SOUTHERN PROVINCE

NYAMAGABE – The visiting Canadian teachers, on Monday, could not hold back tears as they were taken through the over 10 rooms containing remains of victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The 30 teachers drawn from schools across Canada are on a visit to Rwanda to learn about how Genocide was carried out and how the country has managed to rebuild itself.

Speaking to The New Times, Keast Randall, a teacher from Ontario Canada, said that the teachers came to study Genocide and understand what happened in Rwanda in 1994.

"It is one thing to study in books and another thing to see the reality. We have seen the beauty of Rwanda but we have also seen the horror. It has been emotionally uplifting seeing little kids but horrific when you visit places like Nyamata and Murambi,” said Randall.

Randall said that the tour of different Genocide memorials and schools in the country has availed them enough information that they will be able to use in their schools back home.

"We are all passionate teachers and we will take this back into our classrooms to teach our students about what happened during the Genocide,” he added.

"I have never seen anything like this,” said Adam Hayward, a teacher at the New Brunswick Miramichi middle school, adding, "You hear the stories, you read the books but to see this made it real. It is a horrible thing that humans are capable of this.”

Jean de Dieu Mucyo, the Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the fight against Genocide, said the teachers will serve as Rwanda’s ambassadors.

"There are many Genocide deniers all over the world. These teachers will serve an important role of telling the world about the gruesome reality they have seen with their own eyes,” he said.

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