The Gisozi Genocide Memorial

This is a blog we have admittedly been avoiding for a little while now, because to be totally honest it’s very hard to know what to say. The Gisozi Genocide Memorial was incredibly informative but undeniably heart wrenching. Although we are both very familiar with the history of the genocide, bearing witness to its devastating effect on so many individual’s lives was quite different to anything we have ever read in a textbook. Seeing real propaganda that had been taken direct from national newspapers with various openly xenophobic cartoons was disturbing to say the least. There were various haunting images that are quite impossible to translate with the full impact they had on us, but a few that should not go unmentioned. We’re describing these images not for shock value but to try to convey their impact on us. One room is dedicated to ID cards and personal photographs that were either found with the deceased or at deserted houses some time later. What is quite notable is the fact that these photos are colour photos and many are of a quality that might make you assume they were taken yesterday. When you consider genocide or other wide scale atrocities it is easy to imagine a few old sepia images declaring that, as tragic as the event was, it has been relegated to a distant past. In this room the notion of ‘the past’ had no bearing on the faces that stared back at us. A second room contained the bones and clothes of just a few of the victims which was quite an explicit testimony to the brutality of the murders, as many of the skulls had large holes clearly evident in them. However the most disturbing and difficult room to face was one dedicated to children. The display covers the stories of various children that were murdered, provided by loved ones who survived, the stories include a large photo of each child, their age, their favourite activity, food, best friend, and, how they died. Looking into the eyes of these beautiful, innocent children knowing that they were brutally murdered was almost too much to bare.

When away from the memorial there are very few reminders, as an outsider to Rwanda, of the Genocide. However there are a couple that are impossible not to dwell on. There are a lot of people with missing limbs, far too many to all be related to birth defects. However, it’s a strange concept but it’s actually certain places that reside in our minds as a marker of the genocide more than people. The people we have met, undoubtedly, have their own personal memories and accounts of that time but when you meet them you are meeting them in the present, and unless they mention it, you do not dwell on their past. Certain places however do impinge a sense of questioning in us. The church we pass on the way to the orphanage is one that hundreds of people went to seek refuge in during April 1994, but were betrayed by their religious leaders and as a consequence were all murdered inside the church.

As you leave the memorial there is one last room for you to visit, it displays information on another 10 or so genocides that have occurred throughout history in various parts of the world, an essential reminder that unless we are tolerant of difference, under the right conditions such horrific events can occur anywhere in the world, at any time. We left with a feeling, which can only be described as emptiness. It is essential to not be consumed by this feeling, but it is also necessary to reflect on it. If we don’t, it is easy to forget what intolerance and ignorance of others can result in.