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.