We then stopped at the tracker office to change clothes, and we just left our clothes from yesterday behind where some local people grabbed them up. Then we started back on the journey to Kigali. On the way we stopped at a little grocery store, where we all bought little fresh pastries. I got a bottle of Coke and a cheese pie, which were delicious, for a total of $1.50.
Our other stop on the way back was the Murambi Genocide Memorial. This was our first destination that wasn't animal-based. We've all been reading books and watching films about the history of Rwanda and the events of the genocide. The main purpose of the trip is actually for us all to study the Rwandan genocide of 1994 from different perspectives. During only three months, about one million Tutsis were murdered by their friends, priests, and neighbors during a graphic ethnic cleansing. The Murambi Memorial is one location where this happened.
The site was originally a technical school. When the genocide first started, Tutsis in the area were told to go to the school for protection. Really what happened is that the local authorities waited several days without providing food or water, then slaughtered them all with guns, machetes, and grenades. They then dumped the bodies into several mass graves, while the French soldiers played volleyball about ten feet away.
The memorial has a museum showing photos of the people involved, recordings of speeches, etc. It also allows visitors to see the mass graves. Finally, it has hundreds of bodies on display. When the people were buried, the heat from the mass graves partially mummified the remains, and when they were later dug up, many of the bodies were treated with chemicals to preserve them. The bodies are now laid out on multiple tables across multiple rooms.
It was a stark and depressing way to remember why we are really here. At the same time, it was very moving. We were all touched by the stories of survivors. It was a quiet four hour ride back home to Kigali, while we all thought about what we had seen.
Once we arrived back in the capital city, we decided to visit the Hotel des Mille Collines, which is known now as "Hotel Rwanda" to people who have seen the famous film. This location was where many Tutsis survived the genocide, although how exactly that happened is somewhat controversial. Still, it was a good way to end the day, and we ate our dinner there. Over dinner we all shared our thoughts about the memorial and what we had processed through the day.
We're ready to go to sleep now.
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