Clemantine Wamariya

Clemantine Wamariya was six-years-old when the genocide started in Rwanda. Miraculously she and her sixteen-year-old sister, Claire, managed to survive but they were separated from their parents. During the six years following the genocide, Clemantine lived in numerous refugee camps in seven different African countries before coming to Chicago in 2000. Since first discussing her experiences as both a survivor of genocide and her life as a refugee on the Oprah Winfrey Show in 2006, Clemantine has traveled the country, speaking at numerous universities, high schools, and other organizations. Currently an undergraduate at Yale University, Clemantine is involved in several human rights, genocide intervention activities and refugee youth empowerment projects. More recently, President Barack Obama appointed Wamariya to serve on the board of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.