Hotel Des Mille Collines helping genocide survivors go beyond the huddles of daily grief

Well known for its role in housing victims during and enabling many to survive during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Hotel des Mille Collines has for years been involved in the support of survivors and families of those that fell to the massacres.

This, the hotel has done in a generalized approach involving management and staff going out to feed hungry orphans, help solace hopeless widows and other survivors of the genocide, and surviving family members of fallen victims of the Rwandan genocide. The act dates back to the year 2006 when the ownership of the hotel was acquired by Rwandese investors.

In addition however, the previous two years have seen added emphasis on supporting surviving families of its former employees who were killed during the genocide. Similar to the previous year, a commemoration evening was allocated this year to the cause of remembering the victims of the genocide and particularly the seven former staffs as the list stands to date.

In light to the above, the hotel constructed a genocide memorial monument this year that carries on it the names of the seven victims in a bid to ensure that memories of these innocent lives continue to be held dearly by all staffs and visitors of Hotel des Mille Collines which the deceased served at the time of their passing away.

Besides the monument, the Director of Administration and Taxation at the Hotel who represented the top management in the commemoration function on June 21 noted that plans are already in their advanced stages to hire the children and close families of the deceased in different departments of the hotel in which they have expertise.

\”Most of the orphans of our fallen staff members to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi are already mature and all have concluded their studies. In order to further our assistance beyond education, we are planning to prioritize them during recruitments,\” she offered.

But the survivors attached to Hotel des Mille Collines surpass families of former employees. This hotel was a place of refugee to a big number of fleeing Tutsis who were targeted for murder and thus very many other survivors find their past attached to the hotel.

In the spirit of safeguarding the memories of what unveiled in the walls of Hotel des Mille Collines, management of the place chose to annually allocate a day for the commemoration activities for all those survivors who stayed in it during the challenging times that Rwanda went through and in so doing help many other citizens to remember lost loved ones.

On the evening of June 21 during the commemoration event, different survivors of the genocide who ran to Milles Collines in search for protection of their lives shared their stories of sorrow in the days of the genocide to over 100 people who were present at the function.

Mugabushaka Chantal was among those who lamented the pains and struggles for life that they went through before and after getting to Mille Collines.

\”Most of us did not have money and so could not buy food as was the case stipulated by the Hotelfs management at the time. We rather survived on the mercies of a few junior employees who would \”steal\” it for us,\” she scored.

She added that even with access to the poor and meager food plus other bad conditions, the then government soldiers used to frequent the hotel seeking for any opportunities to take lives whenever opportunity allowed for that. \”Life was uncertain and people knew it could be lost any time.\”

\”For instance couples which had not had an official marriage took vows from this place in order to make their lives right so as to go to heaven after dying,\” stressing the uncertainty of life that filled the people who were in the hotel during the genocide.

Among other genocide survivors who hid for their lives in the hotel was the Secretary General of the Commission for the Fight against the Genocide (CNLG) Jean dfDieus Mucyo who apart from telling excerpts from the life they lived in the days of the genocide exhorted survivors to be brave and write about what happened. This he scored would ensure that generations to come are able to know what happened rightfully and in so doing protect against it.

\”We should not leave our history to be told by people who never lived it. We should take the challenge and be courageous to write the true stories of what happened and this is the only way we will be sure that our future generations will be able to condemn it from repeating.\”

Mucyo further commended Hotel des Mille Collines for the undertaking which he scored is a big step in the healing process of the victims while also calling upon other institutions to follow suit and to make efforts in supporting survivors of the genocide.

Also present at the function were renowned clergymen Bishop Francios Rucyahana and Pastor Antoinne Rutayisire who challenged Rwandans to heal from the infection of division and not to just conceal hatred just like it was witnessed after the different genocidal massacres that date back to the early 1940s.

Rucyahana urged for the spirit of self-reliance noting that this is what characterized Rwandafs fore-fathers for long. \”Our fore furthers had self-reliant minds which is why there was no widespread slave trade in our ancient country.\”

The function was graced by the presence of the Minister of Sports and Culture of the Government of Rwanda Protais Mitali who highly commended Hotel des Mille Collines for the undertaking emphasizing the role that similar events, where survivors testify of their experiences, play in the healing process of the country in general.

According to the hotelfs top management, the event will continue to be held annually and called upon any other person who has knowledge of their other former staffs who fell in the genocide to provide the information such that they can be included in the monumentes list.