20th GENOCIDE COMEMORATION IN SAINTE BERNADETTE

On Saturday 28th June 2014 the school held the internal commemoration of the Genocide Committed against the Tutsi in 1994. It was indeed a sorrowful day when The Bernadette community remembered the over 100 members of the school by then killed by the Unhearted killers.

At least ten teachers and over one hundred students were killed. The killings however did not take place at the school premises as it was holiday time. Information from the surviving neighbours instead confirm that a number of the population that took refuge in the school were able to survive the killings.

THE PHOTO DISPLAYING THE VISITORS WHO ATTENDED THE FUNCTION

A number of guests came in to support the young ones in the tearful ceremony including the school neighbours, two of the then students of the school who gave the Bernadette Picture of the then period and Professor Sezibera Vincent from The National University Of Rwanda who gave the attendants an hour’s talk about Genocide stressing its roots, signs, methods and the reasons for remembering such an event both to the Rwandan and International Community.

The speeches were held in the school’s main hall in the morning session of the day’s activities and come to a break at noon when the Mourners trekked to the nearby Genocide memorial site to lay on their flowers in respect for the dead.

After honouring the dead, we returned to the school campus for a Mass organised to pray for the dead. After the mass, two selected widows neighbouring the school received consolation items form the school administration, the staff and student community.

The items included both in cash money of 50,000 Rwandans francs each and kitchen ware products like saucepans, buckets, basins, clothes as well as bags of food products besides unknown sealed packages.

THOSE ARE THE SOME OF THE ITEMS THAT WERE OFFERED TO THE WIDOWS ON THAT DAY

The aged mothers of the nation thanked the BERNADETTE COMMUNITY for the good heart that gave them a lesson that indeed good people are still around having lost the hopes during the genocide period. The days activities came to an end at about 3pm with the Guests sharing lunch organised by the School.
Let us pen off from here shortly for its end of Term Preparations. We will be back with results.