Uganda-Rwanda Trip: Day 9

We are having a very hard time getting access to internet and power, hence some of the delays in updates.

For the past two days, the electricity in our district gets shut off for basically the whole day. This means no cooked meals, nothing cold to drink and definitely no hot showers. Actually, we have been lucky to have even cold water some days.

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The 14th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide was acknowledged by everyone here in Kigali.

Duncan and I, trying to show the little amount of understanding and respect that a foreigner can, went to the Kigali Memorial Centre. To our shock, so did about ten thousand locals.

These people came to remember and honour those who were killed during those 100 days of madness, 14 years ago.

It was absolutely impossible for Duncan and I to feel comfortable there: There were screams of anguish, tears, and complete sadness. We had no place being there, as outsiders, and, after 2 hrs of bearing the intense heat and listening to speeches, we left.

It is hard to believe that it happened only 14 years ago, but it did.

The rest of the day was spent visiting parts of Kigali on a day where everything was shut down.

We continue to learn much about the culture and people here, but it is hard for anyone who has not grown up here to fully appreciate the suffering and hardships that have occurred and are continuing to occur — for the bulk of the population.

Out of respect for the victims, we did nothing OA-related during this day and just tried to appreciate, as best we could, the importance of remembering the past.

Tomorrow we discuss the potential for OA to help in Rwanda with a few people…stay tuned.