Students from the Cal State Long Beach communication studies department and the Rising from Ashes Foundation are screening a film today that documents how cycling has helped to improve Rwanda after the genocide, in which more than one million people were killed.
“Rising from Ashes,” a film directed by T.C. Johnstone, was released in 2012 and shows professional cyclist Jonathan “Jauques” or “Jock” Boyer’s seven-year journey helping and training the cycling team in Rwanda to compete in the 2012 Olympics.
“Boyer was in prison, and he went to Africa to better himself,” said Ennovy Bowman, a sophomore public relations major and one of the five students who organized the event. “Bicycles are the main way of transportation in Rwanda … Boyer created a new opportunity for himself and bettered the lives of others.”
According to IMDb.com, Boyer was the first American to ride in the Tour De France.
The film shows “evidence that a bicycle can become the vehicle of hope for an entire nation,” according to The Rising from Ashes Foundation website.
Tickets for a raffle will be sold 30 minutes before and after the film screening, after which two bikes, a copy of the film and a Rising from Ashes T-shirt will be raffled off. Each raffle ticket will cost $2.
Bowman said that money raised through the raffle will go toward the foundation to help expand cycling in Rwanda and other African countries.
Bowman said “Rising From Ashes” is a film everyone should see so they can witness the perseverance of Rwanda since the genocide, which also left behind more than two million refugees.
“It is an inspiring tale, and it gives people a new perspective on Rwanda,” Bowman said. “It has really grown and changed since those times and the evidence of that change is members of the cycling teams’ families were once at war and now they are working together.”
The screening will be open to everyone at 7:30 p.m. at the University Theatre, Room 108.