I am back home, and wow it feels weird. And sad, but also good.
Right now, I really wish I could just say some final story about the trip, or share some of the lessons that I have learned, or even begin to explain how this summer has changed my life. But that is seriously impossible, and the thought of trying to express how amazing, how sad, and how inspiring my experience in Rwanda was is absolutely overwhelming.
I guess I could start by talking about what I miss about Rwanda. I mostly miss the little things, like lime fanta (soooo yummy!), the smile on everyone's faces as we greeted them in Kinyarwanda ("Amakuru!?"), the MTN cell phone stores on literally every corner, and the crazy rooster with no sense of time that lived near our guesthouse. I miss looking at the sky and actually getting a sense that the world is a sphere. I miss teaching random people Spanish in exchange for Kinyarwanda lessons. I miss talking to the cleaning women at Solace, even though I couldn't understand one word of what they were saying. I miss tucking myself into a bednet, and being woken up in the morning by pounding noises of dedicated Rwandans building a church next door. I miss being really confused by the way Rwandans mix up the pronunciation of L's and R's, and wondering why they wanted to "pray" basketball and "play" at church. I miss riding around town in our lovebus, and continously stuffing people into awesome Chris Brown minibuses (you might think they are full, but don't worry, at least ten more people can fit inside!). I miss Kigali's ridiculous billboards. I miss hearing "muzungu" being yelled at me from several blocks away, while I'm standing on the guesthouse patio. I miss the endless supply of french fries, and the delicious ham and avocado sandwhich at Rwanda's very own, wannabe wal-mart (called Simba).
But most of all, I miss the inspiring things that define Rwanda, like how far the country has come since 1994 and how strong the Rwandese people truly are. I miss looking around and seeing a glint of hope in everyone's life, even though it will always be mixed with tragedy and sadness.
Maybe what I learned most from my experience in Rwanda is how lucky we are to be alive, and how important it is to truly appreciate the people you love.
I hope I will remember that forever.
Love and peace,
Colleen
p.s.
Every morning, before I get out of bed, I hope that when I open my eyes, I will be back in Rwanda with the twenty-two other amazing people I shared this experience with. You guys rock.
p.p.s.
But I am also glad to be home with my family!!!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Amsterdam! and the end:(
On our last day in Europe, Jenny and I went to Amsterdam! I couldn't leave the Netherlands without going to Amsterdam. We had no plan, of course, but once we got there, we just hopped off the train and started walking. After we found a map, we ate lunch in this little yummy place (I ate tuna!).
Then we tried to find our way to Anne Frank's house! It took awhile to walk there, because we kept stopping at random places (like little stores, a cool park, and a plaza with break dancers). We waited in line for awhile at Anne Frank's house, but it was worth it. It was a different experience than going into a genocide memorial with hundreds of dead bodies and skeletons like in Rwanda, but that doesn't mean it wasn't powerful. When I was in the annex where she and her whole family hid, I tried to imagine not going outside for years and years. I can't even think about how awful that would be.
We also went to the Van Gogh museum. It was cool, but I didn't really think it was worth all the money I paid to get in! The paintings were beautiful of course, but I guess I'm not that much of an art person. And Starry Night wasn't even there, how sad!
My favorite part of Amsterdam was going to a park. We saw it on the map, so we asked a guy at the museum if it was worth walking to. He said it was cool, but "all there is is grass, trees, and hippees." Of course, that made us want to go even more. We just layed in the grass, listening to music, near all of the hippees that were smoking pot. It was seriously so much fun just laying there!
Amsterdam is nice, but I just really miss Rwanda. I used to always dream about one day backpacking through Europe. But now, I'm honestly not that interested in doing that. Besides the fact that it would be exhausting and expensive, I really just would rather spend my time in somewhere like Rwanda.
We had our goodbye dinner the last night of our trip, and it was so sad. I really love everyone that was on this trip; they are all amazing in their own way. They were really my family for six weeks, and I think we will always be there for each other. We've experienced a lot that was really hard to deal with emotionally, and we've all made it through together. I cannot explain how comforting it is to look around and see their lovely faces. I really don't know what I'm going to do without them around me every minute of every day!
Then we tried to find our way to Anne Frank's house! It took awhile to walk there, because we kept stopping at random places (like little stores, a cool park, and a plaza with break dancers). We waited in line for awhile at Anne Frank's house, but it was worth it. It was a different experience than going into a genocide memorial with hundreds of dead bodies and skeletons like in Rwanda, but that doesn't mean it wasn't powerful. When I was in the annex where she and her whole family hid, I tried to imagine not going outside for years and years. I can't even think about how awful that would be.
We also went to the Van Gogh museum. It was cool, but I didn't really think it was worth all the money I paid to get in! The paintings were beautiful of course, but I guess I'm not that much of an art person. And Starry Night wasn't even there, how sad!
My favorite part of Amsterdam was going to a park. We saw it on the map, so we asked a guy at the museum if it was worth walking to. He said it was cool, but "all there is is grass, trees, and hippees." Of course, that made us want to go even more. We just layed in the grass, listening to music, near all of the hippees that were smoking pot. It was seriously so much fun just laying there!
Amsterdam is nice, but I just really miss Rwanda. I used to always dream about one day backpacking through Europe. But now, I'm honestly not that interested in doing that. Besides the fact that it would be exhausting and expensive, I really just would rather spend my time in somewhere like Rwanda.
We had our goodbye dinner the last night of our trip, and it was so sad. I really love everyone that was on this trip; they are all amazing in their own way. They were really my family for six weeks, and I think we will always be there for each other. We've experienced a lot that was really hard to deal with emotionally, and we've all made it through together. I cannot explain how comforting it is to look around and see their lovely faces. I really don't know what I'm going to do without them around me every minute of every day!
Exploring
While we weren't learning about all of the international courts in the Netherlands, we had a lot of time to explore the country!
I think my favorite thing we did was ride bikes to the beach. A lot of people rode bikes while I was in Brussels, and I was sad that maybe I wouldn't get a chance to do it! But one day, Matt and I decided to go. We left around 6:30 in the evening, which is totally fine because it doesn't get dark there until like 11:30. Anyway, we rented two bikes from our hostel, and just hopped on and headed toward the beach! It was seriously sooooo much fun. It felt good to work out, and to have the wind blowing in my face, haha! I needed to take a break from thinking about genocide and all of the other horrible things we have talked about for six weeks. Everything about it was amazing, except when we literally (literally!!!!) almost got run over at least eight times, by about every form of transportation you can find in the Hague (including trains).
After about half an hour bikeride, we made it to the beach. We just walked in the sand with our feet in the freezing cold water and talked about life, while we ate ice cream (of course)! We pretty much talked about everything, like how we miss our families and friends, but how we have become so close to the people in our group. We talked about how the experience of being in Rwanda has changed our lives, but also about how we will probably never truly understand how much this trip has affected us. It was so nice to just hang out and kind of decompress. And Matt is awesome, yay!
My other favorite thing that we did in the Hague was play frisbee! We've played frisbee a couple of times in Rwanda, which was so fun. But this time, it was even more amazing because we actually played ultimate frisbee in this random park near our hostel. It was so incredibly awesome. I was on a team with Thomas, who is insanely good at frisbee, and we were playing against David, Matt, and Kate. It was sooooooooo AWESOME, and intense! We were playing to seven and you have to win by two, and the game was so close. But yipppeeee, me and Thomas eventually won, and we are now the frisbee champions. We will be playing frisbee in the quad when school starts again, for sure!
