Rwanda - The Land of a Thousand Hills
* Disclaimer- I have written this post to give you an idea of Rwandan Life after the genocide of 1994 as I have experienced through my trip. It contains some very graphic violent descriptions. If you are reading with children please do so with your own discretion on this post. Please read it first. This is meant for for an adult insight on a country.
Never have I ever been so impressed by a countries ability to recover from a tragedy. For those of you who do not know, Rwanda faced a massive genocide that left between 800,000 and 1,200,000 people dead. While visiting the country we were told many tales and learned so many facts about the genocide. This post contains three parts which are 1) Basic Facts 2) Post Genocide 3) Memorials and Stories.
Basic Facts
*If you already know the details of the genocide and want to learn about life after skip down to the next section.
The genocide that took place in 1994 was done by the Hutus to kill the Tutsis. Although this was the major genocide there are reports of similar things happening for years previous but on a smaller scale. Most locals told us that they lived in fear long before the genocide happened.
In April the genocide started after the death of the president. It has never been confirmed who actually shot down the plane. Many say that the Hutus killed the president for betraying their code and said he began to show affection to the Tutsis.
Rwanda was made up three main groups called the Hutus, Tutsis, and Twa. Many outsiders believe that these are tribal groups that have grown throughout the years. However, the history can be traced back to the European colonization who decided that Tutsis are people with 10 or more cows. This classified the Tutsis as the elite and rich group. Later on when Europeans took it further and described the Tutsis as descendants of David and to classify them as a Tutsi they must have certain attributes. This included shoulder slope, nose length, tall height, and lighter skin color.
At this time period Tutsi continued to be elite until Rwanda gained independence and the suppressed Hutus took command. From that point year after year small conflicts took place between the groups. any Tutsis were kicked out of school and jobs just for having that background. Government issued cards were distributed to define who was Hutu and Tutsi.
In the year leading up to the genocide many warning signs were shown to the world including leaders pleading leaders to help. Mass amounts of machetes were being shipped into the country and media personal released articles about how the Tutsis should be "cut down" to size. Once the president died the message went out over the radio that it was time to cut down the Tutsis and immediately with the genocide began if full swing.
Over the next 100 days Tutsis and Hutu betrayers were killed in mass proportion. The favorite way to kill was to cut off thee hands and feet of the Tutsi. This symbolized cutting down their height which was an attribute that made a Tutsi back in the day. Many times children were killed in front of their mother before torturing and killing the mother further. At the end of the hundred days 800,000 people were left dead and the number continues to rise even today as bodies are still being found. The streets were littered with bodies.
After the genocide death still continued to happen because the camps were the Hutus fled to were infested with disease. It took a long time to clear and relocate the innocent families home and many died in the mean time. Dogs could rarely be found because most were killed off. Many people killed the dogs since they were feeding on the deceased.
Post Genocide Life Today
As I mentioned earlier I have never been so impressed with a country. After reading what I have about the genocide and seeing the mass graves for myself it seems impossible for a country to come back from that. But they have and even stronger than many other countries.
The country decided that it would be impossible to continue to live in the past and throw everyone in jail let alone find out who committed what crimes. For these reasons the country decided to start at a community level. Each community gathered information of who died, who killed, who robbed, and so on. Everyone would meet once the information was given and add anything they could. This help find lost people, located dead bodies, and bring justice.
The people who committed crimes fell in different level categories depending on what they did. The worst level was an organizer of the genocide and the least was one who gave information. People also had thee chance to confess their crimes and ask for forgiveness from the people they wronged. This lead to people being able to heal and for the criminals to ask for forgiveness and move on. If a person confessed they could send half their sentence in blue shorts and t shirt doing community service. Seeing a man in I shorts is an odd experience because the Rwandan population takes pride in dressing in nice clothes.
After many years of court proceeding they have finally concluded and wrapped up around 2015.
In order to build the country back up everyone takes the 100 days to remember what happened and to talk about how they can move forward. During these days that the genocide took place specifically in their I community student have half day of school and adults work half days. Everyone gathers around to discuss problems in the community and how they can fix them. They want to be proactive not as a single but as a whole country in the building of their country.
