The many stories of Rwanda... There were so many parts to my visit to Rwanda that i have to recount the stories separately...the sad part and the fun part. Ill start with the sad part- my visit to the Genocide memorial centers... Our first point of call in Kigali was the Belgian Memorial Center, the Mausoleum of the ten Belgian UN peacekeepers who were cut down by extremists in the wake of the violence that had erupted, leaving almost one million Rwandans dead within three month. Still standing was the building where they hid before their capture, it had been hit by grenades by the militants to enable them gain access after which the Belgian soldiers were captured, tortured and killed. Ten stone monuments stand in their burial place representing the ten slain soldiers while a solitary monument represents the entire people of Rwanda, old and young that were cut down during the ethnic cleansing. We saw gory pictures of the people killed in their thousands, not sparing children and lots of decaying bodies which littered the streets for months! We also saw messages of hope and peace for the present and future generation of Rwandans. It was indeed a sobering experience. Next we visited the Genocide Memorial Center where the government had documented and preserved every possible detail about the genocide. Some people on our group had been wise enough to have stayed back and not go through the harrowing experience we had to endure for our curiosity. It was a totally heart wrenching experience as we moved from one section to another, reading documented stories of events leading up to the ethnic purging and how it all degenerated. We read about the role the colonial masters had played in instigating ethnic rivalry which set the background for the genocide, the roles played by the different ethnic groups as well as the international community in fueling the crisis. We saw pictures of the mass murder and listened to first hand narration of some of the victims that managed to escape, some whose families were entirely wiped out and even account of some of the perpetrators of the crimes who had come forward to volunteer information in response to the Government’s effort to foster reconciliation in exchange for leniency. I was surprised to see high school students on excursion to the center on a Monday morning after which they went into a lecture room and sat through further video presentations and lectures. I realise its part of their school curriculum. The Government of Rwanda must be commended for putting so much effort into preserving that dark part of their history as a lesson for the younger generation to teach them to shun hatred and embrace peace. Rwandans have lent their voices to say ‘Never again!’ With each room we visited, it got more intense. We saw how religious leaders lured citizens to come take refuge in their place of worship and connived with the militants to bring down the building on 5000 people, killing them all. We saw how the media was used as a tool of propaganda for brewing ethnic hate and instigating people to kill their neighbours. We also saw shows of heroism, people risking their lives to save others, such as was portrayed in the movie “Hotel Rwanda” which most of us are familiar with. (By the way, some of us lodged in that hotel with the original name “Milles Collines”, one of the best in Rwanda). Next we went to a photo gallery, where pictures of the victims were displayed. One thing that was very impressive is how the Rwandan Government has preserved the memories by putting names and faces to the deceased. They are no longer mere statistics but real people, real Rwandans who fell victim to man’s inhumanity to fellow humans. We sat awhile and watched more videos, of family members recounting their ordeals as tears flowed freely both from the narrators and visitors. This was actually the last stop for most of the excursionists, most people couldn’t go further. Being a little adventurous, I ventured further and the next point of call was the room where the preserved skulls and bones of some of the victims were kept. In the same room, clothes, and other personal effects of some of the victims were put on display, in the state in which they were recovered from the bodies. Some of the machetes used to perpetrate the evil were also put on display. After this I went upstairs to the children’s room. By this time, I was the only one from the group who was still on the excursion. Hitherto, I had been able to hold it together, but here alone in the children’s room, It was impossible to hold back the tears. It was hard, so hard… What made it more unbearable was the fact that the pictures on display here were not of bones or skulls or corpses like we had seen in previous sections. It was beautiful pictures of happy children in their homes, riding bicycles, cutting birthday cakes or just doing things that children do… and their profiles which had their names, ages, their favourite meals, colours, hobbies, ambitions, something interesting about them… followed by their last words and how they were killed- from being shot to being matcheted, or clubbed to death. Children aged 2months to 12 years! Right now as I write, I can’t help feeling the same strong emotions I felt reading through those profiles three weeks ago…the imprint is so fresh, I can’t forget. It is the story of a people that killed its young and halted its future. It is so sad that in a bid to wipe out a race, children were a prime target. After this experience, I had to visit the rest room, take a breather before continuing. My next and final point of call was the burial place where two hundred and fifty nine thousand recovered bodies of Rwandans were laid to rest. An eerie silence welcomed me as I walked down the paved pathway lining the grave yard, moving from grave to grave, a very gentle breeze swept through as though soothing the dead and urging them to finally rest. One of the major sights here is the open tomb where some of the deceased laid. Another is the ‘Wall of names’ a milestone effort by the Government and people of Rwanda to properly identify as many of the victims as possible and give them the honour they truly deserve in death. Most of the pictures are so gruesome, I can’t share them. At this juncture, I will like admonish those people who are so ethnic biased and like to foment hate and divide amongst people of different ethnicity or belief; I urge you to visit the Kigali Genocide centre and I assure you, you will have re-think. The beauty about history is that it teaches us not to be foolish enough to make the same mistakes others paid dearly for…
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 00:40:42 +0000
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