May 30, 2013

May 30, 2013

 Yesterday during our lunch break between classes, Elizabeth, Chelsea and I went to a market beside the restaurant we ate at to get some water.  We ended up talking a guy who worked there, Christopher, and he pointed us in the direction of some pineapple wine. Sounds good but don’t ever get it – probably one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever drank.  Anyway, we became friends with Christopher and another worker in the store, Immanuel, and they helped us practice our Ikinyarwanda.  We told them we would come back Tuesday to give a review of the wine and our language skills – they’re probably going to be disappointed with both.

Once we got back to the guesthouse after class, five of us decided to explore the city a little.  We walked by a few kiosks and a medical center and a lot of construction. Everywhere we walk people literally stare us down.  We found out that if you say “muraho” (hello), their faces automatically brighten up and they smile and try to communicate a little bit back with us. I met one guy who tried to teach me “you are my friend”.  We couldn’t decide if they appreciated that we were trying to learn a little bit of their culture or if we just sounded ridiculous and they were laughing at us. Either way, it was a positive response so we just went with us and walked around telling people hey for hours. 

We walked past the Serena Hotel, which is supposed to be the nicest one in Kigali and decided to sneak in a get a look around. It is SOO beautiful inside and the pool area is amazing. When we were leaving we told one of the doormen “murabeho” (goodbye) and he told us that only older Rwandan people used that and it was very formal. One of the workers at the guesthouse said that wasn’t true so I don’t really know what to make of that.

Anyway, we went through a pretty crowded market area and ate at a restaurant called “Fantastic Restaurant” which was pretty good.  Once we got back to the guesthouse we got Jackson Uwizeye, assistant manager at the guesthouse we’re staying at, helped us to say our numbers 1-10 in Ikinyarwanda. I think I finally have that down pat.  We tried the pineapple wine and ended up giving it to two of the guesthouse workers because it was so bad. They seemed to both enjoy it though – guess it’s an acquired taste.  We played cards with some more of the students on the trip and some of the workers at the guesthouse.

Today we went to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum. They have mass graves outside where they have gathered and embalmed bodies put them into coffins and buried them together. The museum part of the memorial was very informative and we had one of our TA’s friends from Rwanda take us through it, which offered a personal aspect and was very moving. After the information part of the museum I went through the children’s museum.

Once you walk through the doors to the children’s museum they have pictures of children who were killed in the genocide. Under their pictures, there’s a plaque with their name, age, favorite food, favorite activity, a few more pieces of information about them and lastly it lists the manner in which they died. Once boy was 8 years old and it listed that he was tortured to death.  An 8-year-old child. Another 2 year old was beaten to death with clubs. A 15-month-old died in his mother’s arms by machete. It just seemed to get worse and worse. Under one of the children’s pictures it listed his last words: “UNAMIR will come save us.” If you’re not familiar with the Rwandan genocide, UNAMIR stands for United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda. They were not given enough military power by various countries (mainly the US) and therefore never came to the rescue of Rwandans.

They had plaques outside of the children’s museum with quotes from some of the genocide survivors. One 16-year-old boy said that both of his parents died and he didn’t have a single thing to remember them by – not even a photograph.  Imagine not only both of your parents dying at such a young age, but not having anything to hold in your hands to remember them. Even worse, they died at the hands of another human being.

The entire museum experience this morning was emotionally draining, but I’m glad I went and I think it’s very important that people know how this atrocity happened and how we can prevent another from happening. I think it’s interesting and heartbreaking that after the Holocaust the world said “Never Again” will there be another genocide.   However, when genocide faced the Rwandan people, the rest of the world sat back and watched. 

May 28, 2013 - Class

 

At the beginning of class we talked about things we had noticed since we got here. Some people mentioned how cleaned and developed it was and how much security there is (security guards are outside everywhere and metal detectors at the entrance to the mall).  Somebody mentioned that there were condoms at the check-out line at the supermarket that had pictures of white women on them, and that’s the only place where white women were used in advertisements, which I found very interesting.

We started talking about how genocide begins and we talked about the hate propaganda and hate speech that was so prevalent before the killing started.  We related it to a topic that may seem trivial at first, but when you think about it, you can actually make a connection: the UNC/Duke rivalry.  People take the rivalry very seriously and truly passionate feelings exist between the two schools (especially in the triangle area). 

Students and fans at UNC openly admit to “hating” Duke and I think if you talked to any student on campus you would see how real that is – it spills outside of the sports arena and into everyday lives, especially in the Durham/CH area.  We talked about dehumanization, and how the victims of genocide are referred to as animals – “cockroaches” and “vermin” for example, and related it to people referring to Coach K as a “rat”.  Additionally, we talked about the words that UNC students use to refer to Duke students – “spoiled”, “entitled”, “Yankees”, “old money”, and related it to the hate rhetoric Hutu Power used against Tutsis (who were also seen as aristocratic). 

