Yannick Tona was only four years old when all but four of his 20 family members, were killed in the Rwandan genocide, including his brother.

Tona shared his experiences living through the 1994 genocide and the work it has led him to do Jan. 17 at Carleton.

According to Tona, we learn from mistakes by talking about them, and through this learning bring about change. He suggested youth have the potential to be a big part of this.

Tona has been involved in volunteer work since he was 11 years old. He is now turning 21 and has been a part of several initiatives to raise awareness about genocide.

Tona and his mother walked through the bush to get to the Congo and away from the violence. Tona said he arrived with his mother three weeks later, very tired, sick from the lack of food, and traumatized. What’s worse, many of the Hutu militia were his neighbours, and some of them family friends, according to Tona.

“They tried to kill us just because we are Tutsi,” Tona said.

Many of these same people were still their neighbours after the genocide was over. Tona mentioned how he met the man who killed his grandmother. While few could imagine a more uncomfortable situation, Tona’s response was simple – forgiveness.

“We don’t have a choice. If we want a better future we need to do it,” he said. While the government has put certain measures in place to alleviate tensions, Tona pointed out this was rarely enough. He emphasized the importance of this act despite the difficulties.

“It needs to come from the heart,” he said.

Tona is now a full-time volunteer for Aegis students, a youth movement focused on preventing genocide and helping survivors. The majority of his projects are centred out of Kigali Memorial Centre in the capital of Rwanda. Currently, Tona is helping to compile the names of the 250,000 genocide victims buried in the mass grave at the centre.

“All my heart and mind is on it,” Tona said.

Morgann Rymal, who is responsible for co-ordinating Tona’s trip to Canada, said she first met Tona on a trip to Rwanda while working on a project.

“Not everyone his age in Rwanda is doing what he’s doing,” Rymal said. “For whatever reason he has found that his way of coping with his experience is through talking about it and I think that is significant for us.”

For his tour, Tona will be speaking in different cities including Toronto and Vancouver.