Council marks Holocaust Memorial Day

Through its Good Relations Programme Lisburn City Council has joined up with The Forgiveness Project to bring Jean Paul Samputu, a survivor of the Rwanda genocide in 1994 to Lisburn to speak with residents to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day.

Jean Paul will attend Café Vic Ryn on Wednesday January 28 at 7.30pm to recount his experiences of life before and after the genocide.

During his talk, Jean Paul will perform some of his songs and speak about his journey from a position of hate and a search for revenge to reconciliation, which involved meeting the person who killed his father who had been his close friend.

Before the genocide began in Rwanda, Jean Paul was a rising star in the East African music scene and his father encouraged him to leave the country. He took this fatherly advice and from a distance learnt of his father’s death.

Today Jean Paul is arguably one of the most successful and prominent African artistes, with 16 albums and a career spanning 30 years. Artists such as Bob Marley, Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder have influenced his style.

He has received many honours from the United Nations for his work and travels as a cultural ambassador for Rwanda bringing to his audiences traditional African music, dance and drumming, together with a message of peace and reconciliation.

The Council’s Good Relations Programme receives financial support from the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister.

If you are interested in attending, please confirm you attendance by email to [email protected] or phone 028 9250 9492 by close of play on Friday January 23.

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