In Rwanda I noticed everything is new, beautiful, and clean. With so much death and destruction most houses have had to be rebuilt. Rwandans want to be proud of their country and keep it clean. Every first Sunday of the month every person in the country is asked to go outside and clean up all of the trash. Also, plastic bags and plastic bottles are a thing of the past. These actions are clearly evident when driving and walking around the streets.
The future lies within the children. Many Rwandans who survived consider themselves already dead or severely damaged. More often than not people who suffered major loss could be heard saying they were a walking ghost but they have hope in the future. Education of the next generation is a number one priority. Theses students are taught to think about thinks from a wider perspective, to accept everyone, and to be proud of themselves and their country. Crimes committed today are still punishable however if someone commits a crime against a 60 versus a 15 year old the punishment is much more severe if it is against the child. The future is the children and they must be protected. As a teacher I could not agree more and think more countries need to take notice of the education of their children. They are the future whether it is Rwanda or the United States. If you want change for the good you need to start with the children.
Finally, the most powerful of statements and changes is the eradication of titles such as Hutu or Tutsi. It was rare to find out what someone was previous to the genocide. In society today it does not matter what you were before because now everyone is Rwandan! A few years after the genocide a group came in to try to kill Tutsis at a school. When the students were questioned and asked to stand if they were a Tutsi not a single one stood up. The students knew who was who in the classroom and would not give each other up. When the students were informed they would all die unless they gave up the Tutsis all the students in the room answered the same. "I am Rwandan!" Sadly the man opened fire and killed many but the hope still lies that if these students can commit to a new attitude then their county will all be one eventually.
Memorials and Stories
As with any country who suffers loss, many memorials scatter Rwanda. It seemed that every single town had their own memorial so that families could grieve the lost and killers could beg forgive of their crimes. These are places where victims and criminals alike come to mourn. By the end of my stay it seemed to me as if almost everyone except the high up were victims in some way. Three memorials stood out from the rest. Each one stood out for a different reason with the last having the largest impact of my life. I've visited the Holocaust Museum, The Killing Fields, S21, and many other sights but none gave me the chills I felt at these.
Genocide Memorial:
Located in the capital city of Kigali, the genocide memorial is a center piece of the daily life of Rwandans and a must see for tourists. Before entering the memorial and museum guests are asked to watch a video giving a brief introduction to the history of the genocide. The movie is very well put together and follows the stories of three individuals. Boxes of tissues are convienantly located around the room and very needed.
The museum section consists of videos, interviews, pictures, and text about the past, present, and future of what happened. It is very informative and has very little text that could be disputed or argued as propaganda. One of the most moving rooms of the museum is where they display pictures of the victims. Thousands of pictures are washer crippled to string and line the walls. As you walk through I could feel their eyes on me begging to not let something like this happen again. Almost saying please let my death by the last and let it stand for something.
Another room that brought us to tears is the children's room. Upon entering the room I had assumed it would be a less violent version for children. It was not. Instead the room hosts larger than life pictures of children who became victims. Their portraits hang massive on the wall. The only decoration is the small plaque that list a few facts about the child such as name, age of death, favorite food, personality, and worst of all the way they were murdered. One girl and I stood frozen with sheer horror as we read things such as a two year old being hacked in half by a machete or a five year old being clubbed in the head.
Finally outside of the museum the mass graves of 100,000 people sit in rows. Each mass grave is made up of a giant stone slab where the dead rest in piles below. This is where many people visit daily to talk to their love one or constantly ask for forgiveness and peace.
Church 1
After leaving the main overland truck I spent another day in Kigali exploring. I hired a car and driver with a lovely couple name Gary and Lesley to visit a few of the memorial and killing sites. The first of the churches was where 10,000 people had murdered in a period of less than two weeks. Many people sought refuge in the churches thinking that they were safe zones. Unfortunately this made it easier for the Hutus to locate and kill all at once. This church was quite big and when you entered the main hall coffins lined the floor with bright purple and white crosses on silk cross draped on them. Around the sides of the room piles and piles of clothes were piled on top of each other. They had taken all of the clothing of the victim from that church alone and saved them to show the sheer number of people.
