Kigali Memorial at Gisozi

Next stop the Kigali Memorial Centre (pic shows front entrance from inside)at Gisozi(the name of the neighborhood.) The Centre is almost surrounded by mass graves(under concrete slabs like Nyanza)in which victims are reburied in coffins. The Memorial Centre calculated that on average approx. 50 bodies fit in one coffin and there are several hundred coffins in one area. Currently, about 250,000 bodies are buried here. Bodies continue to be found in a number of locations and family members often want relatives reburied at the Centre. And so, more space for graves around the Centre continues to be created.


The exhibit inside is very interesting - it shows many graphic pictures and does not shy away from depicting the gruesomeness. I think it forces you to go to places in your mind that are easily skipped when just reading numbers and/or descriptions or statements about what happened.





The children's exhibit is very simple, just a picture and text, but it tells the story and no comment necessary.



A sculpture exhibit - four sets of three figures each - tries to tell Rwandan history. First set: unity/intermarriage/helping each other; second: division; third: genocide; fourth: consequences of genocide.



A couple of rooms (one for the adults and one for children) has photos of those who are buried in the Centre's mass graves. As more people are reburied here, more pictures are being added. I liked the simplicity of the design and practicality of its implementation; new pictures can easily be added. I really liked the individuality of each photo but would have liked to see a name and/or information about where they were from? Maybe on the back of the picture?



They also have a panel of rescuers, including a great photo and story of one of them called Sula.

After the exhibit, I went to see the room where they store the videos of interviews taken so far. Freddy and Yves had to leave because Freddy received a text message from a survivor which led them to believe the survivor was wanting to end his/her life. Understandably shaken, they left trying to prevent something bad from happening. Heard later that evening that they were able to get the person some help. In the meantime, I had conversations with Benoit and Patrick [a translator at the Memorial] about the testimonies but - and I don't know how it happened - began to talk about US politics. Hillary Clinton has a lot of support among a number of people I've met. Though the count is still out and I am meeting more and more who are supporting Obama.

Dinner was in a restaurant next to the Gorilla Hotel. Great food as usual (lunch today at Chez Roberts was good too - we ran into Freddy's boss, the Vice Mayor of Kigali.) One tidbit from our dinner conversation: the story was told about how Hutus killed a lot of cats because they thought they were like Tutsis because they drank milk. They also mentioned how some journalists in Rwanda said that Obama was "Tutsi-like" - it was not meant to be taken as a compliment by those journalists.

Welcome & Mountain of Memory

The whole team from the November USC visit plus Yves and Immaculee, came together this morning for breakfast. It was great to see everyone. Words of welcome were exchanged and my schedule for the next ten days was discussed. Theodore advised not to visit the memorial sites of Murambi, Ntarama and Nyamata in one day. Simply too much in one day - and not because of the traveling... Heeding Theodore's advise, we've decided "just" to do Murambi tomorrow and leave Ntarama and Nyamata for another day - possibly Saturday. I brought up the idea of getting a few interviews with survivors done while I was here. Eric graciously agreed to support this by supplying a videographer, camera and a sound person while Freddy and Yves would assist with everything else. Last but not least, Eric invited everyone to come and join him on Saturday in a nearby park for an event known as "The Day the World Comes Together Through Film" or "Pangea Day", a satellite broadcast connecting a number of cities worldwide, on Saturday.



After breakfast we all went to the memorial site at Nyanza-Kicukiro. There is a building - empty inside - which is suggested to become a Centre for GTR IBUKA. The building is on a hill and the site is a memorial for those murdered here in 1994.


Driving up to the Centre (my first time four-wheeling - it was only for a few hundred feet) we passed a school and we were mobbed by children, just like in the script. The kids waved, smiled, pointed calling out 'muzungo, muzungo' - basically 'whitey, whitey'. We pulled in behind the center's gate and the children all lined against the fence, continuing to watch and wave. Waving back, one little guy no more than seven walked through the open gate all the way up to me to say Bonjour and shake my hand. Very touching. I filmed walking around while Benoit and others explained the site and the current vision for this area. The building's light purple color was chosen on purpose [designated color of mourning here.] The building has electricity and water. The road in front is paved and will be the thoroughfare to the new international airport - yet to be built. They are also laying fiber optic cables along the road and up the hill; though it is unclear how long it will take until it reaches this particular site. On this "Mountain of Memory", a Garden of Memory is going to be created where the school is located - the children are to move soon into new buildings somewhere else. The Centre is in need of a security fence and security in general around the area once it becomes occupied and/or a place for GTR IBUKA. It certainly feels like the right place for the project - given the event that took place on this hill, the strategic location vis a vis the road in front and what the project intends to accomplish and stands for.



The above pictures are views looking out from the front of the building onto a concrete slab which is a mass grave. Victims of the Nyanza massacre were reburied here with a proper ceremony and in coffins. The crosses further down are symbolic only - no graves there.