Wednesday, February 9 at 7:00 PM
Portland First United Methodist Church
1838 Southwest Jefferson Street, Portland
Free admission (suggested donation $10)
Organized by Oregon Holocaust Resource Center

As a humanitarian aid worker, Carl Wilkens moved his young family to Rwanda in the spring of 1990. When the genocide was launched in April 1994, Carl refused to leave, even when urged to do so by close friends, his church and the United States government. Thousands of expatriates evacuated and the United Nations pulled out most of its troops. Carl was the only American to remain in the country. Venturing out each day into streets crackling with mortars and gunfire, he worked his way through roadblocks of angry, bloodstained soldiers and civilians armed with machetes and assault rifles in order to bring food, water and medicine to groups of orphans trapped around the city. His actions saved the lives of hundreds.

Carl uses a storytelling format to talk about the genocide and the treacherous thinking that says we can solve a problem by excluding someone. He is the founder of World Outside My Shoes. World Outside My Shoes is a non-profit educational and professional development organization committed to inspiring and equipping people to enter the world of “The Other”. “The Other” may be under our own roof or on the other side of the globe.

The collective effort to bring Carl Wilkens to Portland has already garnered many partners including: Oregon Holocaust resource Center; Never Again Coalition; Coalition Against Hate Crimes; Congregation Kol Shalom; Oregon Area Jewish Committee; Congregation Neveh Shalom; Africa New Life Ministries-Rwanda; Bikes To Rwanda; Amnesty International Group 48 and Portland First United Methodist Church.

For more information or if you have questions regarding the event, please contact the Oregon Holocaust Resource Center at 503 245-2733 or www.ohrconline.org.