He told of a 13-year-old boy who had lost his family to genocide. Ayers took the boy into his family, but after a year the boy was forced into the military, and began training for the war.

"Soon after, he was brought back to me, rolled up in a carpet with a hole in his head," Ayers said.

"Leon Pierre was by far not the youngest soldier. Some were as young as 10," Ayers added.

The problems in Rwanda date back to the colonial times when the Tutsi, which comprise 15% of Rwanda's population, were the favored group of the area's Belgian colonizers.

When independence came, the Hutu tribe, which comprised 85% of the population, took power and has held power since. When it was feared that President Habyarimana would give some power to the Tutsis, he was assassinated and a three-month long genocide of Tutsis began. The result was death of over 500,000 Rwandans, Nowrojee said.

Macani Toungara '02, who is from the Ivory Coast, said that the speeches shed new light on the genocide in Rwanda.

"I find myself having a greater awareness (of the genocide), than the average high-schooler, but today brought home how atrocious it really was. It's really sad when the U.S.'s inaction leads to such devastation," said Toungara, who is also a Crimson editor.