Genocide sites preserve Rwanda’s history

Genocide memorial sites were set up with the aim of preserving the remains of the bodies of people who perished during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Mass graves and information connected to an area were in place for others to see and learn. Honore Gatera takes us on a journey of how the Kigali Memorial Centre has been able to preserve the history of the country. When the former Mayor of Kigali City, Theoneste Mutsindashyaka visited some museums in London he came back home with the idea of putting up the museum that re-tells Rwanda’s history. In 2000, the Kigali City Council began to construct the shell of a building, which was eventually to become the Kigali Memorial Centre. Aegis Trust was invited to turn the aspiration for a centre into a reality. The centre includes three permanent exhibitions, the largest of which documents the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. There is also a children’s memorial, and an exhibition on the history of genocidal violence around the world. The Education Centre, Memorial Gardens and National Documentation Centre of the Genocide all contribute to a meaningful tribute to those who perished, and form a powerful educational tool for the next generation. Aegis Trust then began to collect data from across the world to create the three graphical exhibits. The text for all three exhibitions was printed in three languages, designed in the UK at the Aegis Head Office by their design team, and shipped to Rwanda to be installed. The Kigali Memorial Centre is an international centre. It deals with a topic of international importance, with far-reaching significance, and is designed to engage and challenge an international visitor base. The response from Genocide survivors to the creation of the Centre was unpredicted. In the first week, over 1,500 survivors visited each day. In the first three months of the Centre’s opening, around 60,000 people from a variety of backgrounds visited. Over 7,000 of these visitors were from the International Community. Today the Kigali Genocide Memorial centre is able to receive 77,000 visitors per year of which 58 percent are Rwandans. “We have no limited number of people who can be buried since every year people continue to discover the remains of their beloved ones,” Gatera said. According to Gatera, as years go by more people have started believing what happened in Rwanda because they can get the information from any memorial centre. In constructing the exhibitions at Gisozi and Murambi, documents, photographs, films, testimonies and artifacts are being acquired and systematically documented. Gatera said, the documentation is an integral part of the exhibition development. mbbz_pelagie@yahoo.com