In the small country of Rwanda, nestled in the hills of North Central Africa, an extremely volatile piece of Rwanda’s history emerged in the early spring of 1994. While the modern world watch O.J. Simpson recklessly drive his Ford Bronco down the Highways in Southern California, Rwanda was about to break out into civil war and genocide. Amid ever-increasing prospects of violence, Rwandan President Habyalimana and Burundi's new President, Cyprien Ntaryamira, held several peace meetings with Tutsi rebels making every effort for peace between the tribes of that small nation. On April 6, while returning from a meeting in Tanzania, a small jet carrying the two presidents was shot down by ground-fired missiles as it approached Rwanda's airport at Kigali. Immediately after their deaths, Rwanda plunged into political violence as Hutu extremists began targeting prominent opposition figures who were on their death-lists, including moderate Hutu politicians and Tutsi leaders.

The killings then spread throughout the countryside as Hutu militia (the Interahamwe), armed with machetes, clubs, guns and grenades, began indiscriminately killing Tutsi civilians. All individuals in Rwanda carried identification cards specifying their ethnic background, a practice left over from colonial days. These 'tribal cards' now meant the difference between life and death. If a card was not presented or available Rwandans were killed for simply looking like a Tutsi.

The reaction of the international community to this out break was yet another atrocity. What sets the Rwandan genocide apart from all other genocides is that the international community could have intervened at relatively low cost before the effects were fully realized, however they did nothing. With UN troops already on the ground, and regular updates coming from multiple sources within Rwanda, the world turned its back on Rwanda fully aware of what was transpiring. By the leading of President Bill Clinton the U.S. chose to stay out of Rwanda. The UN also decided to pull out any remaining UN troops and allow the killings to proceed undaunted.

The Hutu, now without opposition from the world community, engaged in genocidal mania, clubbing and hacking to death defenseless Tutsi families with machetes everywhere they were found. The Rwandan state radio, controlled by Hutu extremists, further encouraged the killings by broadcasting non-stop hate propaganda and even pinpointed the locations of Tutsis in hiding. The killers were aided by members of the Hutu professional class including journalists, doctors and educators, along with unemployed Hutu youths and peasants who killed Tutsis just to steal their property. In many of the testimonies the word “hunting” is mentioned: “the Interahamwe went out hunting each day for Tutsi”.

Many Tutsis took refuge in churches and mission compounds. These places became the scenes of some of the worst massacres. In one case, at Musha, 1,200 Tutsis who had sought refuge were killed beginning at 8 a.m. lasting until the evening. These mass murders were typical during the days when the devil visited Rwanda. On one such occasion brothers Eric Irivuzumugabe and Mogabo Egide’s entire family were gunned down at the government site in Rwamagana. Mogabo was one of very few that survived that afternoon’s rampage.

In some local villages, militiamen forced Hutus to kill their Tutsi neighbors and or family members or face a death sentence for themselves and their entire families. They also forced Tutsis to kill members of their own families just before being hacked to death themselves.

By mid May, an estimated 500,000 Tutsis had been slaughtered. Bodies were now commonly seen floating down the Kigara River into Lake Victoria.

“Tens of thousands lost their mothers and fathers. Thousands were victims of horrific brutality and rape. Many were forced to commit atrocities. The impact of the tragedy simply cannot be overstated," said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy.

When the genocide was over, 100 days after it had begun, an estimated 1,000,000 million Rwandans were dead: 333 ½ deaths per hour, 5 ½ deaths per minute, one death every 10 seconds.

The effects of this devastation are far reaching. The greatest impact has been on the children. An estimated 613,000 children were orphaned. Of those thousands 7,000 are living on the street of Kigali. 3,500 are living in over crowded orphanages. 42,000 households are lead by children under the age of 16. Rwanda has a population of 8,000,000; over half are under the age of 18.