Yannick Tona lights a menorah. Photo by David Bruce.

Cheers to the Jerusalem Post for this article on Karen Shulman, who is bringing Jewish holiday celebrations to the African nation of Rwanda.

Shulman, 27, a former National Association of Social Workers member from New York, went to Rwanda to coordinate construction of a community center in Nyamata.

Introducing  Jewish traditions to Rwandans is especially relevant,considering the country was wracked by genocide in 1994.

Innocent Niyezemana is a former co-worker of Shulman and has attended Jewish events. His family was killed through genocide but he escaped to neighboring Congo.

“Karen was the first Jewish person I had ever met,” said in the Jerusalem Post article. “I knew about Jews from the Bible and about the Holocaust. We were treated the same way Jews were treated during the Holocaust. The way we live and they live is very similar.”