Arrival in Rwanda

Our first outing in Kigali focuses our minds on the context of our work. In the words of the United Human Rights Council logo: 'Educate yourself and others to instigate change in the world'.  The experience of the Genocide Memorial is both urgent and heartening: visited by nationalities from all over the world there is the potential to ensure such events are never ignored again.  And there is always the easy-going nature and smiles of locals.

The mass graves where 250,000 Rwandans are buried.  Over 1 million were killed in the genocide - which was 20% of the entire population.

The very real stories of those members of the community for whom the memory of the atrocities witnessed in the genocide is all still too fresh.  We heard the story of a man whose father saved four children from a stadium, where the Interahamwe had taken Tutsis, by buying their lives with 100,000 RWF (nowadays 40,000 RWF is what a teacher earns each month - the equivalent of about £40).  The man himself, aged only 14 at the time, when he witnessed a woman being brutally killed, rescued a small baby from her back and fled to safety.

Youth procession of students visiting the Genocide Memorial

Yet these are just two stories of what lives on and the will to bring harmony to a country which is warm, welcoming and hopeful for its future.

To find out more about the Rwandan Genocide and watch some video testimonies from both survivors and perpetrators visit the Genocide Archive online.

We visited Kaplaki Market, where local arts and crafts are sold, and supported local business owners by buying a few souvenirs to bring home.