Genocide Memorial Week

Sorry guys, I don’t think that I have words to go with this one. Genocide memorial week is a week, obviously, when Rwandans get a chance to grieve about what they have been through since this is not allowed to be done throughout the year. While this is a weeklong memorial the grieving period continues until July 4th, ironically our independence day. The PST’s went on a march on opening day that consisted of about 1,000 people, the march lead to a graveyard and then a ceremony at the local stadium. The pain that the people here have and what they have seen and the family they have lost is unimaginable. I do not have words to begin to envision what they have been through. Being in the presence of individuals who went into convulsions as speeches were made and songs were played was heartbreaking. We were told that one song that played was specifically about the people who were killed in the Nyanza area. Watching individuals being carried away in hysterics is a feeling I will never forget. Throughout the week stores, shops, internet café, the market and everything else in the town closes in the afternoon so people can mourn and spend time with their families. Volunteers were asked to remain in our houses from 3pm-6pm each day as a sign of respect and because it is illegal to walk though the town at this time, as one volunteer found out as she walked back home at exactly 3pm from her host family and was stopped by the police and questioned. On the last day of memorial week we attended another march and went to the local lake. This year during memorial week the people who were killed in the genocide and never identified and the people who were thrown into lakes were honored. Again we listened to speeches and my heart sank once again when people went into hysterics and had to be removed from the crowd. Overall an overwhelming experience; to know the people that are my teachers and who cook for me and who help me understand culture have been through so much pain and that a country can be so strong afterwards, no words to describe.