Emmanuel Habimana

Emmanuel Habimana was our 2012-2013 Roméo Dallaire Scholarship recipient.  At that time he noted that his involvement and interest in human rights came from his experience as a genocide survivor and his need to reunite his community in peace. Emmanuel served as Vice-President of his secondary school’s Unity and Reconciliation Club and assisted in organizing athletic and cultural events. He also held the position of President of the Umuhuza Youth Association in the Nyakabanda sector of Kigali.

While enrolled as a student in Kigali Independent University, Emmanuel, with Natalia Ledford, co-directed a documentary about the children who were orphaned by the genocide in Rwanda called Komora: To Heal.  It was funded by two grants from National Geographic Society and sponsored by an organization called Education for the World.  In this documentary he personally interviews senator Romeo Dallaire, who was the chief commander of UNAMIR in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide and in whose name the Lewis& Clark College Dallaire Scholarship is named.

An update from Emmanuel since 2013:

• Right after I returned to Rwanda I resumed my law degree studies in Kigali. In 2014, I returned to the USA for a three-month tour as part of the 20th commemoration of Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. During my travels to the Pacific Northwest I made a quick stop at Lewis Clark to greet my old friends. (Please see the pictures below).
• In January 2015, I received a grant from The Candles Holocaust Museum Laurence and Spungen Family Foundation to travel to Korsakov, Poland with Genocide and Holocaust scholars, as well as with a survivor of the Holocaust, Eva Moses Kor, for the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau. Eva passed on July 4th 2019. May her soul rest in peace and may her legacy of resilience and forgives continue to guide all of us today
• In December 2015, I returned to the US with full scholarships from both the ELS English Center and the Los Angeles Film School. I graduated in spring of 2019. While in film school I traveled and spoke in schools on the subjects of genocide, hope and healing.
• Since graduation up I’ve been working on different film projects. Some are out and others are still in progress, including my 4th short film The Grass is Greener.  I want to thank everyone who helped this project which I hope will open more doors. I’m progressing to the level where I can produce a film that will soon win an Oscar.  : )
• I now live in San Antonio, Texas where I’m expanding my connections for my film production career and where I have joined a small production company.  I’m currently working on feature film The Invisible Scars.