Life is the message which stayed with us today

Saturday market on our journey out of Kigali today

A somber visit: The marker at Ntarama's mass grave

Understanding what happened: Victims' belongings at Nyamata

A joyous end to the day: Cutting the cake at a Rwandan wedding

Why we are here

It has become a Bpeace tradition in Rwanda to take time to honor those lost during the genocide. Beyond our work to prevent a return to the violence, the only way we can do this is to visit the memorials which dot the landscape. They have been left as silent reminders of what was stolen here. So we visit them to bear witness and to share with others. Each memorial is unique. Each tells the story of what happened in that particular place 14 years ago when over 800,000 people died in 100 days.

Barb, Alix, Susan and Richard visited two sites, Nyamata and Ntarama. They were and remain churches ten miles apart in remote countryside. As places of worship they were thought to be places of refuge and thousands fled to them for safety. Instead the churches became places where over 7500 were slaughtered in a few days.

The experience was hard to take in. The churches, nestled among Rwanda's peaceful hills, with villagers moving about their daily life were somewhat other worldly. Bones, clothes and personal effects were left to help us envision the scene. Rwandans want the visitor to understand and remember with clarity what happened here.

We were moved greatly by our guide at Ntarama. He showed us how he survived in the church while people were being killed around him, and babies were being bashed against walls, He escaped while dogs were sniffing out live people, by running into the bush. At age nine, he was the only survivor of his family of 11. He had tears in his eyes as he told his story. He tells his story everyday to those who come. We drove home in silence.

The future is hopeful

But fittingly for this nation so committed to breathing new life, our reflection on the past was turned toward the future with something purely Rwandan and universally familiar ---- a wedding! Susan took us to a wedding of a personal friend of hers. At first it seemed similar to a typical US wedding but we soon realized that the event we were attending was the last of a day full of ceremonies and that the couple was in fact already officially married. The reception we attended took place in a grand hall with over 500 guests. Dancers, a sword ceremony, speeches, a marching band(!), cake and champagne popping were all enjoyed from auditorium-like seats. Speeches were typical wedding fare, and the cake, wedding dress and bridesmaid's dresses could have come straight from the US. We slipped out for a quiet dinner, while Susan went on to the festivities which she told us were sure to last all night.