Digital Archive

The digital archive team has a strong background in information management. When the Kigali Genocide Memorial opened in 2004, the team began collecting testimonies from survivors, perpetrators, umwimanyi (rescuers) and elders. They conducted the interviews using VHS tapes and transcribed them by hand. From 2004-2010, the archive team was busy collecting materials. In 2010, the Genocide Archive of Rwanda website was launched and the public was able to access the archive online.

Today, all of the testimonies are collected digitally and immediately uploaded to the archive website. The digital archive team works closely with Ibuka (the umbrella group for genocide survivor organisations in Rwanda) as well as national and local authorities. Physical materials, from propaganda newspapers during the genocide period to victim photographs, are individually authenticated, digitised, assigned a unique code for retrieval and then preserved in our physical archive.

The digital archive team has collected nearly 1,000 video testimonies and travels each week to conduct and catalogue additional interviews in different parts of Rwanda. However, much work remains to be done. The team’s vision is to collect more testimonies, participate in additional trainings, and build their capacity and skills.

The Digital Archive Team:

• Martin Niwenshuti, Collection Team Leader and Deputy Archive Manager: “We will be happy when we can tell the world about what happened in Rwanda.”

• Claudia Nishimwe, Collection Coordinator: “What we do here – it’s my story.”

• Medy B. Kimenyi, Audio-Visual Specialist: “The job itself is not that easy, but I always get feedback. The impact makes me proud of what I do.”

• Patrick Nkubana, Camera Operator

• Fabrice Musafiri, Digitisation Officer

• Christian Mwumvaneza, Digitisation Officer