A website inspired by a Cranbourne parishioner, who worked in reconciliation and peace-building after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and supported by the Melbourne Anglican Foundation has won a United Nations Media Peace Award.
Rwandan Stories – Vanishing Point took the 2011 Best Online Award from a group of finalists that also comprised mainstream media groups Fairfax and SBS.
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The website, designed for secondary students but used by a much wider audience and which attracted 1.5 million hits last year, is the work of Mr John Steward, a parishioner of St John’s Cranbourne and frequent visitor to Rwanda, Ms Sally Morgan, the website’s curriculum developer/educator, and her husband Mr Dave Fullerton, the website developer and producer.
The judges’ comments said in part: “This is an excellent website which features exemplary use of the on-line format on several levels; as a historical and archival document, a piece of reporting, a news resource and an educational resource. The rich combination of video, text, images and interactive features is striking. The strong focus on first person interviews detailing their stories and perspectives of what happened and how they are trying to collectively recover is impressive.
“The judges were particularly impressed with the humanitarian focus of the work on origins, details and aftermath in an attempt to contextualise a shocking event.”
Ms Morgan said the UN award had caused “a marked step up in interest” in the website.
Rwandan Stories explores the origins, detail and aftermath of the genocide through the eyes of both victims and perpetrators, and also focuses on issues of restorative justice, trauma recovery and active peace-building.
“Rwanda’s story is such a politically emotive area. Even calling it genocide can be seen as highly inflammatory,” Mr Fullerton said.
Mr Steward said it was four years since filming was done for the website and it was hoped to return to Rwanda to follow up with the people who appear on it.
See website www.rwandanstories.org