Issue date: August 12, 1998

Ginetta Sagan human rights award goes to Rwandan Ginetta Sagan human rights award goes to Rwandan (August 12, 1998)

By MARION SOFTKY

In Rwanda, Beatrice Mukansinga works with women and girls who were raped during the 1994 genocide, and their "unwanted children" -- children it is often difficult for mothers to love because of the horror of their begetting.

For her work in building bonds and lives, Ms. Mukansinga recently journeyed to San Francisco to receive the second annual Ginetta Sagan Award. The $10,000 award by the Ginetta Sagan Fund of Amnesty International recognizes outstanding contributions to the human rights of women and children.

"This award celebrates Beatrice's courage and spirit," said Mrs. Sagan of Atherton, a longtime champion for human rights and honorary chair of Amnesty International USA. "As has been shown so many times in history, the actions of one individual can and do make a difference."

Mrs. Sagan herself was a model for the kind of heroism she now supports through the Ginetta Sagan Fund. As a teenager during World War II, she worked for the resistance in northern Italy, ferrying refugees past fascist lines to safety in Switzerland. Later she was captured, raped and tortured, before a miraculous escape from prison.

Although Ms. Mukansinga was in Kenya with her family during the killing, she lost both parents and six brothers. In 1995 she returned with her family to help and joined the Barakabaho Foundation, an organization that helps children orphaned by the murder of almost a million people. "I left Nairobi to alleviate the suffering of my people," she said.

When she began meeting women who wanted to get rid of their "unwanted children," conceived in rape, she recognized another need. Her response is a new organization within Barakabaho called "Mbwira Ndumva," meaning "Speak, I'm listening."

As coordinator of Mbwira Ndumva, Ms. Mukansinga has aided hundreds of women and children with trauma counseling, medical help, food and shelter, and employment. "We be together, sing together, love together," she said at the San Francisco reception. "We help the children grow up. They are innocent people.

"We teach the women to forgive but not to forget," Ms. Mukansinga said. "We have suffered a lot, but life goes on."

For information, contact the Ginetta Sagan Fund of Amnesty International at 500 Sansome St., Suite 615, San Francisco, CA 94111; or call (415) 291-9233.