Rwanda in pictures

Rwandans had to carry identity cards.This is one of them. This would pretty much decide on life and death


At the Belgian memorial:


Civil war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo



Some of the little kids at the orphanage and at the Gender-based violence centre

Thousand hills

This is Africa

I'm back on the old continent, Europe.Back to fast internet connections, hot water, individualism...On the plane I had time to reflect on my time in Rwanda (and Ghana).Volunteering is really one of the best ways to know a country. Tourist and investors only stay a few days or a week. They see on part of Africa, its exterior coating. Sure safaris and gorillas are beautiful but you stay in the car and don't interact with the people or the continent. You only see the surface, not what is hidden. Africa is a little like Rwanda's hills: rich, enigmatic, noisy and silent, excessive, diverse.

Africa should certainly not be treated a single entity but I will do it a little bit here. African cultures are extremely different from European and American cultures. There isn't much in common yet this is what makes the continent so mysterious and interesting. Nothing really prepares you for Africa. In the West, Africa is the Other, a symbol of poverty, hunger, war, corruption, genocide. Yes, these things exist but Africa is so much more than that. Its people, landscapes, cultures made me fall in love with the continent.

But for that you need to mingle and interact with Africa and its people: talk to them, go to the market, visit their homes. Most people in the West are indifferent, if not hostile towards Africa.
Describing Africa is difficult. I found it difficult to find the right words because African landscapes, traditions and mentalities are so different and diverse. Africa is a thousand situations, varied, contradictory, distinct. A mosaic. The more you stare at it, the more you interact with it, the more you will discover. It will give rise to a spectacle of richness. Volunteering certainly allows you do that. you walk a lot, take public transports, go to the market and shop where Africans shop, you work with them everyday, you avoid fancy hotels and restaurants at all costs, they invite you to their homes, you share a meal, establish trust and therefore learn much more than tourists (and those Chinese investors on their cellphones, standing by the side of the road) do.

The best way to help African countries would be for politicians and policy makers to actually come here and see how things work. For example, Africans have a completely different relationships with time. Westerners live according to time, time exists outside them, they are like slaves. Africans take a completely different approach. Time is something created by man. Time is a result of our actions, we influence and shape it.
Another major difference I have noticed is the sense of community that exists here. Europeans and Americans are egocentric and individualistic. Here community is everything and being left alone is seen as the worst thing that could happen to an individual. Problems are solved collectively: crimes, thefts, car accidents, traffic jams. You will often see people standing by the side of the road because something has happened: everybody gets involved, everybody wants to know, they all talk to find a solution. These kind of talks and debates take place when it comes to solving conflicts as well, or if someone is sick or needs food or money. People will seek help from a neighbour or from the community. So I think that before we impose our views on African countries and model aid and development policies according to our way of life we need to know how things work here, how people lead their daily lives. The best solutions can be found by looking at how people lead their lives and interact with each other, and by asking those whom the policies are going to target. They have an opinion and they have solutions to offer as well, more than anybody even. I think they know better than anyone what is needed. But how often do policy makers ask for their opinions?
If I ever become a human rights monitor and policy maker I hope I will not forget what I've learned here.People have a lot to offer and we have a lot to learn from them. I hope the West stops being indifferent or to this Other, to Africa, and finally starts to see it something other than the "Dark continent." When you are on a safari in Kenya or Tanzania and see people on the road or sitting outside their clay huts, go out of your car and talk to them. They'll teach you a lot. Encounter Africa.

I already miss Kigali before night falls. The birds, the cool wind, the mist, the people going back to their hills, the smoking cooking fires, the laughing and singing children coming back from school, kicking self-made footballs or rolling old tires. Rwanda beautiful at sunrise and sunset. You cannot help but stop and watch.I'll be back some day.

Rwanda Rwanda.....

Today is my last day.I've been running around trying to find souvenirs.It's difficult because there is a lot I wish I could take back...(including one or two orphans but I think that wouldn't be smart).
I have had a fantastic time here, a better time even than in Ghana.Rwanda is an amazingly beautiful country and so are the people.It's sad that Rwanda still has a bad reputation because I think more people should visit.It is hard to explain how great Rwanda is or what it looks like, especially to people who have never been to Africa.There is almost nothing here that looks like what we know or see everyday.Yet this is exactly what makes it so great.Change, depaysement.
On Friday, for my last work day, I organized a little party for the people I worked with.Lots of laughs and tears...and a water balloon fight as well!It lightens the mood...
Tonight, I'll go to the local bar one last time, have brochettes (kebabs.Typical bar food here) and Irish potatoes with African spices.One last Primus or Mutzig (the two beers you find in Rwanda.Not very good but good enough) and I'll be good to go...

Last blog from Rwanda....

Gacaca courts: "justice needed to be witnessed by the very people who experienced the lack thereof."

Last Saturday, I walked by a large group of people. In the middle stood a man in pink facing the rest of the crowd: Gacaca courts.
Gacaca courts used to be traditional councils made up of elders to resolve conflicts. Literally, it means "a resting relaxing green lawn in the Rwandan homestead" (yes, all of that) where family members and neighbors met to exchange views and resolve conflicts.
It is a collectivist reconciliatory process that has been central to African justice for centuries.
Today, Gacacas continue to define society and are now being used to try genocide suspects.

