Serena Hotel donates to Genocide survivors

The staff of Serena Hotel donated more than 200 iron sheets to help vulnerable survivors of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsis in Kiziguro Sector of Eastern Province’s Gatsibo District build houses for themselves. Members of the hotel’s staff delivered the donation to managers of Kiziguro Genocide Memorial where they travelled on Saturday. The team was led by the hotel’s Country Manager, Charles Muia, who said the act aimed at joining hands with the rest of Rwanda in commemorating the lives of those who were killed during the Genocide. “We have planned to visit three memorial sites in different provinces and this is our first in order to help the genocide survivors during this healing period. We want to show them that we are standing with them in this hard and trying moment,” Muia said. According to Félicien Niyonziza who heads the umbrella organisation for Genocide survivors’ associations Ibuka in Gatsibo District, the visit by Serena Hotel staff shows how united Rwanda has become in joining hands to fight against genocide where private institutions like the hotel are also participating. “This is a blessing for the survivors because it makes them feel less alone in their struggle to heal completely and move on,” Niyonziza said. Families that will receive portions of the donation will be selected by the administration of the Kiziguro Genocide Memorial in cooperation with Ibuka, the official said. Niyonziza said that the genocide experiment in Kiziguro started as early as 1991 when people would seek refuge at Kiziguro Catholic Parish.