BANYAMULENGE REMEMBER GATUMBA MASSACRE

August 1st, 2008, Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas, Saturday, August 16th, 2008, 9A.M-6P.M

During the night of August 13, 2004, in a refugee camp in Burundi, Africa called Gatumba, 166 innocents from the Democratic Republic of Congo 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.
But since that horrific night, approximately 600 Gatumba Survivors have been relocated to safety in North America, to communities from Colorado to Maine and from Texas to Canada and Europe, aided by numerous international governmental organizations, nonprofit groups, and countless volunteers.

CURRENT EVENTS
Several families of Gatumba Survivors are now living in Houston, Texas. On August 16, 2007, at the Multi Ethnic Community Center in Houston (Bissonnet), Texas the Fourth Annual Gatumba Genocide Memorial Gathering will be held. This event, open to the general public, 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. The Survivors, with the majority being devout Christians, will have the chance to hold services and remembrances of those lost in a peaceful and safe location. Sponsorships to support the Survivors memorial stay in Houston, Texas are urgently needed.

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 innocent civilians in the eastern part of Congo and the refugee camps in Burundi from the on-going threat of violence. Violence against innocent civilians continues to this day throughout the Congo, a tragedy that must be averted.
The memorial gathering will feature live therapeutic musical performances, inspiring testimonies, and special guest keynote speakers highlighting the Gatumba Genocide and the latest developments in the Great Lakes region of Africa. The gathering presents a plethora of opportunities for people to get involved as a force for change, while providing a chance to meet and interact with the Survivors.

ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
This gathering is being spearheaded by two nonprofit groups here in the U.S. – the Gatumba Refugees Survivors Foundation, Inc., and the Mahoro Association. Other organizations involved include dozens of local churches across North America as well as Multiethnic Community Center (MECC)
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Olivier Mandevu
President Gatumba Refugees Survivors Foundation, Inc
1.518.210-1169//Oliviermandevu@gmail.com//www.gatumbasurvivors.org
Dr. Modeste Kigabo
President Mahoro Association
1.623.313.0256//modmbaz@gmail.com//www.mahoroassociation.org
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Descends onto the Multi Ethnic Community Center, 9819 Bissonnet Street, Suite
Houston, Texas, Saturday, August 16th, 2008, 9A.M-6P.M
SURVIVOR TESTIMONIES
3:00pm – 3:50pm
Sideriya Nangabire, Relocated to Iowa (Lost Six of Seven Children & Husband)
Rose Mapendo, Relocated to Arizona (Lost Husband)
Philippe Mukwiye, Relocated to Kentucky (Lost Brother and Son)
Theresa Nyamasomo, Relocated to New York (Lost Husband, Two Sons, Daughter)
Irene Mwamikazi, Relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico (Lost Husband, Two Children)
JUSTICE AS THE CORE OF PEACE AND STABILITY PANEL
4:00pm – 6:00pm
Matthew Edmunson, Mapendo International
Dr. Kigabo Mbazumutima, President Mahoro Association, Congo, Africa
Mauro de Lorenzo, American Institute for Research
Olivier Mandevu, President, Gatumba Refugees Survivors Foundation, Congo, Africa
Maria Kadege, Former VP Burundi, Burundi
Reverend Mary Robert, Episcopal Church, Mobile, Alabama
Descends onto the Multi Ethnic Community Center, 9819 Bissonnet Street, Suite
Houston, Texas, Saturday, August 16th, 2008, 9A.M-6P.M
LIVE THERAPUTIC MUSIC PERFORMANCES: T.B.A
THE GATUMBA REFUGEES
SURVIVORS CHOIR