Thursday 23 May 2013

Nyarabuye

Today the team travelled Nyarabuye, Rwanda. This remote village is found in the east of the country, neighbouring Tanzania. We visited one of the memorial sites in the village. 

I don't think there is anything comparable to visiting a location such as this one. Mixed feelings were shared among many in the group. Confusion, sadness, anger and anguish were only a few emotions many went through as survivors shared the stories of the site.

After walking through the site with a survivor from the Nyarabuya, we had a visit from Ferdinand. He was also a survivor from the village. He shared his testimony with us and explained how he has been living since the genocide. 

The pain and suffering he has been through has etched a space in my mind. Although he lost everything in 1994 and lived through the difficult aftermath, Ferdinand has shown me resilience and perseverance  I could not even begin to understand. As we drive back to Kigali, I now question so much that I have learned in the past about this genocide. 

While I have learned so much in these past few days, I have so many more questions. For now, I will stare out to the lush thousand hills with houses cascading from the top to the bottom. There is no other site like it. 

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