When I first came to my motherland in 2002, I had no clear picture of what really might have happened nine years back in this beautiful country where my ancestors were born. But when the commemoration period came that year, I learned of the bitter facts of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The facts were hard to digest. This experience clarified the numerous stereotypes I had been fed on when in exile. It continues to be difficult for those that remained in exile and foreigners to fully grasp the picture of the exact happenings of 1994 because they lack first hand information. To my younger siblings, it is hard to explain the horrific events. My first experience of the commemoration week during that year was a heartrending scene which took place at the school I had just joined. At the eve of the commemoration, there was unusual silence mixed with sadness. I remember my fellow students at that time, with whom we occasionally shared jokes, visibly traumatized. The event was long and everyone seemed drowned in the sad moment. Since it was my first time, the whole thing changed my life completely. Breaking the silence, many started screaming and loudly calling the names of the loved ones they lost. Everything seemed fresh in their minds as if it was yesterday when the Genocide happened. But earlier, drama had erupted at school. One of the students, a genocide survivor, visibly in a sad state was confronted by another student. “You people pretentiously get sad and traumatized to attract sympathy from the public,” said the student. This set the school ablaze with trauma. As the survivors got wind of what had been said, gradually, one by one they started reacting to the message. Screams were heard coming from every corner of the school. Some that I knew with heart conditions were greatly affected. Imagine just how a statement like that could cause such grief in the whole school? In a period like this, everyone should be extra careful of the words they utter in public as you might not know the impact they may inflict on the person next to you. This is a period when any person with a compassionate heart, should get close to survivors and tell them words of comfort and restore their hope-speaking words of a happy tomorrow despite the horrific Genocide. Those in schools, don’t treat their schoolmates inhumanly; instead show them empathy and love. Some survivors, in their precarious emotional state, go in hiding to quell the pressure the commemorative period gives them. They need frequent visits and close watch and comfort from their immediately friends. With a helping shoulder, they will become more resistant to grief. With hope they will develop the belief that not all is lost and that someone cares. Let us all work towards building a more pleasant Rwanda and desist from forms of genocide ideology in schools because we cannot afford to see history repeating itself in this country. Let Never Again be Never Again as we commemorate 15 years since the Genocide against the Tutsi. Ends
