Rwanda's population consists of three ethnic groups: Hutus (88%), Tutsis (11%), and Twa pygmies (1%). Most Tutsis women have been raped and are dying of Aids. When the women die their children go to an orphanage. Esther is a survivor of the genocide and a widow. Her husband was a teacher and was taken from school to be murdered. She has been helping women who have lost their husbands and are battling to look after themselves and their children.
Imacule is also a widow; she caught Aids while she was pregnant. She is now dying of aids and she can not afford treatment, so when she dies her house will be taken away from her. And son will be put into an orphanage. Rwandan women were raped by men and if the sex was not good enough they would be raped with a stick. The men said to the women “you now have aids” after they has raped them.
Monica lost her three children during the genocide. Monica has aids and she is looking after motherless children. Gatarina has 23 children in total and she runs a bakery so her and her children can be eating fresh bread.
Eugenie was raped and given aids at the age of 16 the man who raped her said he would not kill her because he has already given her something worse she realized what he said when she was told that she has Aids. Eugenie’s’ parents were also killed and her and her brother are alone. When Eugenie dies her little brother will have nobody. Jennet was raped by 9 men and has only two surviving children, she also has aids. The doctors told her that she needs to be eating properly so she bought a chicken, so the chicken can lay eggs for her to eat.
The Tutsis were horrendously slaughtered people were killed with clubs and machetes 800 – 1 million people were killed. Among the first killed was Rwanda's prime minister, Agathe Uwilingiyimana. The mob also tortured then killed her 10 Belgian peacekeeping guards, assuring a rapid withdrawal of most foreign personnel, including U.S. AID workers, who disgracefully left their Rwandan colleagues to face waiting killers. A plaque honouring U.S. Aid’s murdered Rwandan employees now hangs in the agency's Kigali office lobby. Rwanda’s population has gone down dramatically. In 7 years 120,000 people have been waiting to go on trial. But only 250 people have been brought to trial in 6 years. 7 years ago perhaps 4000 were killed in Nyarubuye church. The Tutsis ran into the church for protection but the Hutus had surrounded the church, the bodies have rotted and there are skeletons everywhere. There are even machete marks on the skulls; peoples’ bodies are in pits at the back of the church. Their bodies were left there like rubbish they did not get a proper respected funeral and their souls will never rest until they are buried. The soldiers killed from 8am until 5pm then go for dinner and come back. Valentine is a survivor, a machete cut of her fingers and damages to her head. She spent several weeks amongst the bodies. Valentine is now going back to school and is going to become a doctor.
Rwanda is gradually recovering from the 1994 genocide but it is not about charity it is about recognising our shared humanities. I personally think that it is not too much to give what you have what people are through in Rwanda is too much. If every family in Britain gave just £10 every month it would pay for: more beds for the hospital, build more orphanages and also to help pay for treatment for Aids patients. Children of Avega village run a child counselling programme where the children talk about what they went through but they need more funding for the programme to continue. Poverty was killing the children there is no food for them to eat; they are running around the streets, sleeping by the side of the road. I think people should watch this film and see where only some of their money is going to.
