The lazy days of summer typically bring activities like summer jobs and experiential learning for university students.
But this is not the case for Dylan Kular from Quest University's men's basketball team. After an intense season of training, working in admissions as an ambassador and the adaptation of first year studies, the native of Abbotsford is off to Rwanda to represent STAND, an organization working to end genocide.
"I will be doing research on how Rwanda is coping since the '94 genocide, talking to survivors, visiting memorial sites, and volunteering with orphanages and women centers," said the second-year guard prior to his departure. "I will be spending another 10 days with a child soldier of the genocide, helping him start his education program for primary and secondary students in Rwanda."
The significance of his volunteer work is not lost on Kular and he has already visited sites where the terrible violence of 1994 occurred.Nearly one million people were killed over a three-month span, a historic tragedy that the STAND organization and its volunteers wish never to be repeated.
"The experiences that I expect to bring back I hope will inspire others both at Quest and in the community," added Kular, who will also visit high schools in the Lower Mainland to teach the valuable lessons of his voyage. "This experience of acting globally will be translated into acting locally from the presentations to high school students and at Quest."
For a young man who signs all his emails with Senator Dallaire's saying, "No human is more human than any other," there is clearlymore to university life for Kular than shooting a basketball.Kular said he believes that the four years of school present incredible opportunities that cannot be passed up and the unique atmosphere at Quest has clearly inspired him to do bigger things.
"The younger generation is where the change will start. If I am able to inspire one person at each presentation to get them to start speaking out locally in their community the awareness will expand," he said.
If you wish to follow Dylan in his pursuit against genocide, he will be blogging throughout July at www.dkulargoestorwanda.wordpress.com
For more about STAND and how you can get involve, please visit their website at www.standnow.org.
