My time in Rwanda has been really remarkable, and I sort of wish that more people would visit this city. As I said before, its clean, and safe, and beautiful. People listen to traffic rules, there are garbage cans along the roads (something missing from other African cities), and there is a general sense of contentment around. On this liberation day here it is really incredible to consider that not long ago this country was plunged into at least 100 days of chaos, that can be marked only as one of humanity's (and the international community's) massive failures.
I am staying in Kigali with my friend Pierrot, who's entire family was killed during the genocide. On Saturday when I arrived, he took me to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, which is a museum dedicated to the history of the genocide. It is an incredible museum, and I must admit that throughout I obviously had in mind some recollections of experiences at other genocide museums, like Yad Vashem and the Holocaust Museum in Washington. I was obviously making some comparisons in my mind.
This genocide museum is different in one particular way however, and that is what lies behind the museum. There are numerous giant slab's of concrete, placed throughout the massive gardens, under which lie mass graves. In these graves are buried approximately 250,000 people who lost their lives during the genocide (out of a total 800,000). This museum is different therefore because it is a, for lack of a better word, living museum, because it is always changing and growing because the graves keep expanding. As bodies are discovered, as I learned they are every few weeks, they are added to these burial sites, and become a part of the museum and collective memory of the country.
Pierrot took me down to the lowest level of the garden where there was a giant slab of concrete, but unlike the others, a lid had been removed, and there was a gap in the top. Leading down into the grave was a small concrete staircase, and scattered around the top were bunches of flowers. The parking lot nearby began to fill up with visitors dressed in black and other strong colours, and a herz showed up in the parking lot, out of which was carried a white coffin. Today, a family was burying the remains of their father, whose body had only recently been discovered, who was killed 17 years ago. I stood watching as approximately 1000 onlookers gathered around the grave site, as the President of the Genocide Survivors' Society spoke about the importance of remembering, and how important it is that those who have information about the location of bodies or remains from the genocide, come forward so that the country can continue to heal. Amid the singing of Rwandan memorial song, standing on the side of a hill marked with bright green grass, pink flowers, and the unfolding hills of Kigali next to it, the coffin was carried down the stairs into the grave, and this father was placed alongside countless others whose bodies had been recently discovered.
Last night I went out to a restaurant/bar called Papyrus Restaurant. I was with Pierrot and a number of other people who I have befriended since arriving in Rwanda, and in the middle of dinner Pierrot went to say hi to someone. After a few minutes he called me over, and introduced me to his friend, and told me that it was this friend whose father was buried the day before. I spoke to him and said that what I had witnessed and felt was entirely unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I asked him how he felt, and whether he felt a sense of closure, and he just looked at me and said 'relieved'. After 17 years of not really knowing the fate of his father, he was finally able to have some closure and place his father to rest. He told me about his experience about the genocide, and the fact that everyone in Rwanda was involved in some way. He said that everyone knew either a victim, or a perpetrator, or a collaborator, and he said that people who he was friends with, who worked for and with his family, and people he had trusted his whole life, had turned against him and his family when the country descended into war. He continued to speak however of the reconciliation process and how fortunate Rwanda has been in their ability to improve their future and come together. What stuck out must was his sense of relief and comfort, being able to erase this question mark from his mind once and for all.
Outside the museum is a flame that is lit every year on April 4, the anniversary of the start of the genocide, and is extinguished today, July 4th, the end of the war. The flame, as well as the museum itself, is an incredible monument to what happened during that time, and meeting and speaking to people most affected has really opened my eyes as to so many of the issues still encountered by people today. This is only a little of what I have felt and thought in the last few days here.
Yesterday I also visited the Hotel Milles Collines, the famous landmark most commonly known from the movie Hotel Rwanda. Though marked with controversy, I just wanted to see this site, one of the more famous hotels in the world, and it was so interesting to see what it was like. A beautiful, luxurious hotel, with a big blue pool in the back next to a bar and cabana, it is difficult to imagine so many refugees camped out in this spacious and lush setting. We went up to the rooftop restaurant to get some pictures of the view from the hotel, and just considered how much such a place can change in such a short time. Today, instead of refugees drinking the water from the pool or boiling it to use for their dinner, there were British and American families jumping into the refreshing water and enjoying a day in the sun. Maids walked in and out of the rooms that were once used to house numerous families at a time, hiding from the militias just outside, as they were protected solely by the fact that the hotel was being used as a UN base of sorts. This hotel was almost as important a landmark as the museum itself, and it was also a symbol of how reconciliation and working towards the future can be effective.
Ok, enough about the genocide. Kigali itself has been amazing in so many ways, and I leave tonight to head back to Kenya via Uganda on what I believe will be the most painful bus ride of my life (approximately 2o hours with a stop of unknown length in Kampala, Uganda).
At the border coming into Rwanda I met two French students, Lorraine and William, who I spent a lot of time with in the last few days. We went out together on Saturday night for dinner and drinks, and they are both traveling and doing some volunteer work throughout East Africa as well. Last night I had dinner with the two of them, Tony from California, Mark from Barcelona, a girl from Rwanda, and Pierrot, and it was really fantastic just sitting with such a diverse group of people. At one point however, there were three people speaking to each other in French, and the others speaking in Spanish....and me. At which point I picked up my phone to bbm some friends at home and not be too alone, but they realized soon.
I have been driven all over the city to see the wealthy neighbourhoods, the highest peak, the nice coffee shops, and have had some delicious food. I have been so impressed by how many people from all over the world are living in Kigali doing volunteer work, and I even met some Israelis yesterday!
Pierrot has really spoiled me with his hospitality, and has taken me all over and ensured that I've felt comfortable at all times. In his house, he has a guy who works for him, essentially doing the house work, gardening, etc. Last night when I came back home to change, I noticed that my room had been cleaned, and my pile of laundry was missing from the corner of the room. He had taken the laundry, cleaned it, and hung it up to dry. Later, I could not find my shoes to go out, and later found that he had actually even taken my running shoes and gave them a nice thorough clean, and they were also sitting outside drying....so I wore flip flops to dinner. Really funny, but really amazing, and this hospitality has made me feel really at home. At dinner last night Pierrot said to me that he always has an extra room in his house and that if I know anyone traveling through Rwanda, they are welcome to stay with him, which is such a nice gesture, and now its out there!!
Ok, that's definitely enough, but if you've read this far then you are either family or a really good friend. Taking the bus to Kenya tonight, and getting down to work on Wednesday! All's great though, and am on bbm if anyone wants to say hi! Paul Kagame, the President, is about to speak at the rally, and Pierrot is going to translate his speech for me since two days in Kigali is not enough to master Kinyarwandan just yet.
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