Ntarama is a town in the rural Kigali Province, situated in an area known as Bugesera. Ntarama is situated about an hour’s drive southwards from Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali; the red-brick church at Ntarama is peacefully situated, shadowed by acacia trees. Some of the most brutal killings of the 1994 Rwandan genocide took place at Ntarama Church. Almost 5000 people, many of whom were women and children went to the church at Ntarama for sanctuary. But Ntarama turned out not to be a safe place. The victims of the genocide remain there, their bones still strewn with lifeless chaos where they fell nearly ten years ago. Their belongings cover the floor; clothes, suitcases, a child’s white sock – the last remnants of a desperate flight for life.
Each time prior to 1994, when violence against Tutsis had erupted in Rwanda, the pursued could safely seek refuge in any church and find sanctuary. So when the violence broke out again in April 1994, many Tutsis took refuge in churches as their parents and grandparents had before them. This time, however, the church did not save them from being slaughtered. The approximately 5,000 people that fled to Ntarama for safety were murdered.
Inside this small memorial, light filters through holes in the walls of the church made of grenades. Clothing of the victims hang from the rafters and personal belongings including, pens, pots, sleeping mats, glasses, and books lay in piles in the front of the church, near the altar. In front of the church, a number of coffins are stacked up in piles. There is a large table topped with skulls lined up in rows at the doorway near the back of the church.