UNHCR - Unit plan for ages 12-14 in History: The Rwandan Crisis 1994

Teaching About Refugees

Unit plan for ages 12-14 in History: The Rwandan Crisis 1994

UNIT OBJECTIVES

Knowledge

To understand the background of events which shook Rwanda in 1994.
To understand what genocide is.
To understand the process and reasons which triggered the flow of refugees from Rwanda into neighbouring countries.

Skills

To practise research skills:
- defining a problem
- seeking appropriate information sources
- identifying relevant information from the sources
- critically analysing the information
- organising the information to answer particular questions
- clear written expression

Values

To appreciate the importance of moral values.
To appreciate the importance of respect for others, particularly people different from oneself.

Rwandan refugees on the move in Kisangani, Zaire. © UNHCR/H.J.Davies

LESSONS 1 and 2: How did the Rwandan crisis start?

CONTENT	TEACHING METHODS/LEARNING STRATEGIES
Where is Rwanda? What are its neighbouring countries? Who are the ethnic groups living in each country? In what proportions were these groups represented in the Rwandan population in 1994? Overview of the history of Rwanda, focusing on the contributing events and factors that led to the 1994 genocide and the flight of Rwandan Hutu refugees into the neighbouring countries.	Introduction: On a wall map of Africa, the students are shown the relative positions of Rwanda and its neighbouring countries, and the inter-national borders which were crossed by refugees fleeing Rwanda in 1994. On the map on the activity sheet, the students should note each country's ethnic composition prior to the 1994 upheaval, to reveal that international boundaries do not separate the ethnic groups into individual nations. Development Students spend class time reading through the resources that outline the historical events. These resources are listed in the next column. The teacher can check the students' factual understanding with the accompanying comprehension questions.
RESOURCES
Activity Sheet: Rwanda and its neighbours Jill Rutter, We Left Because We Had To, (London, Refugee Council, 1996), p. 66-73 "Rwanda: causes and consequences of the refugee crisis", UNHCR, The State of the World's Refugees 1995: In Search of Solutions (Oxford, OUP, 1995), p. 32-33. "Great Lakes Chronology", Refugees, no, 110 (Geneva, UNHCR, 1997), p. 8.

The camps in Goma, Zaire were overcrowded. Poor sanitation and lack of clean drinking water led to diarrhoea and cholera, and many of the victims of the diseases were children. © UNHCR/L.Astrom

LESSON 3: The 'G' word

CONTENT	TEACHING METHODS/LEARNING STRATEGIES
Moral issues raised by these events: How is it possible for a nation to descend into such a level of barbarity? Who is responsible?	Teacher-guided, structured discussion, followed by individual writing exercise, answering the two questions opposite.
RESOURCES
Jill Rutter, We Left Because We Had To (London, Refugee Council, 1996), p. 75-77

Rwandan returnees unloading their belongings and getting registered at the UNHCR transit centre in Byumba, Rwanda. © UNHCR/B.Heger

LESSONS 4 and 5: Going back home

CONTENT	TEACHING METHODS/LEARNING STRATEGIES
The return of law and order has provided secure and stable conditions for the return of refugees to Rwanda who now face the challenge of rebuilding their lives in their own country.	Students prepare short presentations about the political and social situation in current Rwanda which has made possible the return of refugees to their home country.
RESOURCES
Rwanda Returnee News, no. 1 [PDF, 355Kb] Rwanda Returnee News, no. 2 [PDF, 220Kb] Rwanda Returnee News, no. 3 [PDF, 283Kb]

Related News Stories:

Refugees Magazine
See complete Refugees Magazine, Issue N° 135 (published June 2004) here[PDF,980Kb]

Rwanda
It was the fastest genocide in modern history and ten years on, Rwanda is still trying to pick up the pieces (from Refugees magazine, no. 135, pp. 20-26)

Revisiting the camps
Seeing today’s empty fields, it is difficult to recall the horror of the refugee camps a decade ago. (from Refugees magazine, no. 135, pp. 27-29)

Return
Unfinished business as thousands of Rwandans continue to return home years after the conflict ended. (from Refugees magazine, no. 135, p. 30ff)

Rwanda
From Browse by Country

Rwanda Returnee News
Bi-monthly UNHCR newsletters on return conditions in Rwanda.

Refugees Magazine
Issue N° 109:
1997 In Review (published September 1997)

Refugees Magazine
Issue N° 110:
Crisis in the Great Lakes (published December 1997)

Human Rights and Refugee Protection
Self-study module 5, Vol. 1[PDF,1.07Mb]

Related websites
(external links, new window):

Exile images: Rwanda refugees 1994-1197
by Howard Davies
(external link)