Genocide Memorial

Paul and I took a trip out of the city last weekend to Nyamata. It is one of the cities that has a Genocide Memorial site and is not that far from Kiyovu. In order to get there we took a local bus to the main bus depot in Nyabugogo. This district is about 15min away with a small but lively city center. We were let off  in a central parking area with many buses coming and going. Just around the corner we found a number of shops surrounding a "square" and in the middle was the bus center that has the buses that go to destinations outside of Kigali.

Aside from the usual fruit, vegetable, clothing and house wares this little market had a few shoe repairmen. They were kind enough to let me snap a photo as they worked.

All the shoe guys had green jumpsuits

Shoes seem to be a big business here, there are many street vendors that display 50+ pairs of shoes, sandals, sneakers- all laid out on a blanket in front of a shop or on a corner. These men were repairing old shoes by sanding the bottoms and gluing new soles then shining them up before selling or returning them to owners. I've been told the many shoe vendors on the streets are selling second hand shoes and to go to Bata if I want new ones. Speaking of shoes, people wear everything here as they climb up and down these hills, from flip flops to beautiful beaded sandals, to sneakers and of course high heels!! I don't know how they do it! I'm going to get a pair of beaded sandals, even if I wear them once! The men stick with sneakers or regular men's leather shoes. They are so practical!

Once we paid our 500 rwf (about .75) we hopped on the correct bus not without a little help from a friend. The buses wait in the station until they are full, no kidding, you could wait in the bus as much as 30-40 min waiting for the last seat to be taken, the whole time street vendors come up to the window with water, (amazi), soda, (fanta), tissues, gum, candy and hard boiled eggs! One of these days I'm going for the eggs! The bus was crowded, but people are friendly and the 1 hour journey began.

A view from the middle of the bus

As we left the city the scenery became more green and we could see one and two room cement houses situated off the main road. We also saw many young men walking their bicycles uphill carrying big yellow jugs of water. The women also walked up and down the hill with all kinds of wares on their heads. Outside the city there are more farmers.

Carrying jugs of water uphill

There is a program to bring all year round irrigation to the farmers so they don't have to wait for the rains in order to grow food. It is still in the works after 3 years. I took some photos from the moving bus, but they're not awesome!

One/Two room houses set back from the road

Once we arrived in Nyamata we stopped for a cold drink and asked directions to the Church. Of course we took the LONG way around by accident and finally with the help of a few French speaking nuns we found the church.

 It was here in this church that 10,000 Tutsi's sought refuge during the genocide. The Hutu militia surrounded the church and fired their rifles and grenades thru the church gates. They broke the doors down and killed everyone inside. The altar and statues are bullet ridden, and as testimony to the assault there are weapons laid out on the altar as well as the identity cards Rwandans were forced to carry for many years attesting to their "ethnicity". This is viewed as proof that there was an effort to divide the nation's people, a premeditation to the genocide.

This is the old church with grey and white mourning buntings

An Italian woman, Tonia Locatelli, attempted to assist the Tutsi's with food and shelter. Her activities were noticed by local authorities and she was shot and killed on her front doorstep. She is buried here at the church as well.

Tonya Locatelli's tombstone

Inside the church there are rows of pews facing the altar on 3 sides. The bloody clothes taken from the victims are piled on the pews and the floor in the back of the church. It was a moving site, especially recognizing small shirts and pants belonging to the children.


The lower level had shelves of bones and skulls of the victims. Their wounds are visible and the Rwandans keep these remains as a testimony to the violence that took place and out of respect for those who were murdered. One is not allowed to take photos inside. There was a mass grave outside with the words "Genocide Never Again". It was a sad place to visit.


We made it back to the bus station just in time for a major rainstorm!