On Saturday May 24, we traveled to Nyungwe National Forest, which is a large rainforest protected by the Rwandan government. While this forest is protected, the Rwandan government encourages ecotourism within the villages that surround Nyungwe and the forest itself. When you visit the forest, you have the option of taking several different trails. The two shorter trails take about 1-2 hours, and one provides you with an option to walk on a bridge over the canopy. The longer trail takes more than 4 hours, but gives you an opportunity to hike deep into the forest and possibly see chimpanzees, howler monkeys, and many other species that are endemic to Nyungwe.
On our way back from Nyungwe, we stopped at possibly the harshest of genocide memorials in Rwanda: Murambi. Below is a description that Kelly has written for one of her research projects:
When The Genocide Against the Tutsi began on April 7, 1994, targeted individuals were told to seek refuge in the compound where a new secondary school was being constructed. When more than 50,000 Tutsis were concentrated into this area, military forces surrounded the compound and locked the gates. For approximately two weeks, the Tutsis within this area were deprived of food and water while they unknowingly waited to be exterminated by the Interahamwe. On April 21, 1994, the weakened Tutsis made an attempt at resistance against the armed forces sent to destroy them. With only rocks to use as weapons, the resistance was quickly subdued. Between the hours of 3am and 11am, more than 50,000 Tutsis were killed and only 12 individuals were left to tell of the massacre that occurred at Murambi.
When the genocidaires attempted to cover up the atrocities that had occurred, they threw the bodies of their victims into 5 mass graves. In June, the French arrived in Murambi as a result of Operation Turquoise. The few survivors left their hiding places and ran to the French in search of assistance, but were instead denied the help that they deserved. In addition to their refusal to help the survivors, French troops built a volleyball court near the freshly dug mass graves. The lack of respect shown to the French in Rwanda is obviously well deserved from these few facts.
After the genocide, the site of the Murambi massacres was chosen to be transformed into a memorial that would combat genocide denial, as well as educate the youth about the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. These goals were to be achieved in several ways. First, the informal mass graves were uncovered and the bodies were given a formal burial in mass graves at another area within the compound. Within this cemetery, approximately 35,000 victims are buried and one grave has been left open to house the remains that are still being uncovered. Perhaps the most controversial topic at Murambi is the display of 1,000 bodies that have been preserved in lyme. These bodies are housed in 3 buildings that had previously been intended to serve as classrooms. Although the Murambi memorial is possibly one of the hardest to go through, it both educates you on the history of Rwanda, as well as shows you how Rwandans have chosen to remember the mass atrocities that culminated into the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi.
“When they said ‘Never again’ after the Holocaust, was this meant for some people and not for others?” –Apollon Kabahizi (survivor of Murambi massacres)
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