In the center of the church you can walk down under the ground into a brightly lit white room. In the center of the room coming form either staircase is a single coffin encased in glass. The glass containers above it contain lines of skulls and shelves of bones. The single coffin hold only one body as a reminder of the atrocity of what happen. The body is of a girl who watched at her children were hatched to death in front of her eyes. The murderers then proceed to sexually abuse her one by one until finally using a spear from her privates to her neck to kill her off.
Church 2
Both churches moved me deeply but this one did more than words may be able to describe. When a visitor arrives on the site they will see old brick building standing with no roof. A new roof has been built to cover most of these old structure.
The first building I entered was the main church. Immediately I jumped back. There right in front of my eyes hundreds of skulls line the shelves where candles and bibles once stood. I've seen many skulls in my life but always behind glass. Here they were sitting out bare and raw. Each one was unique and many could show the damage that had been done to the person. Many skulls had machete cracks, spear holes, or shattered against the wall. Tears filled my eyes.
The main hall was filled once again with silk covered coffins. One of the workers explained to us that they were still preparing coffins for the mass graves as bodies continued to come in 22 years later. As people confess to the crimes they are able to tell where someone was killed and locate the body for burial. Even more shocking is the fact that many coffins contain up to 100 bodies worth of bones.
We navigated our way through the half filled coffins to the front of the church where once again we were greeted by hundreds of more skulls. Theses were stacked only one high and one whole corner.
The next stop was a storage room where the clothes, shoes, and beds were pilled up. Looking at the clothes reminded me how this was not that long ago. This was not some war or genocide that happened before my time. This actually happened and the clothes were still here to prove it. They were not preserved or kept in a cool place for a museum but piled wherever they could fit them.
The third building was the hardest to take. It was the Sunday School. We walked in and the room was empty except for some benches for learning. On the opposite side of the wall a dark stain covered the left side. The stain was that of blood of victim after every victim being bashed off the wall. These were not ordinary victims but the blood of innocent children. Lesley and I both quickly exited the room as tears and nausea filled us.
Finally we visited this communities mass graves. Slowly we were guided to one grave in particular. Every mass grave so far had been a giant gray stone hiding away the people below. This was different. We were led down the stairs and surrounded by bones. Bones piled on shelves, bones in lines, bones in coffins, and bones on the floor. The grave was still being filled so we were able to see what it looks like underneath. Once again the idea of what I was seeing and the smell forced me to take my leave quickly.
Stories:
Many people walk around spreading their story in hopes of a better future. One of the individuals we met sat our group down around a room while the power was off and told us the story by candlelight. He kept his story very detailed but factual. Very rarely did he add in input of his own opinion. The interesting fact was not the facts he presented but what he said during the question and answers. Georgia got up the nerve to ask the questions we were too nervous to ask. Which background did he come from? He looked at the hostel owner with a look that said obviously an outsider old ask that. His answer was simple. What does it matter? Simply I am a human being so why does it change if I say this or that? Do I gain something by saying I am a Hutu or do I gain something for saying I am a Tutsi? We all sat around after the story time discussing this answer. Once again the culture has it right here. Eliminate stereotypes and classifications and simply be human.
There is one man in particular at the memorial that stood out. He was searching for the person who was responsible for killing his family. He had put up flyers and left messages everywhere asking for that individual to come forward not to yell or to hurt and take revenge but to forgive. He felt he needed to have the closure to move on in life.
Finally there is one powerful story of a lady who walks around spreading love and forgiveness with a male friend of hers. This friend in particular is a special friend. As they walk around the street they walk arm in hand. Unfortunately she no longer has a hand to hold his with. This hand was lost in the genocide when he made the decision to brutally machete hers off. Now they walk side by side spreading their story of love and forgiveness. How they can do this I have no idea but I admire it more than anything. One of the more crazy parts is that they both think the other suffers more. She feels bad how much he must hurt on a daily basis dealing with a constant reminder of the crimes he committed. I could go on and on about this relationship and how much good it could do for the world but I am sure you get the point.
The memorials were enough to turn anyone. A constant reminder of what took place while making you want to change the ways of life for the better. The people and their stories made even more of an impact. The impact on me was that this country of destruction could easily have turned to hatred and more revenge. Instead they have moved towards making a better life, a better country, and a better future. If only more places could put the past in the past and move forward what a great world we would have.