I think my favorite thing we did was ride bikes to the beach. A lot of people rode bikes while I was in Brussels, and I was sad that maybe I wouldn't get a chance to do it! But one day, Matt and I decided to go. We left around 6:30 in the evening, which is totally fine because it doesn't get dark there until like 11:30. Anyway, we rented two bikes from our hostel, and just hopped on and headed toward the beach! It was seriously sooooo much fun. It felt good to work out, and to have the wind blowing in my face, haha! I needed to take a break from thinking about genocide and all of the other horrible things we have talked about for six weeks. Everything about it was amazing, except when we literally (literally!!!!) almost got run over at least eight times, by about every form of transportation you can find in the Hague (including trains).
After about half an hour bikeride, we made it to the beach. We just walked in the sand with our feet in the freezing cold water and talked about life, while we ate ice cream (of course)! We pretty much talked about everything, like how we miss our families and friends, but how we have become so close to the people in our group. We talked about how the experience of being in Rwanda has changed our lives, but also about how we will probably never truly understand how much this trip has affected us. It was so nice to just hang out and kind of decompress. And Matt is awesome, yay!
My other favorite thing that we did in the Hague was play frisbee! We've played frisbee a couple of times in Rwanda, which was so fun. But this time, it was even more amazing because we actually played ultimate frisbee in this random park near our hostel. It was so incredibly awesome. I was on a team with Thomas, who is insanely good at frisbee, and we were playing against David, Matt, and Kate. It was sooooooooo AWESOME, and intense! We were playing to seven and you have to win by two, and the game was so close. But yipppeeee, me and Thomas eventually won, and we are now the frisbee champions. We will be playing frisbee in the quad when school starts again, for sure!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Courts, the Hague
Over our last few days in the Netherlands, we visited three different international courts, got to observe a couple of trials, and got to talk to some really cool people.
The first one we went to was the International Criminal Court (ICC), which we learned about a lot in class. First we watched the case of a man named Lubanga, who was the first man arrested by the ICC since it officially opened in 2002. Lubanga is charged with child soldiering in the DRC. His trial has been going on for awhile, so it was kind of confusing to just jump into a random point in the trial and try to figure out what was going on. But it was really interesting too. I found myself staring at him most of the time, and I couldn't stop. It was just so strange to watch his reactions to what was going on in the courtroom. Most of the time, he didn't move a muscle. It must be weird to sit in the same place for months and months while the international community is trying to lock you in prison forever. He did look a little squirmy in his seat once in awhile though, especially when the witness started talking.
After we saw Lubanga's trial, we talked with a few workers at the ICC. The most awesome one was Fatou Bensouda, who is the deputy prosecutor of the ICC. She is probably the most powerful/ highest up female prosecutor in the world! and she was really cool because she had worked at the international criminal tribunal in Rwanda (ICTR), so we had a lot to talk about and a lot of insights to share. The one question she asked us was "how could Rwandan people, who are so incredibly friendly and welcoming, commit a genocide?" And I really think that question can be applied to anyone, from anywhere in the world, who has been a part of a genocide : how can anyone do such a horrible thing?
Anyway, we were all kind of contemplating this thought, because it really is mind-boggling. Rwandan people are seriously the nicest group of people I have ever met, and it's really hard to understand how some of them could take part in a genocide. We started discussing how Rwandans have kind of created and followed a culture of obedience to authority, which is really scary. In 1994, the authority said to kill, and many of them killed. Now, the authority is telling Rwandans to move on, and so many of them are moving on. I'm not trying to generalize and say that only Rwandans have a culture where it is so important to obey the people in power, or that this was the only cause of the genocide. But I really do thing the pressure in society to follow the authorities really played a huge role in what happened during 1994. Right now, it is a really good thing that the leader, Kagame, is sort of a "benevolent dictator." He definitely has, for the most part, been using his strict control of the country to work towards peace and national unity, and the people, for the most part, are listening. It is just really scary to think about what might happen when Kagame leaves office, for whatever reason. Anything could really happen; another genocide is possible. But we just have to pray that that won't happen.
At the ICC, we also had a few discussions about peace vs. justice. Can you achieve both, or is it easier to achieve peace without justice (like by issuing amnesties etc to end a war)? We began talking about this topic because of events that have taken place in Sudan. When the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Al Bashir, the current president of Sudan, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, he kicked all of the NGO's out of the country, causing so many problems for the people in Darfur. And Al Bashir still remains at large. In this case, the ICC was trying to achieved justice, but this caused a disruption in peace for the suffering people in Darfur. We talked with some people at the ICC about how arrests warrants, like Al Bashir's, may actually be counterproductive. But at the same time, the ICC workers pointed out that if you don't issue an arrest warrant now, when are you going to do it? when all of the innocent victims are already dead?
We also talked a little bit about good and evil. Someone asked us if we thought people could be truly evil. I've thought about this question before, but I think my opinion might be changing. I really used to think that no one is truly evil, but people can definitely do evil things. Now I don't know though; every time I hear about the absolutely horrible atrocities that people committed in Rwanda, I wonder more and more if there actually are truly evil people out there. Right now, I think the answer might be yes.
In the Hague, we also talked to some workers at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which was set up after the civil war there. We were going to see the trial of Charles Taylor, who was the former president of Liberia who gave weapons/money with the rebels in Sierra Leone in exchange for diamonds that were mined by children and people under forced labor. But his trial was sadly postponed until the middle of July, oh well!
I still got to thinking a lot about diamonds though (and I thought of you Lauren, because we have had this discussion a few times!). I guess it is understandable why people like diamonds so much, I mean they are beautiful. But seriously so many diamonds are "conflict diamonds," and the ones that are not are probably mined under absolutely absolutely horrible conditions. Besides, the Kimberly process for certifying non-conflict diamonds was a complete failure; many people claim that the certified diamonds are not mined under conflicts/bad conditions, but often, they actually are. I love kanye west's song called Diamonds from Sierra Leone. I may have listened to it 45 times in the past two days.
We also went to the criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which is the sister tribunal to the ICTR. It was interesting, but I didn't really know much about the problems in Yugoslavia before I went to visit the court. Actually, I still don't know much about it! But I did get to observe a really interesting trial, which was only cool because the prosecutor was not very good. She was actually horrible. Not that I could do any better or something, but we sat there for literally forty-five minutes, and she was only able to get out one question to the witness. The rest of the time, the judge was basically yelling at her for asking leading/stupid questions. And the defense lawyer, who was wearing one of those George Washington-looking wigs, kept standing up and objecting to everything the prosecutor did. I definitely learned a lot about court, but not that much about Yugoslavia. It was nice, because there was finally some action in the courtroom!
We also went on a tour of the international court of justice (ICJ), which tries cases between two countries, whereas the ICC tries individuals. It was cool, because it was in the amazing building called the Peace Palace. It pretty much is a palace; it was decorated like a queen should live there. That's cool, but the whole time I was wondering if the money used to build the court could have been used in a better way. Like maybe to help keep peace so that countries and people are less likely to need to use the ICJ or the ICC!?!?!
