They first met under very difficult circumstances.
Kelowna resident Warren Webber was a UN peacekeeper in Rwanda in 1994 during the genocide in the African country.
Sunday Justin Nzitatira was a 12-year-old boy living in a Rwandan orphanage after being separated from his mother and siblings.
The two had a photo taken together at the orphanage where Nzitatira lived.
Almost two decades later, a chance online search by Webber reconnected the two men.
After years of phone calls, emails and visits, the two now consider each other father and son.
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“This young man helped save my life,” Webber said, referring to the severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder he suffered from after serving in the war-torn country.
Webber told Global News watching Nzitatira recover from the horrific events of his past made him realize that there is life after trauma.
“Just getting to know Sunday, and what this remarkable young man has been through, and being in the orphanage and being in there for almost three years before he found out his mother and two sisters were alive,” Webber said.
“He’s my mentor when it comes to how to live after experiencing situations like that.”
Webber visited Nzitatira twice in Rwanada, and now the Rwandan man is visiting Webber for the first time in the Okanagan.
Their close bond isn’t only healing for both of them; they hope it will help do some good in a country where a vast majority of the population is under the age of 30.
“That part of the population doesn’t remember, or remembers very little, of the genocide,” Webber said.
“And as part of what we wanted to do together is genocide prevention. So we want to set up presentations for the schools and that and educate the students about the genocide.”
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They plan on using their story as a launching pad into the education part at schools. They hope to start their mission when Webber goes back to Rwanda.
“I’ll be going back to Rwanda at least once a year,” Webber said.
Nzitatira has already been making a big difference in his home country for years with a not-for-profit organization he founded in 2012.
“I started this non-profit as a mission to help single mothers fight against poverty,” he said.
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Called Bridge of Hope, the organization was inspired by his mother, who raised him and his siblings without a father.
Bridge of Hope teaches women living in poverty how to sew with the goal of better supporting themselves and their families.
“After that, we provide them with tool kits for them to go in the villages to start a very small business, so they can be able to help their families,” Nzitatira said.
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Those efforts are being applauded by Webber, who said he’s encouraged by all the strides made by Rwanda — a country he has come to love deeply.
“When I left for Rwanda in ’94, I had no hope for the country,” Webber said. “It was so torn apart and to see it today, and how far it’s come in 25 short years, is absolutely remarkable.”
Click here if you would like more information about Bridge of Hope or if you would like to donate to the cause.
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