Today has been long, and very emotional. It is our last day in this little equatorial country, and as we drove out of the compound to head to the capital city of Kigali, I was so sad to see our special spot overlooking Lake Kivu disappear behind us. It has been a quick three weeks, but really, it seems like a lifetime ago that we arrived. The friendships we have made, the hospitality we have received, and the loving nature of Kibogora easily transformed Rwanda into a second home. We said good-bye to Dr. Albertson and Mrs. Francie, Dr. Berg and Mrs. Linda, Matt and Marie, and Umunyu, the resident compound dog, thanking them for welcoming us so completely into their lives.
Once we got to Kigali, it was time to face what many of us had pushed to the side for the time leading up to and during our trip - the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. We visited Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, a beautiful site created in 2001 to commemorate and remember the nearly 1,000,000 native Rwandans who were massacred in only 100 short days. To put it in perspective, the killing rate of the Tutsi race during those three brutal months was nearly three times that of the Jewish victims during the Holocaust. I will not dishonor this horrific event by trying to explain the political, colonial, racial, and socio-economic factors that played into the genocide, because I can not begin to scratch the surface without a mass oversimplification. I will say that the museum was very difficult to navigate after spending three weeks with our Rwandan friends, and the special "Children Section" was especially gut-wrenching. They had blown-up images of sweet innocent faces who had been ruthlessly slaughtered in the massacre, along with the child's name, favorite food or toy or person, a quirky personality trait, and, at the very end, the manner in which these precious angels had been murdered. It brought an even deeper and gruesome anguish to an already emotional memorial. For me personally, the only thing that kept me going was knowing that they were with their Heavenly Father, suffering no more.
I was initially chastising myself for coming on this trip without doing proper research and reading - I am a medical student, after all - but I am so glad I did. I was allowed to come to my on conclusions about the people I met, free of any preconceived notions. And I am afraid, after I have now done my homework, that I would not have been able to clear myself of the images I have seared in my mind. However, I now personally know the Rwandan people to be both loving but stern, joyous and stoic, kind while initially suspicious, and above all else, a deeply loyal and family-oriented group. I can see how this genocide has so heavily influenced the culture, but how, almost twenty years in the "After" period, the principle of forgiveness has transcended all. I am still in awe at how a country so violently and completely torn apart two decades ago can love one another, work beside each other, and live as peaceful neighbors in totality.
If you are compelled to learn more, I urge you to ask your friend or family member on the trip for book recommendations. I just finished "Left to Tell" by Immaculee Ilibagiza, who hid in a 12 square foot bathroom for 91 days with seven other women, only to emerge and find nearly all of her family and friends slaughtered by former neighbors, classmates, teachers, and friends. She sends a wonderful message of how we can find God in even our darkest periods, and how we can begin to forgive only when we rely fully on His teaching. Stories like hers help explain how such atrocious events can remain part of the past while the country steels itself to move forward. I have now started "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda" by Philip Gourevitch, an American journalist who delves much deeper into the political and racial factors that came into play leading up to the genocide. A very thorough and smart read for those who are interested.
I apologize for the heavy (and lengthy) post at the end of our time in Rwanda, but I think when we were given the opportunity to visit Rwanda, we were also given the responsibility of truly understanding and knowing their history. It is essential that we as a team and we as fellow human beings and Christians know what caused the Rwandan Genocide, how this country has healed itself, and how we may prevent an atrocity like this from happening again in the future. We are so blessed to live in the United States and enjoy so many freedoms, and I don't think we appreciate that enough. I hope I have done my part in honoring the victims' memories, if only on a reminisce scale.
We are now waiting to leave for Istanbul at 2 AM. We will be there until Friday at 10 AM, when we will head to Chicago on a 12 hour flight. We are excited to see a small bit of another culture and country with so much rich history, but we are tired and ready to see our loved ones. Pray for us as we finish our travels, and we will see you all very soon!
Sarah Kelley
No comments:
Post a Comment