WALK TO REMEMBER

Today is no ordinary Saturday , in a few hours , I and hundreds, maybe thousands of other people will embark on  a trip  in tribute and honor of  the countless lives that perished during the Genocide against the tutsi . The walk to remember , more than just a walk but  a powerful act of unity and remembrance .As I contemplate on this Important but yet mournful day , my grief is gradually replaced by pride and honor for taking part in such a great event. To be part of thousands on a journey of giving value not only to those that are gone but to ourselves in the goal of preserving our dignity, building towards a better future and honoring our loved ones.

With further reflection , my mind slowly drifts away to april 2009 , a time when I got my first personal exposure to the horrors and effects of the genocide. I had gone there with my classmates , on a school trip and I still remember the scene as I walked down the hallways. The atrocities that we saw around seemed endless. Everywhere we saw were horrific pictures , a mutilated body on one side a man with a machete on another. It seemed all too dreadful too look at even from outside the frame of a picture. I could only imagine what it must have been like in reality. To my horror, I would soon get an idea as I walked down further. To this day I cringe when I remember what I heard in the room that lay ahead of me. As we approached it, my ears filled with screams, cries, and moans. Before me were about a hundred people, most screaming in fear and shouting for their loved ones. They had these terrible vocal expressions, caused by suppressed emotions that only trauma could trigger under such circumstances. I had never encountered such terrible pain before and at that moment, I wished I hadn't. What happened at the memorial center triggered within me strong emotions. In a way, I felt traumatized as well. I was shocked and saddened by what I had witnessed. These survivors were going through a terrible ordeal, reliving memories of people murdering their whole family, or of running and fearing for their lives.

I felt angry and ashamed that these terrible things had happened in my country. These people I had just seen were probably going to be haunted perpetually by these horrors that had ruined their life. It felt extremely unfair and unacceptable, and at the moment I felt trapped like them in this vicious cycle of sorrow and grief. How were we ever going to move on from all that? Countless people had been killed in the genocide and that this had undoubtedly left scars in people's hearts, feeling them with grief, revenge, fear and despair. Eventually I realized how this memorial did more than just keep us into the depths of our dark past. It was there to remind us never to repeat the same mistakes but also to make us appreciate and value how far we had come as a country. It was also there as a reminder to those of us who had been more fortunate, that they were people who still suffered deeply from this great tragedy. Seeing all those people in deep pain and sorrow made me realize that I had a responsibility towards them. Remembering our past and honoring those who were dead was crucial, but it was just as important to use these memories constructively to build a better Rwanda. As a young Rwandan, I had always been taught to look to the future. I had been raised to believe that I would be part of a generation that was going to help transform my country. I therefore felt compelled to take matters into my own hands. My friends and I had just witnessed how many of my countrymen were still deeply affected by the genocide, and because of that I felt like I had an obligation to do something about it. For the greater good of our nation, this is something that all of us Rwandans had to undertake. Many of us were now damaged, but I believed it wasn't too late to make things better. Nothing was set in stone and even stone like they say could be chiseled.

That memorial  center , I believe was a stepping stone for me on this path that I and so many Rwandans  are compelled to undertake, a path of unity such as this walk to remember , a path of loving one another and our country , and most importantly a path of development and prosperity . Up to this day it remains more than just  a memory but a lesson , a spark , a motivator not only for me , but for my brothers and sisters to preserve our dignity so that the words “never again”  become principles by which we live by in order to build towards a brighter future and in loving memory of the countless victims of the Genocide.