The April 4 lecture at the Museum at Southwestern Michigan College will be “Rwanda: A Story of Hope and Survival – Rising from the Ashes” presented by Dr. Ilene and Rick Sheffer.

The lecture, which begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Upton Educational Center at the Museum, is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served after the hour-long lecture.

Ilene Sheffer will recount her efforts to save the lives of Rwandan SMC students during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. SMC had a number of Rwandan students when the genocide began and when they received word from home, the students learned of the deaths of their loved ones. Sheffer and her husband, Rick, will tell the amazing story of how she prevented the Rwandan government from forcing the students back home to a certain death sentence.

The last lecture slated for the spring series will be “German Prisoners on Southwest Michigan Farms” on May 2 presented by Howard Poole, formally with Western Michigan University.

The Museum at SMC, located on the college’s Dowagiac campus, is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Admission to the museum is free. For more information, call (269) 782-1374.