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Rwandagenocide

The genocide in Rwanda was a mass killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus by extremist Hutus in 1994 that resulted in almost 1 million deaths. Tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups stemmed from Belgian colonization in the early 1900s that favored Tutsis, exacerbating pre-existing divisions. Both Carl Wilkens, the only American who stayed in Rwanda during the genocide, and Paul, the character in Hotel Rwanda who hid refugees, chose to stay and help despite opportunities to evacuate with their families. They worked to shelter, feed and care for orphans and refugees during the deadly period.

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44 views

Rwandagenocide

The genocide in Rwanda was a mass killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus by extremist Hutus in 1994 that resulted in almost 1 million deaths. Tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups stemmed from Belgian colonization in the early 1900s that favored Tutsis, exacerbating pre-existing divisions. Both Carl Wilkens, the only American who stayed in Rwanda during the genocide, and Paul, the character in Hotel Rwanda who hid refugees, chose to stay and help despite opportunities to evacuate with their families. They worked to shelter, feed and care for orphans and refugees during the deadly period.

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ASummaryoftheRwandangenocide

HannahArmstrong

ThegenocideinRwandawasamasskillingoftheTutsisandthemoderateHutus
livinginRwandain1994.TheextremistHutus,calledtheInterahamwe,wereresponsible
fortheslaughterofalmostonemillioninnocentpeople.TutsisandHutuswerethetwo
groupsofpeoplethatlivedinRwanda.
Whatstartedthehatebetweenthesetwogroupsbeganlongago,in1918,when
BelgiumhadpowerinRwanda.TheBelgiansfavoredtheTutsis,givingthembetterjobs,
landandprivilege.AftershowingfavoritismtowardstheTutsis,theBelgian
governmentmadeeveryoneinRwandagetI.D.cardstoshowiftheywereaTutsisor
Hutu.Thismadetensionsbetweenthetwogroupsevenworse.
Eventually,theHutushadarevolutionandgainedpowerin1961.Thenin1962
Rwandabecameindependent,andthetensionbetweenthetwogroupsgottoanalltime
high.HateradiostartedtalkingbadabouttheTutsis.ThisradioiscalledRTLM.In
August1993,theArushaAccordsPeaceAgreementwassignedbytheRPF(Rwandan
PatrioticFront,(aTutsirebelgroup)andtheRwandangovernment.Itwastomake/have
peacebetweenthetwogroups.TheRwandanpresident,Habyarimana,agreedtoitas
well.Laterhisplanewasshotdown,becausehesignedadocumentthatmeantpeace.
Thegenocidestartedin1994andallthekillingstartedtohappen.Theextremist
Hutushadmachetes,gunsandfiretokilltheTutsis/moderateHutus.Theywouldeither
usetheirmachetesorburndownthehomesoftheTutsisandmoderateHutus.Therewas
pileafterpileofdeadbodieseverywhere.AlongwiththistheRTLMwasstillbeing
broadcastedcallingtheTutsiscockroaches.

CarlWilkensvsPaulinthemovieHotelRwanda

CarlWilkens,theauthorofthebook
ImNotLeaving,
andPaul,thecharacterin

themovie
HotelRwanda
havesimilareventshappeningtobothofthem.However,their
experiencesweredifferentfromoneanother.

Whilethegenocidewashappening,bothCarlandPauldidthingstohelpmake
theirkidslessscaredandnervousaboutwhatwasgoingonintheworldaroundthem.
Carlmadeupagameforhisthreekidsthemainideaofthegamewastocrawlonyour
tummyfromonesideoftheroomtotheothersideoftheroomandwhentheyhearda
gunshottheywouldallhavetocrawlbackandtrytomakeittotheothersideagain.Carl
didthisgamesothathiskidswouldbeabletohearagunshotandnotbesoscared.Paul
alsotriedtocalmdownhiskidsandtheneighborhoodkidswithchocolateandgoingon
likeitwasanyotherday.
CarlandPaulbothhadanopportunitytoleaveRwanda.Carlhadjusthisfamily
leaveRwanda.CarlwouldandcouldnotleaveRwandaHewastheformerheadofthe
AdventistDevelopmentandReliefAgency,andfeltheshouldstaytohelpsothatis
whathedid.HewastheonlyAmericanthatstayedinRwandaatthistime.Alltherest
hadbeenorderedoutbytheircountries,aswellastroopsthatwerethereaswell.Other
countriesdidnothelpRwandatheywereontheirown,TheUnitedNationstroopsthat
wereinRwandatryingtomakepeace,couldnotevenhelpthemastheywereorderednot
toshoot.Paulwasalsogivenachancetoleave,buthealsojustsenthisfamilypaul
wantedtostaybackandhelptherefugeesthathehadathishotel,HotelDesMille
Collines.Hefeltitwashisdutytotryandsaveasmanyrwandansashecould,byhiding
theminhishotel.RwandansweredesperateforhelpandPaulprovidedhelp.Hewas
abletosavethousands.
Lastly,asCarlandPaulstayedinRwandatheybothhelpedoutwiththemany
orphans.Carlandhisfriendwereabletogetsomefood,water,medicines,andother
thingsthatyouwouldneedtosurvivetotheorphanage.Unfortunately,theywerenot
abletogeteverythingtheyhadandwantedtogettotheorphanage,becauseofharshroad
blocks,bytheInterahamwe.TheInterahamwewouldrobthem.Paulalsohadmany
experienceswiththeharshroadblocksaskingforI.Dcards,robbingorviolence.Paul
alsohelpedsomeorphansbylettingthemintohishotelforbettersafety.TheRedCross
hadpickedupthesekidsandtookthemtothehotel,butthenitwasPaulandthestaff
whobasicallyhelpedraisetheseyoungchildrenandmadesurethattheywereok.
CarlWilkensandPaulhelpedoutmanypeopleinatimeoffearanddevastation.
Theydidmanymorethings,butthesearethethingsthatInoticedtheyhadincommon,
andthethingsIfoundmostinteresting.

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