For centuries, the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa of Rwanda shared the same culture, language and religion. In 1916, Belgium took control of Rwanda from Germany and installed a rigid colonial system of racial classification and exploitation. By elevating the Tutsi over the Hutu, the Belgians created deep resentment among the Hutu majority. In 1959, control of Rwanda went to the Hutu majority. Following independence came decades of institutionalized anti-Tutsi segregation and massacre.

Hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus were forced into exile. In 1988, some of these refugees formed a rebel movement called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) to reclaim their homeland. A deadly cycle of war and massacre continued until 1993, when the United Nations negotiated a power-sharing agreement between the two sides.

To protect their power, hard-line Hutu extremists resisted the implementation of the agreements and planned one of the most terrifying genocides in history.

In 1994 in Rwanda, a landlocked country slightly smaller than Massachusetts, at least 800,000 members of the Tutsi ethnic minority and moderate Hutu sympathizers were systematically murdered in 100 days. The killing was quickly implemented throughout the country at a rate of approximately 8,000 people per day. Most of the victims were killed in their villages and towns, often by their neighbors. The genocide ended when the RPF, led by current Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, brought the country under their control and overthrew the Hutu regime. Every Rwandan was deeply touched by the genocide; no one was exempt.