Rwanda was marked as the greatest country that was affected by the tragic genocide between the Hutu and tutsi. The massacre happened in 1994 from April to mid July approximating to 100days in total. Thousand and thousand of victims were slaughtered, this highly affected Rwanda as a country since the civil war was against the Tutsi’s by the Hutu. Genocide Memorial Centers are now a tourist attraction in Rwanda.
It was the regime of Kagame that the civil war ended and the country settled and victims were buried in different Genocide Memorial Centers all over the country. Every April in each year victims are remembered in the different Genocide Memorial Centers and are open to both the locals and the visitors all over the world. Hire a car in Rwanda to explore all these and more.
Nyamata Genocide Memorial Center.
Formerly this was a church located in the south of Kigali and about 25,000 victims were buried here. The Tusti gathered for refuge since they thought it was safe sanctuary center because it was previously a Holy worshiping place. This is the second dark site after Murambi genocide Center. The tusti had locked themselves thinking they wont be attacked, but surprisingly they were shocked by the Hutu militias that forced them to open the doors and were all killed. Currently, you will find clothes and National ID cards of the victims all over displayed in the center. The alter cloth in the church is stained with blood of the massacre. Most of the mass graves for the victims were buried outside the church both the kids and the parents.
Kigali Genocide Memorial Center.
The centre is 10 minutes drive from the main city, Kigali in Gisozi. They are about 100, 000 that were buried here and its one of the greatest memorial centre in Rwanda. The bodies that were collected in this centre were in Kigali city in the 1999 when left on streets, shops and some few homes.
Currently, they are over 7,000 people all over the world that come to pay a visit and remember the victims that were killed in the tragic genocide. Different rooms have various exhibits such as the pictures and Identification Cards of some victims in the mass grave. Other rooms displays/exhibits the weapons used such as the clubs, swords, machetes and many more as you will see and some items that were abandoned by the victims such as clothes, shoes and rosaries. The upper floor of the flat has children memorial and describing how they were killed. It has details of the children that died in the tragic displaying the life sized photos accompanied by details. This center On this tour, you have a chance to read and learn more about the genocide most specifically in Kigali. Its location near the city attracts many travelers and acts as a powerful educational tool for the upcoming generation.
Bisesero Genocide Memorial Center.
The memorial center is located on a hill in Bisesero village and has 40,000 victims that were buried in this area. Bisesero memorial center was built in 1997. Contains many dry bones in which some are piled and others queued of different parts of the body of the victims. It’s a huge National memorial center where many gathered to resist the killers however they were defeated. The tusti took advantage of their location during the fight, also used matchets, rocks and sticks. However much the Tusti were defeated they had fought the Hutu but later, they were attacked by the soldiers with modern types of equipment. While on the tour in Bisesero, learn how Tusti protected themselves and fought their enemies. The documents left here describes how they took use of the steep slopes of the hill.
Murambi Genocide Memorial Centre.
Murambi Memorial Center was a technical school near Murambi village in Namagabe district. This center requires strong-hearted individuals since the remains and bones are still on view in that you couldn’t figure out the foundation of the beloved one. This is a 3 hour drive from Kigali city. Over 27, 000 people died as victims and some bodies were displayed in form of a stark, shocking monument that were preserved in different classrooms. The memorial center is more developed with all details and history fro m the ancient days to the current ones. At times, its viewed in pespective of a museum due to the details. The tusti hide in a school with no food, the soldiers took advantage of being weak and were slaughtered mercilessly.
Ntarama Genocide Memorial Centre.
Its located in Bugesera province of Kigali. Ntarama genocide is located ion Bugesera a rural province of Kigali. This genocide memorial centre is close to the Ntarama church which is an hour away from Kigali city. towards the southern part of the country. It contains flowers and shadowered with acacia trees. The brutal killings were about 5,000 people where most were children and women. They thought they had sought refuge little did they know it was a trap. All the belongings of the victims were scattered on the floor comprising of children’s socks pieces of clothes.
Contact us for more information about Genocide Memorial Centers in Rwanda.