Today, I found myself reflecting on the first day I went to the Kigali Genocide Memorial on the 5th October 2022.

Stepping onto those grounds, everything I’d read about the Rwandan genocide felt abstract compared to the reality before me. The weight of history was almost tangible. The mass graves there, real markers of lives lost, made it painfully real. Read my article about the whole memorial tour here: https://mg.co.za/friday/2022-11-16-please-do-not-sit-on-the-graves-lessons-from-the-rwanda-genocide/

Standing there, it struck me how overwhelming the sense of loss was, and yet, there was a powerful feeling of resilience too. As I walked through, the presence of the graves emphasized the gravity of what had occurred.

Where I come from, when we go to a graveyard we are expected to dress a certain way and although this was essentially a “museum visit” , the fact that there were graves there I felt compelled to pay my respects the only way I know how; I put a scarf on my shoulders as a way to respect the lives of the people lying in mass graves at the Kigali Genocide Memorial. Death was just so tangible.

That place has never left my soul. Just walking through that garden was overwhelming and will forever be imprinted in my soul.

Learning about African history has some beautiful moments of strength and resilience but some of the lessons are of pain and grief.