Butare, historical, cultural, genocide memorial and forest air walk tour

Butare is a regional centre with good hotels and lots of craft. Close at hand are historical attractions, geographical attractions, and the picturesque headwaters of the Nile River. Butare is a stepping off point to visit Murambi memorial a boarding school where 30,000 – 50,000 Tutsis were gathered in the promise of safety only to be butchered en masse. The French Army constructed netball courts on the mass graves to assist in disguising the massacre.

This is another life changing experience. There are preserved skeletons of victims and sometimes skulls showing fractures and damage. Witnessing such a moving memorial sounds macabre, however many people comment that they feel much more empathy for the victims in this context than when impersonal representations of violence such as photos and films just elicit sadness and other negative emotion. Don’t be put off going, those who have visited these memorials find it to be life changing in a positive way.