to the UK for the specific purpose of seeking asylum.

The UK takes more than its fair share of asylum seeker and refugees or is

being ‘swamped’ by asylum seekers and refugees The UK, one of the richest countries in the world, hosts less than 2 per cent of the world’s total refugee population. If you consider global refugee and asylum seeking populations in relation to the host country's overall size, population and wealth, the UK ranks 32nd in the world.

A recent poll revealed that on average the British public believes that 23 per cent of the world’s refugees and asylum seekers are in the UK, more than ten times the actual figure.

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The UK also takes in a small number of refugees relative to its population. Whereas the UK hosts just over 3 refugees per 1,000 inhabitants – or 0.3 per cent of its population – Armenia hosts 70, Congo hosts 40, Yugoslavia hosts 38.

About 80% of the world’s refugees are living in developing countries, often in camps. Africa and Asia between them host more than three quarters of the world’s refugees. Europe looks after just 15%

Refugees and Asylum Seekers get more benefits than UK citizens Since they are prohibited from working, adult asylum seekers are eligible to receive support from the UK Border Agency of between £36 and £43 per week. This qualifies as being below the poverty line and is considerably less than the benefits that unemployed UK citizens can receive. For example, Jobseekers Allowance currently stands at £56 to £71 per week.

Asylum seekers and refugees do not contribute to UK society Immigrants, including refugees, pay more into the public purse compared to their UK born counterparts.

An estimated 30,000 jobs have been created in Leicester by Ugandan Asian refugees since 1972.

About 1,200 medically qualified refugees are recorded on the British Medical Association’s database.

Asylum-seeking children contribute very positively to schools across the country. This in turn enables more successful integration of families into local communities.

The UK has a ‘soft’ or relaxed asylum system The UK asylum system is strictly controlled and complex. It is very difficult to get asylum. The decision-making process is extremely tough and many people’s claims are rejected.

The Home Office detains around 4000 adults and around 1,000 children seeking asylum with their families each year. Detention can last years, despite detainees not having committed any offense.

Since 2005 most people recognised as refugees are only given permission to stay in the UK for five years and can have their case reviewed at any time. This makes it difficult for them to make decisions about their future, to find work and make definite plans for their life in the UK.

In the UK in 2010, 25% of the people who applied for asylum were granted it. In some countries, such as Switzerland and Finland, over 70% of applications succeed.

Bibliography Refugee Council, The Facts about Asylum (http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/practice/basics/facts)

Refugee Action, Challenging the Myths (http://www.refugee-action.org.uk/information/challengingthemyths2.aspx#top)

Turn2Us, Asylum Seekers, (http://www.turn2us.org.uk/information__resources/benefits/migrants/asylum_seekers.aspx)

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For students – 1 of 3 paintings per group

Refugees I am a refugee. The term ‘refugee’ was like a brand. We hated and we could not rub it off our foreheads.

In exile for three decades we were regarded as Akanyarwanda (a racist label used towards refugees from Rwanda).

It was time to get back our identity and seek the right to belong - either by negotiations or by force.

Keeping Memories 9

For students – 1 of 3 paintings per group

River Nyabarongo Tutsis were killed by Hutu militias and thrown in the river Nyabarongo,

with the symbolic intention of seeing the Tutsis swept back to historic Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) located in the Horn of Africa.

Keeping Memories 10

For students – 1 of 3 paintings per group

Coat of Arms A barbaric two eyed and two faced interim cabinet was entrusted with leading Rwanda’s out of crisis,

instead they continued the atrocities by the blade of a machete. The Vernier caliper was used in the past by the Belgians to measure noses

and create divisions between Tutsis and Hutus triggering deep hatred and segregation.

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For students – 1 set of cards cut out and jumbled per group

Refugee Asylum Seeker Both

A person whose claim has been accepted,

has been allowed to stay in the UK for 5 years

and is allowed to work

A person who has applied for refugee protection

in a new country and is still waiting to have his / her claim accepted or denied.

A person outside of their country of origin.

A person who has a well-grounded fear of

persecution if returned to his / her own country on the grounds of race,

religion, nationality, political belief or membership of a

particular social group.

