By Shay Lelonek / News Director

ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Carl Wilkens, the only American who stayed in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, shared his story with over 20 people at SCSU on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

Wilkens and his family moved to Rwanda four years before the genocide occurred. He started the lecture by telling the attendees about his time there before and during the genocide.

“We were just welcomed with open arms. We were treated with kindness, hospitality,” Wilkens said during the lecture, “This respect, this privilege that was given to foreigners, it’s contradicted by the idea of the slaughter and butchering of the Belgian soldiers.”

He then described his experience when the violence started on April 7, 1994. He told a story about two of his neighbors, women, who had stood outside his and his family’s home while a gang gathered at his gate.

“These ladies started telling stories, stories about our kids playing with their kids … you know, stories of being together at funerals and things,” Wilkens said.

The women who stood outside his gate saved his and his family’s lives that night, Wilkens said.

Those were just two stories he shared during his lecture at St. Cloud State University. Those interested in his experience while in Rwanda can read his book, “I’m Not Leaving,” where he thoroughly writes about his experience and what he and his family went through during the genocide.