‘humans of ny’ spotlights heroes of rwandan genocide

Rwanda has transformed into a country virtually unrecognizable from the nation that experienced one of the most severe genocides in modern history. Twenty-four years after the Hutu-led government orchestrated the massacre of over 800,000 Tutsi people, the story of the African nation is one of fairytale-like redemption as a new Rwanda emerges from the ashes.

Humans Of New York, the platform made famous through the sharing of stories by everyday New Yorkers, has expanded its reach outside the Big Apple. Photoblogger Brandon Stanton is using the series to share the stories of Tutsi people who survived the genocide and the Hutu people who risked their lives to conceal and protect Tutsis.

The stories of pastors, shopkeepers and even Hutu soldiers who risked death by helping Tutsi people reveals both how the killings started while shining a light on the resistance that saved countless lives and provided the foundation for the Rwanda we know today (which houses Africa’s cleanest city, Kigali).

It’s beautiful to watch a country heal because it is proof that, despite such harrowing odds, it is able to do so.