Rwanda

This past weekend Sarah and I had the opportunity to travel to Rwanda for a short four day get-a-way that turned out to be both relaxing and educational. Our hope for the trip was to get a little time away from Uganda, to see Kigali (one of Africa’s most beautiful cities) and to also learn a little more about Rwanda’s history by visiting the Kigali Genocide Museum. Prior to our departure we prepared ourselves a little by watching the movie Hotel Rwanda, which is by no means an easy movie to watch but a good way to learn and remember what happened in Rwanda 15 years ago. It was at the same Hotel Rwanda (the Hotel des Mille Collines) that we stayed and we had a wonderful stay.

Side note – Before arriving at the hotel we waited 3 hours in Entebbe International Airport (Uganda) before our plane even showed up, and another hour in the Kigali International Airport (Rwanda) before our shuttle showed up. I suppose it wouldn’t be an African trip if we didn’t spend time waiting.

Anywho…back to Kigali. Our stay at “Hotel Rwanda” was wonderful and our visit to the genocide museum was tough but good. It is hard to believe that such atrocities happened in the country of Rwanda in 1994 and the surrounding world did nothing about it, a hard reality to swallow. The museums consisted of four exhibits. The first was pictures, stories and actual items from the Rwandan genocide. The second was dedicated to telling the stories of other genocides that have taken place over the years throughout the world. There were, unfortunately, far more than I had previously known about. The third exhibit told stories of children who were killed in the Rwandan genocide. And the fourth was a self-guided walking tour among gardens and mass graves right there at the museum. Again, it was a difficult museum to tour but a good experience.

I went away from my time in Rwanda relaxed, thankful that I have never had to experience violence like what occurred in Rwanda and many other countries around the world, and sorry for those who have. God’s heart must hurt so much because of what his creation does to one another. May his peace and love come and flood our lives, our world and our future.