Hey all, we were having some major internet issues the last few days in Ruhengeri. I will start with today's experiences (Monday) and try to get kids to work backwards (Sunday and Saturday).
I was able to retrieve Friday's post (It is right below this one). We will be cleaning them up when we get home and adding some photos as well.
We are all safe and happy. The kids are great.
Today we got to sleep-in a bit at the Iris (Met for bus at 9:30). After a lite breakfast we boarded the bus for the Kigali Genocide Museum and Memorial.
What a moving experience. The museum gave a great and detailed overview of the genocide and the events leading up to it.
We allowed 2 hours thinking students would be done in plenty of time but most of the kids pushed it until the very end. Your kids are pretty mature and really were trying to absorb not only the factual history but the many, many narrative accounts.
Many students commented on the impact that the Children's Room had on them.
Please ask your child about it.
After having lunch in the city center we departed for Nyamata Genocide Memorial.
Nyamata Church was the site of a massacre of 10,000 Tutsi's. After a self tour of the grounds and the church many of the students went down into the crypts that have been dug in the back of the church.
A very overwhelming experience.
All students seemed to find a private spot, wrote in their journals, and processed quietly.
We got back on the bus and traveled to another church about 10 minutes away, Nytarama. 5,000 Tutsis were killed at this site.
Upon arriving at Ntarama we were greeted by a Tutsi survivor of the massacre there, Gaspard. Gaspard gave us an overview of the genocide and a personal account of Ntarama (He actually told the story of the genocide using the 8 Stages of Genocide which the students who had me for GSJ in 8th grade remembered).
He brought us through the church, some of the houses on the memorial grounds and a building used for Sunday school and then the murder of of many of the village children.
Not a sound from our students as Gaspard showed us the spot where 100's of babies were thrown against a brick wall or as he described the sexual brutalization of 100's of women.
Needless to say, his words made a huge impact.
The students have done a great job of processing the experiences and giving each other room to process as well.
It was nice (and very healthy) for the children to chat, laugh and decompress at an Italian restaurant for 2+ hours afterwards.
They needed that.
(BTW-We surprised Mitchell with a birthday Tiramisu with a candle).
We pulled into the Iris Guesthouse around 8:15, had a large group meeting, then most of the kids headed down to the store to buy more sugar.
(Most kids are commenting that they have drank more Coke on this trip than in the past year).
Tomorrow is another long day. We depart at 8 am for the 3 hour bus ride to Butare where we will take lunch then drive another 1 hour to Murambi and back.
Murambi will be another intense and unique genocide experience.
Thanks for reading and sorry about the disruption.
I can assure you that all is well (kids are not going to want to leave) and we are safe and sound.
Amahoro,
Cave
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