I will write more about the Netherlands soon, especially about the fun things we did there!
love colleen
The first one we went to was the International Criminal Court (ICC), which we learned about a lot in class. First we watched the case of a man named Lubanga, who was the first man arrested by the ICC since it officially opened in 2002. Lubanga is charged with child soldiering in the DRC. His trial has been going on for awhile, so it was kind of confusing to just jump into a random point in the trial and try to figure out what was going on. But it was really interesting too. I found myself staring at him most of the time, and I couldn't stop. It was just so strange to watch his reactions to what was going on in the courtroom. Most of the time, he didn't move a muscle. It must be weird to sit in the same place for months and months while the international community is trying to lock you in prison forever. He did look a little squirmy in his seat once in awhile though, especially when the witness started talking.
After we saw Lubanga's trial, we talked with a few workers at the ICC. The most awesome one was Fatou Bensouda, who is the deputy prosecutor of the ICC. She is probably the most powerful/ highest up female prosecutor in the world! and she was really cool because she had worked at the international criminal tribunal in Rwanda (ICTR), so we had a lot to talk about and a lot of insights to share. The one question she asked us was "how could Rwandan people, who are so incredibly friendly and welcoming, commit a genocide?" And I really think that question can be applied to anyone, from anywhere in the world, who has been a part of a genocide : how can anyone do such a horrible thing?
Anyway, we were all kind of contemplating this thought, because it really is mind-boggling. Rwandan people are seriously the nicest group of people I have ever met, and it's really hard to understand how some of them could take part in a genocide. We started discussing how Rwandans have kind of created and followed a culture of obedience to authority, which is really scary. In 1994, the authority said to kill, and many of them killed. Now, the authority is telling Rwandans to move on, and so many of them are moving on. I'm not trying to generalize and say that only Rwandans have a culture where it is so important to obey the people in power, or that this was the only cause of the genocide. But I really do thing the pressure in society to follow the authorities really played a huge role in what happened during 1994. Right now, it is a really good thing that the leader, Kagame, is sort of a "benevolent dictator." He definitely has, for the most part, been using his strict control of the country to work towards peace and national unity, and the people, for the most part, are listening. It is just really scary to think about what might happen when Kagame leaves office, for whatever reason. Anything could really happen; another genocide is possible. But we just have to pray that that won't happen.
At the ICC, we also had a few discussions about peace vs. justice. Can you achieve both, or is it easier to achieve peace without justice (like by issuing amnesties etc to end a war)? We began talking about this topic because of events that have taken place in Sudan. When the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Al Bashir, the current president of Sudan, for war crimes and crimes against humanity, he kicked all of the NGO's out of the country, causing so many problems for the people in Darfur. And Al Bashir still remains at large. In this case, the ICC was trying to achieved justice, but this caused a disruption in peace for the suffering people in Darfur. We talked with some people at the ICC about how arrests warrants, like Al Bashir's, may actually be counterproductive. But at the same time, the ICC workers pointed out that if you don't issue an arrest warrant now, when are you going to do it? when all of the innocent victims are already dead?
We also talked a little bit about good and evil. Someone asked us if we thought people could be truly evil. I've thought about this question before, but I think my opinion might be changing. I really used to think that no one is truly evil, but people can definitely do evil things. Now I don't know though; every time I hear about the absolutely horrible atrocities that people committed in Rwanda, I wonder more and more if there actually are truly evil people out there. Right now, I think the answer might be yes.
In the Hague, we also talked to some workers at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which was set up after the civil war there. We were going to see the trial of Charles Taylor, who was the former president of Liberia who gave weapons/money with the rebels in Sierra Leone in exchange for diamonds that were mined by children and people under forced labor. But his trial was sadly postponed until the middle of July, oh well!
I still got to thinking a lot about diamonds though (and I thought of you Lauren, because we have had this discussion a few times!). I guess it is understandable why people like diamonds so much, I mean they are beautiful. But seriously so many diamonds are "conflict diamonds," and the ones that are not are probably mined under absolutely absolutely horrible conditions. Besides, the Kimberly process for certifying non-conflict diamonds was a complete failure; many people claim that the certified diamonds are not mined under conflicts/bad conditions, but often, they actually are. I love kanye west's song called Diamonds from Sierra Leone. I may have listened to it 45 times in the past two days.
We also went to the criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which is the sister tribunal to the ICTR. It was interesting, but I didn't really know much about the problems in Yugoslavia before I went to visit the court. Actually, I still don't know much about it! But I did get to observe a really interesting trial, which was only cool because the prosecutor was not very good. She was actually horrible. Not that I could do any better or something, but we sat there for literally forty-five minutes, and she was only able to get out one question to the witness. The rest of the time, the judge was basically yelling at her for asking leading/stupid questions. And the defense lawyer, who was wearing one of those George Washington-looking wigs, kept standing up and objecting to everything the prosecutor did. I definitely learned a lot about court, but not that much about Yugoslavia. It was nice, because there was finally some action in the courtroom!
We also went on a tour of the international court of justice (ICJ), which tries cases between two countries, whereas the ICC tries individuals. It was cool, because it was in the amazing building called the Peace Palace. It pretty much is a palace; it was decorated like a queen should live there. That's cool, but the whole time I was wondering if the money used to build the court could have been used in a better way. Like maybe to help keep peace so that countries and people are less likely to need to use the ICJ or the ICC!?!?!
I will write more about the Netherlands soon, especially about the fun things we did there!
love colleen
Monday, June 22, 2009
Europe! the netherlands and belgium
We are in Europe! It is crazy, because there is no time difference from Rwanda. So we traveled for over twenty four hours, but I didn´t really have jetlag because it is in the same time zone as Rwanda. The trip did seem long, but I watched movies, slept, and rested. For a lot of the time, me and my friend Matt shared an ipod and listened ridiculous music. AMAZING
Anyway, it was weird going from Africa to Europe. It is just so different, and we all had a bit of culture shock when we got here to the Netherlands. It was just so weird. The people aren´t as nice, and I don´t like the vibe as much as Rwanda. It´s too organized and stuffy! And it´s strange being part of the majority again, in terms of race. The first day here in the Netherlands, whenever I saw someone, I would stare at them at want to yell `Muzungu`really loudly, which means foreigner and white person in Kinyarwanda. I just like the way of life in Rwanda better, I feel like I fit in better there. People in Rwanda seem to appreciate being alive more than they do here, even though their lives are probably so much harder. I guess I shouldn´t generalize though, because I have only been in the Netherlands for a few days. But one of the most important things I learned in Rwanda was that we are just so lucky and we should appreciate ever second of every day. And, of course this sounds cliche, but we have to realize that everything we do affects everyone around the world. There is so much we can do to help, and so much we can do to hurt.
After we arrived at our hostel in the Hague, which is a really nice hostel, we just walked around town a little. It is so stereotypically European, in a good way, with plazas and fountains on every corner! It´s amazing to finally be able to drink tapwater and eat salads!!! haha, but I guess I am so addicted to french fries now that I have already eaten at Mcdonalds twice. It was so worth all of those calories. The shopping areas are really cool. There are three H and M´s within one block of each other. I went to all of them, haha.
