“My father was well respected in the community. He was a university lecturer and a choir member. But he was always working, so my mother was primarily the one who raised us. Her name was Consolee. She had this deep sorrow about her. She was an orphan because her..."

“When the presidential plane was shot down, people began to gossip about the impending genocide. The streets were empty. Nobody was traveling long distances. We started to hear tales of violence. Relatives from other regions would arrive on our doorstep with..."

“If you are being hunted, this bush is one of the best places to hide. Every genocide survivor in Rwanda can tell you about this type of bush. It’s full of thorns. But if you crawl on your stomach, you can get inside. And if you can get inside— you can finally take..."

“Our family was a top target because my father was so prominent. So when the genocide officially commenced, the killing squads came straight to our home. One of our neighbors peeled away from the group and ran ahead to warn us. He came down our street, screaming at..."

“On the day I watched my father die, this is the skirt I was wearing. I was only twenty-one years old. I completely lost my will to live. I walked down the street like a zombie. I came to this house. The owner wasn’t home at the time because she was busy looting..."

“The next morning, I heard people calling my name and I decided to show myself. I was too exhausted to resist. They told me there had been a general pardon for women and children. And all of us who believed the rumor were taken to this place-- the house of a..."

“I woke up to find that I’d been discovered by a soldier. He dragged me to my feet and led me down the street to this alleyway. He pointed his gun at me, and told me to say goodbye to my life. At that point I felt ready to die. But that’s when Mary came running..."

“There were twelve people in my family before the genocide. I’m the only one who survived. We recovered eight of the bodies. And we buried the bones we were able to find. I didn’t trust anyone after the genocide. Even when I was rescued by the..."

“This is a picture of my father before the genocide. He’s surrounded by his Hutu friends. They’re sharing beer. They’re talking. They always viewed him as a good person. They’d even come to our home and flatter us. They’d tell my sisters and me how good of..."

firestar:
Speechless.

Ishilove:

Man violence is worse than animals' because it is usually thought out and planned before execution.

Mintayo:
This is Sad. Most times when I read stories like this, I always ask myself how the soldiers that participated in the killings, rapings etc feel after the war. The atrocities they have committed, how do they live with that?

naptu2:


I listened to an interview that General Roméo Dallaire gave to the BBC World Service in the early 2000s.

General Dallaire was the head of the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda before and during the genocide. He suspected that the killings were about to happen and he asked the UN for more troops (his force was pretty small) but they refused to send more troops to him. The Americans did not want to send more troops to another African country (that they did not really care about) after what happened to their troops in Somalia.


He also asked for permission to seize weapons that the Hutus were stockpiling, but his superiors in New York refused to give him permission.


Eventually he had to focus his small body of troops on parts of Kigali in which he knew that Tutsis were hiding. He eventually saved thousands of Tutsis.


Yet he had post traumatic stress disorder because of the events that he witnessed in Rwanda. He repeatedly tried to kill himself because of the psychological torture he experienced whenever he remembered what happened in Rwanda.

naptu2:


I listened to an interview that General Roméo Dallaire gave to the BBC World Service in the early 2000s.

General Dallaire was the head of the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda before and during the genocide. He suspected that the killings were about to happen and he asked the UN for more troops (his force was pretty small) but they refused to send more troops to him. The Americans did not want to send more troops to another African country (that they did not really care about) after what happened to their troops in Somalia.


He also asked for permission to seize weapons that the Hutus were stockpiling, but his superiors in New York refused to give him permission.


Eventually he had to focus his small body of troops on parts of Kigali in which he knew that Tutsis were hiding. He eventually saved thousands of Tutsis.


Yet he had post traumatic stress disorder because of the events that he witnessed in Rwanda. He repeatedly tried to kill himself because of the psychological torture he experienced whenever he remembered what happened in Rwanda.