Reconciliation is key. In kinyarwandan reconciliation is kwiyungo, meaning "to mend ourselves": it means that restorative justice should take precedence over punitive or retributive justice. Indeed, a dialogue takes place between all the parties involved: victims, judges, community and criminal.This type of dialogue is quite rare in traditional/typical trials and dialogue is meant to ensure that the offender understand the harm he has caused (this is quite optimistic in a way.I'm not sure they always understand their actions). The goal is to make amends and to make the offender personally accountable. To reach that goal, the accused must acknowledge the pain he has caused and ask for forgiveness (this idea is quite optimistic as well. family obviously have a hard time forgiving the offender)
Gacaca always take place in the communities in which the crime was committed. This is important since the International Criminal Court for Rwanda was based in Arusha, Tanzania, making it almost impossible for anyone to travel there. Victims and witnesses had to be brought there but families and the rest of the community could hardly attend trials. Rwandans felt that the tribunal had been sat up to please the international community who had failed to come to the help of Rwandans during the genocide.
This is one of the reasons why Gacaca courts are being used. there are other reasons as well: after the genocide, the country's infrastructure and law and order were in a state of collapse. Judicial institutions had ceased to exist and many judges had participated in the genocide, had fled to the Congo or, because they were Tutsis, had been killed. There was also an extremely large number of perpetrators: 818,564 suspected of having committed crimes of genocide. The process turned out to be extremely slow and tenuous. By 2000, 120,000 suspects were still cramped in prisons living in inhuman conditions (I have heard horror stories about prisoners having to stand all day, making their feet swell and hard like rock to the point that the prisoner could simply "take off" his toes. I know....disgusting). There was a need for speed. The new government therefore decided the merge two objectives: the rehabilitation of the fragile justice system and the organization of genocide trials the Rwandan way.
The courts have 4 objectives: bring the conflict into the open; involve the whole community; provide compensation; bring offenders back into the community. Truth, reconciliation and punishment are central. By coming forward the perpetrator would get "rewarded" with reduced sentences.
The accused persons were put into 4 categories (later 3):
1. those whose planned, organized, instigated, supervised, led the genocide and committed crimes.The first category of perpetrators were tried in Arusha at the International tribunal for Rwanda. These included\ Ministers, the Prime Minister, military officials, religious leaders.
2. those who committed homicide or attacks intended to cause death
3. those who participated in serious attacks which were not intended to cause death
4. property crimes

Gacaca are still taking place today. It is estimated that 1.5 million have been tried by now.By 2008, the courts had tried 1,127,706 cases. The process helped put the nature of the genocide into context while also considering the historical, political and cultural context of the society in transition. The state also showed that it was able and willing to act and wanted to work according international human rights standards. Whether the process has truly worked will have to been seen. I am sceptical about full reconciliation and believe that considering the amount of crimes committed and mass the violence that took place, people do not trust each other and certainly not neighbours (it was common during the genocide for someone to kill a neighbour even though they had lived side by side for years). I am scared that something will happen that will trigger new violence. We'll have to see.

Belgian Memorial pictures

Kigali at the bottom of the hills

Jeannine's house

I visited one of my student's homes on Friday.She lives in one of the poorest part of the city, that is at the bottom of the hills (it's terrible when it rains because it gets really muddy and you always have risks of mudslides.Her house consists of one room divided in two by a curtain.On one side you have a mattress for her and her dad (her mother died a few years ago and her sister left the house and got married) and on the other side you have a wooden bunk where they eat and cook.That's it in terms of furniture.They hang their belongings on the wall (clothing etc) No kitchen whatsoever, no electricity, no windows.It's just dark and very stuffy.Jeannine is doing quite poorly at school and you kind understand the reasons when you the her study environment.
The house is situated at the bottom of one of Kigali's hills: and the place is like new world, separated from the rest of the city or what is up the hill.Own little world.It has a small market, a few bars, little shops, hairdressers, etc (nothing fancy, just barracks).To get to the city center you have to go up to hill (very steep) and take a bus.I think mostly people stay down there, except for the kids who go to school.It's a really strange place but people all know each other and greet each other.They have very little yet, as cheesy as it sounds, they have each pother and neighbors help neighbors.Also, there are A LOT of kids down there, which is quite disheartening because jobs are already lacking and I don't see it getting any better any time soon.Rwanda's population is already very large considering the country's size and it is still growing.
I hope her and her dad some groceries because it really seemed like they had absolutely nothing.
Most of the kids and women I work with live in that area.I'm visiting another on Thursday.

