Real-life 'Hotel Rwanda' hero describes genocide's terrors

OGDEN — Rachel Wagstaff could not restrain her emotion as she met the man who had given her hope so many times while she worked as a nurse in Africa last summer.

Tears streamed down Wagstaff's face as she shook hands with Paul Rusesabagina, the Rwandan native who inspired the film of "Hotel Rwanda" by sheltering 1,200 Tutsi refugees during the 1994 genocide.

"The first time I saw the movie I went by myself because I knew I would be a mess. I can really identify because I can picture people I knew there going through those tragedies," the 23-year-old Weber State University student said after listening to Rusesabagina's speech Wednesday.

Rusesabagina, the real-life hero of the 2004 film, told WSU students how he fought for his life, losing all of his possessions and almost his family more than once during the Hutu rebel uprising that killed more than 800,000 people.

As ethnic Hutus began killing their Tutsi neighbors, Rusesabagina, a Hutu married to a Tutsi woman, created a refugee camp at the hotel.

"What you have seen on the screen about Rwanda is our day-to-day life. We can take it as a lesson to teach," said Rusesabagina, who will visit other Utah schools throughout the week including Utah State University today and the University of Utah and Utah Valley State College Friday.

About 80 percent of Rusesabagina's audiences are students, he said, because he wants to raise awareness among youth about what happened in Rwanda and the needs that still exist today.

WSU students packed a campus ballroom to hear Rusesabagina's message of peace and awareness, with many students clamoring for his autograph after the speech.

"It's good for people to come and educate so the world can come together and help," said WSU student and Sudan native Titus Burapa. "The war is not going to end."

Burapa said Rusesabagina's stories of slaughter in Rwanda reminded him of similar tragedies in his own country — tragedies he said most Utah students will not be able to comprehend.

Rusesabagina explained some of the most horrifying moments in his life's tale, describing how he found himself running the Hotel Mille Collines where refugees had gathered to avoid being killed in the streets.

Those people, he said, looked to him for food and security when there was none of either. Corns and beans were rationed out to the refugees, but security from U.N. and Belgium troops soon vanished as the conflict escalated, he said.