I, for one, will admit to truly hating Duke and everything they stand for and I know lots of other people who will say “I hate Duke” and mean it.  While some people may not exactly see or understand this connection, it certainly made me realize how feelings that start over something seemingly small could grow and become something far more serious, because true feelings are involved.

After our discussion we had a guest lecture by a Rwandan man, Jean Guy (who is now a US citizen – I can’t remember his last name).  He was arrested in 1990 (for voicing opinions not consistent with the governments, I think) and escaped prison before the genocide began.  He had family and friends who had been killed in 1994, and he was the first person to openly speak to us about it.  Personally, I was AMAZED with how at peace he was, and how he was able to forgive the perpetrators of the genocide. 

A big theme that has come up multiple times is how the Hutus and Tutsis are currently living together in Rwanda after such a violent and horrible experience.  The perpetrators of genocide are living, working and studying with their victims less than twenty years after it happened.  Imagine the Nazis and Jews living together in society after the Holocaust.  It’s unimaginable to me.  Even more astounding, is that these two groups of people are living in peace.  They talk to each other and occasionally even live down the street from or work with someone who murdered their family members, and acts of retaliation are not commonly heard.  I simply cannot fathom that.

Jean Guy talked about this issue.  He talked about how his uncle, aunt and 5 cousins were killed in the genocide.  His specific words were, “If I go and kill the man who killed my family, what I have done? Will other members of their family come to kill me?”  Someone also asked if judicial intervention (ex. Nuremburg) would help the victims as a sort of justice and catharsis and he responded, “What are you going to do?”  You can’t try every single person that murdered in 1994 because of the sheer mass of people that would be imprisoned.  And what would that help anyway? A lot of them didn’t want to kill, a lot were forced to, a lot could be considered brainwashed and a lot were downright guilty. 

One more thing we mentioned today that really made me stop and almost quit breathing was when our professor said something along the lines of “you’ve probably already met and spoken with perpetrators of genocide in the three days you’ve been here”.  When he said that, I think I actually realized that this is reality, not just some story I’ve read about over and over. 

I’ve probably shaken the same hand that used a lawn tool to murder an innocent person 20 years ago.  I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around the events of 1994, but that comment made me realize that I’m not just reading or studying about it.  I’m actually here, in the city and country where it happened, interacting with the actual people involved in it.

In my eyes, the only thing as unfathomable as the killing of over 1 million people in 3 months by their own friends and neighbors is the way Rwandans are going about their ordinary lives and interacting with each other in such a short amount of time after the genocide.  While I admire how many people have been able to offer up forgiveness, I cannot wrap my head around it, and honestly probably won’t ever be able to.

So classes have now started and reading is taking up more of my time. 

Yesterday was packed. We went to our classes from 9 to 3:15 ish. When we got back a few of us went downtown to exchange money and get water.  Me and Meg separated from the group and had a few interesting experiences.  I saw 2 boys that looked a little younger than us, maybe in high school, taking pictures of us with their camera phones, which was very funny.  After that Meg tried to walk into the mall area under a pole (like the ones at train tracks) and it came down and almost hit her. Two men were laughing at us for that one.  THEN, we went to the super market to get water and handed the cashier money; the cashier looks at us and says, “This is fake. Where did you get this??” over and over and the entire store started looking at us.  We didn’t get in trouble or anything (stupid Americans) but it was a very embarrassing afternoon.

When we got back to the guesthouse, the people who work here prepared a “cocktail” for us, which was basically like a small party with music and food to welcome us to Kigali.  It was probably my favorite part of the trip so far.  Emily and I tried to talk to the gardener who was sitting beside us, but found out that our Ikinyarwanda was lacking. He and his friends asked us to take a picture with them afterwards, so I guess we weren’t that bad.

After the cocktail, my roommate finally got here, so now I don’t have to sleep by myself at night (YAY!).  Then we all decided to go to the Hotel Mil Collines (that I mentioned earlier – Hotel Rwanda) and got drinks for Lydia’s birthday.  We couldn’t figure out if the hotel had been renovated or not since 1994, but it was very western (and very expensive!).  It was very nice to relax and just hang out with everybody.  When we left, a hotel worker showed us to the nightclub in the bottom of the hotel, which looked really awesome.