After shopping, I was really tired and really needed to decompress. It really was hard to adjust to western life again. I miss Africa, I miss Rwanda. That country and the experience I had there seriously changed my life. It is indescribable. It was just weird going back to the `west,` because I felt like no one besides the people in my group can identify with how I am feeling. But after my nap, I felt much better and I decided to go out with the group. We walked around town for at least three hours, desperately searching for a nightclub so we could go dancing! We didn´t end up finding one, but we had a blast just talking and hanging out and listening to an outdoor ska concert. It´s so weird, because it doesn´t get dark here until eleven oclock, literally. Its crazy, and it makes everyone want to stay up really late!
On Sunday morning, Jenny and I woke up really early and took a train to Belgium! How cool is that, we just felt like going to belgium, so we did! The train ride was only two hours, and it was fun just talking and looking at the landscape. It is so incredibly flat compared to Rwanda! At first it was pouring rain, but then the whether turned absolutely perfect. When we got there, we just walked around for like four hours. We had no idea where we were going, we just had a mini/map and our cameras, and we set off to explore! There were so many beautiful cathedrals and buildings and parks with fountains! Jenny and I both decided that it is so much cooler to have no plan when you go visit a city, and that you should just go wherever the wind takes you!
In the afternoon, we met up with a woman from Rwanda named Nadine! Jenny had become really good friends with her boyfriend in Rwanda, so we wanted to meet Nadine! She was so incredibly sweet, she showed us around the city and let us sleep in her house! We felt like we were in Rwanda again, because we ate goat kabobs and samosas and listened to Rwandan hiphop while we drove through the streets of Brussels. We also at an entire fish with our bare hands. It was crazy, because I really felt like the fish was looking at me.
Anyway, Belgium has a huge Rwandan community, and it seemed like everywhere we went, Nadine ran into someone who spoke Kinyarwanda. And that does make sense, since Rwanda´s history is so tied to Belgium through colonization. But it´s also weird that so many Rwandans want to go to Belgium, since it really played a huge role in setting up the genocide. Before colonization, hutus and tutsis lived along side each other, intermarried, and got along well. The groups were even fluid, you could move from one group to the other, depending on how many cows you own. But the belgian colonizers issued the identity cards that categorized the hutus and tutsis, which basically made it impossible for someone to change what group they identify with. They favored the tutsis, the minority, over the hutus, and then reversed this practice at the last minute to favor hutus. And that´s how the problems started, or at least how they were made worse. The Belgiums used the method of ´divide and conquer` to rule Rwanda, and the consequences of that are so obvious. That´s why it baffles me a little to think about Rwandese people willingly moving to Belgium.
Anyway, I really like Belgium, I get a better vibe from Brussels than I do from the Netherlands. Even though the Netherlands is cool too. But still, if I had to choose one country to live in, it would be Rwanda, of course!
We made it back to the Hague, after taking a few wrong turns and missing our train stop, haha. Tonight we walked around. Matt wants to get a tatoo, so we went in the tatoo and piercing place. And I started to want to get another hole in my ear! Matt said that I could totally pull off my ear piercing, because he said when he thinks of me, he pictures me saying `I´m colleen, and i´m a civil rights lawyer from carrboro and I am going to kick your ass.` I love that that is his impression of me, that is like the coolest thing ever! During this trip, I have really decided that it is my dream to become a civil rights lawyer and kick someone´s ass, haha.
Anyway, it was weird going from Africa to Europe. It is just so different, and we all had a bit of culture shock when we got here to the Netherlands. It was just so weird. The people aren´t as nice, and I don´t like the vibe as much as Rwanda. It´s too organized and stuffy! And it´s strange being part of the majority again, in terms of race. The first day here in the Netherlands, whenever I saw someone, I would stare at them at want to yell `Muzungu`really loudly, which means foreigner and white person in Kinyarwanda. I just like the way of life in Rwanda better, I feel like I fit in better there. People in Rwanda seem to appreciate being alive more than they do here, even though their lives are probably so much harder. I guess I shouldn´t generalize though, because I have only been in the Netherlands for a few days. But one of the most important things I learned in Rwanda was that we are just so lucky and we should appreciate ever second of every day. And, of course this sounds cliche, but we have to realize that everything we do affects everyone around the world. There is so much we can do to help, and so much we can do to hurt.
After we arrived at our hostel in the Hague, which is a really nice hostel, we just walked around town a little. It is so stereotypically European, in a good way, with plazas and fountains on every corner! It´s amazing to finally be able to drink tapwater and eat salads!!! haha, but I guess I am so addicted to french fries now that I have already eaten at Mcdonalds twice. It was so worth all of those calories. The shopping areas are really cool. There are three H and M´s within one block of each other. I went to all of them, haha.
After shopping, I was really tired and really needed to decompress. It really was hard to adjust to western life again. I miss Africa, I miss Rwanda. That country and the experience I had there seriously changed my life. It is indescribable. It was just weird going back to the `west,` because I felt like no one besides the people in my group can identify with how I am feeling. But after my nap, I felt much better and I decided to go out with the group. We walked around town for at least three hours, desperately searching for a nightclub so we could go dancing! We didn´t end up finding one, but we had a blast just talking and hanging out and listening to an outdoor ska concert. It´s so weird, because it doesn´t get dark here until eleven oclock, literally. Its crazy, and it makes everyone want to stay up really late!
On Sunday morning, Jenny and I woke up really early and took a train to Belgium! How cool is that, we just felt like going to belgium, so we did! The train ride was only two hours, and it was fun just talking and looking at the landscape. It is so incredibly flat compared to Rwanda! At first it was pouring rain, but then the whether turned absolutely perfect. When we got there, we just walked around for like four hours. We had no idea where we were going, we just had a mini/map and our cameras, and we set off to explore! There were so many beautiful cathedrals and buildings and parks with fountains! Jenny and I both decided that it is so much cooler to have no plan when you go visit a city, and that you should just go wherever the wind takes you!
In the afternoon, we met up with a woman from Rwanda named Nadine! Jenny had become really good friends with her boyfriend in Rwanda, so we wanted to meet Nadine! She was so incredibly sweet, she showed us around the city and let us sleep in her house! We felt like we were in Rwanda again, because we ate goat kabobs and samosas and listened to Rwandan hiphop while we drove through the streets of Brussels. We also at an entire fish with our bare hands. It was crazy, because I really felt like the fish was looking at me.
Anyway, Belgium has a huge Rwandan community, and it seemed like everywhere we went, Nadine ran into someone who spoke Kinyarwanda. And that does make sense, since Rwanda´s history is so tied to Belgium through colonization. But it´s also weird that so many Rwandans want to go to Belgium, since it really played a huge role in setting up the genocide. Before colonization, hutus and tutsis lived along side each other, intermarried, and got along well. The groups were even fluid, you could move from one group to the other, depending on how many cows you own. But the belgian colonizers issued the identity cards that categorized the hutus and tutsis, which basically made it impossible for someone to change what group they identify with. They favored the tutsis, the minority, over the hutus, and then reversed this practice at the last minute to favor hutus. And that´s how the problems started, or at least how they were made worse. The Belgiums used the method of ´divide and conquer` to rule Rwanda, and the consequences of that are so obvious. That´s why it baffles me a little to think about Rwandese people willingly moving to Belgium.
Anyway, I really like Belgium, I get a better vibe from Brussels than I do from the Netherlands. Even though the Netherlands is cool too. But still, if I had to choose one country to live in, it would be Rwanda, of course!
