The man behind Hotel Rwanda
Chad Clark/NetXNews, UVSC

Paul Rusesabagina came to UVSC Monday February 3, to speak about the genocide of his native country of Rwanda in 1994. In 2004 the three time Oscar nominated movie "Hotel Rwanda" was shot and based on the life of Rusesabagina who helped saves the lives of 1,268 Rwandans.

Holding up in a hotel with the constant threat of death daily Rusesabagina remembers rationing the water from the hotels swimming pool. "Then the electricity was cut off, when the generators broke down we were in darkness, we cooked with fire, at that point it was not a hotel but a refugee camp," Rusesabagina said.

Rusesabagina says he was told at gun-point in the middle of the night to "turn out all the refugees within 30 minutes." Learning to talk and bargain and bribe soldiers with guns for the safety of human lives was Rusesabagina´s "first lesson in how to deal with evil."

Rusesabagina says he believes "people hate other people" because of "bad leadership, because of poverty, because of lack of education."

Rusesabagina also had harsh condemnation for what Rwandans hoped and believed were UN peace-keepers but soon realized "were just neutral observers to the genocide."

"Ladies and gentleman," Rusesabagina said, "we never learn from the past. We have, and are, ignoring the more recent wars in Uganda, in the Congo, etc, - millions slaughtered."

Student Body President Jared Sumsion introduced Mr. Rusesabagina who has been honored with the Immortal Chaplains Prize for Humanity, The National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award and most recently The Presidential Medal of Freedom.