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In Rwanda, Nathan Lorentz, right, and John Lorentz, center, filmed the progress of a new school being built for a documentary they are putting together showing an extraordinary group of people coming together to improve the future of a new generation of Rwandans.

Portsmouth Honors Assistant Provost for International Program Development at Shawnee State University

            John Lorentz, professor, historian, documentarian and assistant provost for International Program Development at Shawnee State University, has been honored by the city of Portsmouth as a 2010 Floodwall Star with a signing on Saturday, Oct. 16.
            He was among four local people to be honored that day, Edna Keffer, local historian and author, and two posthumously, Charles Varney, arts educator and Stan Spence, professional baseball player. Gov. Ted Strickland was also honored for his government service.
            Lorentz and his son, Nathan, wrote, produced and directed “River Voices: A Portrait of an American River Community” in 2002 and they are working on a new documentary project filmed in Rwanda.
            “Quite by accident, I was in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2009 on university business,” John Lorentz said. “I decided to take some time off and ended up going on a safari.”
            He called his son, Nathan, who flew to Africa and joined him and others on the safari. When they got back to Nairobi, a friend insisted they meet this young Rwandan man, David Mwambari, who had a vision of helping rebuild his country after the genocide and devastation in his country in 1994. The people of Rwanda are still recovering from the holocaust where an estimated 800,000 people died.
            At that time, it was just a dream and Mwambari committed his life to making that dream a reality by rebuilding communities shattered by the violence. His grandfather and five uncles were killed in the holocaust.
            Because of his tight schedule, John Lorentz decided the only time he would be able to meet with Mwambari was at breakfast.
            “After about 15 minutes with this young man, I just knew there was something special about him,” John Lorentz said. “We only had an hour and the time flew by.”
            Although he had to leave for other commitments, his son, Nathan, stayed and spent time with Mwambari.
            “We came to the conclusion that this is the story we were looking for,” John Lorentz said. “By sheer chance a few weeks later, David was in Washington for Obama’s inauguration and called Nathan who also was in Washington.”
            After Nathan discussed the idea for the documentary to Mwambari, they began making plans.
            In 2009, Mwambari launched a non-profit organization, “Sanejo: Building Tomorrow’s Generation,” a grassroots organization headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, that is rebuilding African communities.
            He also partnered with YGAP out of Australia, the “Y Generation Against Poverty” organization, to sponsor rebuilding the Ntenyo Primary School in the Muhanga District near Gitarama, Rwanda.
            John and Nathan Lorentz were there filming during the progression and watched while Mwambari’s dream became a reality.
            “We thought this would take three or four years to unfold,” John Lorentz said. “It just happened at lightning speed.”
            Mwambari created a foundation, partnered with YGAP, raised money and volunteers. He had to get the village to allow the school to be built and donate land. He had to get the Rwandan government’s permission and he had to get the church onboard. With all these things he had to do, he wanted to get a school built this summer.
            In July this year, the first school was dedicated in Rwanda. As Mwambari started putting this together, Lorentz was amazed at how quickly he progressed in getting the new school built. Lorentz Productions started filming in April and ended with 40 hours of film.
            The goal in making the film, Nathan Lorentz said, is to produce a compelling documentary that tells the story of an extraordinary group of young people, volunteers, teachers and members of a community that came together to improve the future of a new generation of Rwandans.
            “We feel that it will engage people both emotionally and intellectually, and inspire others by showing the positive things being done today in Rwanda,” Nathan Lorentz said. “Perhaps our favorite moment was filming the kids writing out their dreams and putting their handprints on the dream wall that was inspired by one of the volunteers. Because David’s dream was on the wall, we think it also serves as a reminder that realizing ones’ dream is possible.”