Rwandan Peace Leader Gives Forgiveness, Violence Prevention Lessons at HHS

Marc J. Gwamaka, chief of staff of the Aegis Trust and the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda, is leading student-centered lessons on forgiveness and violence prevention for all eighth-grade classes in Haverhill this week.

Lessons began Monday morning and continue through Thursday at Dr, Albert B. Consentino, Dr. Paul C. Nettle, Caleb Dustin Hunking and John Greenleaf Whittier Schools. State Rep. Andy X. Vargas will be in attendance Thursday at Consentino. Other legislators, including sponsors of the Massachusetts Genocide Education Act and members of Haverhill’s state delegation, were also invited.

“Genocide begins with ordinary choices: the words we use, who we exclude and when we stay silent. Every Haverhill eighth grader is learning from Marc Gwamaka that prevention starts with them, and that peace is something young people can build,” said Ted Kempinski, Haverhill High history teacher and founder of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Education Foundation of America now being formed.

Gwamaka is helping students understand how hatred escalates into violence, how ordinary people can interrupt that process and what forgiveness requires and makes possible. Students were introduced to Rwanda’s history as part of the genocide education they engage with throughout the year.

“…one of the things that peace education does is to re-humanize people so that they can now start the process of even healing,” said Gwamaka.

The visit supports the district’s eighth-grade unit on genocide and bystander education. Sessions build on Haverhill’s broader commitment to genocide education. Every student at Haverhill High School takes part in a live broadcast tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau, integrated into history courses. Middle school students are trained as docents to lead their peers through the Anne Frank exhibit. This spring, the district will host a Rwandan Genocide Civics Leadership Training Conference for high school students, focused on civic improvement.