Genocide Memorial Tournament in Kigali

This is us. The 'UNATEK VC' Volleyball Team

Please note that VSO is in no way connected with or responsible for the content, comments and observations in this blog: these are solely my own in a personal capacity.

6th of June, what a great day to remember!!! In the morning I went to Chez Landos for breakfast and met a nice guy ‘Gus’ who works in Congo. It was really interesting to talk.
From there I went to the international ‘Volleyball Genocide Memorial Tournament’ with teams from Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda.

My team ‘Unatek VC’ had just arrived from Kibungo and it was great to see each other.

The beginning of the day was very moving. That was because a lot of photos of volleyball players who were killed during the Genocide in 1994 were shown. It is unimaginable how many were murdered. We had photos along the walls with the names of the players we wanted to remember and to honour during the tournament. They also did show pictures on big screens. Seeing photos of fellow players who were killed during 1994 was sad and made me - once more- speechless. On the photos they looked so happy, they wanted to do their sports, they wanted to live their lifes. They had everything – a whole life ahead of them and some wanted to marry and would be mothers and fathers by now. Instead they were brutally killed. It is so sick that there are people in the world who are capable of doing crimes like taking part in killing. I do not understand.
The tournament itself was great and every team played really good. The atmosphere was just brilliant.

At lunchtime we went with the bus to a little restaurant in Kimironko and had Melanche. Afterwards we had to wait a while for the next match. The team played until 20.20. Now....I just cannot wait to see the others again and train together.

My time in Rwanda is amazing and I think it is the people who really do make me feel welcome and at home. There are more and more I get to know and....that will definetely make it hard to return home one day. Well for now....I extended the placement until December. Phew, I am happy!!!!

xxx Tina