Photos

Here is another shot from one of the memorials in Rwanda. On a very easy hour and a half drive outside of Kigali, you can travel to the townships of Nyamata and Ntarama. You may recognize these names from the book "Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak" by Jean Hatzfeld. If you have note read or heard of it and are interested in the Genocide, definitely check this out. I do warn you it is very graphic. As the title indicates, it really is the killers speaking about their thoughts are they recount their experiences and "kills". Really tough book to read, even harder to put down at some times. What is most disturbing about the whole book is how jaded and used to the idea you become.

I have listed this image under "people" as opposed to "places" like one would do for a memorial. This photo was taken in a mass grave which you can go down into and reflect. Our guide told us to go first, but there was no way we would go down first into a mass grave, the thought still scares me. Some shelves have bones like you see, others have coffins. These are not your typical coffin, mostly just painted wood, in comparison to our culture, these coffins contain at least a dozen bodies, if not more in the form of loose bones. the memorial as a whole has around 15 000 souls buried in these chambers. There was only about a two foot space for you to move around in while walking in the long tunnels. While taking these photos, i tried my best not to touch anyone. There were times though, as soon as I turned around, there was a skull staring straight at me, a feeling I will never forget.

Long story short, there were only two windows, with limited light, so I am happy the photo turned out like it did.

If you are interested in more information the war or Africa, do make sure to check out some of my other postings.

-Adam