Most visitors to Kigali, Rwanda, at some point, want to drive by one of the most famous hotels in the world–the Milles Collines.  This upscale hotel was the center of a life and death drama during the 1994 genocide, as bands of soldiers and marauders searched for ethnic tutsis to kill as part of a strategic ethnic ‘cleansing’, that would ultimately claim over a million lives.  As the story goes, the hotel’s manager, Paul Rusesabagina, risked his own safety in order to secure the lives of many within the hotel throughout the three-month ordeal.  This story was made famous by Don Cheadle’s portrayal in the film ‘Hotel Rwanda’.

In the years since, Rusesabagina’s account has been challenged, even as he has popped up in exile as a potential political rival to the current president.  Many claim that he has overstated his role, or that he only saved people in exchange for money.  It’s hard to root our the truth in this landscape of competing narratives and nuance.  It is clear that people survived in this place by seeking its shelter, in the midst of a city and country caught up the in the hellish spring of 1994.

Thanks to a flight cancellation and the hospitality of Brussels Airlines, we find ourselves spending a night at ‘Hotel Rwanda’.  As I type this, listening to soothing background music near the pool with the city lights flickering on the rolling horizon, its hard to believe that the horrors of genocide stalked the corridors a short 18 years ago.  But they did, and we must both celebrate the current emerging vitality of this country at the same time remembering its descent into death and chaos.  After all, hotel patrons sat at this same poolside, ordering drinks and enjoying the view, as the brutal killings began in April of 94.  In some ways, its so far away.  In other ways it isn’t—its just looking over my shoulder.