Man who inspired the film ‘Hotel Rwanda’ visits Burlington

Man who inspired the film ‘Hotel Rwanda’ visits Burlington

Paul Rusesabagina celebrated his birthday and Father’s Day at barbecue

BY BRIDGET THORESON
Journal Times

Sunday, June 15, 2008 8:48 PM CDT

BURLINGTON — It was a typical Father’s Day scene at Bohners Lake on Sunday — brats and burgers sizzled on the grill while family and friends chatted at a barbecue and kids ran around the backyard. But for the guest of honor, it was more than just a celebration. It was, as he said, “a blessing.”

 

Paul Rusesabagina, the inspiration for the 2004 film “Hotel Rwanda,” celebrated his birthday and Father’s Day at the cookout at Bohners Lake.

“I’m happy. Today is my happiest day,” Rusesabagina said. “For us that survived, I believe it is a blessing to be with my family and friends on Father’s Day and my birthday.”

Rusesabagina gained international fame for saving 1,268 people when he was a hotel manager in Rwanda’s capital during the genocide in 1994. He now runs a taxi business in Belgium and is president of the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation.

He was invited to the cookout by Kitty Kurth and Kevin Lampe, who run the Chicago communications firm that represents Rusesabagina’s foundation. The couple splits their time between their Chicago home and the house on Bohners Lake, which Kurth said has been in her family since 1946.

When Kurth heard that Rusesabagina was going to be in Chicago on his birthday, she decided they needed to celebrate.

   

“We wanted to show him an American barbecue,” Kurth said.

Rusesabagina had come to Chicago for a panel discussion on achieving peace in Africa’s Great Lakes region, to be held Thursday at the Loyola University School of Law.

Rusesabagina said the goal of his work is to create a dialogue so the international community can join together to create a better future.

“A genocide does not break out in peace. It always comes from somewhere. There was a civil war,” Rusesabagina said. “I step in and say, ‘Aren’t you fed up with killing each other?’ ”

Since he left Rwanda without losing his life, he said, he has tried to enjoy life as much as possible.

“In 1994, I was not sure I was going to survive. The only thing that was for sure was to die,” he said. “To me, every day, every week, a month, a year — it is a bonus.”

Christina Dyer, the executive director of the foundation, said she understood why people had turned to Rusesabagina for help, because he is a “protective family man.”

“He is an ordinary man in so many ways, because he’s so down-to-earth,” Dyer said. “What he did was an extraordinary thing … He’s very much seen as a hero.”

On Sunday, Rusesabagina said the American barbecue reminded him of an African celebration. The wine made him think of banana beer, he said, and the African expression that two men can never sit around a table and not have a drink. For him, that same spirit was present Sunday in the gathering of friends and family, celebrating the day together.

“It is lovely,” he said. “There is nothing as lovely as this.”