AFK Insider: What is the mission of your organization? In what ways do you support Rwandan genocide orphans?
Mukamabano: We provide training and education with experts in trauma healing and building resilience. In terms of education, we raise awareness about the body of the orphans. When you are a child, you grow up in a family. Your mom and your dad are the ones give you advice, tell you what to do, and who even explain to you what is going on in your body.
In our education program, we provide resources and access to information for them to know how to deal with various issues. We will never, ever replace their parents and we never do anything that their parents would do for them, but we can at east do something to show them that we care —that can give them a sense of hope for tomorrow.
AFK Insider: What special programs does your organization put on?
Mukamabano: We have over 50 people in Rwanda working to advance the mission statement of “Why Do I Exist?” I was appointed to be the ambassador of our national university, because they saw the work that we were doing with the organization in Rwanda. They appointed me to be the ambassador here (in the U.S.) and they want to collaborate and create a partnership with “Why Do I Exist?” in Rwanda. Another project we are working on is an awards ceremony to honor the people who established programs which benefit the community here in the U.S. We are planning to do this award ceremony [on] December 4th in the Bronx.
AFK Insider: What effect does the genocide have on Rwanda today?
Mukamabano: Think about the orphans who don’t have a mother, how deeply they suffer. They have to deal with everything themselves. Trauma is unbelievable, it’s deep; it’s beyond what you think. Sometimes people say, “Oh, genocide is over. OK, 20 years, how can you suffer?” But they forget that it’s their entire life. You will never have anybody like your mom or your dad in your entire life. Some survivors in their 20s are now looking to get married. I had to spend so much energy helping this young man who was 27-years-old. He wanted to get married.
He said, “Who is going to help me get married? I don’t have a parent.” The whole family comes together to help you when you are going to get married. Your parents give you money, even emotional support. He has a master’s degree and he’s a lawyer. He has a good job, but he was almost going to commit suicide because he told me that it’s too much for him to handle. I had to remind him that, “Yes, you are an orphan. You don’t have your parents. We have to face the facts, the aftermath of genocide. Let’s deal with this. Let’s understand where you are. This is not your choice. It’s a reality.”
AFK Insider: What plans do you have for the organization in the future?
Mukamabano: We are collaborating with a UNESCO ambassador to host our internship program. We are collaborating with Black Women in Film. They will be hosting a film screening in a few weeks. We are hoping to work with different charities and schools to fundraise money and to develop more income-generating activities to support and sustain the orphans, especially the orphans who live by themselves in Rwanda. Another thing we are working on is to produce a film which show the lives of the orphans.
We started fundraising [and] we ask people to give donations. We’re about to approach the Christmas season. We want to make our orphans [feel special] by giving them gifts. I love to collect sneakers — you can wear sneakers when you go to school, you can wear sneakers when you go to church. We also want to collect school supplies. We hope to raise at least $10,000 to send Rwanda a container full of computers.
