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April 11, 2004 RWANDA ALIVE: DIALOGUE HELPS CHILDREN UNDERSTAND THE PAST AND SHARE THEIR DREAMS FOR THE FUTURE Interactive Educational Program Puts K-12 Students Around the World Directly in Touch with Rwandan Genocide Survivors via Videoconferencing. NEW YORK (April 11, 2004) -- Ten years after the genocide that left more than 800,000 Rwandans dead, an interactive educational program designed to expose this tragedy to K-12 students is being launched by the Global Nomads Group (GNG), a non profit organization based in New York City. Entitled Rwanda Alive (http://www.gng.org/rwanda), this program will put students in the US and around the world directly in touch with their Rwandan counterparts via videoconferencing. Rwanda Alive is comprised of a series of eight videoconferences stretching over a period of 40 days. The first broadcast is set to launch on Tuesday, April 13, 2004. Rwanda Alive will feature personal testimonies from survivors as well as a live remote broadcast from the church at Nyamata, one of the many sites bearing testimony to the 1994 massacres. "Rwanda Alive is all about reflection and exploration," says Mark von Sponeck, Executive Director, Global Nomads Group, "It's about reflecting on one of the most shocking chapters of modern history, but also about exploring the dreams of Rwanda's new generation looking to create a positive future for itself." Besides gaining an understanding of the genocide and its consequences, students participating in Rwanda Alive will get to explore some of Rwanda's most celebrated sites via videoconferencing. Working closely with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (DFGF), a GNG team is organizing a remote broadcast from the natural habitat of Rwanda’s elusive mountain gorilla, and a videoconference connecting kids with the Bat’wa, Rwanda’s “forgotten” indigenous people. Says von Sponeck: “Through Rwanda Alive, we hope to get kid excited about the world they live in and encourage them to explore it on their own.” How Rwanda Alive works Six schools based in Indiana, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, and Kansas will represent the United States as Ambassador Schools throughout the program. In Rwanda, three schools will in turn act as hosts for their American counterparts. Hundreds of schools around the world will be able to watch the program live via "view-only" videoconferencing and send in questions to speakers in advance by email. Throughout the course of the program, students will be able to log on to the Rwanda Alive website (http://www.gng.org/rwanda) to learn more about Rwanda’s culture, geography, and history. The Rwanda Alive website will be regularly updated throughout the 40-day expedition, and will feature: - Video "webumentaries" from the Rwanda Alive expedition team
Rwanda Alive is sponsored by Polycom®, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), V-SPAN, Inc., EMS Technologies (NASDAQ: ELMG), ID Solutions, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. About Global Nomads Group Global Nomads Group (http://www.gng.org) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to fostering cross-cultural dialogue and understanding among youth. Using videoconferencing and satellite communications technology, GNG moderates conferences between K-12 classes in different countries, organizes virtual lectures, and conducts remote broadcasts from the world's historical and cultural sites. ###
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