Students from Groupe Scolaire Muhoza I accompanied by their teachers have visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial to remember the victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi and tour the memorial’s exhibitions to learn about the Genocide history.
Arriving at the memorial, this group toured the memorial that tells the history of the Genocide against the Tutsi; its causes and consequences. Through the visit, these students learnt about the role of young people in the execution of the Genocide. They also visited other sections of the exhibition including the one dedicated to children killed in the genocide.
Talking about the purpose of their visit, Martin Mbonigaba, the Head-teacher at Groupe Scolaire Muhoza I said that it is important for these young people, many of them born after the genocide to come and visit the memorial which has a rich archive on the Genocide history in order for them to learn and teach what they have learnt to their fellow students and the families back home.
“We normally teach our students about the history of Genocide, how it was planned, executed and its consequences but now it is important for them to reach in a place like this for them to have a bigger perspective and see with their eyes some of the genocide artifacts and hear firsthand accounts from those who experienced the Genocide,” Martin said.
After the tour, Jean de Dieu Nzambaza, Dean of students shared his impressions and what they are going to do when they go back.
“After learning the history of Rwanda, we saw how Rwandans used to live in harmony with one another before the ideology of divisionism created hatred among people. We also learnt that Youth is the force of the nation, it can do good or bad and for us we are committed to do good and fight anyone who can divide us. We are determined to put our efforts together to prevent genocide from happening again,” said Jean de Dieu
Concluding their remembrance and learning tour, they also laid wreaths on mass graves where more than 250 000 victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi are laid to rest.
