To say it was a unique and life-impacting experience only begins to tell the story. The manner in which the horrific reality is presented is numbing. The facts are astounding. The political nature of it all, and how easily it could have been avoided, and how virtually every country in the world turned its back and pretended not to notice. I could go on and on, but I won't.
I will say it is an incredibly moving experience. Graphic in many details, both visually and in the lectures, signs and printed materials. Survivors who's only peace is by talking about their story every day. I won't give you ugly details of any kind - if you want to know more, simply Google the phrase (rwanda genocide memorial) and click on the official link (don't know how many others are out there). This platform (to the right) actually sits over a mass grave, estimated at 1200.
My understanding is that for every skull you see, there's 100 more that are buried in mass unidentified plots throughout the country. Whenever one is found, there's a government staff responsible for complete documentation, so they exume every body and do DNA, teeth, bone structure, and every other possible identification they can - and then they began to match against a known "missing persons" list - the same list that is on full display, showing as "lost", with a few names scratched out now and then, indicating they identified someone. The process of chronicaling the deceased, considering entire towns were 100% wiped out, has been an amazing process, one which gets no ink at all.
What was an inspiration, in the midst of all this reality of vicious death, were the stories of the survivors, and how they live to rebuild Rwanda stronger, and never let the world forget. The amount of shame the rest of the world feels is shown in its efforts to bring this country back to something even better. And there are a lot of humanitarian and commerical businesses from all over the world who are doing what they can - and want - to do.
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