Kayihura Edouard - Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story ... and Why It Matters Today

PRAISE FOR
INSIDE THE HOTEL RWANDA

This book offers a window into the real-life experience of those who hid in the Hotel des Mille Collines during the 100 days of the genocide. For those who have learned of this story only through the famous movie Hotel Rwanda, the story of Edouard Kayihura is a privileged opportunity to put reality to the Hollywood dramatization.

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL ROMO DALLAIRE (RETIRED)
Force Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force for Rwanda between 1993 and 1994, founder of The Romo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, Senior Fellow at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, and Co-Director of the Will to Intervene Project

Truth and reality should never come as a surprise to anybody, especially to those caught up with them. Sooner or later they will always come out. I would like to thank the authors of the book Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Storyand Why It Matters Today for providing an honest account of the daily challenges experienced inside the Hotel Mille Collines during the Genocide Against the Tutsi. It stands apart from the tales of those who have abused, manipulated, and diverted public attention and opinion from what has been endured.

BERNARD MAKUZA,
Vice President of the Rwandan Senate, former Rwandan Prime Minister, and Rwandas former ambassador to Germany and Burundi

Historical truth is a slippery thingeven more so when the mass media is involved. The story of Hotel Rwanda is complex and fascinating. This book adds new depth to our understanding of the Rwandan genocide and the episode that has become its best known symbol.

STEPHEN KINZER,
award-winning foreign correspondent; author of A Thousand Hills: Rwandas Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It; and teacher of journalism, Brown University

Everyone who saw the movie Hotel Rwanda MUST read this book in which true survivors tell their story. While the movie indisputably raised awareness of genocide against Rwandan Tutsi, its distortion of facts created one of the most virulent platforms championing trivialization of that tragedy through theories of double genocide and related tactics.

EGIDE KARURANGA,
PhD, professor at the Laval University School of Business in Quebec; President of Rwandan Diaspora of Canada, and genocide survivor from the Hotel Mille Collines

I will never forget the eight days my family and I spent in hiding at Hotel des Milles Collines. I was only 13 at the time, but I remember like it was yesterday. Twenty years later, its important that we continue to acknowledge and commemorate the events that took place during those 100 days through stories such as those captured in Inside the Hotel Rwanda. Also important is that we give thanks to HE President Paul Kagame whose leadership has inspired us all, and has helped turn the country around to become the success story it is today. The 1994 genocide is an important part of Rwandas history and will shape the country for many years to come.

ASHISH J. THAKKAR,
Africas youngest billionaire, Founder of Mara Group and Mara Foundation, a nonprofit social enterprise that focuses on emerging African entrepreneurs

Inside the Hotel Rwanda reveals the real story of the events at the Hotel Mille Collines during the genocide in Rwanda. It exposes the untruths and inaccuracies of the Hollywood depiction of the exploits of Paul Rusesabagina. It lays bare how Rusesabagina has been able to fuel his own dangerous political ambitions as a result of the twisted facts of the film. Inside the Hotel Rwanda is important for finally setting the record straight, and doing so authoritatively from the perspective of a survivor of the events. It is this heroic effort, and the continuing achievements of the survivors of the genocide to triumph over adversity, that we should truly applaud.

DAVID RUSSELL,
former Director of Survivors Fund (SURF) and Founder of The Social Enterprise

Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Storyand Why It Matters Today is a gripping first-person testimony of life inside the famous hotel that served as a sanctuary for over 1,000 souls during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Author Edouard Kayihura is a genocide survivor who sought refuge in the hotel during a time when extremist Hutu militias, government troops, and civilian death squads brutally slaughtered over one million people. The author artfully blends his personal memoir with a cri de coeur for the future of his nation. Kayihura presents an investigative and thought-provoking case against the skewed Hollywood version of life inside Hotel Rwanda. Beyond a personal account, this work attempts to debunk some myths surrounding life inside the hotel and uncover the truth. Along the way, the author strives to set the record straight regarding past and present-day politics in Rwanda. Kayihura tackles the dangers of genocide denial and elevates the role of everyday citizens and UN peacekeepersnot just those created by Hollywoodin saving lives during that turbulent period. Inside the Hotel Rwanda aims to depose genocide revisionism by showing that it is up to the everyday citizen to commit to never again be a bystander to such atrocities. It provides a beacon of light for those seeking to eradicate genocide around the world.

MELANIE TOMSONS,
Executive Director and CCO of Never Again International-Canada

For more than a decade, the film Hotel Rwanda has come to define a particular story and understanding of Rwanda. In this heartfelt work, Kayihura provides a moving tale from within that hotel and seeks to set the record straight on the events there and since. For all craving authenticity about that horrific time, this is essential reading.

JOSH RUXIN,
PhD, Truman Scholar, Fulbright Scholar, Marshall Scholar, and author of A Thousand Hills to Heaven: Love, Hope and a Restaurant in Rwanda

I thank the author for this genuine and true recount of the daily fears and threats, hopes and despairs, joys and sufferings experienced by refugees in the Hotel des Milles Collines. Edouard is presenting with humility and a heart-breaking accuracy the reality of what happened in the hotel, unlike those who abused, misused, manipulated, and diverted the world opinion with a far-fetched story for their own interests, fame, and self-aggrandizing agenda. To those, I say, just as Einstein said so pertinently well: Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life thinking its stupid. To Edouard, you deserve due recognition in general, and particularly from those who were at the Hotel des Milles Collines for this tribute paid to their courage, endurance, and resilience despite the test of tribulations.

WELLARS GASAMAGERA,
Director General of Rwanda Management Institute and former Rwandan Senator

Edouard Kayihuras memoir about the actual events inside the famed Hotel Rwanda serves as multifaceted rejoinder to the mythology that emerged from Hollywoods fictionalized version of the 1994 genocide. Kayihura, a survivor who took refuge in the hotel, skewers the self-proclaimed real-life hero who supposedly saved thousands from slaughter. The actual heroic acts are countless, but they were not performed by the inspiration for Don Cheadles character, Paul Rusesabagina. Instead, among those fighting against the genocidal extremists were UN peacekeepers like Lt. Gen. Romo Dallaire, French ambassador Bernard Kouchner, and selfless citizens like Victor Munyarugerero and a refugee named Maria. Kayihura helps dispel the romanticized savior image spawned by