Go East

A trip to Eastern Province today, to join a community memorial and burial for the recently discovered remains of genocide victims. A colleague was watching the burial of family members after 19 years. An hour's drive to the East brought us to the village, where a large crowd gathered for the ceremony. This photo is of some of the young folks putting on a play that tells the story of the genocide; the women at the front are playing survivors.

All in all, the whole experience was intense and emotional, but also surreal and infuriating in parts. The personal sides of these events feel set apart from the public performance of memorialising. The play, for example, featured a classic government airbrush of the issues facing survivors, as they walked hand-in-hand with perpetrators at the end - ignoring the reality in which survivors live in almost constant fear of their neighbours. The staged stuff - speeches, mimed musical performances, even plays - almost always feels like a political statement and an insult to victims and survivors.