Organised by Bible Society NSW, over 300 supporters, donors, and friends were treated to an African themed night complete with African singers and dancers. The evening was compered by Anna Coren, former host of Channel Seven's Today Tonight current affairs program.
Interviewed by Bible Society CEO, Dr Murigande spoke of his own experiences in 1994, when his country was plunged into genocide.
"Imagine three September 11th type attacks every day for 100 days – that's what happened in Rwanda and the world did not react," he said.
"When the violence erupted in Rwanda, I was studying at Howard University in Washington DC with my family. When we saw what was happening to our country, my wife took a courageous decision to return to Rwanda to see if she could help the children whom she knew would be affected by the war. When the Interahamwe Hutu militia carried out their massacres, sometimes children would be left alive under a pile of bodies. It was these children my wife would rescue and care for," said Dr Murigande.
"When the Rwandan Patriotic Front called for Rwandans living overseas to come home and help rebuild our country, my wife called me and said we had no business living in Washington. We decided to come home as a family and suffer with the people," he said.
"I knew times would be tough, but I went home to serve my people. When I arrived I found a desolate land – no water, power or communications. Anger and pain were visible on every face. Some people said that Rwanda could never again be one country, so why not divide it into Hutu and Tutsi regions, but we have a long history of living together and so we worked hard to once again become a great nation," said Dr Murigande.
When asked about the Hands for Hope project, which has been running in some of the country's primary schools, Dr Murigande was very supportive.
"The Hands for Hope project is in direct line with our priorities as a government," he said. "In rebuilding our country we need to deal with issues of unity and reconciliation. The government can't do this alone, church and civil society need to be organized to help this process," said Dr Murigande.
"Hands for Hope is making an impact by addressing these issues with the next generation. The government has programs that enable adults to discuss the issues, but there has been a lack of programs made for children," Dr Murigande said.
Dr Murigande said the Hands for Hope project has three benefits:
"Firstly it teaches children to read, write and communicate, Secondly it teaches them the values of the Bible and thirdly, it involves the children's parents as they go home and talk about it. Local leaders are hearing the message from the children – this is making a difference," said Dr Murigande.
The Hands of Hope project, developed in association with African Enterprise, uses printed and audio-visual education materials, that focus on forgiveness, justice and reconciliation. Bible Society is working to educate over 2.2 million Rwandan children over six years of age through the project over the next three years.