Memorial

It is the end of the day and I am just sitting down to write and have a beer. Most of today has been spent in quiet reflection, after visiting the genocide memorial this morning. I wasn't really sure what to expect, I love museums, and as a whole Africa has been less than impressive. But this was amazingly well done, and very powerful.

You begin the tour outside the memorial building where there are over 250,000 people buried in mass graves. Before, the term "mass grave" has sounded so disrespectful, like they weren't worth burying as individuals, but in this instance it is such a powerful tool of remembrance and education. It is a place to bring all of the known and unknown. Even though the genocide ended in 1994 there are still graves being found around the country and the remains are then brought to a place like this to give proof to what happened. Many, many of the people who were killed and buried do not have an identity because the entire village/family was wiped out, and there is simply no one left to remember them.

In the past there have been many similar attacks on different people groups and many of these genocides have been denied by people and/ or governments. To prevent this from happening with the Rwanda genocide they display some actual coffins and about 100 skulls and arm bones. Many of these skulls show the manner in which the individual died.

Inside the memorial they do a very good job of making it real. Bringing real life personal accounts and a room set aside for personal photos and notes to the deceased. Very powerful and touching.

I can't understand how the Rwandan people seems so normal. Absolutely every Rwandan had been personally touched by this tragedy, but yet I can't see any outward signs that they have suffered so much loss. They are such friendly, warm people and it seems unimaginable that something like this happened in their lifetime. I have met a few German family members that lived through WW2, and I think the same thing of them, how can they be so normal? It seems like people like this should get some kind of survives badge that prevents them from ever suffering again. But unfortunately that isn't the case. There is very little awareness of the importance of expression, and I am sure people experience lasting emotional effects.

How can we believe in God in the face of something like this? My faith is firmly rooted in a life of seeking out God's path for myself. A call and response in a way, I have asked and received. But how can an individual believe in a God of love, when everything they loved was destroyed? The only conclusion I can come to is that God shows these people special mercy. I pray that He does, because that is the only way that I can understand it.


"All that is necessary for evil to win in this world is for good men to do nothing." Edmund Burke

xoxo Suzanne

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Location:Rue Depute Kamuzinzi,Kigali,Rwanda