DAY TEN

Monday began with our final powerhouse prayer meeting after which we had breakfast and us Rwanda first-timers travelled to a genocide memorial. It won't come as a surprise to anyone to hear that this morning was the most confronting experience I have had in Rwanda. It'd be up there if I talked about life experiences in general. The memorial was separated into four sections, three of which were inside. We were first ushered towards a section which was full of information about various genocides that had happened around the world. The section was reminiscent of a museum, full of fascinating information about some of the most sinister aspects of human history. I was immediately drawn in, but soon found the severity of the atrocity beginning to affect me. For me, the most upsetting part was learning how many countries refused to recognise these genocides had taken place, for fear of jeopardising international interests. The second section of the memorial that I wandered through was quite different. This was the section which stood in memory of the children who had been murdered in the Rwandan genocide. On the walls of the corridor would be a blown up photo of a victim, underneath which a placard indicated the child's name and other details such as favourite food, best friend, dreams, character, and finishing with the way they died. After reading that a child named David who dreamt of becoming a doctor and enjoyed making people laugh (a pretty accurate description of myself) was tortured to death at the age of 5, I needed to sit down. Walking through these corridors, I learnt some terrible things that I am glad I learnt, but that I so wish were not true. Needless to say I was not the only one who emerged with a tissue in hand, hiding tears behind my sunglasses.

The third part of the memorial I went to was outside, where there was a mass grave containing thousands of bodies. After spending some reflective time overlooking the grave, and having a quick word to God along the lines of “God, what the...?” I went back inside to the fourth section which detailed the history of the 1994 genocide itself, starting with a picture of Rwanda prior to Belgian colonisation. Again, this section was fascinating and every member of the team who was there learnt a great deal. I found myself going constantly back and forth between pieces of information to try and understand the thought processes that had taken place and came to the conclusion that human beings are simply capable of more insanity than we dare to admit. On a positive note however, developing a greater understanding of the madness of this country's past, really opened my eyes to the magnitude of what God has done since. I thought that I had been touched by the spirit of love, forgiveness and strength amongst these people before I visited the memorial, but I have been truly blown away now. It is undeniable that God is well and truly here, and slowly but surely bringing the shattered fragments of Rwanda back together.

Humbled and a little shell-shocked, we found each other and met up with the rest of our group. After eating some lunch and watching in anticipation and fear as Sam ordered a triple shot of coffee, we hopped onto the bus and began our 3.5 hour journey to Gisenyi. That's gotta be close to how you spell it. The bus trip was more or less uneventful as many of the group used this time to sleep. Or try to sleep. It was a bumpy journey and if the bus lurched the wrong way you'd be thrown onto the floor. But that's only because I can't sleep in a sitting position so the only way I was going to sleep was by curling up across my seat and the one next to me. Plus the vibrations from the seats made my nose itchy so my head was off the chair. And I only fell off twice. Everyone made it such a big deal...

Arriving at our next hotel in Gisenyi, we once again marvelled at the generosity AEE was showing us. We finished the day by having dinner together once again, learning about Chiz's imaginary friends and telling John to stop working and get some sleep. It was a quiet day which sent everyone on their own personal emotional journey and gave us all a great deal to process. Thank you God for opening our eyes. Thank you for what you are doing in this place. Thank you for allowing us to be part of it. And thank you for this amazing team without whom this trip would be impossible.

Dave