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.