A person who is allowed to stay in the UK

until their claim is assessed, and who is not

allowed to work.

A person fleeing, who has been unwilling

or unable to seek the protection of authorities

in their own country.

Keeping Memories 12

For students – 1 set of transcripts per group

Transcripts for Audio in Slideshow

Q1 And how was life in Rwanda immediately after the genocide? It was very bad life, you know? You don’t have water, we don’t have electricity, we don’t have food, we don’t have any medicine, you don’t have everything and you are shocked and you was … psychologically traumatised – it was very, very hard life. You know in the life is very hard to understand if you lose one member of your family, can you imagine if you lose four/five/seven in your family or sometime altogether and you stay alone?

It was very shocking, it was very, very difficult time to understand but we tried. Still now we still have some traumatising, we still have some shock, we still have some bad memory about that, especially in this time we are approaching April and you know in April yeh, the life, still we move on, we try to move on.

Q1 So can you tell me a bit more about your experience of genocide and about what happened to your family? To be honest with you my experience in genocide is very, very bad. I lost too many … relative in genocide but every time the name of a genocide comes in my mind I always think about my sisters, my sister was the last one which was the last-born in my family. I loved her so, so much and she loved me so, so much. And then the way they killed them, I was with her so yeah, with my mum, my dad <pause>. So when the genocides started I was 18-years-old, we were Easter Holiday, it was in April and then I was with my family as usual, mum, dad, sisters, brothers there and then on actually the Habyarimana aircraft crashed on the 7th and then we heard the news on the 8th morning and then we start laughing and then say, ‘OK good, good Habyarimana is passed away, he’s dead!’

‘Cause we were kids and start saying maybe we’re going to get the schools, we’re going to the … my big brother might get a nice job, my daddy will now get everything which we were not allowed to get. So my dad say, ‘Shhh stop!! What are you doing, why are you laughing? You will stay there, don’t go anywhere.’ At that time he said, ‘Everything is finished.’ But he did tell us, but the way I saw him, my dad, he see something bad is going to happen, yeah.

Q2 So Medy you were telling me about your experience of genocide in 1994. What happened next? Our neighbours, Tutsi, they come to our home and they were sitting with daddy and then they said maybe this is happening but I think … what’s going to happen, they’re going to come and then take our cows and then that’s it, nobody was thinking that we’re going to be killed like that, the olders, you know our parent and then other big, older than me were saying they’re going to come and take our belongings and that’s it and then they leave us alive.

Till on 20th of May 1994 … we were at home, we couldn’t go anywhere, we couldn’t go anywhere ‘cause all the area was full of people with machete, with … but in area, in my area in Nyanza the genocide started on the 20th April, not May, 20th April. So the Interahamwe and then solider, they come to my area to show the beginning of genocide, they take one man who was my neighbour, I remember the name and then they figure, they killed him so to show people the example so they can starting killing people. And then we stayed there hiding, hiding, one day they come ‘cause they knew my dad was in a bit farmland area.

Keeping Memories 13

For students – 1 set of transcripts per group

Transcripts for Audio in Slideshow (continued)

Then <pause> yeah and then on … on 20 when they come to like show the beginning of genocide in Nyanza, we all running everywhere with Hutu, with Tutsi who were the same, and then during the night we starting hearing the voice say, ‘No, we need just Tutsi, Hutu no problem, we just need Tutsi.’ And then we come up with my sister, with others, we come back home, we stayed there, we couldn’t go in there, they starting killing people in different area and then we were just staying there to be killed, that’s it, cause we couldn’t go anywhere.

So till on 3rd of May … the Interahamwe came to our house with machete so they were in the car, so when they passed near my house my sister saw them so I was sleeping, I was asleep, I was there sleeping and then they say, ‘Medy, they come to kill us, can you go?’ Me, I thought, I woke up and then I just … pass to my neighbour’s house and then I go and sit there and just hide somewhere, it’s not far from my house and they thought my family was now behind me or where they went somewhere else.

