Yes hard to believe it is the last full day, wehave bonded, cried, laughed and had experiences that will take months to absorb,
We began at the Belgian soldiers memorial. The site where the Genocidal troops murdered 10 Belgian soldiers. The memorial explains it all in a well done time line and the memorial is quite moving. You can google it if you want details or read the photos I took of the timelines. The bullet holes are real, and inside you can se where in the corner of the room the murders took place in a barrage of bullets
After that we visited a little crafts market for more shopping and finally head to Gisimba orphanage. Which now is an after school facility as well as a center for foster children. The foster system is quite different. One can foster a child either in simple or life time way. Simple is up to 18 then te child is on their own, Or fully vested as part of a family, People receive no money for fostering, And childre may be removed if abuse or child labor is evident. Tje after school programs include, art, jewerlry making, theater, sports etc. Primary school age kids get free breakfast.
This is where Johnson lived after surviving the genocide. At 9 he watched as his moher was gunned down, and did not know until a cosi saw him that is father was also killed. Johnson is working on his memoir. He is engaged to a lovely girl and I wish him so much love and hope. He showed me where he slept and wold see Carl outside his window. Carl was on top of a water tower and would bring in supplies when he could, often at his own peril. Johnson and Carl mat for the first time after the genocide in 2011 and Johnsn explains in Rwandan culure as in most) men do not cry and he cried like a baby when he reconneced wth Carl. Carl literally saved the over 400 people in the orpanage, single handedly. He confronted the Interhamwe ( militia) face to face and is so humble about what he was able to do. His book is called :Im not Leaving"
The director of the school is Dumas Gisimba who aslo served as a judge for the Gacaca tribunal. He spoke about Robert Kajuga who was actually a Tutsi and gave the order on the radio for the massacre to begin. 405 people were hiding in the orphanage. Dumas said the killers wre scared of dieing bt not of killing. When asked how he can preside over case after case of people who killed his own neighbors, their neighbors and families. he said ' Pardon has no borders and has no frontiers'
Carl worked wit him to insure the safety of those at the orphanage. Johnson told me how he saw the friendly cook of the orphanage get shot ad saw his b lood running down the stret exactly where we are standing. A few yers ago a few of the children that were saved along with their own children suprised Carl with a party and a painting. Iheard it was an undescribably moment.
A lot of this can be found on line or watch Ghosts of Rwanda and sometime in April also a good movie.
So next blog will be a reflection once home
No comments:
Post a Comment