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Murambi: French Volleyball Court Marker
Another marker indicates the site of a volley ball court set up for French troops. It is alleged that French troop played volleyball with interahamwe members. The volleyball court sits meters away from several mass graves. The French markers at these…
Tags: France, Murambi, Volleyball
Murambi: Babies and Mothers
As I walked through additional rooms, I noticed how more and more bodies were that of mothers cradling their children. One room towards the end of the tour consisted only of little babies. Both times I visited Murambi I decided to stop viewing the…
Tags: Children, Mothers, Murambi, Preserved Remains
Murambi: Faces
Murambi's preservation methods cements the final moments of many victims. Visitors who enter the rooms can go walk up to the bodies. Many victims were found holding their hands over their heads, protecting their faces from machete blows. Preservation…
Tags: Limestone, Murambi, Preserved Remains
Nyamata: Skull Damage
The visitor can often see how the individual victim died. Many skulls contain damage inflicted by a machete, spear, or bullet entry. Horizontal cuts indicate machete wounds. Victims with circular wounds died from bullets or spears.
Tags: Bones, Nyamata, Preserved Evidence, Skull Damage
Nyamata: Entrance
The Nyamata national memorial is located just off the main road in Nyamata town, Bugesera.
Tags: Nyamata
Nyamata: Exterior of Mass Graves
Every year new mass graves are uncovered in the Nyamata area. Those located near the Nyamata memorial are afterwards reburied in the memorial's mass crypts. The monument pictured above honors and names victims identified from a recently discovered…
Tags: Mass Graves, Nyamata
Nyamata: Interior of Mass Graves
After exiting the sanctuary, the tour takes the visitor behind the church to the mass crypts. Visitors walk through the crypts, viewing shelves upon shelves of bones and coffins of identified remains. The walk through has an overwhelming feeling as…
Tags: Bones, Mass Graves, Nyamata
Nyamata: Sexual Violence
After visiting the sanctuary, the tour descends into a memorial chamber dug into the sanctuary's floor. Built after the genocide, the chamber holds shelves displaying skulls. Below these shelves rests a single coffin. In the coffin lies a women who…
Tags: Nyamata, Sexual Violence
Nyamata: Blood Stains
Blood stains cover the Virgin Mary statue in the church. These stains can also be viewed on the ceiling and along the brick walls. A graphic detail to preserve, the presence of blood at these memorials bridges the gap between the past and present.
Tags: Blood, Christianity