RWANDA - 1994

Colonized by the Belgians in the early 1900’s, the country of Rwanda began a most difficult and ultimately deadly journey over the last century.  Feeling the need to “separate” the people so as not to allow them to gain the upper hand and ultimate possession of their own country, the Belgians began the long process of labeling each and every Rwandan based on their looks and physical features.  Given an identity card stating whether they belonged to either the Hutu or Tutsi tribe, the Rwandan’s manufactured differences began to take hold.  The Belgians, feeling that those labeled to the Tutsi tribe had more pleasing features, gave the Tutsis much power and dominion over the Hutus.  Even over the years of intermarriage between the tribes and physical features becoming a very blurry line, the identity cards remained and thus the status of one tribe being “better” slowly began to take hold.  Beginning in the late 1950’s, genocide of smaller proportions took place taking the lives of thousands of innocent people.  The inferior Hutu’s, always feeling threatened by the supposedly superior Tutsi, felt the overwhelming need to eliminate the opposing tribe.  Unsuccessful in the initial genocide of 1959, the tension remained until the breaking point in April of 1994.  The Hutus in power were able to convince even the most common Hutu that all Tutsis were bad and that the Tutsis were a threat to the entire Hutu population.  Armed with machetes and any other blunt object that would inflict the deadliest and cruelest of blows, the blood bath began.  In a period of only 90 days, over one million Tutsis were innocently killed along with any Hutu that in any way supported, helped or aided any Tutsi.  Stranger killed stranger, neighbor killed neighbor, husbands killed wives, wives killed husbands, fathers and mothers killed children, children killed.  The once beautiful lush countryside of Rwanda was pouring forth with streams of blood and piles of dead bodies everywhere.  Often termed a civil war amongst tribes, this deadliest bloodbath was in no way worthy to be called war.  Innocent people, weaponless people, helpless people and even the littlest of children were killed just because someone came along and labeled them a certain way.

The widespread violence of the 90’s, along with the deadly AIDS virus, has left this small country with countless numbers of widows and orphans.  A large percentage of husbands, whether killed in the genocide or imprisoned as a result of being a perpetrator of the violence, have left their families without any source of income or support.  As a result, the nation of Rwanda has an astounding poverty rate of over 75 percent.  

Yet, over the last several years, an amazing healing has taken place in this once deadly country.  Known as the Land of a Thousand Hills, Rwanda once again flows with beauty and peace.  The lush countryside is populated now by millions of Rwandans, and only Rwandans.  Lead by the former RPF Leader who was instrumental in stopping the 1994 genocide and is now President, Paul Kagame and the Rwandans have come a long way towards healing and unity. No longer armed with identity cards, the countrymen have left their difficult past behind and are moving towards a bright and hope-filled future.

KIGALI RWANDA