As we all know, there was a terrible earthquake in Haiti in January 2010 where around 220,000 people were killed and there are still 1.5 million people homeless. These numbers are hard to comprehend. On a personal note, what was so hard for me to comprehend was the loss of my friend Emmanuel Rejouis and his two young girls Kofie-Jade (5) and Zenzie (3). His wife Emily and their daughter Alyahna (2) survived. Emmanuel and I worked together with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Rwanda. Emily has since created Kenbe La Foundation "to realise Emmanuel’s aspiration of providing inspirational educational opportunities for disadvantaged children of his birth-country Haiti, with an emphasis on sports, music, leadership and entrepreneurship".
RASH is largely based on the 3 years I lived and worked in Rwanda and so it seems fitting to donate all proceeds from the NY Fringe performances to the Foundation in memory of Emmanuel and his girls. Here is a beautiful obituary of Emmanuel that describes him so poignantly. As a writer, I confess I still find it hard to put words to paper on this one. And recently, Emily spoke out about the tragedy and the Foundation for the first time on New Zealand television. She is very inspirational and I think of her and Alyahna so often.
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