In a week that has revived public discussion about genocide - the indictment issued by the International Criminal Court against Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, the arrest of Bosnian Serb butcher Radovan Karadzic - it’s important to remember those who survive these onslaughts, as well as those who perish. So here’s a project in Rwanda that’s really worth supporting.

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is setting up a village for orphaned survivors of the 1994 genocide. Named the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village - “a place where these traumatized youth can ‘dry their tears’ (Agahozo) and ‘live in peace’ (Shalom)” - it’s modelled upon the village of Yemin-Orde in Israel, created in 1953 to absorb Jewish children orphaned during the Holocaust.

The village, scheduled to open in 2009, has a number of urgent needs, including clothing for the youngsters living there. Z Word readers are encouraged to help.

Hat-Tip: Michael Weintraub of the Africa Institute of the American Jewish Committee, which is also involved in the project.