Dio Mass College Pilgrims: Visiting the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide

Day Seven--Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Our day began with a visit to the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG), located in the heart of Kigali. The organization was created only a few years ago in 2007 to prevent genocide and genocide ideology, address genocide consequences, advocate for survivors, and organize genocide commemoration events, among other tasks. We were greeted by the Director of Memory and Prevention of Genocide, Mr. Karengera Ildephonse, who sat us down at a comfortable conference table for a presentation about the commission.

Our meeting with Mr. Ildephonse at the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide.

Mr. Ildephonse’s presentation was very extensive and included a discussion of President Paul Kagame’s involvement with the program and the main challenges the commission faces – a shallow budget, a struggle to enact laws regarding genocide ideology, and a lack of cooperation from other countries in arresting and extraditing genocide suspects. But more significant is the progress they have made; several programs are already in place to combat genocide ideology, assist survivors in receiving compensation, and treat many who were traumatized during the genocide, whether they be offenders or survivors.

A mural on the wall at the CNLG offices.

Our chaplain, The Rev. Judith Stuart, talks with Mr. Ildephonse following our meeting.

Annie, Sarah, and Caroline chat with our host in front of the CNLG building.

We then departed the Commission for the Fight Against Genocide, and drove to a downtown Kigali Mall for lunch at a café named Bourbon Coffee. The poor waiters must have blanched to see us coming – they had to push several tables together to accommodate our sizeable group. The food was, if not novel, at least delicious; the burgers, soup, and club sandwiches served as a welcome break to the recurring dinners of rice, bananas, and chicken.

A view of Kigali from the building where we had lunch.

After employing the use of most of Bourbon Coffee’s space and staff for a good while, our guide Alphonsine – who works at REACH – led us across the busy street to a well-hidden collection of shops. There in the tight space of the market, we put to use our almost non-existent haggling skills, trying desperately to drive down the price of a basket or wooden sculpture – usually without success, and sometimes with more than a little embarrassment. An hour or so and many thousands of Rwandan francs later, we left the shops heavily laden with many souvenirs – still trying to figure out how much we overpaid for each – and returned to CUP.

The outside the market in the city center of Kigali.

The entrance to the market.

Haggling and buying in the market.

We returned early with nearly nothing left on the schedule for the night, and so enjoyed a leisurely dinner and our first reflection without Bishop Tom, who left for the States this morning. But we still have a few more days before reuniting with you all, and plenty to do in between!