Mama Lambert: Surviving the Genocide in Rwanda

Surviving a genocide and then living on while your parents, husband and 5 of your 8 children have been killed. It seems impossible but this is the story of Mama Lambert. An exceptionally wise, courageous and compassionate woman who survived the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994 and dedicated the rest of her life serving thousands of other victims and genocide survivors through counselling. In this podcast we share her story with her daughter Denise, who also miraculously survived the genocide and with Anne-Marie de Brouwer one of the founders of Mukomeze, a foundation that empowers survivors of sexual violence during the genocide in Rwanda and who worked with Mama Lambert for over 20 years. It is a remarkable and moving story about a woman who showed the strength and power to live on despite the terrible fate she, her family and loved ones suffered. Mama Lambert was a finalist to the USIP Women Building Peace Award 2020 and a recipient to the 'Voice Achievers Award African Community Service 2019’. She wrote a book about her own life called “For Those Who Do Not Believe in Miracles”. She also features in other books, including “And I Live On”, as well as on coffee bags with specialty coffee produced by Rwandan women she counselled.