Genocide thoughts

Riding in the van the other day, a Rwandan named Emmanuel (everyone has french names over here) asked me how many brothers and sisters I had. I told him I had 2 sisters and he told me that he was from a family of 6 children. But he said he lost his parents and one sibling in the genocide.

A woman accross from him said that she is the only one left in her family.

Another woman had to be aken to the hospital for "trauma," earlier in the week. Apparently, she was up all night thinking about her family and the genocide and had to be taken to the hospital. She was actually put on a saline drip.

She returned the next day and started to learn about coffee again.

I've seen a few men in town missing limbs.

Unfathomable.

Its actually pretty amazing this country though. Its clean, has great roads, the people seem to be great, and the country seems to be on its way up. Over the last decade, its been one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Maybe they've all banded together - knowing they started at the absolute bottom - to create something good. Of all people, Rwandans know the depths of human anger and hatred. Maybe they don't ever want to see something like that happen again; maybe they want to leave the place better for their children.

When the woman went to the hospital the other day, many different people from the class took turns visiting her in the hospital - people she had never met before this week. When she came back to class, it seemed like everyone went out of their way to make sure she was ok. They've all been through it. Maybe the whole country is one big support group for one of the worst tragedies in human history.

I was told there are no more Hutus and Tutsis, only Rwandans.