It is around this inaugurale stone that the first stones of the Garden were placed on June 5th 2000.
Nocky DJEDANOUM, Bruce CLARKE, Alosea INYUMBA
© Bruce Clarke

Attendance list for inauguration :

  • The First lady, wife of the President, Jeannette KAGAMÉ
  • The Speaker of the National Assembly, Vincent BIRUTA
  • The Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture, François NGARAMBE
  • The Prefect of Kigali, Marc KABANDANA
  • The Chairperson of the Rwandese Human Rights Commission, François Ndoba GASANA
  • The Executive Secretary of the Unity and Reconciliation Commission, Aloisea INYUMBA
  • The Vice-Chairman of Pro-Femmes, Suzanne RUBONEKO
  • The Vice-Chairman of Ibuka, Antoine MUGESERA
  • The Chairman of the Memorial Commission, Louis KANAMUGIRE
  • The Director of Fest'Africa, Nocky DJEDANOUM
  • The author of the Garden of Memory, Bruce CLARKE.
Representatives of other civic associations as well as citizen members of survivors and widows associations.
In all there were several hundred people.

The Site and the placing of the first stone

 		 

Nyanza Kicukiro has been designated as the site on which the Garden will be constructed. It is near Kigali and is symbolic of the abandonment of Rwandese by the international community during the genocide. It will be visible from far and easily reached from the capital.

The inauguration of the Garden, which took place on June 5th 2000 was a solemn moment. M. Kabandana, the Prefect of Kigali opened the ceremony by talking about the meaning of the project. The author, Bruce Clarke, then explained in more detail its signification and the importance of the implication of people from outside the country in the work towards the conservation of the memory of the genocide and of the massacres in Rwanda. Representatives of the national authorities, the institutions and civil society followed and emphasised the importance of the Garden. Genocide survivors and widows then spoke of what they had lived through in very moving testimonies.
Following the last presentation by the guest of honour, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the different personalities survivors and members of women's groups were invited to place a stone symbolically around a massive inaugural stone bearing the inscription in three languages (Kinyarwanda, English, French) : Garden of Memory.
The placing of these stone is only the first stage. In the following months we hope to raise the necessary funds to complete the Garden.

 
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