Report
Genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda: how a group prepares survivors for commemorations
Audio 01:36
At a meeting of the Ntarama speaking group, south of Kigali, with survivors of the 1994 genocide. © Lucie Mouillaud/RFI
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
In Rwanda, the commemorations of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis, scheduled for April 7, 2023, may bring back trauma for many survivors. In discussion groups, such as Ntarama's, psychologists try to prepare them psychologically to go through this event.
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With our correspondent in Kigali, Lucie Mouillaud
In Rwanda begin on April 7, 2023 the 29th commemorations of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis. This Friday morning, as every year, an official ceremony, organized at the Gisozi National Memorial in Kigali, launches the week of contemplation.
For the victims, the annual commemoration period is a sensitive one: the traumas are coming back, and to prepare to face them, groups of survivors gather, as in Ntarama, south of Kigali.
« For a long time, I could not join commemoration events »
We must remain hopeful, life must go on: this is the message repeated by genocide survivors in this Ntarama discussion group. For some, during annual commemorations, memories resurface and can cause episodes of post-traumatic stress.
Liberata Nyirantore took years to have the strength to participate in the ceremonies of contemplation. "At the sight of my little brother, who was mutilated on a large part of his body, I became depressed," she says. For a long time, I could not join the commemoration events because I did not want to see the people who committed these acts. I couldn't even follow the ceremonies on the radio. We turned off the radio and stayed locked in the house all day and all night."
« Commemoration because it can provoke heavy feelings, flashbacks »
In this discussion group, about twenty victims give themselves advice on how to best prepare for the commemorations: avoid stressful situations, write letters to missing relatives, or express their anxieties to other survivors. An important moment, according to the psychologist who leads the discussions, Aimée Josiane Umulisa. "We are preparing for the commemoration because it can provoke heavy feelings, flashbacks, reminiscences," she explains. We try to take examples so that they can go to these commemorations by being strong and strong ».
The session ends with yoga and relaxation exercises. In Rwanda, nearly 28% of genocide survivors still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and 35% of them from severe depression.
For the period of commemorations, a special device set up
For the commemoration period, a special mechanism is set up by staff trained in mental health to deal with these different cases. "We organized with psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, a preparation to see how the multidisciplinary team intervenes in the premises when there are PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder, Editor's note] crises during memory activities. And we bring them to these safe places where we can help him relax, to come back to reality, "says Dr. Rutakayire Bizoza, psychiatrist at the psychiatric hospital of Ndera Rwanda.
"When there is a very important agitation, there we can bring the subject to hospitals that have already been targeted. And what is also done between the two commemorations: activities, such as discussion groups, that help to be able to do psychological support, so that at the next commemoration, the person can not have PTSD attacks or emotional crises, "he concludes.
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