MJPC Member Receives Prestigious Anti-Genocide Fellowship

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ClaudeClaude Gatebuke one of eighteen nationwide picked to lead organizing against world's worst crimes

Washington, DC, February 05, 2010 (PressReleasePoint) -- Genocide Intervention Network today announced that Nashville local Claude Gatebuke has been named a Carl Wilkens Fellow. This unique fellowship recognizes community leaders who possess the commitment to fight genocide and the potential to make a difference in the lives of people in Darfur , Burma and other areas around the world. Launched last year, the fellowship will provide Gatebuke with advocacy training, access to experts and an organizing grant.

Claude Gatebuke is a member of Mobilization for Justice and Peace in Congo . As a member of MJPC, Claude has worked to raise awareness on the humanitarian crisis taking place in the Congo . He has organized festivals to raise awareness for abused and neglected children as the East Coast Operations Officer for Africamix. He has spoken on issues of genocide and mass atrocity in churches and on campuses across the United States and advocated for victims of such violence throughout. Claude plans to use his Carl Wilkens Fellowship to develop a strategic vision for engagement with the anti-genocide movement within the Middle Tennessee community.

The Carl Wilkens Fellowship was named in honor of Carl Wilkens. Carl Wilkens was the only American to stay in Rwanda through the entirety of the Rwandan genocide. Despite warnings from the American embassy, Carl risked his life and stayed in Rwanda to try to help the people he had come to know and love there.

Carl Wilkens said, "Change begins with one. So few people in America were aware of the Rwanda genocide at the time it was happening, and even fewer were equipped to do something to end it. That's why I'm so excited that Claude Gatebuke has been selected to join this year's class of Carl Wilkens Fellows. I know he will be a lifelong leader in the movement to end genocide."

About Genocide Intervention Network -Genocide Intervention Network empowers individuals and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide. Currently focused on conflicts in Sudan , Burma and Democratic Republic of Congo, among other areas of concern, Genocide Intervention Network envisions a world in which the global community is willing and able to protect civilians from genocide and mass atrocities. The organization is building a permanent anti-genocide constituency, mobilizing the political will to prevent and stop genocide. For more information, please visit www.genocideintervention.net
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