ABSTRACT

The few Americans who knew anything at all about Rwanda prior to the massacres knew it as one of the centers of Africa's uncontrollable Acquired immune deficiency syndrome epidemic, or more likely as the setting for Dian Fossey research on mountain gorillas, popularized in the movie Gorillas in the Mist. In Nyakizu, Rwanda, frightened Tutsis and Hutus went to their mayor, asking what might be done to prevent the spreading slaughter from reaching their town. The overwhelming share of Rwanda's agricultural product is grown for domestic, local consumption; people eat most of what they grow. Aside from some traditional crafts and a dwindling mining business, Rwanda has little industry. From the arrival of the Europeans onward, and even before that, the history of Rwanda bears many similarities to that of its neighbor, Burundi. The Impuzamugambi trainees received similar instruction, from the Presidential Guard and elements of the Rwandan Government Army.