Diary 9

Machetes used in the Rwandan Genocide

It is depressing to listen to things on the radio. We are hearing that the Interahamwe are killing more and more Tutsis. The announcers on the radio are desperately trying to get Hutus to turn against their neighbors, the Tutsis.They are telling the Hutus to kill Tutsi people with machetes. I try not to listen to the radio because I feel like it is all propaganda. My father sent me a letter encouraging me to come home over Easter break. Not long after I got home my family started to hear reports that we should stay in our homes because if we were caught out in the towns, we would be killed.  How could this be possible?  We have so many friends and family that are Hutus, they would not possibly kill us.  My family and I did not know it at the time, but on April 7, 1994 the Rwandan Genocide had begun.  The Hutus were trying to kill all Tutsis young and old.  How could the spread of evil happen that fast?