Canadian Centre for Genocide Education

 

 

 

 

In July, 2009, the Canadian Centre for Genocide Education took a group of teachers from across Canada to Rwanda for two weeks to coincide with the commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, which claimed the lives of some 1,000,000 people in just 100 days.  The contingent of 30 Canadians visited sites of the genocide, met with survivors of the genocide, met with government officials and members of non-governmental organizations working on reconstruction and reconciliation, and met with government officials and members of non-govermental organizations working on education and visited schools.  The Canadian teachers also went on a safari in Akagera Park. 

 

Because of the success of the 2009 Mission to Rwanda, a second mission will be going to Rwanda on July 18 - August 4, 2010.  The number of participants for the 2010 Mission to Rwanda will be limited to just 20.  Don't miss out on this life-altering experience!!!

 

Cost: Airfare ($2,200.00) + $1,400.00

 

***$500.00 non-refundable deposit required to secure a spot***

 

***$100.00 non-refundable deposit for airfare required on March 31***

 

The Genocide Education Institute is designed to encourage teachers to teach their students about the lessons of genocide - the importance of tolerance, of upholding democracy and human rights, and of helping others in need - and to help prepare them to effectively and appropriately communicate those lessons in the classroom so that students can better reflect on the world that they live in and their role in it.  Instructors for the institutes are among Canada's most renowned scholars and educators of genocide.  During the institutes, morning sessions focus on historical background, while afternoon sessions focus on pedagogy.  Pedagogical sessions at the institutes are very "hands-on," with an emphasis on practical application in the classroom.  In addition to studying with each other and their instructors, teachers at the institutes receive resources, including a teaching manual and key books to help them begin to build a personal library. 

 

***Accommodations are provided for out-of-province teachers.***

 

Early Registration: $350.00 - May 31

 

Regular Registration: $500.00 - Begins June 1

 

In July, 2011, teachers from across Canada will be travelling to Germany, Ukraine, and Poland to mark the 70th commemoration of "Operation Barbarosa", the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany, which began the genocide against European Jews.  Over the duration of the trip as well as the pre-departure course, weekend course, teachers will consider the perpetrators, victims, and bystanders; resistance; and rescue. 

 

Teachers will begin their mission in Germany, where they will consider the Nazi state and the origins of the Holocaust.  Among the sites to be visited in Germany will be the site of the infamous book burning in 1933 and the villa that was the venue of the infamous Wannsee Conference in 1942.  Teachers will then travel to Ukraine, where they will consider the opening phase of the Holocaust: the mass shootings by the Einsatzgruppen.  Among the sites to be visited in Ukraine will be Babi Yar, the site of the largest known single genocidal act in history, which, on September 29-30, 1941, claimed the lives of some 35,000 Jews.  Finally, teachers will travel to Poland, where they will consider the industrialization of the genocide against European Jews, the occupation of Poland, and rescue and resistance.  Among the sites to be visited in Poland will be the infamous death camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka; the sites of the film, "Schindler's List"; and the sites of the former ghettos in Lodz and Warsaw. 

 

While in Kiev, Ukraine, teachers will also visit Chernobyl, which, in 1986, became the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, and learn about the Holodomor, the Ukrainian Famine, which, in 1932-33, claimed the lives of some 6,000,000-plus Ukrainians in what many consider to be a case of genocide unleashed by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.