Nyamata Church

I came to Rwanda in late January, 2014, to work as an English teacher at Maranyundo Girls School. Since being here, I've attended the local church weekly with the students and the sisters who run the school. At first glance, the Nyamata Church is huge and beautiful, although unfinished; however the congregation has one of the most painful experiences of the Rwandan Genocide. When the violence began in 1994, people commonly fled to their local churches, erroneously expecting safety and protection.
About ten thousand people were on the Nyamata Church premises when they were attacked and less than five survived the grenades, machetes and bullets.

After the violence in 1994, no one wanted to use the building anymore and it has since been turned into a memorial. Fifteen years ago construction on the new sanctuary began and it stops and starts as funds come in. This magnificent building is at odds with the poverty of the area but correlates strongly with the sense of hope and perseverance I sense in everyone 20 years after the genocide.