I didn't know anything about the Rwandan genocide so watching this movie taught me a lot. I can't believe how many people Paul took care of and saved by the end of the movie. It's crazy how many people died. I was kind of confused on who was helping who at the beginning. I don't know if we can always help people in situations like that. Most of the time there's nothing we can do, even if we want to help.

Hotel Rwanda: Kate Shoop

I really really liked the movie. It definitely showed us how bad it was with the Hutu and the Tutsi. I never really knew a ton about what all happened and this movie helped a lot with understand how bad it really was with the rebels and how heartless they were. It's crazy how most of the Rwanda army guys really just wanted to be given stuff and if they gave them the right amount of stuff then they would keep the Tutsi safe for maybe a day and then want more stuff for it. This movie was very interesting and I'm happy we got to watch it in this class so when we think of a genocide we don't only think of the Holocaust we think of Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda: Josie

At first I didn't like the beginning of the movie; I started liking the movie towards the middle maybe a little after that. The genocide was terrible here, but in a way it was better than the Holocaust, because people here had food, water, and good shelter. At the Holocaust they didn't have nearly as much as the Rwandan's. The fist time they took the people who had visa's out was pretty memorable for me because of the attack, but they made it out. These people were super luck because they made it out of almost every situation of where they could have gotten killed.

People should be more aware of what other countries are going through and help. Today's society is revolved around themselves; we could do something but some people are too greedy.

Hotel Rwanda

It helped me understand what exactly was going on during the genocide. It is crazy that things like that can happen in this world. Why can't everyone just get along? I thought some of the crazy moments were seeing all the dead people on the road, seeing people suffering on the side of the road, the Hutu's being so horrible to the Tutsi's, then at the end when you see 100s of people walking away from the rebel line, and when the rebels help at the end. It is horrible to think that actually happened. I feel like alot of people don't know what happened during this or the Holocaust. There's not much we can do now for some of the genocides, but for the ones that happened recently or the ones going on, we can send money and supplies to help them recover faster. I also think there should be more knowledge out there in the public about it. There's not much we can do here, but I'm sure if you donate a few dollars or a few cents it all counts in the end. I really liked this unit. I liked learning about these kinds of things. Even though it was very horrible, I'm glad I have the knowledge about it now.

Sites and Facts

How is it possible that most people did not know what was happening in Rwanda? The same reason(s) many have not heard of Darfur. What can we do today to be made more aware of potentially tragic situations around the world? Check out these links:

http://www.savedarfur.org Save Darfur
http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/sudan/index.do Amnesty International’ s Sudan Crisis
http://www.amnestyusa.org/ Amnesty International USA
http://www.hrw.org/ Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrrfoundation.org/ Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation

Rwanda
800,000-1.07 million killed in 100 days
8,000-10,710 killed per day
334-447 killed per hour
6-7 killed per minute.

Darfur, Sudan
400,00 people have been killed in 1095 days
366 people are killed every day
15 people are killed every hour
1 person is killed every minute


Holocaust
6 million Jews killed in 1460 days
4,110 killed per day
171 killed per hour
3 killed per minute

Hotel Rwanda

We've discussed the Holocaust, shared information about genocides throughout world history and viewed Hotel Rwanda. This is your chance to express your opinions about the unit, specifically about the film. What did you learn or come away with a better understanding of after viewing the film? What moments were surprising, shocking or memorable? I like the quote from the journalist when he's talking to Paul and says something along the lines of, "People (outside of Rwanda) will see the atrocities on TV and think,'Oh my God, that's awful. Those poor people,' but then they'll just go back to eating their dinner." The journalist reflects on the state of mind of those of us who are so far removed from the horror that is going on that, yes, we feel bad, but we are also content to keep quiet. Is there something we can do? Is there something we should do? Lastly, any final thoughts or questions about anything that has come up throughout the course of this unit?

Holocaust

We've all heard of the holocaust, but I don't think anyone really knows the horror that went on. So maybe you cried watching this, or your chest felt like it was about to burst, but it's nothing compared to what these people suffered through. The smell of burning flesh every day; flesh that was so recently alive; breathing; warm. Your family. But you don't know that your mother was just gassed to death in what they were told were showers; suffocating along with a thousand others. You don't know that the belongings of your neighbors are piled together, while their bodies are bulldozed into a pit to be burned. Worthless. No graves for these lost souls. Only a pit; only ashes that will be used for fertilizer.
You don't know what you have until it's gone, right? Or maybe, we don't know what suffering is, until we live through it. Only those who have survived such tragedies understand what it's like to not have any idea when you might die from starvation, or too much work and harsh climate conditions. What is supposed to keep you holding on? The armies against you break down your hope, so what is it then, that you're living for? There is no end in sight, no light at the end of a tunnel.
Suffer or die.