Anniversary of the Genocide

April 6, 1994 was the first day of 80 days of killing of 800,00 to 1 million people in Rwanda by the majority Hutu aginst the mimority Tutsi. The differences in the groups are very minor according to what I have read. They have the same language and religion and live in the same areas. Some say they came into Rwanda from different regions one to two thousand years ago. The Europeans encouraged differientating the groups for their own goals of controlling the people. The Belgians started use of identity cards listing Hutu and Tutsi. One criteria used was if a family had more than 10 cows they were labeled Tutsi.
The first major attack on the Tutsi was 1959 and there have been several others leading up to 1994. By 1994 there were approximatly 1 million Tutsis living outside Rwanda in surrounding sountries.
None of the people whom I have met have told me with which group ther identify. Some of my non-Rwandan friends say it is inappropriate to talk about in public, but that in private the subject does surface as reasons that someone felt mal treated.
A 34 year old woman told me she was caring for children of professors in April, 1944 when the genocidaires took the parents away to be killed and the next day returned for the children. She hid in a bathroom and escaped. She didn't say how she avoided capture but lived to testify at a World Court hearing in Belgium. Her account was described in one of the books I read about the subject. Now she consels refugees.
The Genocide Memorial is a cemetary and a museum in Kigali. The Museum tells the story of the two groupa and Rwandan political history for the last 100 years. There are news stories, including reports about the UN and foreign governments. The Rwandan government and malitias prepared lists of people and gathered weapons includingmachetes ahead of time. Tthe museum shows some graphic photos, cases of bones, family photos of some of those killed and clothes. The last rooms show large photos of children and I thought this must represent hope for the future, however as I read the captions which gave their names, favorite foods and methods used to kill them, I realized that hope for the future still lay ahead somewhere else.
Outside the building are flower gardens and mass graves holding 250,000 bodies.
The museum also describes six other genocides that have happened in the last 100 years. See http://www.museum.gov.rw/ for more details.
Two weeks ago, while making rounds at he Gihembe camp, two little children were playing in the ward where their mothers were being treated. This ward is new, made of brick and has a steel roof and cement floor. The children were interested the door which had a latch that snaped when closed. Each time they heard the snap they would dance and giggle and run to their moms. This was a new experiense because they have a plastic flap or at best a plastic sheet on a wood frame for a door at home. It was good to see the children so happy.

I will add photos whan possible.