21. KIBUYE SOCCER & SHIRTS
When we arrived in Kibuye the first thing we did was look for somewhere to get brochettes as Kevin had gone all day without eating one and couldn't last any longer. Right in the middle of the fork in two streets there was a patch of grass with a grill hut and patio tables and chairs enclosed by a typical Rwandan fence. We parked the vehicle and Kevin hurried over to place our order - brochettes for all.
Sitting in the yard waiting for the brochettes to arrive we were facing the Kibuye soccer stadium - I could see its higher stands in the distance. It had played a significant role in the genocide when Tutsis from the immediate and surrounding area were told to go there for protection. Then, when they got there, the water was cut off and they started dying of thirst. When too weak for resistance, shooters from high up in the stands started firing down on them below, killing twenty thousand.
Across the street there was a school from which children were filtering out and heading home, school being out for the day, it being late in the afternoon. Kevin and Oliver quickly ran over to catch them before they left, prime candidates, as they were, for a soccer ball. Later, some kids hung around with Kevin where the car was parked.
The next morning, on our way out of Kibuye, we remembered that we had soccer shirts to give away and so returned to the school. The children were in class but some teachers came to greet us, and posed with the shirts.
There were twelve or thirteen, enough for one team in a game of shirts versus no-shirts. I liked the fact that the shirts were green and yellow - two of Rwanda's flag colours - and that they were "Made in Canada" - thus representing a joining of our country to theirs.
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Jackie Jura
~ an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events ~
email: orwelltoday@gmail.com
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