June 28, 2009

June 28, 2009 – 11.30 pm

Muraho from Kigali, Rwanda!! (That means Hello!!)

I’m just going to take a minute to tell you how incredibly beautiful Rwanda is. There are literally a thousand hills, if not more, all rolling and covered in houses. The soil is mostly red, and there’s greenery everywhere. In Rwanda, there are mandatory public service days when the government calls for it—no, there are no arrests or anything; it’s voluntary, but most people want to participate—and they plant beautiful plants on the sides of the roads, and clean up any litter they see. There are parts of the country that are more polluted than others, because their cars don’t have any standards to meet, but there are also a lot of motorbikes that are ridden (moto-taxis are common, as well, and I’ll probably be using one to get to my internship next week. Don’t worry mom, they’re safe! The police pull them over at random to check licenses and registration, so they have to be able to drive well, or their licenses get taken away), and a few bikes when you get away from the city—bicycles are banned in Kigali, because there are a lot of crazy drivers.

And the people!! The people are incredibly beautiful. They wear a lot of American clothing, but you see a lot of women wearing traditional clothing, as well, and it’s incredibly colourful and the designs are just so intricate. There are a lot of churches—80% Roman Catholic—and you can hear the choirs from the streets, and the music is breathtaking. We live in a hotel by St. Paul’s church, and can hear the singing from our rooms. It’s beautiful. We’re on a hill, and can see much of the city when we’re outside. The sun rises around 6, apparently, and I’m going to try to catch it in the morning with Ashley before I shower.

Rwanda is cheaper than the United States, but not by a whole lot. A dollar is worth about 500 Rwandan francs, and you can buy a cup of coffee for 1000 rwf, and a meal is usually between 1500 and 4000 rwf, so roughly 3-8 dollars, depending on whether it’s breakfast or lunch. I’ve actually been having a lot of trouble with my ‘global phone’—Verizon lied to me, and said I’d be able to make calls for about 0.25 per minute, but it’s going to be 2.29. What a scam!! Me and my roommate Edy are going to share a cell phone—I think they’re about twenty dollars plus the sim card, but it should be fine to share. Internet access here is actually awesome. I got two hours for 1000 rwf at an internet café, and it was a bit slow, but worked just fine, and I could instant message and everything. We’re six hours ahead of EST, so it was 6.00 my time and 12 pm my mum’s time.

NOW… what have I done today, you ask?! Amazing things!! I got up at 6.15 am this morning feeling incredibly fresh and well-rested—the mattresses are great—and took a shower before running to the Bourbon Street coffee shop at the 24-hour ‘mall,’ and then meeting Silas and his bus at 8.15 to head to AJPRODHO (Association de la Jeunesse pour les Droits de I’homme et le Developpement, or Youth Association for Human Rights and Debelopment) to begin our orientation. We met John, who is an incredibly exuberant and energetic man, Ugandan by birth, who is now the executive secretary of AJPRODHO, and he began by talking to us a bit about the program and its goals:
*Giving Rwandans access to justice and Human Rights
*Teaching governance and how citizens can involve themselves for change
*Helping with economic development
*Networking within communities for empowerment and betterment of the program

So yes, AJPRODHO is an incredible youth program, and reminds me a lot of some of the programs we have in the US, and specifically on Cape Cod—the Human Rights Academy comes straight to my mind.

We were also given tips from Jesse, John, and Silas, who recommended we only take transport from men in a green jersey and helmet, which means they’re legally licensed moto-taxi drivers, and to hail them, we can raise our hand or hiss, ‘tsssss!’ It takes about 500 rwf to get to AJPRODHO from St. Paul’s, which is about a dollar, and to make sure they have change for your bill before you accept the ride.

Tipping is another question that came up while having lunch at the Simba Café, and John said that Rwandans don’t usually tip, but waitstaff in most places do not earn a lot, so any type of a tip, even coins, is a very nice gesture, especially if the service is good. He advised us not to give more than 1 or 2%, though, as opposed to our usual 15-20% tips, as they don’t want to be viewed as a charity case. We also should refrain from eating while walking down the street, because people will think it’s really odd.

We learned some quick phrases in Kinyarwanda, such as, ‘Nshobora ku gu fotora?’ which means, ‘Can I have your photo?’ It’s very impolite to photograph people, especially adults, without asking first, and people do not usually smile in photographs, so we also learned, ‘Ushobora guseka?’ which means, ‘Can you smile?’ We also have:
Nshobora – Can I?
Amakuru – How are you?
Murakoze – Thank you
Seka – Smile!
Mbabarira – I’m sorry or Excuse me (to be polite and not give to beggars)
Ntronfite – I don’t have anything
Or French ‘desole,’ meaning, ’sorry!’

Our program, specifically, has four goals, which are
*Increase understanding of context and practice of human rights activism
*Cross cultural dialogue
* Assist local Rwandan organizations currently working in the field of human rights
*Explore options for sustainability and endurance of our collective actions

Cross-cultural dialogue is very interesting, though. Customs and traditions are incredibly different in Rwanda than in the United States, but US citizens have a very preconceived notion of Americans, just as Americans have a preconceived notion of Rwandans, as with all Africans—we tend to think they’re all the same throughout the continent, and that is really a falsity.

The Rwandan government has banned all use of ‘Hutu,’ ‘Tutsi,’ and ‘Twa,’ in legal language, and it’s generally frowned upon socially unless talking about the genocide of the past. Everyone is viewed as one people, which sounds great as an ideal, but is very difficult to implement. However, there is no truth in the ‘history of Rwanda.’ Traditionally Hutu people believe the Tutsi came from Ethiopia as nomads, the Hutu are generally seen as farmers, and the Twa, the minority and only ‘true,’ people of Rwanda, are looked down upon as potters, and are generally very poor and very discriminated against in Rwanda, though they’re not technically supposed to be classified as the ‘Twa,’ group. Instead, people are referred to, ‘perpetrators,’ ‘victims,’ ‘survivors,’ or, ‘suspects,’ of genocide. We will witness this at the Gacaca hearing, hopefully to be held on July 11, if it is not rescheduled by the government—they do that sometimes.

John told us something interesting that I jotted down in my steno pad. He said that genocide survivors are generally not taken care of by the government, and that seems to me a direct correlation to this policy of all, ‘being one.’ It also struck me as something similar to the veteran population of the United States. Both of these groups are not well funded, and many are homeless, sick, or mentally ill, if not all three. There is so much PTSM, and it is often ignored as genocide survivors live in the same village as a perpetrator who may have killed the survivor’s whole family. The survivors are expected to forgive, and, for the most part, they do an incredible job, mainly in part to church and their belief in Jesus Christ. However, 56.4% of all citizens of Rwanda still live below the poverty line.

Those are just some parting thoughts, and my musings, basically. Tomorrow, we are visiting the Genocide Memorial of Kigali at 10am, and spending the afternoon at the Uyisenga N’Manzi Peace Village of child-headed households. It should be incredibly moving; it is a village partly funded by the government to contribute to the psychological and economic rehabilitation of orphaned children affected by HIV/AIDS and genocide, as well as young girls who were victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence. Should be an incredibly moving and learning experience, and I look forward to sharing it with you tomorrow, or whenever I’m able to upload another entry!

Ijoro Ryiza!

-Mac