Kigali

Although very depressing, the genocide museum, which occupied most of the day, was one of the most shocking, interesting, depressing, reflective, and horrifying experiences in my life. Their capacity to paint an insane picture of the reality of life in Rwanda during the genocide was insane. The graphic photos, videos, commentaries, interviews, and much more meant that you could barely speak as you left. Of course, as is so common with dark parts of history, this all started with colonialism. In which the Belgians separated the people of Rwanda into Tutsi and Hutu tribes. Although these groups existed before colonial rule, the rigidification that the Belgians implemented meant that distinction between the two groups became increasingly easier, even adopting identification cards. Something that would be a horrible tool for catching and killing Tutsis during the genocide many years later. To summarise a somewhat intricate and long period of time, the Hutus were left in charge by the Belgians when the country gained independence. This led to widespread discrimination of the Tutsi people. A civil war between exiled Tutsi and the national armed force worsened tensions between the groups and an increase in anti-Tutsi propaganda. When the Rwandan presidents plane was shot down while landing in Kigali in 1994, the genocide started. Almost immediately, road blocks were set up to stop and kill Tutsis. Men, women, and children would be bludgeoned or machetesed to death while trying to escape the carnage. Neighbours and friends would turn on their Tutsi counterparts and ransack houses, killing anyone inside. Priests would allowed the demolishen and burning of churches, knowing that Tutsis had sought refuge there from the violence - thinking they would not murder in a religious buildings. Nearly a million Tutsi and moderate Hutus were killed in less than 100 days. Hutus who did not wish to participate in the violence or had married or had sexual relations with a Tutsi, would be viciously tortured and murdered. The violence was sudden and widespread. So suddenly, in fact, that 800,000 people had been killed in the first 6 weeks, equating to about 20,000 people per day. The violence only ended when the national army regained control of the country and pushed the extremists out. Many went to the DRC, and this has resulted in instability to this day. Random and sporadic terrorist attacks on Rwandans and tourists from the DRC are somewhat common and may be the reason for the Queen Elizabeth National Park terrorist attack. Those who remained in the country were prosecuted in the Gacaca courts. Though by the end of the genocides there were only about 5 judges and 20 lawyers remaining in the country. 1 million deaths and 2 million migrants left the stability of the country in tatters. As such, they relied on confessions, allowing perpetrators to confess to crimes, determine the location of bodies to give proper burials, and in return received half sentences. Many came forward to confess to crimes, and those who didn't would have the full brunt of the legal system to face and obtain full sentences. The new regime preached forgiveness and togetherness to move past the atrocities, and many followed suit to allow the country to rediscover their own national identity, culture, and stability. No photos could be taken from inside the museum, so I only have a few photos of the outside of the museum. We spent nearly 4 hours here but you could spend more.

Eventually, we arrived at our accommodation for the night and began to get ready to head to a restaurant. For the first time on the trip, we had a meal paid for by the tour (or at least partly). Caroline joined us for dinner, and we had a few drinks and introduced her to everyone. It was nice to have a meal cooked for us where we didn't have to payRead more