At the hotel we sat out at the bar by the pool.  It was a very surreal experience being there and imagining what had taken place there 20 years ago.  Refugees used the pool for drinking water in 1994 and that’s what I kept imagining as we were sitting out there.  I didn’t see any type of memorial but somebody in class said that she thought she saw a small flame memorial around the side.  Most of the people there were Westerners, a few more Rwandans were out by the outside bar.  I think we’ve all decided we want to go back at some point during the trip.

In class we’ve spent some time talking about Paul Rusesabagina (the hotel manager who harbored refugees at the Hotel Mil Collines) and will probably continue the discussion tomorrow. However, many people have been critical of Paul’s role during the genocide because he basically befriended the enemy (Hutu Power leaders and government police) in order to save the lives at the hotel.  Personally, I have a problem with this (from my knowledge so far) because in my eyes, Paul was doing what he had to do in order to save the (many) lives of those around him.  Who cares if he gave beers to Hutu Power if he stopped them from killing the innocent children around his hotel pool?

I’ve wondered if the criticisms of Paul are talked about because of his criticisms of Paul Kagame (the current president).  Kagame was the military leader of the RPF during 1994 and has been president since then but has not exactly implemented a government that most US citizens would consider OK. However, he does draw a lot of support because the country is currently at peace, and what else could you ask for after such atrocities were so recently committed? Under his leadership the government has replaced identifications cards and they not do not say "hutu" or "tutsi" on them.  I currently haven’t formed my opinion of Kagame but as I learn more I will keep you updated. (I think all the information in the paragraph is correct, from my understanding).

Our class on international law, human rights and genocide this morning was especially interesting so I’m going to dedicate a post entirely to that class after this one.

 For dinner Elizabeth, Chelsea, Nicole, Emily and I went to a little pizza place that Peggy (she’s staying in the guesthouse right now and is in Rwanda frequently) told us about.  I had bruchettes for the first time.  We started practicing our ikinyerwanda and I think I can now say “hello”, “good morning”, “goodnight”, “thank you” and “no” – better than nothing.

 I’m not sure what is planned for tomorrow – I think Sarah mentioned something about going to a craft store after classes.

Morning

Well, after 26 hours of flying I’m finally here.  We were picked up from the airport and driven to the Presbyterian guest house where we’ll be staying for the next 5 weeks.  My roommate is not here yet due to flight cancellations so I’ll be sleeping by myself until Tuesday (ish). 

The city is beautiful (from what I saw last night) and there are so many hills.  Kigali is home to about 3 million people I believe.  Today we are supposed to take a tour of the city and hopefully go to the currency exchange – and a convenience store.  I have no shampoo yet because I was going to wait and buy it here.  My bath this morning consisted of just soap and no shower curtain - a lot different than home.

Also I slept under a mosquito net for the first time last night.  I thought it would make me feel clustered but it actually makes me feel a little safer.  The house we’re staying at is nice and very beautiful.  WIFI is somewhat hard to connect to in my room but is easy to get in the lounge area.

 

 

May 26, 2013 (PM)

Today we went into Kigali to exchange money and get necessities and then took a bus tour of the city.  Overall the city is very clean and pretty developed and it’s hard for me to imagine all the terrible things that happened here 20 years ago.  We walked by the Hotel Milles Collines, which is where Paul Rusesabagina housed many refugees during the genocide and inspired the movie Hotel Rwanda. 

The bus tour was very interesting.  We went to a genocide memorial where Tutsi’s were forced to march to up the mountain and then killed.  We also went to a stadium (I can’t remember the exact name for either) where Tutsi’s were gathered and tortured.  The tour was very interesting and as I learn more about the events of 1994 the landmarks have so much more meaning to me. 

Also during the bus tour we were definitely stared at a lot more by locals than I’m used to at home.  The white population in Kigali is close to nothing and people definitely took notice of us.  However, the people are very friendly and I’m excited to interact more with them throughout the next five weeks.

May 24, 2013

Hey everybody. I'm currently laid over in Washington Dulles airport while I wait for my flight to Brussels, Belgium.  My ending destination is Kigali, Rwanda, where I will be spending the next five weeks until I fly to The Hague, Netherlands (home of the International Criminal Court) for one week. During this time, I will be studying Rwandan culture, the 1994 Rwanda genocide and international criminal law.

As a journalism major, I tend to weed out the BS and this blog will probably just be a few pictures and a paragraph or so a day (depending on how much access to internet I have), just to let everyone know what I'm doing and that I'm still alive. No quirky jokes or anything like that - sorry.

I have no idea what to expect other than that I will stand out like a sore thumb - if not by my blonde hair then by my accent (which I've been told is kinda thick). This will be my first time out of the country (and my first time blogging) so wish me luck and keep in touch via facebook/email. Looking forward to telling y'all all about it when I come home!