Being responsible for another person’s upbringing is no dainty responsibility. In addition to providing the basic needs and security crucial for a child’s growth, parents are tasked with equipping their descendants with the kind of values that transform them into outstanding citizens of the world when they’re grown, but nurture is often an uphill battle.
Most parents have to dispel hard facts to their children at young ages to equip them to better navigate, survive, and thrive in the environment they are being raised in. The current generation of parents today experienced one of the horrors of humanity, the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsis.
One might wonder how those experiences affect how they raise their children in Rwanda or abroad, to which the inquiry “When and how should a Rwandan child be told about the 1994
Genocide against the Tutsi?”.
While this question remains relative to a parent’s approach, mindset, and relationship with their children, it is a concern that the younger generation remains minimally educated about the history of Rwanda.
In the information and internet era, the younger generation is no longer relying on their parents to educate them. Through movies, songs, podcasts, televised documentaries, and testimonies, Rwandan youth have an alternate source of history education.
Growing up in Rwanda, the annual commemoration becomes part of you. But as a child, I didn’t grasp what remembering meant for the older generation. Learning about it years later was an invigorating, insightful experience- most of which I attribute in large to media and art that document history.
Like me, many young Rwandans have had to rely more on art and media to learn about and grasp the reality of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsis.
According to 20-year-old Huguette Umutesi, the commemoration week was heavily acknowledged within her family, however no one went out of their way to have conversations about it. Umutesi narrates how she educated herself about Rwanda’s history. “The mood always changes in April, and the shift transcends all around.
I’ve always thought of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi as a tragedy, and growing up I used to feel like everyone around me was grieving. I visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial at 17 and read the heartbreaking stories of our past. I was especially enamored with the posters of kids who could have had their lives ahead of them but were taken too soon. I started attending youth impact events during commemoration week like ‘Our Past’ and a play by Mashirika a few years ago and being there felt like I was connecting.”
For Nicolette Umutoniwase, a 24-year-old Rwandan woman born and raised in Spain, dispelling rumors from fact about her origins had been challenging as a teenager, and movies such as “Sometimes in April” gave her an insight into the complexities of Rwandan history especially when her parents and older siblings weren’t keen on engaging the discussion.
“I’ve been to Rwanda a handful of times and I did not grow up around a rich tapestry of heritage. My family attends the Kwibuka ceremonies put together by the Rwandan community often, but we’ve never really talked about it. I started reading memoirs about the Genocide and I watched “The 600” documentary which was incredibly insightful. I watched the movie “Sometimes in April” when I was younger and it broadened my understanding. I am glad that our history is being documented because it helps me learn and connect.” Says Umutoniwase.
Despite the looming need to connect with one’s people during seasons of such despair, trauma healing is a lengthy process that should not be rushed, according to “Our Past Initiative” founder Christian Intwari, who is also of the view that teenagers ought to be well versed with their origin stories. While he acknowledges the impact of communal gatherings and visual storytelling mediums to remember and spread awareness of the Genocide against the Tutsi, Intwari strongly believes that first-hand information from one’s parents or guardians is more than likely to have more of an impact.
“Movies and books have done a phenomenal job at telling stories of trauma and healing, however, I think the stories of 1994 told by one’s parents or people they are close to are more likely to evoke empathy because the tragedy is immortalized when it happened to someone you know/love. Informative panel discussions about the Genocide add perspective and movies and multimedia play a role in raising awareness, but receiving the information from family is the most efficient way to connect.” Says Intwari.
While the choice of when the time is right for a person growing up Rwandan to hear about the tragic 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, is inadvertently important to hear about it from a trusted source and utilize documented visual and written stories as supplements to foster the healing process.
