Chat with Kizito Kalima

Kizito D. Kalima is a Tutsi survivor of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Founder and Executive Director of the Peace Center for Forgiveness & Reconciliation, an active public speaker, and an advocate for genocide survivors.

Kizito was born in 1979 in Nyanza, Rwanda, the youngest of ten children. When the genocide began on April 7, 1994, the Kalimas were separated and many in the family – including both of Kizito’s parents – were murdered. After surviving a massacre and several other close calls, Kizito managed to survive with a few of his relatives by hiding in swampland until being liberated by the Rwandan Patriotic Front in late July 1994.

Displaced by the genocide and without knowledge of surviving family members, Kizito found refuge in sports. His preternatural basketball ability gave him the opportunity to travel to the United States, where he would remain to attend high school and college.

Kizito now lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his daughter. He also has two adopted Rwandan daughters, themselves genocide survivors. He is the author of Interventions Divine! Angels in the Life of a Genocide Survivor, and My Forgiveness, My Justice: Overcoming the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda. His story is represented in the Spagat Family Voices of Genocide Exhibition at Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center.

This interactive interview was developed in collaboration with Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center (IHMEC) and USC Shoah Foundation. Support for this interview is in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity/Illinois Office of Tourism.