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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
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.
If you have seen the CBC documentary of Shake Hands with the Devil, another recommended read, there is footage of one of the churches with the bodies still covering the floor. This picture is from the Ntarama church which we visited second that day. Gone are the images of the body laden floor. almost 15 years later, the personal effects are gathered on the altar, the clothes hung on strings and the rafters, skulls and bones gathered on shelves in the back. The benches were left as they were, bloodstained and damaged by gunshots , machetes and grenades. The windows in the church were enlarged by grenades being chucked at them. In the back is a what looks to be a fire pit, it is actually the priests quarters next to the schoolhouse.
The "burn room" is where I got this photo. Children were killed in front of their pleading parents. They would cut off one limb at a time, each time throwing one at the parents - as they begged for their child's life to be spared at their own expense. But that would not be enough, the parents would die shortly after their children's bodies stopped moving or the blood stopped gurgling in their throats. This is most likely a school note, or a letter to a pen pal across the country, letter to a relative, church related affairs, but along with their bones which did not burn, this is all that is left of them in this world.
I apologize if this note was too graphic but it is a story that needs to be told and not censored by those who do not believe the details to be as important as the number of deaths. I made a promise to those I spoke to at the memorials to share their story, and through me, they thank you for taking the time to read this.
-Adam |
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