(7/7) “While I was being interviewed on the radio, Carl...

(7/7)  “While I was being interviewed on the radio, Carl Wilkens was attempting an impossible mission.  He’d gone to military headquarters, and begged the minister to let us transport children out of the orphanage.   He wanted to move them to a protected church near the UN Mission.  His request was denied because the children were Tutsi.  But then a miracle happened.  As he was leaving the building, the Prime Minister herself arrived for a meeting.  Carl ran up to her and began to plead for the children.  She told him to slow down and explain himself clearly.  Then not only did she grant him permission, but she offered two buses for the transportation.  Carl called me and told me to wait at the church.  He said he would bring the children to me.  I thought it was a suicide mission.  There were four hundred people hiding in the orphanage.  Many of them were malnourished and looked like fugitives.  It was clear they had been hiding out for months.  Why would the killers allow them to escape on buses?  But it was our only chance, so I came to the church and waited.  Carl told me the buses would arrive at 6 PM.  But there was no sign of them by 8 PM.  It had gotten completely dark.  I was losing hope.  But suddenly I heard people screaming: ‘Tutsis!  Tutsis!  Tutsis!’  The buses came around the curve, and pedestrians were chasing behind them.  Inside I could see five people piled into every seat.  The kids were hanging out the window, screaming: ‘Papa! Papa! Papa!’  Finally all of us were out of danger.  We sheltered in the church until the genocide was over, but it didn’t take long.  Three days later the capital was liberated.  And all of the children had survived.”
(Kigali, Rwanda)
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Nearly 5,000 people have donated to our fundraiser to help Damas as he continues to help underprivileged and traumatized children.  We just hit our goal.  Thanks so much everybody, Damas is thrilled.  Setting aside the dollar amount, it would be amazing if we could double the amount of donors.  From this point on, I’ll add an additional $1 from the HONY Patreon to every donation given.  Small amounts can have outsized impacts in developing countries.  So even if it’s only a few dollars, please consider being counted: https://bit.ly/2OUBCSA