On 11 April 2016, students and teachers from Lycėe de Kigali secondary school visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial. The commemoration activity was organised by the school’s AERG Iwacu group. AERG is the Association of Students Survivors of the Genocide and encourages young Rwandans to form clubs in their own schools and promote remembrance. The groups then visit different memorial sites and conduct charity activities like supporting the vulnerable and repairing houses for survivors in different parts of Rwanda. This year, around 50 students joined the Iwacu group for the visit to the memorial.
“I really appreciate you for coming here as a big number like this. Before, you could not see many students like these coming to commemorate at memorial site. This is showing the improvement and the value which this activity is getting,” one of the former students at Lycėe de Kigali said to their peers.
As part of the visit, students were encouraged to learn more about the history of their country.
“Don’t move or see only, just remember to take notes of each and everything you feel – it is surely new,” Kalisa said.
Kalisa, a teacher at Lycėe de Kigali who came with the students, said this to remind the students that it is a precious time for them to learn and understand the history of Rwanda before and during the Genocide against the Tutsi.
While visiting, the students and teachers toured the memorial exhibition and visited the Children’s Room – a tribute to children killed in the Genocide against the Tutsi. This reminded them very strongly about why they should always remember.
“Commemoration is not only for those who were adults, or who experienced the Genocide. It is also for young people. Though we are young, we have to remember to pay respects to those children and other people who died in the Genocide. In addition, young people are the future of our country so we have to prevent it from facing genocide again by remembering and setting goals to renew our country,” said Fred Ndinda Nshuti, a student and President of AERG Iwacu at Lycėe de Kigali.