We made it back to the Hague, after taking a few wrong turns and missing our train stop, haha. Tonight we walked around. Matt wants to get a tatoo, so we went in the tatoo and piercing place. And I started to want to get another hole in my ear! Matt said that I could totally pull off my ear piercing, because he said when he thinks of me, he pictures me saying `I´m colleen, and i´m a civil rights lawyer from carrboro and I am going to kick your ass.` I love that that is his impression of me, that is like the coolest thing ever! During this trip, I have really decided that it is my dream to become a civil rights lawyer and kick someone´s ass, haha.
Lake Kivu!! and goodbye Rwanda
Oh my gosh, we had the perfect last day in Rwanda. We woke up really early, packed our vans, and drove from Butare to Kibuye. The drive was absolutely beautiful, as usual, and it was so fun just listening to my ipod and thinking about everything that has happened in the past month. The only bad part was being totally squished into the van and sitting in a seat that wasn't even meant to be a seat. But even that was funny, and we all bonded because we were so uncomfortable haha.
So we got to Kibuye, and we went right to our beautiful guesthouse that was right on the lake. The lake is seriously awesome. It is one of the deepest lakes in the world, and it is really the most beautiful one I have seen in my life! Our rooms were really nice too, but of course there was no running water, haha. After we explored a little, we decided to hop on this tiny motorboat and went to a tiny island in the middle of the lake where you can swim, play volleyball, and walk around a little. The boatride took a half hour, and the hole time I was contemplating whether I was going to swim in the water. Of course, the travel clinic nurses before I left told everyone that you will basically die if you swim in freshwater in Africa. But it just looked so inviting, so I decided to go in, haha. If I get shistomaisis or whatever that stupid parasite is that eats your brain, it will be worth it, haha, especially because you can just take antibiotics for six years and you will be totally fine. Of course, my feet really itched the night after we went swimming, and that is a symptom of the parasite trying to get in your blood. Oh well!
It was totally awesome, the water was the perfect temperature and it was soooo blue and gorgeous. I didn´t go too far out, but it was kind of hard to swim with all of the waves! A bunch of us tried to swim together to take a picture, but it was so hard to stay still. It was really funny! That is one of the most awesome memories ever too, it was just pure awesomeness! We took the boat back at sunset, and it looked like something out of National Geographic. I cannot even describe how beautiful it was. There were huge puffy clouds, and the sun was disappearing behind the mountains, which were part of the DRC. But don´t worry, it would be a three hour boatride to get to the DRC, so we weren´t too close and we were safe! But I do want to go there someday. I am going to sign up for Lingala next semester, which is the language they speak in the DRC. They offer it at UNC, yay! ps.There was also a wild cow walking around the island and a monkey tied to a string!
It really was a great end to Rwanda. I cannot even explain how I feel about that country. It is seriously such a wonderful place, and I really wish everyone could go there at some point in their lives. I learned more than I can even comprehend, about life and about the world in general. I have seen how absolutely wonderful, beautiful, and welcoming people can be, and at the same time I saw the effects of how absolutely horrible those same people can be. What happened in Rwanda was one of the worst tragedies in history, and everyone in the world needs to remember that. But it is amazing how far the country has come since 1994, and I hope that my blog has helped people see that, while the genocide is something that has to always be remembered, there is also so much more to Rwanda. It truly is a beautiful place.
So we got to Kibuye, and we went right to our beautiful guesthouse that was right on the lake. The lake is seriously awesome. It is one of the deepest lakes in the world, and it is really the most beautiful one I have seen in my life! Our rooms were really nice too, but of course there was no running water, haha. After we explored a little, we decided to hop on this tiny motorboat and went to a tiny island in the middle of the lake where you can swim, play volleyball, and walk around a little. The boatride took a half hour, and the hole time I was contemplating whether I was going to swim in the water. Of course, the travel clinic nurses before I left told everyone that you will basically die if you swim in freshwater in Africa. But it just looked so inviting, so I decided to go in, haha. If I get shistomaisis or whatever that stupid parasite is that eats your brain, it will be worth it, haha, especially because you can just take antibiotics for six years and you will be totally fine. Of course, my feet really itched the night after we went swimming, and that is a symptom of the parasite trying to get in your blood. Oh well!
It was totally awesome, the water was the perfect temperature and it was soooo blue and gorgeous. I didn´t go too far out, but it was kind of hard to swim with all of the waves! A bunch of us tried to swim together to take a picture, but it was so hard to stay still. It was really funny! That is one of the most awesome memories ever too, it was just pure awesomeness! We took the boat back at sunset, and it looked like something out of National Geographic. I cannot even describe how beautiful it was. There were huge puffy clouds, and the sun was disappearing behind the mountains, which were part of the DRC. But don´t worry, it would be a three hour boatride to get to the DRC, so we weren´t too close and we were safe! But I do want to go there someday. I am going to sign up for Lingala next semester, which is the language they speak in the DRC. They offer it at UNC, yay! ps.There was also a wild cow walking around the island and a monkey tied to a string!
It really was a great end to Rwanda. I cannot even explain how I feel about that country. It is seriously such a wonderful place, and I really wish everyone could go there at some point in their lives. I learned more than I can even comprehend, about life and about the world in general. I have seen how absolutely wonderful, beautiful, and welcoming people can be, and at the same time I saw the effects of how absolutely horrible those same people can be. What happened in Rwanda was one of the worst tragedies in history, and everyone in the world needs to remember that. But it is amazing how far the country has come since 1994, and I hope that my blog has helped people see that, while the genocide is something that has to always be remembered, there is also so much more to Rwanda. It truly is a beautiful place.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Frisbee and Stars
So after my last incredibly depressing blog, I thought I would write about some of my other experiences in Butare. We haven't done that much except for go to class and take our tests, but it has been fun just hanging around the town.
Almost every afternoon, a few of us have been playing frisbee in the grass by our guesthouse. It is so much fun, I forgot how much I love to play frisbee! Dad, I remember playing with you near Silent Sam when I was little. It was exactly like that! One time we lost the frisbee in a cornfield (which was totally my fault) but we found it and continued playing! We kind of destroyed a lot of flowers and plants in the process, but it was so much fun.
Last night, everyone was in a good mood because we had finished our test! So we all ate dinner and hung out. Somehow, a few of us ended up laying in the grass and falling asleep under the stars. It was so awesome, I have never slept under stars before. We were all just there, cuddling and talking and sleeping. The stars are so beautiful, it is ridiculous. David took this awesome picture on his camera that looks like it was taken from space, or at least from a telescope, seriously. We stayed out there until about two thirty in the morning. We wanted to go back inside before three, because that is when the malaria mosquitoes come out. And don't worry mom and dad, we were in the grass next to our guesthouse, which is gated and guarded. So we were safe! That might be one the coolest memories I have from Butare, or even from Rwanda.
Also today, I bought a Brazil soccer jersey from this awesome market. It was really cool!
Tomorrow we leave for Kibuye, which is on Lake Kivu (which borders both Rwanda and the DRC). I think we are going to relax and sit by the lake, and I can't wait. But I won't go swimming, because I don't want to get parasites that eat my brain!
