Providence's Story

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Providence Nkurunziza is a child survivor of the 1994 genocide perpetrated against Tutsis in Rwanda.

 She is an author, speaker, and advocate, as well as a Commissioner at  the Texas Holocaust Genocide and Anti-Semitism Advisory Commission.

Five of her siblings and her two parents, along with the rest of her extended family members, were wiped out during the genocide against Tutsis in a span of about 100 days. 

She was 11. Next Couple Hours: A Story of Fear, Loss, Courage, and Determination During and After the Genocide Against Tutsis in Rwanda tells her story. More than a million innocent lives were claimed during this conflict, and as a survivor, Providence considers it her responsibility to bear witness to the atrocities of genocide. She wants to save the next generation from falling into the same trap of experiencing such sinister events, since nobody is immune to genocide.

She considers it a privilege for raising awareness of her loved ones, as well as all of those families, who were completely wiped out with no one to remember them. She does all with a thankful heart to preserve their memory and restore their values. She believes silence is complicity in the face of such atrocities and terror. 

As an advocate, she is also proud to be a voice for women survivors living with HIV/AIDS and other long-term illnesses contracted through rape and other violence during the genocide.

Her past speaking engagements have included: the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, New York, and Vienna; the Swedish parliament; three of the four Holocaust museums in Texas, and many universities, libraries, churches and synagogues.