AMERICA CAN HAVE ROLE IN KEEPING HISTORY FROM REPEATING ITSELF

When I heard Paul Rusesabagina talk about his efforts, I was curious to learn more.

He recently started the Hotel Rwanda/Rusesabagina Foundation (www.rusesabaginafoundation.org) to help deliver relief to orphans and abused women of the genocide. Its mission is to provide support, care, assistance, education and mental health counseling.

Specifically, Rusesabagina said he is going to pay for the schooling for 500 secondary students in Rwanda this fall.

Besides helping his countrymen, he is also trying to bring relief to Sudan.

"I was in Darfur three months ago," he said. "I saw the government destroying villages exactly as it was in Rwanda. The militia on horses, armed by the government, are killing civilians fleeing those villages. They are poisoning wells so that those people fleeing the villages can't even have water for drinking."

Rusesabagina has started a campaign that distributes information to "Hotel Rwanda" moviegoers to let them know what they can do to help. The campaign includes green wristbands, which show support, and the profits go to educating people about the crises in Africa.

He also has called on people to stay abreast of the world's problem spots and pressure their leaders to do the same. And he encouraged young people to become active.

"You are tomorrow's leaders. Who else can do as much as you can? You are the ones who will change the world, and you'll make it what you want it to be," he said.

"I believe that each and every person has got a role to play. Especially in America, people were telling me, 'We are sorry. We did not know what was going on in Rwanda. But now that we know, what can we do?'

"We need our lawmakers to tell the Sudanese government that they are not untouchable, that they can also one day be brought to justice."