*Warning: this post details some of what I saw at the genocide memorials*
Monday, February 23rd:
On Monday we drove the 8 hours to Kigali, through the equator and around the Ugandan and Rwandan countryside. I took about 50 pictures of the rolling hills of Rwanda that all look incredibly similar, but I just could not get enough. We arrived at Kigali late at night and already could see the development differences between the two cities. A significant difference was that Kigali has subsidised electricity (unlike Kampala) so the city was lit up and looked very modern. They are also incredibly strict about recycling and throwing away trash. One could go to jail for littering so the streets are immaculate. Plastic bags are literally illegal. The other huge difference was that Kigali had 100 times more Muzungus (foreigners) than Kampala did.
The equator line.
Me in front of the landscape of Rwanda.
Tuesday, February 24th:
This was one of the hardest and most important days of our trip. We visited three of Rwanda's four hundred genocide memorials throughout the day. Our first stop was the Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum, the largest memorial in the country. It detailed the events leading up to the genocide, gave testimonials of those who survived and saw their friends murder or be killed, and the success Rwanda has had at reconciliation. The worst part of this was the room full of children's pictures. Each exhibit had the last picture that was taken of the child, a few fun facts such as favorite food, favorite toy, best friend, and then how they were killed. Most were "hacked by a machete" or "bashed against a wall."
We also visited a small church memorial (5,000 deaths took place there), and a cathedral (12,000 deaths in one night massacre). There were piles of dirty clothes in these churches, abandoned belongings of those who were killed, and mass graves at both of these sites. The tour guides encouraged us to go inside the mass graves and see for ourselves the brutal markings on the skeletons that showed the proof of the torture they endured before death. In the small church, there were hopeful messages from the local people written on hung up sheets inside. These were often hung next to blood stains on the wall.
Finally, we finished visiting memorials and went to the SIT Rwanda Resource Center to meet with our counterpart SIT students studying in Kigali. At the Resource Center, one of the Rwandan staff members began a peace circle with us. We spoke of the horrors we had witnessed that day, what it meant for our view of humanity, and how to deal with returning home to the States and sharing what we learned. That is why I think it is important to post explicit details of what I saw in Rwanda. Before I went to Rwanda myself, I believed the propaganda that the genocide had been a result of tribal violence and was something the West had no hope of stopping. All I had been able to picture were people who looked no more human than dolls fighting, not millions of individuals just like my family and friends who became murderers.
The outside of the small church.
This was the kitchen in the church. It was left exactly how it was found after the massacre.
This was the Sunday school room. The stain is from where the babies were smashed against the wall.
Wednesday, February 25th:
This day was pretty uneventful. We sat in class all day and learned about the history of Rwanda, colonialism in Rwanda, and the political tensions leading up to the genocide. The most important lesson I learned this day was that the terms Hutu and Tutsi were invented by the colonial Belgians to differentiate between the rich and poor Rwandans. Any Rwandan who had more than 10 cows was a Tutsi and was given a ruling class status. Any Rwandan with less than 10 cows became a Hutu. Before colonialism these distinctions DID NOT EXIST, yet the West claims the genocide was a result of tribal tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi. We also learned about Kigali and some of the successful development initiatives their president, Paul Kagame, has put into place.
Thursday, February 26th:
On Thursday our director decided to give us a break and take a trip to a Rwandan vacation town at lake Kivu. On the way, we stopped by a town with a huge business enterprise started by a Rwandan that was employing 400 locals. The business made juices, wines, donuts, bread, and chilli sauce. While it definitely highlighted a way to development, I think we mostly stopped by the town to have an excuse to go on our vacation. After about a three hour drive, we arrived at the beach and hung out by the water. We are not allowed to go in any body of water here because Schistosomiasis (a water borne disease), but being at the beach was still really fun and we got some much needed relaxing time after all the talk of genocide.
Friday February 27th:
Saturday, February 28th
We left the city on Saturday to go back to Uganda. But on our way out we got stopped by the police at a checkpoint. It turned out it was national community service day and we were being required to participate for the three hours of community service required by citizens! Rwanda has this on the last sat every month, and has since the genocide. Our SIT Rwanda friends told us that most of their host families hide out inside all morning so they can't be forced to do the community service. Outside of our car we saw that there were in fact a lot of people milling around. Mostly they were picking up trash. Thankfully, our academic director, Charlotte, talked us out of it and we drove out of Rwanda.
***
In light of such a sad post, I would like to share with the
Shipley community my sorrow for the tragedy that occurred over the weekend. It
is with a heavy heart that I wrote this post and with the same heart I feel for
the family and friends of Caymen. In the words of the Basoga, the tribe of my homestay family, Nga kitalo, I am sorry for the loss of a life.
thank you for sharing your experience at the genocide memorials
ReplyDelete