The notions of solidarity with survivors of the Tutsi genocide and justice underlie our association's statutes. The three keywords that describe our mission our memory, justice and solidarity.
On the solidarity front, unfortunately, we've only been able to raise a small amount of money to help survivors of the Tutsi genocide living here, even those here right now, who are struggling with psychological issues and suddenly have breakdowns and end up on the street. Unfortunately, we don't have the resources to assist them.
We haven't really been able to rally public support. Are we using the wrong strategies? Are people simply indifferent because it doesn't concern them, as I mentioned? We may need some advice in that regard. What can we do to improve the response? I have no idea. If we can't find the resources to help those here in need of counselling, how can we rally public support to help those all the way in Rwanda? It's impossible.
Eight years ago, when I was the president of the Page-Rwanda association in Montreal, we did some fund-raising to help orphans of the Rwandan genocide. Unfortunately, we weren't able to raise very much. Today, there is a woman in Toronto being harassed by her husband, but we can't scrounge together enough money to get her a lawyer. You can imagine just how difficult the situation is. She is a genocide survivor who needs help, but the survivors who are here can't afford to help one another.