Carl Wilkens: A True "Changemaker"

by Michelle . · 2009-10-02 15:07:00 UTC
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Change.org launched its Changemakers Network this week, and is allowing you to nominate and vote for leading activists in the various causes represented on the site. Perhaps it's poor form to publicly pick favorites, but one of my personal heroes is on the list --  he is familiar to many activists deeply-entrenched in anti-genocide work, but might not be as widely recognized as he deserves. So here it goes.

As the genocide picked up speed in Rwanda in April 1994, all Americans were evacuated from the country, save one. Carl Wilkens, who had lived in the country for several years with his family working for Adventist Development and Relief Agency International, chose to remain in Kigali. As militia began to surround the orphanage where he was providing assistance, he made the bold decision to (long story short) approach the prime minister and convinced him to spare the 400 people inside the building:

I put my hand out and I said, "Mr. Prime Minister, I'm Carl Wilkins, the director of ADRA." He stops and he looks at me, and then he takes my hand and shakes it and said, "Yes, I've heard about you and your work. How is it?" I said, "Well, honestly, sir, it's not very good right now. The orphans at Gisimba are surrounded, and I think there's going to be a massacre, if there hasn't been already." He turns around, talks to some of his aides or whatever, [and he turns back to me and] he says, "We're aware of the situation, and those orphans are going to be safe. I'll see to it."

I've heard Carl speak several times -- his message, conveyed with the passion and humility of a true humanitarian, focuses on the connections between ourselves and those around us, on the misperception of difference and the destructive force of hatred, and the transformative power of human good will. He is an "upstander," if there ever was one.

So vote for Carl in the Changemakers Network. He and his wife Teresa are currently touring the country via bicycle -- watch his website for updates on his speaking tour.

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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