June 5

June 5, 2013

I’ve been super busy this week with class, readings, excursions into town and doing my own laundry by hand.  I’ve made at least three trips to different markets this week and had my first (not very successful) experiences with bartering.

Last night I finished “An Ordinary Man”, a book written by Paul Rusesabagina, the man who inspired the movie “Hotel Rwanda”.  I think I mentioned in an earlier blog about how it upset me that people were criticizing him after he did such a heroic thing. After reading his book, doing some internet research and talking to some Rwandans, my feelings about Rusesabagina have changed dramatically

About halfway through the book I decided to google some criticisms of Rusesabagina and I found out that once the movie was released, many people who took refuge inside the Mille Collines said that Rusesabagina charged money to stay there during the genocide.

Rusesabagina responded to these criticisms by saying that he had to keep up the appearance of running a business during the genocide in order to receive support from the hotel owners in Belgium, which would keep the interahamwe from raiding the hotel. In order to churn a profit he had to take money from people who were taking refuge in the hotel. 

This is understandable. But from my reading, people also stated that if people could not pay, he sent them out into the streets knowing that Hutu Power was waiting outside.  The truth about whether or not Rusesabagina actually turned people away from the hotel will probably never be known, because it appears to be a he said/she said situation.

I also spoke to Benoit tonight and he talked about how Rusesabagina charged money to drink from the swimming pool that is so famously known for keeping the refugees alive. 

Now, I understand the movie is obviously made by Hollywood and therefore glamourizes the situation.  However, in Rusesabagina’s book, he basically says that the movie is about as close to accurate as it could get. Rusesabagina also showed little to no modesty in regards to his actions that saved the lives of many Tutsis and Hutu moderates in 1994.

After all of this I have reached my opinion.  Rusesabagina did a good thing, but his motives were less than amiable.  Yes, he saved the lives of a thousand people, and there is something to be said for that. But, he made a profit doing so and had profit not been an opportunity, I don’t think his actions would have been the same.  Rusesabagina was given the Lantos award by George H. W. Bush in 2011. The Dalai Lama and Ellie Wiesel have also been recipients of this award, and I in no way think that Rusesabagina should be put on the same pedestal.

The issue comes down to the question: do the ends justify the means? Yes, 100 percent, without a doubt, the lives of the people in that hotel were saved and that matters. However, the honor and praise he has received since 1994, in my eyes, is completely unwarranted.