Anyway, I will probably be in the Netherlands when I have internet next time. I will be sure to blog about my experience at the International Criminal Court when I am there!
love Colleen
Almost every afternoon, a few of us have been playing frisbee in the grass by our guesthouse. It is so much fun, I forgot how much I love to play frisbee! Dad, I remember playing with you near Silent Sam when I was little. It was exactly like that! One time we lost the frisbee in a cornfield (which was totally my fault) but we found it and continued playing! We kind of destroyed a lot of flowers and plants in the process, but it was so much fun.
Last night, everyone was in a good mood because we had finished our test! So we all ate dinner and hung out. Somehow, a few of us ended up laying in the grass and falling asleep under the stars. It was so awesome, I have never slept under stars before. We were all just there, cuddling and talking and sleeping. The stars are so beautiful, it is ridiculous. David took this awesome picture on his camera that looks like it was taken from space, or at least from a telescope, seriously. We stayed out there until about two thirty in the morning. We wanted to go back inside before three, because that is when the malaria mosquitoes come out. And don't worry mom and dad, we were in the grass next to our guesthouse, which is gated and guarded. So we were safe! That might be one the coolest memories I have from Butare, or even from Rwanda.
Also today, I bought a Brazil soccer jersey from this awesome market. It was really cool!
Tomorrow we leave for Kibuye, which is on Lake Kivu (which borders both Rwanda and the DRC). I think we are going to relax and sit by the lake, and I can't wait. But I won't go swimming, because I don't want to get parasites that eat my brain!
Anyway, I will probably be in the Netherlands when I have internet next time. I will be sure to blog about my experience at the International Criminal Court when I am there!
love Colleen
Murambi
This morning, we went to a memorial site called Murambi. It is, by far, the most powerful memorial site that I have been to, and I really don't think there could be any other memorial that eye-opening in the world. 50,000 people were killed at Murambi during the genocide, and most of them were buried in a mass grave there. But a few hundred bodies had been preserved in limestone, and they were put in some of the rooms as a memorial. There were about twenty or thirty rooms in long hallways, split up into a couple of buildings. You would walk along the building and look in each room, where dozens of bodies were displayed on tables. They were all white, because of the limestone, and most of them were just bones. But you could see the skin and stuff like that too, and some of them even had clothes on still. Some even still had some hair. There were babies too. You could hardly make out their forms, but you could tell they were babies because they were so tiny. The bodies are just laying there, mostly in mangled positions, in the positions they died in. Some of the positions looked like they were fighting to stay alive, and others looked like they had just laid down for an afternoon nap. I don't really know how to describe my feelings while I was there, but here is what I wrote in my journal:
"I cannot even begin to describe this feeling. It's like I can't breathe, I'm going to throw up, and I'm going to faint, all at the same time. The smell in the rooms is overwhelming, but I don't know whether it is the dead bodies themselves or the limestone that is preserving them. My mind is racing, yet it is completely blank at the same time. It's impossible not to wonder how something like this could happen, but it is also so hard TO think about it. Being here makes me feel indescribably horrible; but no matter how bad I feel, I still think I should feel worse."
There was a man walking near our bus on the way to the memorial. He smiled and waved at us, and we waved back. We didn't know that he was headed to the memorial too, because he was one of the seven people that survived the massacre there. He couldn't really communicate how he survived, but we know he had been shot in the head. I can't believe anyone was able to survive, because the militias chased people through the forests for weeks and weeks after looking for people that had gotten away. The man reminded me of my grandpa: tall, skinny, and hunched over, but still smiling.
Murambi was one of the areas that the French controlled through Operation Turquoise during the genocide. They said they were there to help, but really they were training, funding, and helping the Hutu extremist militia. So basically, they knew exactly what was going on during the genocide, and they even helped fuel it. After the 50,000 people had been killed and buried at Murambi, the French soldiers played volleyball on top of their mass grave. That is so awful.
After I had walked through the memorial, I sat on the top of the hill, wrote in my journal, and just tried to contemplate life. The wind was blowing the grass, it was a cool day, and I could hear birds chirping, cows moooing, and people talking. But all of the noises seemed muted and far away. It was almost like even the animals knew something horrible had happened there. It was so weird sitting on top of the hill, because the view was so beautiful. And while we were walking through the memorial, I could see hundreds of dead bodies on my left and little kids laughing, smiling, and waving to my right. I was talking to our Teaching Assistant, Tessa, and we both decided that it was like being in heaven and hell at the same time.
As we were leaving, we saw more people making a documentary at the memorial. Half of me just wants to yell and them and tell them to leave the dead people alone; I'm sure they don't want to be shown to the whole world like that. But the other half of me knows that documentaries are such a good way that people around the world can find out about what happened in Rwanda, so that maybe, just maybe, it will never happen again.
"I cannot even begin to describe this feeling. It's like I can't breathe, I'm going to throw up, and I'm going to faint, all at the same time. The smell in the rooms is overwhelming, but I don't know whether it is the dead bodies themselves or the limestone that is preserving them. My mind is racing, yet it is completely blank at the same time. It's impossible not to wonder how something like this could happen, but it is also so hard TO think about it. Being here makes me feel indescribably horrible; but no matter how bad I feel, I still think I should feel worse."
There was a man walking near our bus on the way to the memorial. He smiled and waved at us, and we waved back. We didn't know that he was headed to the memorial too, because he was one of the seven people that survived the massacre there. He couldn't really communicate how he survived, but we know he had been shot in the head. I can't believe anyone was able to survive, because the militias chased people through the forests for weeks and weeks after looking for people that had gotten away. The man reminded me of my grandpa: tall, skinny, and hunched over, but still smiling.
Murambi was one of the areas that the French controlled through Operation Turquoise during the genocide. They said they were there to help, but really they were training, funding, and helping the Hutu extremist militia. So basically, they knew exactly what was going on during the genocide, and they even helped fuel it. After the 50,000 people had been killed and buried at Murambi, the French soldiers played volleyball on top of their mass grave. That is so awful.
After I had walked through the memorial, I sat on the top of the hill, wrote in my journal, and just tried to contemplate life. The wind was blowing the grass, it was a cool day, and I could hear birds chirping, cows moooing, and people talking. But all of the noises seemed muted and far away. It was almost like even the animals knew something horrible had happened there. It was so weird sitting on top of the hill, because the view was so beautiful. And while we were walking through the memorial, I could see hundreds of dead bodies on my left and little kids laughing, smiling, and waving to my right. I was talking to our Teaching Assistant, Tessa, and we both decided that it was like being in heaven and hell at the same time.
As we were leaving, we saw more people making a documentary at the memorial. Half of me just wants to yell and them and tell them to leave the dead people alone; I'm sure they don't want to be shown to the whole world like that. But the other half of me knows that documentaries are such a good way that people around the world can find out about what happened in Rwanda, so that maybe, just maybe, it will never happen again.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Butare! the beginning
Last Friday morning, we left Kigali and set off for Butare! We were seriously so sad to leave, we have had some awesome memories in Kigali. But I think we were also so excited to check out Butare! The drive was soooo beautiful, we just went up and down mountains (I didnt even get carsick) and looked at the beautiful scenery while listening to our ipods. We arrived in Butare around lunch time, and checked into our guesthouse, which we expected to be kind of disgusting and gross. But it is totally the opposite! I am rooming with Jenny and Meghan, and our room is seriously one of the nicest rooms I have ever stayed in. Not everyone's is that nice, but we got lucky (and we had to pay a little extra, but i was forced to stay in that room, haha!). We have our own bathroom with hot running water, isnt that awesome!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!? and we also have a really nice desk and chairs where we have been studying for the test we have soon.
