OCTOBER 30, 2011 | 10 MILER, 5K, KIDS K

Your participation in the 2011 Run for the Water Presented by Keller Williams Realty helps the Gazelle Foundation secure access to clean water for one additional person in the small African country of Burundi. This 1:1 ratio has allowed us to serve over 8,000 citizens in the past three years. You can help simply by joining us on Sunday, October 30th!

Register now at www.runforthewater.com.

Once he ran for life, now for joy

By: NORMA MARTINEZ, Managing Editor
Published: Wednesday, October 26, 2011 12:13 AM CDT

Running saved his life, then he ran to live, and now he runs for joy -  and that’s also how he lives his life. That is also the message Gilbert Tuhabonye asked Rockport-Fulton High School (RFHS) students, “Are you running your life with joy?”

The students had the privilege of hearing Tuhabonye speak Thursday, Oct. 20, ironically, almost 18 years to the day he nearly died when Hutu tribes attempted to burn him to death along with more than a hundred Tutsi children and teachers.

Tuhabonye was in Rockport due to the fact the Texas Holocaust and Genocide Commission (THGC), of which he is a commissioner, held its quarterly meeting here.

Due to his friendship with Education Foundation director Suzanne Ransleben, who is also a member of the THGC, Tuhabonye agreed to speak to the students about his experience as a survivor of the massacre of Burundi.

He was born Nov. 22, 1974, in the southern county of Songa in Burundi, a small mountainous country in east central Africa. He is the third of four children. His parents were part of the Tutsi tribe and were farmers by profession.

Read the remainder of the article here: Rockport Pilot Newspaper

The Gazelle Foundation is happy to present a portion of Lynne Dobson’s photos from this summer’s Work for the Water trip.  Lynne is a professional photographer and has been kind enough to provide us with some of her shots.  You can view a sample of these on the Photos from Burundi link on the right.  We’ll have more shots available soon and at the Run for the Water.