Q3 You’re hiding at this point. How long did you stay there? After three hours, no, not three hours, after 41 hour I heard a voice of one man, the one who when he come on that house where I was hiding, so he say, ‘You know what?’ Actually he was talking to his mum, ‘You know what, the Butare’s family have been killed.’ Actually Butare is my dad. So I was sitting there, I heard that the Butare family had been killed … straight away, I was sporting two shoes but I don’t know where one shoe’s gone, I just, when I realised that I have one shoe I went … actually I was out of my mind, I don’t know. I went there not even scared of those people because they want to kill me, to be honest with you I was like crazy, how can I say that?

Yeah, I went there and then I found people coming from my house taking our belongings, sofas, everything, they take everything in my house, watching them. But I don’t, I don’t know, I wasn’t you know. I go there, found where my sister was, my sister, my dad and my mum, my niece, my uncle there and my brother, they all were … sleeping but they all dead.

But when I saw my sister ‘cause they didn’t kill by machete, they used … how can I call it? The screw drive, you know, screw drive the big one so they put it in here, so I didn’t see the blood. When she was lying there, sleeping there I thought she was alive so I approach her, I say ‘Baby…’ We always, Hanika was called baby. I say ‘Baby, wake up, wake up baby, baby.’ Oh but someone told me … one woman I don’t even remember her name, say, ‘She’s dead, she’s dead!’ ‘No’ I say ‘she’s alive. Wake up …’ I thought I saw too my dad’s breathing but in fact his, you know? Yeah and then … oh.

Keeping Memories 14

For students – 1 set of transcripts per group

Transcripts for Audio in Slideshow (continued)

Q1 And when the violence broke out and really erupted, where were you? That time we were running a project in a place called Bugesera in the southern region of Kigali towards the border of Burundi. So that day I went there, I was working on the field then in the evening driving back to the capital city where I live in, tis not far, it is about 70 miles so I arrived late in the evening, not very late, around eight o’clock. Then I think, because I like watching football, I wanted to go and watch one of the UFEA football games but then I felt tired so I went home and I arrived home around eight-thirty, had shower, dinner, then went to bed early. Then in the morning I had to listen to the news, I had a radio near my bed so around five o’clock in the morning I work up to pray then I opened the radio, definitely and I had heard some military songs and … breaking the news saying …

The plane carrying the former president was brought down and also some members of the government who are inside, so the president of Burundi also was in the plane. I got scared, I just told my wife, because I knew at that point something bad would happen, then I told my wife, I say, ‘It’s gonna be a problem because listen to the radio what happened.’ And from that time I could hear some heavy gun because there was some heavy gunshot around in Kigali – I opened my door be-cause we lived in a place called Nyamirambo so there were some fights around the, what they call… where the parliament, they were shelling the parliament and they really have some heavy shelling. So Yeah I managed to get some necessity home then waited, I was just listening to the news, to different radios, international radio, like Radio France Internationale or Deutsche Welle because there were a lot of news around, the crash of the president’s plane so a lot of things were going on and everyone was scared because as hours were going the shooting was intense and intense so we understood things really are getting nasty. I stayed home until 12 o’clock.

When I was listening to the radio, Deutsche Welle, we had a temporary military camp that was moved in one of the uphill over where we lived, so we saw some militaries coming down into the place where we lived coming from the camp, and one place they called Mont Kigali, it is Kigali mountain, I saw they were coming and shooting in the air and shooting just people were getting scared and everyone started running. So I … I grouped everyone in my family, as well it was myself, my wife and my sister-in-law, our maid and my daughter. I closed the house and then everyone ran, we ran together, we went into one of the … in the neighbourhood there was a Red Cross camp, that’s where we went.

So the militia came and surrounded the compound, two gates. One of the gates was occupied by militaries, the second gate on the left side that’s where the militia came from, so they surrounded the compound and they were armed with guns and machetes and iron bars. So we managed to collect enough, we had stones and the iron bars and wood stick – nothing else to defend ourself with. They had grenade as well. So when they surrounded our camp they started shouting, ‘OK, put everything down, put everything down we are coming to kill you.’ Then we told everyone, ‘No, defend yourself however you can.’ So they surrounded the compound, then we were lucky, the ones on the right side when the ones from the left side were forcing to the gate, one behind the militia from the other side threw a grenade into the camp so luckily it missed us and just fell near the gate where the militia were and some were wounded and they started shouting, ‘Oh they are armed! They are armed! Let’s run.’

