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World AIDS Day 2007By: Pat CaseyPublished: December 06, 2007 With much grace and hopeful spirit, Marie Claudine Mukamabano, a Rwandan performing artist and survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, spoke about the need for awareness of the tragedies facing Africa today at a World AIDS Day 2007 meeting at Good Counsel Academy on Dec. 1.Orphaned at the age of 14 as her family and fellow tribe members were violently killed around her, Mukamabano today talks about the simple joy of being alive. She has traveled throughout Africa and other areas of the world, enjoining people of differing cultures to embrace their potential for survival and growth. Mukamabano is determined to educate people about HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty, and the current genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Mukamabano says she does not know why she survived, but believes she must spread a positive and hopeful message to the world. Before the genocide, she says, she was not aware of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. After being spared, she became aware and feels it is her mission to educate those people most affected so they can help themselves. “We are alive, and we are smart,” she says.Before drinking a hot chocolate at a McDonald's in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Marie Claudine Mukamabano crossed herself, closed her eyes and prayed for a few seconds, then crossed herself again, opened her eyes and smiled.A tall and slender woman with a beautiful oval face, Mukamabano wore a black tight-fitting suit and tie, a gray hat and high heels. She had dressed up for a United Nations meeting on the commemoration of Rwanda's genocide.At 28, Mukamabano lives with memories of a horrific past in Rwanda and with great ambitions for the present. With her model's figure, stylish clothes and easy laugh, she blends in the crowd of young hopefuls trying to make it in the movie business in New York.But after the fashion shows and acting classes, she fund-raises for Rwandan orphans, volunteers in senior centers and talks about surviving the genocide in schools and churches."I have so many stories to tell," said Mukamabano, who wants both to be an actress and filmmaker. "Stories about forgiveness, reconciliation, education, funny stories also."Coming to America was a childhood dream for Mukamabano, a dream that started with Hollywood movies on television. She says landing in New York was like coming to heaven.She came to the U.S. in 2005 thanks to a UNESCO scholarship and spent a month at Robert Wilson's Watermill summer program for international artists. She now works as a model for African designers like Moshood and Futa Fashion, and also gives dance and music private lessons. She has danced and played the drums at African festivals, in churches, schools, and libraries around the countryTwo years ago, she performed at the UN headquarters when Rwanda's president won the International Freedom Award.After the massacres during which approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in only three months in 1994, she asked herself why she survived and what her mission as a survivor was.Because they were Tutsis, her mother, uncles, aunts and grandparents were all killed during the massacres. Only Mukamaban and two siblings survived and at the age of 14, she raised her 13-year-old brother in the capital, Kigali.Before coming to the U.S., she founded a youth center for 200 orphans based in Rwanda called "Kuki ndiho?" which means: "Why do I exist?" in Kinyarwanda, her first language. She found the answer in her deep Catholic faith and often wears a badge with the words: "My existence is to praise God and help others," her own life motto.Tosin Mustapha, the Nigerian founder of the magazine and nonprofit Afro Heritage, saw Mukamabano speak about her organization in a Brooklyn library last year."I was very moved," said Mustapha. "People who come here from Africa often forget about their home country. She hasn't. She still cares about the people back there."However, says Mustapha, she doesn't talk to Mukamabano about the genocide. "I don't want to spoil that beautiful smile."Most of the approximately 1,000 Rwandan immigrants in the U.S. are genocide survivors, according to Yohani Kayinamura, the president of a Rwandan support network in Washington D.C. He says they usually remain close to their country.***Mukamabano's experience as a survivor gave her strength and discipline. "Sometimes, I get discouraged but then I tell myself: You've gone through tougher times."In New York for 18 months, she has built her own network of African immigrant and African-American fashion designers, artists, journalists and religious leaders. She has a Web site for her nonprofit based in Rwanda (www.../kukindiho) and keeps business cards with an impressive list of skills: dancer, drummer, model, singer, poet, actress and interior designer.Mukamabano's beauty is an asset for a wannabe actress in New York. But in Rwanda in 1994, her looks were the equivalent of a death sentence. Extremist Hutus would kill people just because they were tall and had a thin nose, she said. Hutus are usually shorter, with darker skin and larger noses than Tutsis. But there are exceptions. "Sometimes, they killed Hutus just because they looked like Tutsis," she said.Mukamabano started speaking publicly about the massacres in 2005, after hearing a woman at a conference accusing Tutsis of the genocide. "It really hurt to hear that," she said. A lot of the people she meets ask her about the genocide. Although she wants to educate Americans about the history of her country, she says it is not easy to constantly be asked questions about the past, now that she is trying to move on."She had every reason to hate life, but never gave up and managed to get something positive out of the atrocities committed in Rwanda," said Diane Umuhoza, a friend from Kigali. "I always admired her love of life." Daily News September4,2007href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vczI 3My5waG90b2J1Y2tldC5jb20vYWxidW1zL2pqMjM3L2t1a2luZGloby8/YWN 0aW9uPXZpZXcmY3VycmVudD1jbGF1ZGluZTEyLmpwZw==" target="_blank">