Belgian memorial

There's a small memorial for the 10 Belgian UN soldiers in Kigali.The memorial (old military barracks) is actually situated where they got killed so you can still see the bullet holes, grenades and even some blood.It's pretty grim, especially since I've seen the barracks in documentaries and movies.In "Shake hands with the Devil" you see the bodies of two Belgian peacekeepers on the floor.This is where it happened.The memorial was established with the help of the Belgian government and there's also a little museum attached to it.The families of the victims came not long ago and wrong some angry words against UN General Romeo Dallaire and Belgian Military Officer Marchal.. They hold them partly responsible for the death of the 10 soliders.While I understand their gries, I believe Dallaire and Marchal shouldn't be held accountable.Dallaire sent a telegram to the UN warning them about growing tensions and killings and asking for troopps but the Un refused.It was chaos over there and I thinkn he was trying his best considerting the situation.He was pretty much alone and I don't think he could have known his men would be killed.

On another note: I only have one week left!So much to do still.

Food fund

In the past couple of weeks I have realized that some of the kids here seriously lack food.Two cases stand out:
Alphonse is currently living on his own with his disabled brother because his mother has HIV and TB and has therefore been at the hospital for three weeks.Kids here don't complain much so he hadn't told us he wasn't really getting any food.When we asked him where he got dinner he said him and his brother ask neighbours or beg for food but they quite often skip breakfast and lunch.
Then there is Oriva.When I first met her at the beginning of my volunteer project, she was a really happy kid but lately she has been feeling sad and sick.When I asked her why she said that when she comes home for lunch she often finds the door locked because her mother has gone off to work.Or if she can get in, there is nothing to eat (she is ten, so even if there's rice or pasta, she can't cook it).She is a bit of a neglected child, plus her mother has to work hard.
So basically I spent the past ten days buying groceries: pasta, rice, peanut butter, bread, a few fruits and vegetables.And three of the kids now stay for lunch instead of going home.
While this is easy while I'm here, I don't know what's going to happen once I'm gone.So another volunteer and myself decided to establish a food fund.What we would do is pay the supermarket in advance then if it turns out that the kids haven't had food, they can go to the shop with a coupon and get bread or other basic food in exchange.I hope it works out.While education is crucial, food is the most important thing for the moment.

I also found lots of pearls so the women I make baskets with could make jewelry for themselves and sell them at the market.They were really happy and were having a bit of a fashion show.They can be really creative.

So I'm still pretty busy (and using lunchbreak to write these blogs).I'm going to visit some of the kids families and homes tonight and next week.It should be fun even though they live in really poor neighborhoods.

Butare

Another volunteer and I finally decided to go to the genocide memorial in Butare, in the South of the country, towards Burundi.A new technical college was built there just before the genocide and during the massacres, Hutu militia men and local representatives and church men told Tutsis to seek refuge at the college.At the time, Butare was largely populated by Tutsis and many refugees from other regions sought refuge there as well because the mayor was Tutsi before the killings began (he was later killed and replaced. Hutu militia men, interahamwe were then sent to the region).Tutsis hid there for two weeks, 50,000 of them before the interahamwe and local Hutus came to kill them.6 people survived. Those who tried to escape failed to so because the Technical college is surrounded by hills. Hutus would make sure the place was surrounded.Mass graves were then dug and people thrown in, some still alive (excuse the details). The French, Operation Turquoise, arrived a little later and stayed in the college barracks.The role of the French is widely debated and criticized: it has been proven that they helped the Hutus by providing weapons and by failing to help Tutsis.As they stayed at the college, they built a volley ball field...on the mass graves.

After the genocide, many of the victims were buried but survivors decided to establish a memorial there: they decided to preserve 800 bodies in lime and exhibit them.It's a very grtim memorial, very much in contrast with the surrounding peaceful landscape.Some rooms containm children, other women and men.Facial expressions, clothing or a wedding ring is what strucks you more and truly renders the bodies human (they look a little bit alike mummies). Coming out of the room containing children, it is both a relief and disturbing to see children playing outside in the surrounding fields.

I won't post any pictures of the memorial although I had to take a couple for an interview I will give when I get back to Canada.If you are interested, just email me.

Rwandan life stories

Almost daily you hear someone's account of the genocide.For example, the head of the organization I work for is a female doctor. She was already a doctor during the genocide. One days as she was working at the hospital, two wounded men arrived: an interahamwe and an RPF soldier (Tutsi).The interahamwe was badly wounded at the chest, the RPF soldier had been hit at the leg, but was in better shape. So she treated the interahamwe first.The RPF soldier got angry and wanted to have her arrested, if not killed.Thankfully the doctor knew high placed RPF people who managed to calm everyone down.But, still, she was almost killed.Even today, I believe some of her acquaintances have mixed emotions about her...But as a doctor, she still felt she had to do her job and treat the badly wounded patient first...no matter who he was and what he had done. I guess some doctors anywhere else in world find themselves in slightly similar situations when they have to treat rapists, killers etc first before other patients.
Both the RPF soldier and the interahamwe survived.


On a completely different subject, I'm craving salad, cheese and fresh vegetables.Rwandans eat: fries, red beans, plantain, rice, pasta, some veggies (cauliflower, carrots and tomatoes...and good avocados) and a little meat (goat, beef, chicken).Everything is cooked or fried.I know I need energy for the day but still...that's a lot of proteins and starch. I would love a good steak as well...not much meat on there chickens.