Kenya Coffee Tour
Kibeho is a small town in south Rwanda, which became known outside of that country because of reported apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ occurring between 1981 and 1989. The Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ reportedly appeared to some teenagers in Kibeho in 1981, as Our Lady of Kibeho. These visions were accompanied by intense reactions: crying, tremors, and comas. On August 19, 1982, those who saw the visions reported gruesome sights (rivers of blood, sliced heads, etc.) which some today regard as an ominous foreshadowing of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, and particularly in that specific location in 1995.
Catholic Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikongoro, Rwanda approved public devotion linked to the apparitions on 1988-08-15 and declared their authenticity on 2001-06-29
After the 1994 genocide, Kibeho was the site of an internally displaced person (IDP) refugee camp, with many of the Hutu refugees suspected of having participated in the genocide. The camp was the largest in Rwanda, spreading 9 square kilometers and containing between 80,000 and 100,000 people. In mid - April 1995, elements of the Tutsi - led Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), announced they would close the camp, with the aim of forcibly separating known Genocidaires from those who would be sent home. As the camp was closed, tensions mounted and RPA troops opened fire on some of the remaining refugees. Australian and Zambian troops of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) and staff from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) witnessed the massacre. Many of these were killed in the same school in which the apparitions had occurred; one of the children who reported the vision was even one of the victims. The local bishop, accused by many of complicity in the genocide himself, recognized officially on June 29, 2001 three cases as authentic. The church Notre-Dame des Douleurs (Our Lady of Sorrows) was built in Kibeho, supported by Pallottines
Day-1: Arrival at Kigali and drive to Kibeho
Day-2: Kibeho Church and the shrine to 'Our Lady of Kibeho.'
Day-3: Attend the apparition the n drive to Kigali
Day-4: Depart
Day One:
Arrival at Kigali airport, meet and greet and transfer to the hotel in
Kigali. No meals included. Overnight at Hotel Chez Lando
(pavilion room)
Day Two:
Breakfast, and drive for about 3 ½ hours to Kibeho for a guided visit to some of the main sites. We start with a visit to the Kibeho Church and the shrine to 'Our Lady of Kibeho.' We then travel to Nyarushishi hill to see the magnificent statue of Christ, called, Divine Mercy Statue. The history of the statue began in February of 2000 in Chicago in the United States. Four years later, it found its way to the 'country of a Thousand Hills', Rwanda in the month of August in 2004, where it has remained ever since. Lunch and dinner are included. Overnight at Centre de Formation Mariale-CANA (self contained rooms
Day Three:
After an early morning breakfast, we will be transferred to the national park headquarters to be briefed by the park rangers before departing for the trek in search for the Great Mountain Gorillas. The excursion in a thick rainforest and the interaction with the mountain gorilla/ape, is a wonderful lifetime experience. We will have lunch after returning from the hike to the hotel. In the afternoon we will depart to Kigali . Dinner at the hotel or a restaurant. Overnight at Hotel des Collines (room facing pool) or Hotel Chez Lando.
Day Four:
Attend the apparition in Kibeho for the whole day, later in the evening drive back to Kigali. Lunch is included. Dinner and overnight at Hotel Chez Lando (pavilion room). (BLD)
*Note: Early booking is essential as many people arrive for the apparition.
End of services
31st May
15 August
15 September
28 NovemberNote: the apparitions in Kibeho stopped on 28 November 1989. The above dates are dates which mark significant apparitions or events in the history of the apparitions of Kibeho and when many people come to gather at Kibeho in worship.