Zoe
After a few hours of driving through beautiful terrain and
some (questionably treacherous) mountain ridges, we arrived at the Murambi
Genocide Memorial. The memorial is situated at the top of a hill, with maybe
the most stunning 360-degree view I’ve ever seen. However, the killings that
took place at this school site reflect the complete opposite of this beauty. As
we walked around the memorial grounds I could not fathom the statistic that
50,000 Rwandans were brutally killed within this fenced area during a span of 8
hours one morning in 1994. This memorial is unique for its preservation and
presentation of victims’ bodies throughout some of the school’s rooms. Just a
few feet away from the memorial’s fence is a small town with smiling children
and an active community. This contrast illustrated the forgiveness and
resiliency that exists in the lives of Rwandan people.
AJ
Going to Murambi was a difficult eye-opening experience that
I was thrilled to have gone through despite the emotional challenge of walking
through the genocide memorial. Traveling to the site was a transition from the
daily life of the village, which allowed us to take in views of the Rwandan
countryside and several towns along the way.
When we finally arrived to the memorial, I was immediately overwhelmed
with emotion, as many of the stories we had been discussing in the readings and
throughout the trip came to life before me. We stood in the very place where
about 50,000 men, women, and children were killed just 21 years ago, and
remained preserved in the horrified states of their final moments. Walking past
the bodies, blood-stained clothes, and mass grave sites was a moment to reflect
on the reality of the experiences during the Rwandan genocide, the extend to
which people were driven to such acts on their fellow humans, and the
importance of remembering the moment so that it may truly never happen again.
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