My Trip from Kigali, RWANDA

By Damas Makangale

Just back from Kigali

As landed at Kigali

Staring of my trip to Kigali, at Ngara District

On 29 December 2012, I took off for a visit to Rwanda, feeling extremely happy as it was my first time to be in Kigali, Rwanda. I had gone to visit friends that I met during the first Eastern Africa Youth Conference which took place in Kenya in February 2012.

Rusumo Bridge which bordering Rwanda and Tanzania

The first thing that captured my interest in Rwanda was the environmental cautiousness. At the entry to Rwanda, they check your bags to make sure that you do not bring in polythene papers. This is something that really amazed me. The exercise at the border is definitely having an impact as the town of Kigali is very clean.

The City of Kigali during the Christmas is full decorated with Christmas Palm tress as seen in the Picture

For the 2 weeks that I was there, I learnt and experienced different things, but the climax of my learning was on 7 April, 2011, the annual day of Rwanda Genocide Commemoration. It is a special day for many families who have lost their families, neighbours and friends. I was impressed by how those taking part expressed their love to the people who lost their lives and to those who had major losses. To show love to the deceased, they gather in various places such as the stadium, to have a moment of silence and to give thanks to God for their lives.

The beauty scene of Nyabugogo area in Kigali, this is one of the Busiest Area in the City as it unite the city with other areas of Congo, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda.

Nyabugogo Area in Kigali, Rwanda

One of Rwanda’s musicians lost all of his family – not just is immediate family but also his extended family. He is the only one remaining in his whole family lineage. This really touched my heart and I could not hold back the tears as I listened to his music. Though I could not clearly understand the language, I could read the message from his face. It was very touching to see him even trying to comfort others. This is pure strength and love. But I could tell that he was still in pain, that he still had love for his country.

The Entertainer performing  to entertain the today Rwandan citizens , a place is full of peace everywhere and anytime

During the mid 90’s, in Rwanda, in the heart of Africa, sprouted immense rivers of blood in the middle of an inhuman storm of violence.

In this country of 8 million inhabitants, initiated a conflict, and the feelings of enmity among its ethnic groups grew rapidly. Two major groups existed, the Hutus, comprised of 85% of the population and the Tutsis, a minority group represented by 12% of the population.

Beautiful People enjoying the Peace full moment during the Night out

All this began in 1962, when the King Tutsi died and the Hutus took over the power. There were 134 thousand Tutsis exiled from their lands, which started strong ethnic tensions among the races.

In 1994, the government Hutu, felt the latent threat of the invasion of the exiled Tutsis, for which began to organize what would be the most recent genocide of this contemporary epoch.

The government Hutu of Juvenal Habryrimana distributed knifes and hoes as murderous arms, and the governmental radios instilled the racial hatred and ordered the killing and burning of houses in the Tutsi town. Then it began one of the most heartrending histories of Africa.

The murder of the President of the Rwandese inflamed the Hutus, so they beheaded and burned the houses of their neighbors. Half a million women were raped, and the children became orphans.

In only 100 days that the war lasted, it was estimated that 800 thousand people died between the Tutsis and Hutus.

Today, more than 10 years later, after this avalanche of death, Rwanda fights by healing the injuries. The main killers expect and wait for judgment. According to the UNICEF in 2003, 4 thousand children involved in the killings waited to be judged.

The present government has launched a fight of Rwanda for all, without difference of ethnic groups. Many learned a profession, and today they live in liberty and fight to recover and forget their bitter memories.

Everywhere is Peace, Peaceful without borders

Everybody is Peace and Enjoying the Rwanda

The Rwandan Genocide was a genocidal mass slaughter that took place in 1994 in the East African state of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days (from the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on April 6 through mid-July) over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate.[2] Estimates of the death toll have ranged from 500,000–1,000,000,[1] or as much as 20% of the country's total population. It was the culmination of longstanding ethnic competition and tensions between the minority Tutsi, who had controlled power for centuries, and the majority Hutu peoples, who had come to power in the rebellion of 1959–62.[3]

Beautiful Places for  taking a rest after a long working day

In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a rebel group composed mostly of Tutsi refugees, invaded northern Rwanda from Uganda in an attempt to defeat the Hutu-led government. They began the Rwandan Civil War, fought between the Hutu regime, with support from Francophone Africa and France,[4][5] and the RPF, with support from Uganda. This exacerbated ethnic tensions in the country. In response, many Hutu gravitated toward the Hutu Power ideology, with the prompting of state-controlled and independent Rwandan media.

Kep and Maintaining taboos and culture during the Marriage Ceremony

As an ideology, Hutu Power asserted that the Tutsi intended to enslave the Hutu and must be resisted at all costs. Continuing ethnic strife resulted in the rebels' displacing large numbers of Hutu in the north, plus periodic localized Hutu killings of Tutsi in the south. International pressure on the Hutu-led government of Juvénal Habyarimana resulted in a cease-fire in 1993. He planned to implement the Arusha Accords.

The assassination of Habyarimana in April 1994 set off a violent reaction, during which Hutu groups conducted mass killings of Tutsis (and also pro-peace Hutus, who were portrayed as "traitors" and "collaborators"). This genocide had been planned by members of the Hutu power group known as the Akazu, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government; the genocide was supported and coordinated by the national government as well as by local military and civil officials and mass media. Alongside the military, primary responsibility for the killings themselves rests with two Hutu militias that had been organized for this purpose by political parties: the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, although once the genocide was underway a great number of Hutu civilians took part in the murders. It was the end of the peace agreement. The Tutsi RPF restarted their offensive, defeating the army and seizing control of the country.

Rwanda today has two public holidays commemorating the incident, with Genocide Memorial Day on April 7th marking the start, and Liberation Day on July 4th marking the end. The week following April 7th is designated an official week of mourning.[6]

One global impact of the Rwandan Genocide is that it served as impetus to the creation of the International Criminal Court, so that ad hoc tribunals would not need to be created for future incidents of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.[7] The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the ICC, and was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome on 17 July 1998.[8]

The Beauty of the Country