Keeping Memories 15

For students – 1 set of transcripts per group

Transcripts for Audio in Slideshow (continued)

Q2 When did you hear that the RPF had captured Kigali? In the morning around six o’clock we saw many people coming to the embassy running from the other place because there were some fights around the town. Then they told us, ‘The town is being captured, that’s why we’re running from there.’

And it was everyone that time, Hutu, Tutsi, foreigners because even no Tutsi were left behind, few of them, but they told us, ‘Now military are running away because RPF is capturing the town.’ That’s when they were coming into the embassy.

Then around six I woke up and I saw people coming, a lot of people and there were a lot of people on the road moving, a lot of crowd of people. Then life half-an-hour later we saw RPF soldier now coming in – I couldn’t believe our luck that morning. I remember I was happy for just few minutes because I say OK, at least now I’m safe, but immediately my memory started rolling back to what happened, I remember that I have lost everyone in my family, I lost so many friends, I lost everything, I lost everyone – I was happy for less than five minutes.

Keeping Memories 16

For students – 1 question card per group

A UK Citizenship test (no answers)

1. How many parliamentary constituencies are there? A) 464

B) 564

C) 646

D) 664

2. Ulster Scots is a dialect which is spoken in Northern Ireland: A) True

B) False

3. In which year did married women gain the right to divorce their husband? A) 1837

B) 1857

C) 1875

D) 1882

4. Which of the following two types of people get their prescriptions free of charge? A) People aged 60+

B) People aged 18 or under

C) Pregnant women and those with a baby under 12 months old

D) People in minimum wage

5. The number of children and young people up to the age of 19 in the UK is: A) 13 million

B) 14 million

C) 15 million

D) 16 million

6. A quango is: A) A government department

B) A non-departmental public body

C) An arm of the judiciary

D) An educational establishment

7. Which of these statements are correct? A) Children aged 13-16 cannot work for more than 12 hours in any school week.

B) Children aged 13-16 cannot work for more than 10 hours in any school week.

Keeping Memories 17

Refugee Awareness Week For the teacher

Feedback Questionnaire

We would be immensely grateful if you could take a couple of minutes to reflect on your use of these resources. Doing so will enable us to ensure that our project achieves it’s aims and improve our material for schools. Your feedback is much appreciated.

If you have used more than one rYico topic pack, please fill out separate questionnaires for each.

Please return this form by post to rYico, Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 3XG or by email to info@ryico.org

Alternatively, you can fill in this survey online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/6PZN78K

1. Where is your school?

Name

Town / City

County

Country

2. Please provide a contact email address:

Email

Please mark all the boxes that apply

3. Is your school a:

State school Private school SEN school

Community school Free school Academy

Faith school Foundation school Grammar school

City Technology College Other (please specify)

4. Is your school a:

Boys school Girls school Mixed

5. I used these resources with:

Year 10 (14-15 year olds) Year 11 (15-16 year olds)

Other (please specify)

Keeping Memories 18

For the teacher

Feedback Questionnaire (continued)

Please indicate how much you agree with the following statements by circling a number (1 = strongly disagree / 6 = strongly agree):

6. The Refuge Awareness Week resource pack was clear and easy to follow as a teacher 1 2 3 4 5 6

7. The content of the lesson was appropriate for Key Stage 4 1 2 3 4 5 6

8. My students found the lesson interesting and engaging 1 2 3 4 5 6

9. My students gained new knowledge or understanding as a result of this resource 1 2 3 4 5 6

10. These resources facilitated a useful and enriching learning experience for my students 1 2 3 4 5 6

Please write a short answer to the following questions:

11. How did you hear about this resource, and what motivated you to use it?

12. In your opinion, what was the best thing about this resource, and why?

13. What would you say was the most important thing that your students learnt from this lesson?

14. What could be changed or improved?