15 anniversary of the genocide

Yes, I know its been forevor, but im seriously crazy busy, and blogging just isnt at the top of my priority list, so im about a month behind. Ill do my best to highlight the important events.
The last week of training in Butare before swear in was a little particular. It marked the beginning of the 15 anniversary of the genocide. THe first week, and especially the first day, is a HUGE deal in all of Rwanda (and understandably so, of course). THe first day, all schools and businesses are closed, and for the rest of the week, all stores and businesses have very limited hours. There are also conferences held everywhere all week long. I did not attend any of them, since the ones I knew about were all in Kinyarwanda, and I wouldnt be able to follow anything.
The first day was really something to experience, especially since all of our Kinyarwanda teachers who weve gotten to know quite well were there with us. THe streets of Butare were completely empty, except for the silent march which we joined. I dont remember if there were many (if any) signs being held up by people, save the large purple banner (purple is the color of mourning in Rwanda) with the words "never again the genocide...." in the front of the group (Im parphrasing, since I couldnt comprehend the rest of the kinyarwandan words).We marched all the way to a grave site for the victims of genocide, and as we progressed more and more people joined. It really felt deep and meaningful, walking with a large group of Rwandans where every group seemed represented. We walked with beggar children, nuns, professors, government officials, students... I really felt a strong notion of solidarity. Even though some of us, including myself, were not in Rwanda at the time, and some people were not even born until after 1994, it meant something that we could all participate in this event and support each other.
Once we got to the grave site, we listened to government officials and representatives from different churches give speeches and words of hope. Some people wept, including some of our Kinyarwanda teachers, and I felt guilty somehow. I felt like I couldnt possibly understand what they were going through or how they felt, how many people they had grown up with who were brutally killed or in jail due to involvement.
Since we didnt have class that day, and everything in town was closed, us PCVS, as well as some staff, stayed at the compound to watch sevearl movies about hte genocide. I highly recommend the movie Sometimes in April, it seems really accurate and real to me having lived in Rwanda for a few months now. the movie 100 days on the other hand is complete crap and i dont recommend it to anyone, since it was made by people who didnt even take 5 minutes to research the genocide.