Went to the Rwanda genocide centre today. The centre is well done, which means that it is very depressing. In addition to the Tutsi genocide of 20 years ago, the centre looks at the events leading up to the genocides of Armenians, Namibians, Serbs, and the Jewish holocaust. Over a million Rwandans were brutally killed, mostly by machetes. The irony is that the "Tutsi" and "Hutu" tribes did not even exist prior to the colonization of Rwanda by the Germans and Belgians - they were actually more economic / trade distinctions - Hutus were farmers and Tutsis were herders.
Did I mention depressing?
We also went to the Hotel de Mille Collines, which was the inspiration for the movie " Hotel Rwanda". they hotel remains the same as it was in the movie.
The movie is banned in Rwanda. When it was released, it angered many of the survivors of the genocide, because apparently the movie was a gross fabrication compared to what actually happened - according to our guide, the hero of the movie actually only saved Tutsis who could pay him considerable sums of cash, and those that didn't have enough money were left to be killed by the roving militias. Some of those who had just barely enough money to get in to the hotel grounds had to camp on the lawn and drink water from the swimming pool.
Ok, on the less depressing side, the city is clean, safe and modern. They now have shopping malls that are open 24 hours a day, and our guide said that we could walk anywhere in the city at any time of the day.
Tomorrow we leave for the southern part of Rwanda to trek in a national park renowned for their chimpanzees.
And here is the video that is currently #1 on the dance charts in Uganda. These kids may not have any shoes (they barely have pants!!) but they sure can dance
!
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