The Gisimba Memorial Centre is a less-visited genocide memorial that has a different character from the main Kigali Genocide Memorial. In 1994, Damas Mutezintare Gisimba sheltered hundreds of Tutsi civilians in his family orphanage in Nyamirambo, protecting them through weeks of genocide at personal risk. The site is now a community centre for disadvantaged children and a small memorial to those who were saved and those who were not.
Visiting the Gisimba Centre offers an intimate counterpoint to the scale of the main memorial. The story of individual courage it tells is specific and human, and the people who run the centre are often willing to talk about what happened here. It is a working community space rather than a polished tourist attraction, which gives it a different kind of authenticity.