A Trip to the Lake

I went out to Lake Kivu on the Western edge of Rwanda for the weekend. It is a three hour bus ride over hills and around mountains. We spent hours watching the clouds change the scenery, while chatting and eating. Later we took a walk around town to see what there was to see.


Thinking they would be safe here, 4,000 people took refuge in this church during the 1994 genocide. An drunken mob threw grenades through the windows, then broke down the door, stabbing and clubing anyone who was still alive.
While we visited the memorial in front of the church (see the skulls in the window?), Mass was in progress in the main building and people were singing.
It's hard to reconcile the two.

As we progressed back up the hill to our hotel we heard cheers and whistles. A few minutes later I recieved a text message from a friend; The Rwanda National Soccer Team had scored against Morocco in the World Cup Qualifier match. Two weekends ago we had gone to the Regional Stadium to watch the game against Mauritania, which Rwanda had eventally won. The exhuberance of the people on the street in Kibuye matched the enthusiasm of the people in the staduim. Today, every half hour or so there would be another cheer, and we would walk over to the nearest radio holder (there was one every 100 feet or so) and ask in sign language what the latest score was, then join in the cheering and general revelry. Rwanda won the match 3-1, putting them first in their group. Hooray Rwanda!