Yesterday, Kathy and I arrived in Kigali, Rwanda. Today, we're buying supplies for a primary school and preschool in Musanze, Rwanda, which is very exciting. However, yesterday we stopped at the Kigali Memorial Museum, and it was one of the most powerful experiences I've ever had. I've been to the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. as well as the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, both of which are extremely moving. But perhaps since I knew so much less about the Rwandan genocide than about the Holocaust, it was striking.
Just 15 years ago, the streets outside this internet cafe were lined with bodies that had been hacked to death with machetes or worse. In fact, most likely everyone here with me has some connection to what happened. I guess I should start with a historical outline of what happened. During colonization, first Germany, and later Belgium came to Rwanda. They were interested in the physical differences between the people, and theorized that certain races were superior to others. In their opinion, the Tutsi people, who were more educated, were superior to the more numerous Hutu people. So Belgium chose to rule through existing power structures, but gave all the power to the Tutsi people. Of course, resentment grew among the Hutus, and it lead to some extremist ideologies. When more Hutus became educated, the Belgians realized that they were becoming more powerful, and chose to "right their wrongs" and gave power to the Hutus. However, genocide ideologies had been spreading throughout the Hutu people and was becoming increasingly popular. There was a lot of genocide propaganda against the Tutsi people, and more and more of them began to flee to neighboring countries.
After some time, the RPF, a group of mostly Tutsi refugees began to gain power in northern Rwanda. As they began to threaten the current regime, the president was forced into a cooperative agreement with them to share power and grant the Tutsis a safe return to their homes. However, very few believed that a president that had spewed genocide ideologies could have such a sudden change of heart. Shortly after the agreement was made, the president's plane was shot down, most likely but Hutu extremists.
Almost immediately, the country erupted into violence. Death lists had been coordinated prior, so the killing was remarkably quick and efficient. Any Tutsi was to be killed without question, along with any moderate Hutu that had any association with the Tutsis. In 100 days, more than 1 million people were killed. The most terrifying part is that they were not carted into mass gas chambers, but were killed one by one. Many paid the militia just to shoot them. Some were thrown into latrines and then stoned death. In some cases, a mass of people were thrown into a latrine and eventually trampled each other to death. Towards the end of the memorial, there is a section called wasted lives, and it remembers the children who were mercilessly killed. Underneath a large picture is a list of favorite foods, personalities, sometimes last words, and how they died. Most were killed by machetes, some were shot, a two-year old child was smashed against a wall.
The worst part is that there was a UN presence at the time, but they simply did not have the manpower to stop the brutality, and the UN astoundingly did not grant them it. It's hard to castigate one's own country or own people, but in this case it seems that the UN and the United States turned a blind eye to what was happening, and as a result of ineptitude and indecision, people were killed at a rate 6 times as fast as the Holocaust. And in more brutal ways.
Throughout the entire museum, I had to stifle back tears through video testimonials and vivid pictures of machete wounds in the head. We think of ourselves as civilized creatures, but it's remarkable how quickly we can descend into madness. Maybe one claims the Rwandans were not as civilized as we are, but that does not explain the Holocaust. There are some very powerful quotes from survivors, perhaps the most powerful being, "After the Holocaust, when they said "Never again," did they mean it for some and not others?"
The end of the memorial is dedicated to genocides that have happened across the world, from Cambodia to the Holocaust to Bosnia. It's an extremely well done memorial and one that is a must for anyone visiting Rwanda.
However, the situation is not without hope. Kigali has made a remarkable recovery. !5 years ago, dogs had to be shot en masse, because they had acquired a taste for human flesh. Today, Kigali shows no traces of what happened, and has become a surprisingly cosmopolitan country. Election are being held Monday, and it seems almost certain that Paul Kagame, the man who led the RPF and overthrew the genocidal government, will win in a landslide. It amazes me how quickly a country could recover from such merciless violence. However, I'm sure the people have not.
My apologies about the brutality of some of this post, but I think it's important to know how terrible mankind can be in order to prevent it in the future. We all know of the Holocaust, but this happened when I was 8 years old. Some of those children would not even be out of high school.
In other news, we'll be sure to keep everyone posted on our work in Musanze! And stay tuned for some of my thoughts on the current situation in Africa. After several months here, I'm finally able to see a glimpse of the underbelly of Africa.