After we ate really good spagetti at a hotel nearby, called hotel Ibis, we went on a tour of the National University of Rwanda. It seriously felt like a campus in the US. There were so many pretty trees and buildings, it was just a beautiful place. We were walking along this path in the woods with the tour guide, and we looked up and there was this man at least 75 feet in the air, holding on to a tree with no ropes. I am not even kidding, he had his legs and arms wrapped around it and he was just chilling up there in the trees. Then this security guard came and started yelling at him, so he slid down the tree, like it was no big deal. I'm not even kidding, he was so high in the air it was ridiculous. The rest of the tour was cool too, except it was kind of weird when we reached a genocide memorial in the middle of campus because we weren't expecting to see it. We walked in, and the tour guide told us that 500 victims of the genocide were buried there. They were all students from the National university that had been killed by there peers (even by their roommates) and by their professors. If something like that had happened in the US, it would one of the most tragic things that has ever happened in our country. But in Rwanda, it is just one small part of the enormous tragedy that happened here. Isn't that sad?
Saturday morning, we had class. It was interesting because we started talking a lot about the International Criminal Court. We started talking about how sad it is that sooooo many people in the US don't know what the ICC is or what it does. I even admit that before this program, I really didn't know much about it. It's also ridiculous that the US refuses to ratify it. We keep saying we are a promoter of democracy and human rights, but we refuse to do anything that could "threaten our sovereignty," which really means we refuse to do anything that isn't in our interest. But the ICC could never really violate our sovereignty if our courts in the US are doing the job of prosecuting people that need to be prosecuted (the ICC is basically supposed to be the last resort, for prosecuting people from countries where the national courts refuse to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. Anyway, I hope one day the US will become part of the ICC.
After class on saturday, we went to a coffee plantation. The plantation was labeled as "fair trade," but the workers still only received about a dollar a day, which is not enough to live on. The coffee farmers have no way of deciding the value of their coffee crop, and they often exploited by intermediaries that end up making tons of money. If you haven't seen the documentary called Black Gold, you really should. It is basically just about the exploitation of coffee farmers bewcause of neoliberalism and free trade (Lauren, I think you would like it!)
Anyway, Butare is definitely really cool, although it is really different than Kigali. We all really feel like it is the Chapel Hill of Rwanda, no joke. It's a small college town with a lot of students around, and there is basically only one street, which is exactly like Franklin Street. It's awesome, but it does make me miss Chapel Hill and all of you guys! The second half of the trip is going by soooo incredibly fast, and I feel like I will be home before you know it!
love Colleen
After we ate really good spagetti at a hotel nearby, called hotel Ibis, we went on a tour of the National University of Rwanda. It seriously felt like a campus in the US. There were so many pretty trees and buildings, it was just a beautiful place. We were walking along this path in the woods with the tour guide, and we looked up and there was this man at least 75 feet in the air, holding on to a tree with no ropes. I am not even kidding, he had his legs and arms wrapped around it and he was just chilling up there in the trees. Then this security guard came and started yelling at him, so he slid down the tree, like it was no big deal. I'm not even kidding, he was so high in the air it was ridiculous. The rest of the tour was cool too, except it was kind of weird when we reached a genocide memorial in the middle of campus because we weren't expecting to see it. We walked in, and the tour guide told us that 500 victims of the genocide were buried there. They were all students from the National university that had been killed by there peers (even by their roommates) and by their professors. If something like that had happened in the US, it would one of the most tragic things that has ever happened in our country. But in Rwanda, it is just one small part of the enormous tragedy that happened here. Isn't that sad?
Saturday morning, we had class. It was interesting because we started talking a lot about the International Criminal Court. We started talking about how sad it is that sooooo many people in the US don't know what the ICC is or what it does. I even admit that before this program, I really didn't know much about it. It's also ridiculous that the US refuses to ratify it. We keep saying we are a promoter of democracy and human rights, but we refuse to do anything that could "threaten our sovereignty," which really means we refuse to do anything that isn't in our interest. But the ICC could never really violate our sovereignty if our courts in the US are doing the job of prosecuting people that need to be prosecuted (the ICC is basically supposed to be the last resort, for prosecuting people from countries where the national courts refuse to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. Anyway, I hope one day the US will become part of the ICC.
After class on saturday, we went to a coffee plantation. The plantation was labeled as "fair trade," but the workers still only received about a dollar a day, which is not enough to live on. The coffee farmers have no way of deciding the value of their coffee crop, and they often exploited by intermediaries that end up making tons of money. If you haven't seen the documentary called Black Gold, you really should. It is basically just about the exploitation of coffee farmers bewcause of neoliberalism and free trade (Lauren, I think you would like it!)
Anyway, Butare is definitely really cool, although it is really different than Kigali. We all really feel like it is the Chapel Hill of Rwanda, no joke. It's a small college town with a lot of students around, and there is basically only one street, which is exactly like Franklin Street. It's awesome, but it does make me miss Chapel Hill and all of you guys! The second half of the trip is going by soooo incredibly fast, and I feel like I will be home before you know it!
love Colleen
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Goodbye guesthouse, hello homestay!!
Sunday was our last day in Solace guesthouse, which we will all miss a lot! I spent the last day packing and desperately trying to get my laundry to dry, haha. I said goodbye to some of our neighborhood friends named David and Machavelli.
Then Caitlin, Amber, Menna and I piled into a tiny taxi with allllll of our luggage to head to our homestay (I had to sit on my suitcase, haha)! The woman we are staying with is named Rose. She is about 60, and is seriously sooo nice and so cute. She reminds me of my Grandma! She is trying to learn English, and she likes to practice talking with us. I think her favorite word is "system" because she has said it about five hundred times since we have been in her house! I am sharing a room with Caitlin, and Menna and Amber are right across the hall from us! We have our own bathroom, which is really nice, even though there is basically no running water, ever. Once in awhile we can get the toilet to flush, but the rest of the time, we have to pour a bucket of water down it. The shower never ever works, so we have to bathe by pouring a bucket of water on us. I have only done it once this week, haha, so I guess I am kind of smelly and dirty.
The first night, when we were eating dinner, a mouse jumped out near us. It was really really funny, until the next morning I found mouse poop in my bed. EWWWWW. There are also bugs/cockroaches crawling all around, but I am getting used to them. We are pretty lucky though, the house is definitely nice compared to some other ones and I have been having a lot of fun!
Even though we are in homestays, we still have to go to class, sniff sniff. But the classes have been really interesting! One day, someone came to talk to us from USAID, and a few Rwandan government ministers came on other days. We also had a class activity, where we were given a summary of the situation in Northern Uganda (the civil war and the massacres of the Acholi ethnic group), and we had to look at the statute defining genocide to determine if there was genocide going on the Northern Uganda. It is so hard to tell, because the Acholi ethnic group is really being treated horribly because the LRA is killing, raping, and torturing them, and recruiting child soldiers. Basically, it is only happening to the Acholi ethnic group. I personally don't think it is genocide, although it is most definitely crimes against humanity. I just think that the Acholi group is not being targeted because they are acholi, I think they are being targeted because they are the only group living in Northern Uganda (and the LRA is made up of Acholi people). I don't think the intent is to destroy the ethnic group. There has to be intent to destroy a group of people in whole or in part in order for it to be labeled genocide. That doesn't mean I dont think it is an incredibly awful situation, I just don't think it is genocide. I would say about half the class thinks it is genocide, and half the class doesn't think so.
