Greetings from Kigali!
We’ve been in Rwanda for the past four days and are having an amazing time. Shortly after getting settled into our hostel here in Kigali, we got lunch as a group and made our way to the Hotel des Mille Collines (where Hotel Rwanda was based). While there, Mia (as this week’s NatGeo) led us in an awesome discussion about the Rwandan Genocide. She was able to answer essentially every question we had, and it was really beneficial for us to be able to absorb some of her extensive knowledge of the subject before really experiencing the city. After Mia’s presentation a man who worked at the hotel was kind enough to give us a tour and show us a few different rooms. Later on, we broke off into groups and walked around Kigali.
The following day (Fred’s birthday!!) we visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre which was very informative and powerful. In the afternoon we had some free time and then went out to dinner for Fred’s birthday! We ate some delicious local food and enjoyed a cake we had made which Fred was super excited about.
On Tuesday we traveled 2 1/2 hours by bus to Huye (formerly Butare) to visit the Murambi Genocide Memorial Centre. This is the site where about 50,000 Tutsi were killed on April 21st, 1994. Many of these bodies have been preserved with lime powder and are currently in the classrooms in which they were killed. While this was an extremely difficult experience, after having witnessed this tragic aftermath, I think it was an indispensable one. Having actually been in the location where these events took place made for a more tangible and moving learning experience. We are now back in Kigali, and though we are sad to leave we’re certainly excited to fly to Dar es Salaam tomorrow. For the next week we will be in Iringa, where we will relax and continue our Swahili lessons.
Hope all is well with everyone back home!
Natalie
