If you keep abreast of current local events, you were no doubt aware of Paul Rusesabagina’s recent whirlwind tour throughout Utah. In one week alone, he was featured at Utah State University, Utah Valley State College and University of Utah. I was present at the latter venue.

Paul Rusesabagina is the hero portrayed in the film Hotel Rwanda. In that film (and in real life), Paul helped save more than 1,200 refugees by sheltering them in the Hôtel des Mille Collines, a large hotel in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. The year was 1994 and situation in Rwanda had reached the boiling point; Militant members of the Hutu tribe began committing genocide by the senseless slaughter of those from the Tutsi tribe. (As a historical framework, during French occupation, the Tutsi’s were largely placed in positions of leadership and as a consequence, when the French left, the Hutu profited from the power vacuum to seize control and enact revenge upon their old enemies.) A band of Tutsi rebels formed to resist the Hutu oppression, throwing the country into civil war.

During that perilous time, Paul, a Hutu himself, bribed the Hutu Interahamwe militia with money and beer to keep them from killing the refugees in the hotel. As the conflict raged on, food and water became scarce in the Hotel. As a last resort, the refugees began to use water from the Hotel swimming pool to survive. The civil war eventually ended. The 1,000,000 deaths were largely ignored by the rest of the world. Rwanda, like its neighbor Zaire, continues to struggle to this day.

The four star hotel continues to operate. It has 112 rooms, a bar/café, three conference rooms, a restaurant, and the now-famous swimming pool.