Current News for United Initiatives

United Initiatives and Sports for Peace hosted a 3 day United Ballers program at the Kabuga Youth Center and Doctrina Vitae College in Kigali, Rwanda.
50 girls participated in the program, many of whom are survivors of the 1994 genocide.
Although it has been 15 years, mental, physical, and emotional pain are still evident. Often, the psychology grief of war is passed from generation to generation, thus making the healing and reconciliation process long and painful.

More than 1 million people lost their lives in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Additionally, over 500,000 women were raped (often being infected with HIV/AIDS), two-thirds of the population was displaced resulting in over 2 million refugees, and over 300,000 children were orphaned. Sadly enough, this was not the first genocide of our time.
The aftermath of these destructive cycles of war is daunting.
Social institutions stop functioning, critical health and education systems break down, physical infrastructure is destroyed, agriculture activity is interrupted, food supplies become scarce, commerce and trade shrink, poverty increases, populations are uprooted and made homeless, epidemic diseases spread unchecked, discrimination against vulnerable populations increases, and violence and criminality become widespread.

As human beings, we must realize our interconnectedness to one another and our innate responsibility to make efforts to heal and rebuild our world. Through the strife we must not only envision a world where all human rights are respected and communities thrive in peaceful co-existence, but we must take action and cultivate it.

"All this will not be finished in the first 100 days, nor will it be finished in the first 1000 days, nor in the life of this administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin." (JFK)