(CNN) -- When I first arrived in Rwanda's capital in 2012, I deliberately did not visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I did not want that experience to influence how I approached the country and its people. In my mind, Rwanda was going to be this country that was still on the brink of economic disaster. It would be very poorly set up, with a bad road system and difficult telecommunications. Frankly, I despaired of working with the government, thinking it would be extremely challenging to work with. I remember 1994 well. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in West Africa and the Rwandan genocide, right on the heels of Nelson Mandela's election in South Africa, was big news across the continent.
@highlight
April 7 marks 20 years since the start of the Rwanda genocide
@highlight
LeAnn Hager, an aid worker, spent 2012-2014 in Rwanda
@highlight
When she heard Rwanda, she thought of genocide, until she got there
@highlight
Have a personal essay to share with the world? Submit at CNN iReport
Looking at @placeholder today with a certainty that such an atrocity can never happen again, you wonder "How did this ever happen in the first place?"