We enjoyed having a few days to get over jetlag and focus on school in the capital city of Rwanda, Kigali. We stayed in a great apartment located walking distance from the center of town; it had amazing views of this hilly capital city. We were surprised at how modern and urban parts of this city looked. It was also incredibly clean! Rwanda has an amazing monthly national holiday “Umuganda”, it means the “the coming together in common purpose”. It occurs on the last Saturday of every month, from 8am-11am every citizen (aged 18-65) in the country must participate by law in a national cleaning or community volunteer work. Wow is this an amazing idea. The entire country is so much cleaner than other places we have been, you observe people working together, smiling and spontaneously helping each other and a very friendly society that warmly welcomes tourists. There is clear pride and investment in their country evident in everyone we met. We were in Kigali on Umuganda, it was amazing to see how quiet the usually busy streets were, no cars of motorcycles on the road. We saw small groups of people working together as cleaning squads on the sides of the street, everyone was cleaning as Alastair and I took along walk exploring the city.
The Rwanda genocide museum of Kigali was heartbreaking but also inspiring. The center did an incredible job of documenting the Rwanda history of the 30 years preceding the genocide, examining what societal factors can quickly build to intense hatred and violence toward fellow humans. The role that media and propaganda have in spreading hatred and racism are clear. It described the process of polarizing and dividing people based on race, religion, or economic status and dehumanizing those that are “not part of your group”. It told devastating personal stories of people being attacked and hurt by friends and neighbors and told horrifying stories of torture and rape. It was incredibly emotional to see the pictures and bones of some of the 1,000,000 victims. There was mass graves and a huge wall of names honouring the victims from Kigali. The museum also describeds other examples of genocides in different counties, elaborating on the common factors in the development of a genocide mindset in hopes this knowledge will prevent further mass tragedies from genocide.
The museum has sections focusing on the aftermath of genocide and its many effects; devastating every system of an entire country, leaving the entire society traumatized, the impact of PTSD, mass spread of HIV, and the destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, farms…It describes the amazing job that Rwanda has done in rebuilding its broken country over the last thirty years, a huge amount of respect is given to its leader Paul Kagame. Although he is considered an autocratic power who has now been in power for 22 years, with his last election extended his current term to 7 years, he is consider benevolent and very good for the country. Mr. Kagame is clearly a forward thinker, investing heavily in education, healthcare, and technology. In 2008 the national language for school was switched to English to allow the population to have more opportunities internationally. The government ensures that every community has access to potable water and school every 5 km. One of our guide shared how progressive the government is now trying to be about family planning and access to birth control. There has been a strong government investment in a mobile and wireless internet network so that most of the country can access these services (according to one of our guides this is at affordable cost for people). Another program worked with a goal ofs ensuring all children in Rwanda received a $100 laptop, over 200,000 have already been distributed. Reportedly the aide money Rawand received after the genocide was used appropriately and invested to rebuild a healthy functioning society, this is often compared to the extensive corruption and misappropriation of funds that other African countries have struggled with. The police force in Rwanda is strong and significant efforts have been made to develop trust between the police and the people of Rwanda. There is a strong anti-corruption policy within the government that extends to all business, it has been ranked well on international anti-corruption scales.
The goal of prevention and reconciliation through education seems to be working. So many people we have met along our journey tell us devastating stories of the genocide but also describe recovery and healing with pride. We have heard again and again “We are all Rwandan’s”, “We no longer consider ourselves different tribes”, “the Tribal designation came from wealth/and or colonizers”. There are genocide memorial museums throughout the country and all of Education Programs in Rwanda (elementary, secondary and post-secondary) include history about the genocide and visits to these sacred sites as part of the education process.
We returned to Kigali for the final day of our time in Rwanda. We enjoyed returning to our favourite restaurant and the next morning taking time for schoolwork and studying. That afternoon we went on a city tour before catching our late-night flight. During our city tour, we visited a memorial gravesite designated to honour 10 Belgium soldiers who have lost their lives, after the assassination of President Habyarimana at the start of the Rwan and genocide. They have been assigned to protect prime minister, Agathe Uwiligyimana and her family. It was a moving museum and again sad to see the lives of young soldiers and peacekeeping volunteers lost during the genocide. We also visited the Genocide Prevention Museum on a guided tour. We were led through an extensive museum and documenting the early days after the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) gained control of Kigali and began to end the genocide and rebuild the country. From the top of this building, we had amazing views of the city. In this area, there is also the impressive Kigali convention centre built in the shape of a traditional royal hut, at night it’s beautiful blue lights outline the building which can be seen for much of the city. We enjoyed visiting a local art gallery and coffee shop. Prior to stopping at the largest Kigali market on our way to the airport.
