"If you had known me… and if you had really known yourself… you would not have killed me"
-plaque at the Kigali Genocide Memorial
A few years ago, I took a course on Conflict Resolution where we studied the Rwandan community court systems and how their nation rebuilt after a horrific genocide in 1994. My classmates agreed, 'What amazing people these Rwandans are; the world should learn from their example' and I thought to myself:
'God is doing great things in Rwanda… I wonder if I'll ever get to go there…?"
And alas, here I am.
During the month of April: the month when the whole nation mourns in remembrance of the genocide. And last Sunday, I got to speak at a Community Grieving Program. I shared with them about my class, about my admiration for them, and about how much God grieves with them in this time of remembrance.
Being here in Rwanda has really brought to life the scripture that encourages us to 'mourn with those who mourn.' And here, I will share with you their story:
In April through July of 1994 more than 1 million Rwandans died in what is now called the Genocide against the Tutsi.
You see, Rwandans were divided 2 tribes: the Hutu & the Tutsi. But these were not native tribes; these were ethnic groups created by Beglian settlers in the 1940's. Rwandans were divided by their looks: who looked more 'white' and who looked more 'black'. (Thanks a lot, muzungus –the African word for 'white people'.) The taller, more slender, lighter skinned people, with more narrow noses were labeled as "Tutsi" and the larger built, darker skinned, wider nosed people were named "Hutu". Families were divided — because some family members looked different — and the 'whiter-looking' Tutsi were put in power.
The Tutsi elite were given better opportunities in education, business, and government, but these privileges only benefitted a small percentage of the Tutsi population. Nonetheless, strong resentment built up in the marginalized Hutu population.
When the French settled in Rwanda in the 1950's, the Tutsi government & educated Tutsi population were seeking independence, while the disgruntled & oppressed Hutu were simply looking for power and revenge — even at the cost of continued colonization. The French opted to empower the Hutu minority, as that would allow them to maintain power over Rwanda.
In 1959, the last Rwandan king (a Tutsi) died, and his son -heir to the thrown- was exiled. The Tutsi government was overthrown, and vengeance-hungry Hutus were put in power. That's when the violence first started. The 1960's, 70's, & 80's were littered with massacres of violence against the now Tutsi minority.
Droves of Tutsi refugees left Rwanda and raised their families in the neighboring countries of Uganda, Burundi, and Tanzania. My host family here in Rwanda moved to Uganda in the 1960's — for 30 years my Pastor and his family lived in Uganda– they are Tutsi. At that time, there were also droves of Hutu moderates who left Rwanda — to avoid getting drawn into the violence. This marked the largest refugee exodus in Africa, to date.
Rwandans could sense things were escalating — and they were.
In the early 1990's Hutu extremists began using radio stations to spread hate propaganda against the Tutsi. The Hutu were forbidden to do business with, marry, or even be friends with the Tutsi. They used this hate media to dehumanize the Tutsi — they were no longer referred to as people. They were "the inyenzi" : cockroaches.
By this time, a new generations of Rwandans had been born as refugees outside the country, and they formed rebel groups around the Rwandan borders.
And the Hutu were also raising up an army- but this one was far more dangerous. The secret army of Hutu extremist youth, the Interahamwe, were being trained to 'exterminate the cockroaches.'
Meanwhile, level-headed Hutu (moderate) President Habyimana was ready to make peace with the Tutsi rebel groups on the borders. And on April 6, 1994 when he flew home to Kigali (the capital, where I am now living) from the Peace Treaty Signing in Tanzania, his plane was shot down by his own army. The Hutu extremists shot down his plane, because he was now 'a traitor' for making peace with the Tutsi. The Hutu hate radio stations lied saying that the Tutsi had shot down the plane — and then they launched their plan: the complete extermination of the Tutsi — an ethnic genocide.
In 100 days, more than 1 million Tutsi were brutally murdered. The Interhamwe troops were trained to kill 1,000 people every 20 minutes. They used road blocks to keep people trapped and kill them off quickly. But few of them suffered quick deaths.
The Tutsi were killed by machete chopping, blunt club beatings, crucifixion on trees, thrown by the dozen into deep latrines, and every other horrible death you could possibly imagine.
Babies thrown against walls. Women raped. Family members forced to kill one another. Children mutilated into tiny pieces and force-fed to parents.
It was hell on earth.
The United Nations evacuated all foreigners, but left the locals to fight their own 'civil war'. The world watched as Rwanda tore itself apart.
The genocide finally ended in July 1994 when the Tutsi rebel groups made their way into Rwanda and overpowered the Interhamwe.
But the nation was crippled. There were more than 80,000 orphans, tens of thousands of women raped, and hundreds of thousands more people permanently physically and psychologically damaged.
The nation instituted Gachacha Courts (community courts) where neighbors would gather perpetrators and victims to jury, judge, and sentence one another. Perpetrators asked forgiveness, survivors shared their pain, and a nation rebuilt — community by community.
Today, the people of this nation are no longer Tutsi or Hutu; they are all Rwandans.
I have never witnessed such forgiveness, redemption, and true community as I have seen here in Rwanda.
It's exactly as I suspected: God HAS done great things in Rwanda and He continues to work miracles of love among these people.
Today, as a tourist in Rwanda- you'd never know they suffered so deeply just 19 years ago. Besides the billboards and bracelets that declare "Never Again" (in remembrance)– you'd simply see are a lively people, a beautiful green countryside they call 'The Land of a Thousand Hills', and a capital city modeled after the efficiency of Singapore –down to the detail of countdown clocks at the stoplights (I wish we had those in the USA!)
It's AMAZING how Rwanda has rebuilt.
"We must learn to breathe with forgiveness, not choke on hatred"
-Rwandan genocide survivor
Rwandans inspire me. And I hope their story inspires you.
ps- if you want to see a great movie depicting what went down here- see "Hotel Rwanda"
