Kumva and Kwibuka

Agnes Bunani is a mother of two, a professional in early childhood learning and a co-founder of Kumva and Kwibuka: Listen and Remember.

Agnes was born in Rwanda, and at the age of eleven, she survived a genocide against the Tutsi that lasted 100 days and saw a million lives evaporate in smoke. After the genocide started, her father, Bunani François-Xavier, her elder brother Pierre, younger sister Collette, and Grandma Suzane were all murdered in Murambi, where they had sought refuge.

For many years she did not discuss her experiences with any but her very closest friends and family, but she has now begun to share her traumatic journey with students. For the last 10 years, Agnes has been involved with early learning education in different centres across Sydney and recently shifted her career into support work. She is passionate about serving the community at large and as such, has taken part in various community activities, including Kwibuka, an annual activity that commemorates the Genocide against the Tutsi. Agnes has made it her mission to teach the world through her story, but the question remains: will the universe take her story and learn from it?

Chantal was born and educated in Rwanda, and in 1994 survived the Genocide against Tutsis that took most of her family. Chantal, her mother, and four siblings moved to Australia in 2004. She has worked as a caseworker for refugees from Rwanda, Burundi and Congo, has worked in disability services, and is currently completing a degree in human services.

Chantal is a co-founder of Kumva and Kwibuka and, alongside her sister Aggy, her brother-in-law Amédée Jean-Paul, and colleague Olivier, shares her story of survival and resilience with high school students. She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children.

Olivier was born in 1974 in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where his parents fled the persecutions, massacres and purge of Tutsis from universities and other institutions. They returned to Rwanda when Olivier was four months old, where he grew up with four sisters and two brothers. However, in April 1994, when the genocide began targeting the Tutsi community again, Olivier was separated from his family when they were forced to flee their home. He finally joined a displaced camp set up at his local Catholic parish in central Kigali, where he remained until evacuation to a safe zone in late June 1994.

A passionate classroom teacher and versatile public speaker on matters of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Olivier co-founded Kwumva and Kwibuka – Listen and Remember, an educational organisation through which he has spoken to a multitude of students and teachers of Modern History, Society and Culture and Legal Studies, non-government and government organisations and other communities about his story of survival and his journey towards healing. With Kwumva and Kwibuka, Olivier speaks of the lasting impact of the Genocide and other crimes against humanity with empathy and the question of individual and collective responsibility.

Amédée is a journalist, videographer, photographer, interpreter and co-founder of Kumva and Kwibuka: Listen and Remember. Born in Burundi and believing he was a Burundian Hutu, he later discovered that his grandfather was a Tutsi who had left Rwanda to escape persecution. Amédée’s early life was marked by forced relocation, ethnic violence and life as a refugee, which ultimately led him to Nairobi, Kenya, where he met his future wife, Agnes.

They now live in Sydney with their young sons, Xavier and Xander. They are passionate about helping the younger generations understand the events surrounding the Genocide against the Tutsi, aiming to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Dr Ari Lander is a co-founder and Education Manager of Kumva and Kwibuka: Listen and Remember. He was previously Education Manager at Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation where he worked closely with survivors of the Stolen Generations. Ari worked for seven years as an Education Officer at the Sydney Jewish Museum. His work focused on education programs for students, teacher training programs, guide training and working with Holocaust survivors.

He completed his doctoral thesis at UNSW in 2012 in Oral History. Ari is also a graduate of the NIDA playwrighting Studio (2001) and has won several playwrighting awards including the Mitch Matthews Award (2008) and had a writer’s residency with the Griffin Theatre Company in 2008. Dr Lander is passionate about the ways in which stories can build empathy and transform us. He is honoured to be working with an incredible group of survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi.

The education programs that Kumva and Kwibuka delivers to students and adults have a profound impact on both the survivors and the audiences. Kumva and Kwibuka is dedicated to finding ways to get the recollections of survivors onto stage, page and the screen.

Stand Up is the leading Jewish social justice organisation in Australia and was originally established in 1994 in response to the Rwandan genocide. Stand Up exists to channel the collective willpower, expertise and compassion of the Australian Jewish community to grasp and fulfil the core Jewish value and responsibility of “tikkun olam”, meaning to improve the world. For over two decades, Stand Up has partnered, consulted and empowered new arrivals, refugees and First Nations communities and individuals. Our mission is to inspire and moblise the Australian Jewish community and work together with marginalised communities to tackle Australia’s most pressing social challenges through action and education.

Our mission is to facilitate and magnify the cultural, social and educational impact of creating, sharing and reading the stories of Western Sydney. Through stories, we show our diversity of voices, sense of worth, increased confidence, resilience and exploration of identities and potentialities.

We recognise that shifting the financial wellbeing of individuals and communities starts at the grassroots level – creating change through the power of the written word allows young people to potentially change the narrative of their lives.

We increase the profile and networks for our community and increase the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of new and established Western Sydney writers as well as the increased diversity in form and content in Australian literature reflective of the diverse community of Greater Western Sydney.

To purchase a copy of our anthology A Book of Love and Loss click below

A Book of Love and Loss – Westwords

Kumva and Kwibuka is partnered with STARRTS, The NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors.

“STAARTS provides culturally relevant psychological treatment and support, and community interventions, to help people and communities heal the scars of torture and refugee trauma and rebuild their lives in Australia.”

Tax deductible donations came be made to support the important work Kumva and Kwibuka is doing, simply flag on the STARTTS donation page you are supporting KKT.

Kumva and Kwibuka is founded by a group of survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi. The team takes very seriously the mental and emotional health of its team of survivors, their families as well as the adults and students we share our stories with.

Kumva and Kwibuka has thus partnered with STARTTS to provide our survivors with the necessary emotional and mental support for our survivor speakers and their children.

The Kumva and Kwibuka Team also understands that many students in Australia come from migrant and refugee backgrounds shaped by genocide and war. The team is also aware that the Aboriginal First People of Australia are struggling with the legacy of massacres, frontier wars and the history of the Stolen Generations.

The KKT has many years of experience teaching students about genocide and working with survivor stories. The team works closely with STARTTS to ensure our programs are in line with the latest trauma informed pedagogy.

The program is structured and facilitated in such a manner as to create a safe learning space. Our program confronts the legacy of the Genocide against the Tutsi but also provides a positive message on the importance of faith, family, community and models building resilience through the act of our survivors publicly getting up and sharing their stories.