A trip I Will Never Forget

by Mangong Berinyuy (Cameroon)

A leap into the unknown Rwanda

One of the outstanding and most splendiferous adventurous trips of my life so far was the time I travelled through the beautiful and clean streets of Rwanda. I was so astonished how clean the streets of an African country could look like. Each day of this trip brought me new sights, adventures and thoughts wondering how a country that was ones known as that which has registered the highest number of deaths in African history as a result of the genocide. Before I was given a pass to Rwanda, I thought it was all a dream. It happened so fast. A conference was being organised by the All African Student Union in partnership with President of Rwanda with theme “Pan-Africanism; a paradigm shift towards achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and Africa union agenda 2063 the role of the youth counts”. I was so excited to travel to Rwanda because I wanted to see for myself what I have been studying in class. I study Peace and Conflict Management and we always make reference to the Rwandan genocide for our case study. This conference was held for four days and every day was pregnant with its own agendas and sessions. During these sessions there were various dignitaries like the Minister of State Affairs for Rwanda, the Minister of Communication, and the Minister of Youth Affairs who gave talks on the topics assigned to them. We also had dignitaries who came from each African country represented by its youth delegates during the conference. During these sessions, there were lots of interesting questions from the delegates on the leadership style of African leaders and the way the affairs of African countries were managed. The most amazing part of this trip was when we paid a visit to the Genocide Memorial Center. The center after ten minutes immediately turned in to a mourning ground. When we arrived at the center, we were given directives on how to tour the building. I was so anxious to see what was preserved at the center. Before I could struggle to go in, I heard other delegates who made their way before us seriously sobbing. I was anxious to see things for myself. The Memorial Genocide Center is not a friendly place. But I had to brave all odds. I saw videos of people being murdered in cold blood, people’s head cut off, weapons used during the genocide and videos of survivors telling their own stories in tears. Immediately I got to the middle of the room, I saw skulls and bones of people well arranged. I found myself sobbing profusely, helpless and bitter but I still had to move on. It was also rather unfortunate that innocent children died during the Rwandan genocide. There was a room where these children were also honored. At the back of the Memorial Genocide building, we could find 14 mass graves where victims who died and their bodies could be found, were buried. After praying for them, I left the center perplexed because I did not know the gravity of the Rwandan genocide. After our tour, we went back to our hotels, where we had the cultural night. During the cultural night, all delegates were expected to dress in their traditional regalia. This event was as exciting as it merged different cultures together promoting a spirit of multiculturalism. The Rwandan culture was portrayed through their dance, dressing and meals as we had dancers who performed in their traditional dance. My last day in Rwanda came so fast. I didn’t want to leave Rwanda because I was already missing the sight of everything. Its beautiful cities and beautiful people. I felt like staying longer, but it wasn’t possible as my financial situation couldn’t permit me. The day I was to leave Rwanda, I had a lovely view around the airport. It was so amazing that I was checked severally with machines but in my country we don’t have the kind of facilities the airport in Rwanda has. I boarded Rwandair and their food was so nice and delicious. My stay in Rwanda was a memorable one. In future, I will always want to visit Rwanda when I have the chance to.