We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda

This book describes the horrendous events of the 1994 Rwanda massacre. Philip Gourevitch, a New York reporter, traveled to Rwanda a year later to research the genocide. He gives a brief history of what happened. He explains how the Hutus had expressed hating the Tutsis for years but nothing was done. They even told the Tutsis that they would be killed. Many Western countries knew about this, but due to an isolationistic perspective, did not think it was any of their business to intervene.
Gourevitch does not just describe the horror, but also provides the reader with real stories of what happened. Some of these stories put a shiver in my spine. For example, one part of the book takes place in a hospital.
"It was Dr. Gerard (Hutu head of the hospital) who announced it: Saturday, the sixteenth, at nine o'clock in the morning, you will be attacked. You must be eliminated. God no longer wants you."(p.28) In the morning Gerard was seen driving towards the hospital with army men.
"We tried to defend ourselves with sticks and stones, the shooting started and people were falling down and dying."(p.29)
You will have to read the book to get the full story, but it would be worth buying, so you can know more about the horrors of genocide. Also, it will help you understand how countries let this happen. Despite the lessons of this book, the Darfur genocide still occurred.

Gourevitch told a story that must be told to the world. I only wish that he had told it as history-in consequential form. The story hopscotches from Biblical times to 1999 in apparently random order.

My prep for going to Rwanda was reading this book. This is a snapshot of the state Rwanda was in during the 100 days and the aftermath. However, much has been done to repair the damage. This is a time of reconciliation and healing. Go to Rwanda and see for yourself. It will change your life.

What a great book. Such insight and it really helps you understand what happened in Rwanda. Especially the history of all the long ago violence and things that have happened over the years. Great book and a must read for everyone.

This could happen everywhere or anywhere in the world. Can really open your eyes into how much we all could be killers or saviors at any one time.

Highly recommended.

Gourevitch's jarring telling of the atrocities of hate hit with an imact of severe sorrow. The overwhelming scale of the murders in Rwanda are incomprehensible. It is sad to realize that in this age people allow hate and propoganda to rule their lives.