This morning we had arranged a tour of 3 of the genocide memorials. We met and got into taxis and drove to the Kigali Memorial. It is a beautiful garden setting with a museum type buiding housing diplays about the history of Rwanda, the build up to the genocide, the genocide in Rwanda and information about genocide all over the world. In the gardens are mass graves covered in concrete where there are over 250,000 people buried. Sobering. At the end of the display was a special section honoring the children lost- it had many photos and a few children highlighted with names, ages and other information about them like thier favorite foods, best friends, favorite activities. Awful. Many tears. We then visited 2 of the churches where people were hidden. Some of the team members ended up playing soccer with a group of boys from one of the small villages. I didn't even realize that it was a soccer ball it was so old and faded- I thought it was a large piece of fruit. No one throws anything away here- they have nothing. The children ask you for a pen - they have nothing to do lessons with. A group of children got really intersted in my braces and all I could say was, "J'ai mal a les dents"- I have a toothache. Everyone has fallen in love with the children.
We had dinner at the Hotel des Mille Collines. We sat at the pool area where people were swimming and playing-- hard to believe that is was truly hotel Rwanda. Dinner was upstairs in the panorama restaurant--- wonderful views of the town below, all the lights.
An exhausting day.
