History/Why Rwanda
My dream for contributing to world healing is to create an incubator of hope and vision for what I call Heart-Centered Leadership™ development by working with orphans in war torn countries; US high school and college students; and, humanitarians and philanthropists.
Perhaps you have felt the same sense of overwhelm (I call it a crisis of imagination) as I did when I used to contemplate how we would achieve peace in our hearts and peace in our world. All that changed for me after my grief and trauma counseling work with genocide survivors in Rwanda, Africa in the fall of 2007.
Working with amazingly resilient widows and orphan head of households changed my life and opened me to the possibilities for world healing beyond what I could envision before this trip. There are truly so many deserving individuals in Rwanda and in our world however the survivors that seem to be the most under-served are Orphan Head of Households (OHH) - children raising children.
I had the privilege of doing stress and trauma healing work with over 100 Orphan Head of Households, all genocide survivors between the ages of 17 and 30, all destitute and all caring for 3 to 6 younger orphans. Experiencing their open-heartedness and courage in the face of surviving war, death, AIDs, torture, mutilation, rape and poverty profoundly stirred my soul.
After an intense week of working together, these Orphan Head of Households created a play for us about their lives and the following prayer:
Even though we face so many challenges and it is hard for us to forgive because we live with the consequences (of the genocide) every day we want you to know that we give thanks to God for sending you, for your coming all this way to teach us important lessons and for caring about us. Please go back to America and tell people about us. Be safe in your journey home. May God bless you, your families and all the work you do.
My soul was so deeply stirred by their resilience, open-heartedness and promise that I returned home determined to raise awareness and support them in whatever way I can to ensure a more hopeful future for them and for all of us.
If conditions for these young people, and for the growing number of orphans around the globe, do not change, our future leaders and terrorists will continue to be motivated by fear, despair, greed and hate.
If survivors of one of the most horrific tragedies in the world can forgive, heal and reconcile then there is hope for all of us to do the same.
Click here to download Lori’s reflections of her experiences on her trips to Rwanda.
The future of our world lies in the hands of our children - our next generation of leaders.
My dream for contributing to world healing is to create an incubator of hope and vision for what I call Heart-Centered Leadership™ development by working with orphans in war torn countries; US high school and college students; and, humanitarians and philanthropists.
Perhaps you have felt the same sense of overwhelm (I call it a crisis of imagination) as I did when I used to contemplate how we would achieve peace in our hearts and peace in our world. All that changed for me after my grief and trauma counseling work with genocide survivors in Rwanda, Africa in the fall of 2007.
Working with amazingly resilient widows and orphan head of households changed my life and opened me to the possibilities for world healing beyond what I could envision before this trip. There are truly so many deserving individuals in Rwanda and in our world however the survivors that seem to be the most under-served are Orphan Head of Households (OHH) - children raising children.
I had the privilege of doing stress and trauma healing work with over 100 Orphan Head of Households, all genocide survivors between the ages of 17 and 30, all destitute and all caring for 3 to 6 younger orphans. Experiencing their open-heartedness and courage in the face of surviving war, death, AIDs, torture, mutilation, rape and poverty profoundly stirred my soul.
After an intense week of working together, these Orphan Head of Households created a play for us about their lives and the following prayer:
Even though we face so many challenges and it is hard for us to forgive because we live with the consequences (of the genocide) every day we want you to know that we give thanks to God for sending you, for your coming all this way to teach us important lessons and for caring about us. Please go back to America and tell people about us. Be safe in your journey home. May God bless you, your families and all the work you do.
Please do not forget us and please come back.
My soul was so deeply stirred by their resilience, open-heartedness and promise that I returned home determined to raise awareness and support them in whatever way I can to ensure a more hopeful future for them and for all of us.
If conditions for these young people, and for the growing number of orphans around the globe, do not change, our future leaders and terrorists will continue to be motivated by fear, despair, greed and hate.
If survivors of one of the most horrific tragedies in the world can forgive, heal and reconcile then there is hope for all of us to do the same.
Lori Leyden, Founder
Click here to download Lori’s reflections of her experiences on her trips to Rwanda.
