The Africa Alliance partnered with the Rwandese Community Association of Maine and Ibuka Maine, a community of genocide survivors, to put together the daylong observance. April 7 was the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Songa Rwamucyo ’27, who is from Rwanda and one of Africa Alliance's leaders, was instrumental in organizing the event. “I think it’s important that we make people aware of this history so that we don’t forget it, and so it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
From April 7 to July 19 of 1994—a span of just 100 days—up to one million people, mostly members of the Tutsi ethnic group, were killed by Hutu militias. The legacy of the massacre continues to destabilize the region. As a young Rwandan, Rwamucyo says the impact of the genocide has been pervasive throughout his life.
“This has been a staple in my life, especially as a Rwandan of the new generation, born post-1994,” Rwamucyo said in a speech opening the event. He acknowledged that from the tragedy has also come a strong sense of unity and resilience in his country. “It was always a chance to educate myself about my history, and meet and connect with other Rwandans in my community.”
The Africa Alliance invited students from schools across the state, as well as the general public, for a panel discussion, film screening, testimonials from survivors, and general community-building.
Rwamucyo led the planning and execution of the program, keeping the goals of education and reflection in mind. “I wanted to do an event like this last year [on the thirtieth anniversary of the genocide], and we did, except on a much smaller scale,” he said. “But this year, we wanted to give it the time to develop and make it bigger.”
Rwamucyo and the rest of the student group began planning during winter break, which is also when they reached out to the Rwandan embassy. That’s how they got in touch with the Rwandese Community Association of Maine and Ibuka Maine.
“We fused our ideas, it was great,” Rwamucyo said. “We were planning on holding the event on April 10, and they were planning on April 12. So it just worked out.”
The embassy also put the group in touch with Colonel Raoul Bazatoha, defense attaché at the Embassy of Rwanda to the US, who initially planned to attend the event but had to cancel at the last minute.
The program began with a couple of welcome speeches, a moment of silence, and a communal prayer. Then Deborah Meillah, a Rwandan student at Bates College, spoke.
“'Never again' must not be a slogan,” she said. “It must be a vow, not only to remember the genocide, but to reject its denial, to call out the hypocrisy of nations who failed us and are still failing us to this day.”
“Our job today is to ensure truth and accountability. Let us confront every form of denial, stand against indifference, and tell the stories that the world would rather forget.” Meillah acknowledged the many people in the audience whose families and lives were forever impacted by the massacre, thirty-one years later.
“To the survivors in the room today, I see you. I honor you,” she said. “Your resilience, your forgiveness, is a seed that we all grow today.”
The panel discussion that followed included moderator Apollinaire Munyaneza, a PhD chemist who teaches in the Portland Public Schools, and four experts who discussed the history behind the genocide.
The panel included ϳԹվ’s Roger Howell, Jr. Professor of History David Gordon, Professor of Physics Romain Murenzi from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Michel Kanyambo from the Banyamulenge community, and Anne Marie, a survivor of the genocide.
Following the panel, the documentary From Despair to Hope was shown. The event ended with closing remarks. One of the main goals of the observance was to strengthen ties and relationships and to wrest something positive from tragedy, so there was time afterward for attendees to speak with the panelists and each other.
When asked what he hopes attendees will take away from the program, Rwamucyo’s answer focused on what Rwanda has achieved in the aftermath of the massacre.
“I want people to leave with a new view of Rwanda, a more complete view of Rwanda,” he said. “It’s a country that has succeeded in peacebuilding internally, breaking silence with people that perpetrated the genocide, and where both perpetrators and victims of violence live alongside one another peacefully.”
