Thursday, June 8th - Halfway Point!

Friends and family, muraho! Today marks the halfway point of our trip and the beauty of Rwanda still astounds us. Each day has been full of new surprises, experiences, and information that have given me a whole new perspective on not only this country, but life in general. Our time here is spent balancing lectures or class discussions, visits with prominent figures related to the genocide or the fight against it, and going into the various cities to explore during free afternoons. We started our morning with a lecture focused on other cases of genocide and risk factors that pertain to them. Although this study abroad is emphasized on the events that took place over 100 days in Rwanda, it is important that we learn about other examples and recognize that it is occurring in the world right now. We followed up with a separate discussion-based class that dove into gender-based violence and the consequences of it. As the lectures finished, we headed to lunch before departing for a visit with the Director General at the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide - where Hollie was his first intern a few years back!

“To prevent and fight against genocide, its ideology, and overcoming its consequences.” This mission statement provided by CNLG paints a broader picture of the work that is done at the organization, in which they focus on commemoration and prevention, advocacy, and research and documentation. The commission is greatly intertwined with actors of the state and has many ties in the international community to ensure that atrocities like the ones in 1994 never happen again. Jean-Damascene Gasanabo, the Director General, gave us a presentation on preserving the memory of the genocide and fighting genocide denial. When asked why it is necessary to continue promoting awareness of this cause, he stated, “it’s important because genocide can happen anywhere… people aren’t born killers.” We were given the opportunity for a question and answer session to gain as much insight into the advocacy work that is being done. After a couple group pictures, we were on our way to a nonprofit shop run by the SIT Office Manager, Sunday, to pick up clothing items we ordered.

To wrap up our day, everyone went to a gelato shop in celebration of Hannah’s 20th birthday before going to an Indian restaurant for dinner (yes, before dinner). Needless to say the gelato was some of the best I have ever had and the dinner definitely followed suit! It is surreal to think that our time left in Rwanda is limited, but I could not think of a better way to close out the halfway point. Tomorrow we will be leaving Moucecore and heading off to our homestays for the upcoming week. I am sure we will only continue adding to our collection of amazing stories and are eager to tell you all about them! We miss you all greatly and look forward to telling you about our experiences. 

Sending love from Kigali :-) Happy Birthday Hannah!!!

- Lauren Jesch