Marching for freedom

Photograph by Sebastiao Salgado

Meet the future of Rwanda. Recently, I have expressed much concern for the racial injustice that occured in Rwanda's civil conflict of 1994. Nearly a million Tutsi citizens were massacred. However, the untold side of the story is the effect that genocide had on those that were not Hutu extremist murderers. This boy, for example, is of Hutu decent. Following the victory in Rwanda's capital by the Tutsi army over the Hutu extremists, fear of retribution for the massacres inflicted every Hutu soul. Hundreds of thousands were forced to flee the country in fear of the revenge that many Tutsi survivors sought for. Because they had nowhere to go, they were often forced to settle in refugee camps along rivers, in forests, and other unsanitary conditions ( ).
My point is this: the cycle of hate is a vicious one. The hate between the Hutu and Tutsi has existed for a long time. It saddens me, but books like "Left to Tell" give me hope. I already posted on it, but I cannot express the profound effect that book had on me. Despite her family being massacred, Immaculee still found the power to love and forgive even the most vicious of vile murderers. I hope that lesson of love will someday replace the hate that exists in the hearts of man.

Works Cited

Pierre, Garry. "Zaire Rebels Take Over Key Towns Unopposed." New York Times. New York Times, 1 April 1997. Web. 25 Feb. 2010

The Rwandan Genocide Continues

Photograph by Sabastiao Salgado


A part of the description that Salgado gives for this photo is how I would like to begin my post: "For 120 miles, the highway was scattered with the corpses of Tutsi killed by the Hutu militia..."
(Salgado 170).
The Rwandan Civil War of 1994 resulted in genocide that left close to 1 million Rwandan civilians of Tutsi decent dead. Extremist Rwandan militants called the Interahamwe were responsible for the slaughter of men, women, and children. However, even in the aftermath of the genocide, the spread of death did not cease. The Interahamwe, living as outcast gangs, in Rwanda, continued to spread their Tutsi hate propaganda ("Rwanda Civil War"). Disturbing to me is that enough is never enough for these people. 1 million Tutsis dead, yet the killing must continue? How do they feel justified in the killing of even one human? Be they different race or not, how does one look into the eyes of another soul and kill?

(globalsecurity.org)

"Rwanda Civil War." Military. GlobalSecurity.org, April 2005. Web. 17 February 2010.

Salgado, Sebastiao. Photograph. "Migrations: Humanity in Transition." Aperture. New York, 2000. 170.