The management and staff of AOS on Friday, April 23, made a trip to Ntarama Genocide Memorial in Bugesera District to pay tribute to victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

They also used the opportunity to support survivors of the Genocide against the Tutsi in the area by paying Mutuelle de Santé premiums for 1,000 most vulnerable among them.

AOS is a joint venture company between the government of Rwanda and Korea Telecom to stimulate the growth of ICT in the country, transfer technology and localise skills to support the transformation of Rwanda into a knowledge-based economy.

AOS also operates the National Data Centre of Rwanda and offers various ICT services.

The commemoration activities were carried out with respect to Covid-19 prevention guidelines in Ntarama sector.

The firm's CEO, Seong Woo Kim, said that their staff of whom 90 per cent are youth, visited the memorial site to understand the history of the genocide against the Tutsi so that they play their role to ensure such never happens again.

Over 5,000 remains are buried at Ntarama Genocide Memorial, many of them killed from the small Catholic Church, which is now part of the memorial.

"Today we remember all those who were killed in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. This is an important occasion to remember the lives lost, show solidarity with survivors and unite to ensure such tragedy never happens again in Rwanda or elsewhere in the world,” he said.

After visiting the memorial site and grave, the CEO shared words of comfort to genocide survivors.

"The death of a loved one is a heavy burden to carry, so the burden carried by the Rwandan people after the murder of so many of its citizens, the men, women, and as we have just seen, even children is unimaginable,” he said.

He said that AOS staff made their contributions to support vulnerable genocide survivors as a way of showing solidarity.

"In the spirit of supporting the survivors of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, AOS has contributed by paying for Community Health Insurance for at least 1,000 survivors.

As AOS we honour the lives lost, we also reflect on the suffering of those who survived this dark chapter in human history. We want to show our sodality with the survivors specifically in Bugesera district,” he noted.

He commended the country's commitment to rise above the tragedy and rebuild, saying that they have shown that reconciliation is possible, even after a tragedy of such massive proportion.

"Rwanda has achieved a remarkable degree of stability and strength in both economic and the living standards of its people,” he said.

He added that; "Korea Telecom has been a strong partner with the Government of Rwanda in this journey and remain committed to continuing working closely with the Government to achieve bigger goals with special focus on developing the ICT sector into a vibrant industry and positioning Rwanda as the regional ICT hub and fuelling economic growth, he added.

Cognizant of the increasing Genocide denial, Seong Woo Kim all people should strongly fight such ideology.

Yvette Imanishimwe, Vice Mayor in charge of Social Affairs in Bugesera District thanked AOS management and staff for their commitment to learning and understanding the history of the genocide.

She said that paying homage to genocide victims and supporting vulnerable genocide survivors is part of efforts to strengthen the resilience and reconciliation journey while   also fighting genocide denial and ideology.  

Imanishimwe urged the youth to use their strength and ICT tools to fight against genocide deniers by presenting facts about the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi to ensure it does not happen anywhere in the world.

Bugesera is home to four memorial sites of which two, Ntarama and Nyamata Genocide Memorial, are at the national level.

At Nyamata memorial, rests the remains of over 45,000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi.