The Rwandan Genocide 25 Years Later; Building A Bridge Of Hope

Detroit (CBS Detroit) - April 7th of 1994 was the beginning of a 100-day massacre in Rwanda, when hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people, were slaughtered because of their so-called status. It's known as the Rwandan Genocide, and it's a time that Rwandans say they will never forget.

One survivor, who lost half of his family, is telling his story to us to help his people recover, but also to make sure it doesn't happen again. In Rwanda, or anywhere else.  "The Hutu majority took power, and that's when the hate started," explains Sunday Justin Nzitatira, a survivor. "The Hutu said they had been marginalized, so they took power and started hating Tutsis."

"Tutsis were not allowed to go to school, were not allowed in the military, not receiving good health care...until 1994 when everything became worse," says Nzitatira. "Hutus started methodically killing Tutsis, going house to house and burning houses and killing people. That is how I lost a large number of my family, including siblings and my Dad."

"One million people were murdered in only 100 days," adds Nzitatira. "Think about that, the country had only 8 million people and 1 million are murdered. And a half-million people just left the country."

"We started this campaign of unity and reconciliation so we can put our country back together again. I went through hard times but I came out, so I wanted to start something to give back to the community."   Sunday's foundation, Bridge of Hope, envisions a world where regardless of background, all should have the opportunity.

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