Genocide: Varsity students visit memorial site

Students and staff members of University College of Education, former Kigali Institute of Education, visited Murambi Genocide Memorial site to pay their respects to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. “As we commemorate the Genocide for the twentieth time, we believe that it is important to visit this site to understand what our motherland went through and also get information that we shall pass on,” said Aline Mahoro, one of the students who visited the site on Sunday. Found in Nyamagabe district in the Southern Province, Murambi Genocide Memorial site was a technical school before the Genocide but government turned it into a genocide memorial site due to the killings that occured there when residents ran there seeking safety. The students were first taken around the site by Eric Gatabazi, a guide. He explained to the students of how the Interahamwe militia killed people in the then technical school. “People from this place and around had confidence that the local leaders would offer them protection from the Interahamwe militias but this was not the case,” Gatabazi said. He called on the youth to always visit memorial sites saying it will give them the spirit of loving their country more and fighting Genocide ideologies among the population. Alphonse Kamari, the Chief Budget Manager at the University College of Education, said the school engages in various activities even outside the Genocide commemoration time in order to foster peace in the country. The students had earlier visited Gasaka Sector in Nyamagabe district where they gave material support to survivors of the Genocide. They donated lots of assortments including mattresses, jerrycans, soap and basins. They also donated goats and opened small kitchen gardens for the needy. In a related development, students and staff of Jomo Kenyata University (JKU) paid a visit to children-headed families in Niboye Sector of Kicukiro district. The orphans from 24 families in Kicukiro district Nyamata, Kibuye and Nyaruguru are under the Niboye Peace Village. Most of the children lost their parents during the Genocide. JKU students donated sugar, beans, rice, maize flour and cooking oil among other items.