Mwaramutse (Good Morning),
I can’t believe that I return to the states in just two weeks time. I get a little sad whenever it passes through my mind, but the thought of ice cream has helped to sooth the anxiety. The last two weeks have been packed, hence the reasons why I have not given a detailed update for quite some time.
I would like to share with you my experience at one of the memorials I visited, but first I think it is necessary to give a brief history of Rwanda for those of you who may be unfamiliar with it.
The Belgians and French colonized Rwanda. Before this time, the Rwandan people lived together in unity, sharing the same culture, language, and traditions. When the Belgians took over, they began to create an ethnic divide between all Rwandese, creating two ethic groups: Hutu and Tutsi. The ways in which the Belgians divided the people came down to simple tactics such as the number of cows a person owned. If you owned more than ten cows, you were Tutsi, less than ten, you were Hutu. The Belgians also tried to give certain physical features to the Hutus and Tutsi, specifically the for-shape of the nose. The Belgians decided that the minority, the ethnic Tutsis, was to be the superior group. They were given the best government positions and jobs, as well as the support of the Belgians.
After Rwanda’s independence in 1962, extremist Hutu groups started to stand up against the “superior” Tutsi. Thus started the gradual killing of the Tutsi people. From 1962 -1994, sporadic cleanings of the Tutsis took place.
In April 1994, after much planning and preparation, a Genocide against the Tutsis commenced. In just 100 days, 1 MILLION people were murdered. The goal was to have a complete ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi people. Men, women, and children all over Rwanda were slaughtered. Thousands of people took refuge in schools and churches where safety had been guaranteed, only to be road blocked, deprived of food and water, and then killed. During this time, almost no foreign aid or intervention took place, including the United States.
I arrived in Kigali during the 100 days of commemoration of the Genocide. Since my arrival, I have visited the Kigali Memorial Center, Nyatama and Ntarama Churches, as well as Murambi memorial.
Last weekend I visited Murambi, a school where 50,000 people took refuge during the Genocide. Out of the 50,000 people who went there, only 4 survived. Having been to three memorials already, I figured I was fairly prepared. This feeling stayed with me until I entered the first classroom, where low-lying tables held rows of bodies. Although each body has been covered in lime, they have not been preserved in any other way. While visitors have been viewing these bodies for the last 15 years, they have been rotting right before their eyes. Some still have hair, some clothes, and some teeth. One can see the injuries they concurred.
After spending about an hour walking through all the classrooms, our guide showed us the mass grave that the bodies had been dumped in by the French, some still alive. Now the grave is empty for viewers to see. Before we went through the memorial, we were given a testimony of our guide, one of the four survivors. He had a visible round indent on the top of his head where a perpetrator had tried to shoot him. His wife and children laid in one of the classrooms.
The last two months have definitely given me a powerful perspective on what took place here in Rwanda 15 years ago. This week I attended a conference on reconciliation, where I was able to hear more testimonies of both survivors and perpetrators of the Genocide. Wether it be at Gisimba, the memorials, or just conversing with friends, I continue to learn everyday about this difficult process.
I hope that this blog has given you a little insight on this very special country and the time I am spending here.
Umunsi mwiza (have a good day!),
-Rach