After class on Monday, we hung out with Innocent and Charles, some of the artists we met last week. We went to a restaurant and I got an absolutely delicious delicious scoop of brownie ice cream. Then I went with Innocent to a music library right next door and he helped me make a mixed CD of East African hip hop! Isn't that soooooooooooo awesome!!! I haven't listened to it yet, because I have no CD player, but I can't wait to hear it when I get home!! Some of the singers are people I have met, how cool is that?
Nothing too exciting happened Tuesday after class, except that we accidentally flooded the bathroom in our homestay. I walked in, and stepped in basically three inches of standing water, which was really bad! but good thing it was clean water, because it was overflowing from the top of the toilet. Anyway, we helped clean it up, so it was ok, haha. We also hung out with Rose's children (who are actually adults), which was really fun. We had a lot of good conversations with them. I talked to Samuel about marriage and divorce in Rwandan society, which is what I am going to write my research paper on for our class. It is really interesting, because you cannot get divorced in Rwanda if you just feel like it, you have to have a major reason like violence or adultery. But if you are not in love anymore, you are just stuck in the marriage! I also have really enjoyed talking to Jackson, who is about 25 and lives with Rose. He isn't blood related, but he is basically part of the family. He basically showed up at Roses's doorstep after the genocide, even though he had never met her. He had no where to go, so Rose "adopted" him. Jackson hasn't really told anyone the story about what happened to him and his family during the genocide, but I'm sure it was soooo incredibly awful.
Wednesday after class was amazing. I got another ice cream cone, then we all went to the secondary school where we have been volunteering to have a talent show. It was so cool. The kids did a traditional dance performance, and they taught us too. Then we all got certificates and letters from the kids thanking us for helping them. It really made all of us feel good!
Today (thursday) is our last day in Kigali, and I am sooo sad! We are all going to miss it so much, it is really a great city. But at least we are not leaving Rwanda yet. Tomorrow we are heading to Butare for more classes and to hang out there. Then we are going to Kibuye, which is near Lake Kivu, for one night! It is going to be awesome, but I may not have internet for awhile, maybe not even until we get to the netherlands! So don't worry if I don't blog for awhile, haha!
love Colleen
Then Caitlin, Amber, Menna and I piled into a tiny taxi with allllll of our luggage to head to our homestay (I had to sit on my suitcase, haha)! The woman we are staying with is named Rose. She is about 60, and is seriously sooo nice and so cute. She reminds me of my Grandma! She is trying to learn English, and she likes to practice talking with us. I think her favorite word is "system" because she has said it about five hundred times since we have been in her house! I am sharing a room with Caitlin, and Menna and Amber are right across the hall from us! We have our own bathroom, which is really nice, even though there is basically no running water, ever. Once in awhile we can get the toilet to flush, but the rest of the time, we have to pour a bucket of water down it. The shower never ever works, so we have to bathe by pouring a bucket of water on us. I have only done it once this week, haha, so I guess I am kind of smelly and dirty.
The first night, when we were eating dinner, a mouse jumped out near us. It was really really funny, until the next morning I found mouse poop in my bed. EWWWWW. There are also bugs/cockroaches crawling all around, but I am getting used to them. We are pretty lucky though, the house is definitely nice compared to some other ones and I have been having a lot of fun!
Even though we are in homestays, we still have to go to class, sniff sniff. But the classes have been really interesting! One day, someone came to talk to us from USAID, and a few Rwandan government ministers came on other days. We also had a class activity, where we were given a summary of the situation in Northern Uganda (the civil war and the massacres of the Acholi ethnic group), and we had to look at the statute defining genocide to determine if there was genocide going on the Northern Uganda. It is so hard to tell, because the Acholi ethnic group is really being treated horribly because the LRA is killing, raping, and torturing them, and recruiting child soldiers. Basically, it is only happening to the Acholi ethnic group. I personally don't think it is genocide, although it is most definitely crimes against humanity. I just think that the Acholi group is not being targeted because they are acholi, I think they are being targeted because they are the only group living in Northern Uganda (and the LRA is made up of Acholi people). I don't think the intent is to destroy the ethnic group. There has to be intent to destroy a group of people in whole or in part in order for it to be labeled genocide. That doesn't mean I dont think it is an incredibly awful situation, I just don't think it is genocide. I would say about half the class thinks it is genocide, and half the class doesn't think so.
After class on Monday, we hung out with Innocent and Charles, some of the artists we met last week. We went to a restaurant and I got an absolutely delicious delicious scoop of brownie ice cream. Then I went with Innocent to a music library right next door and he helped me make a mixed CD of East African hip hop! Isn't that soooooooooooo awesome!!! I haven't listened to it yet, because I have no CD player, but I can't wait to hear it when I get home!! Some of the singers are people I have met, how cool is that?
Nothing too exciting happened Tuesday after class, except that we accidentally flooded the bathroom in our homestay. I walked in, and stepped in basically three inches of standing water, which was really bad! but good thing it was clean water, because it was overflowing from the top of the toilet. Anyway, we helped clean it up, so it was ok, haha. We also hung out with Rose's children (who are actually adults), which was really fun. We had a lot of good conversations with them. I talked to Samuel about marriage and divorce in Rwandan society, which is what I am going to write my research paper on for our class. It is really interesting, because you cannot get divorced in Rwanda if you just feel like it, you have to have a major reason like violence or adultery. But if you are not in love anymore, you are just stuck in the marriage! I also have really enjoyed talking to Jackson, who is about 25 and lives with Rose. He isn't blood related, but he is basically part of the family. He basically showed up at Roses's doorstep after the genocide, even though he had never met her. He had no where to go, so Rose "adopted" him. Jackson hasn't really told anyone the story about what happened to him and his family during the genocide, but I'm sure it was soooo incredibly awful.
Wednesday after class was amazing. I got another ice cream cone, then we all went to the secondary school where we have been volunteering to have a talent show. It was so cool. The kids did a traditional dance performance, and they taught us too. Then we all got certificates and letters from the kids thanking us for helping them. It really made all of us feel good!
Today (thursday) is our last day in Kigali, and I am sooo sad! We are all going to miss it so much, it is really a great city. But at least we are not leaving Rwanda yet. Tomorrow we are heading to Butare for more classes and to hang out there. Then we are going to Kibuye, which is near Lake Kivu, for one night! It is going to be awesome, but I may not have internet for awhile, maybe not even until we get to the netherlands! So don't worry if I don't blog for awhile, haha!
love Colleen
Amaaaazing weekend! Wedding and art gallery
After our kind of bad experience at the Millenium Village, the rest of the weekend was amazing! Jenny, Meghan, and I went to stay with Jenny's friend, Baraka. Jenny knows Baraka's family, who lives in the United States. Her house is way up a mountain in the middle of the woods, and we had to take multiple forms of transportation to get there! When we got there, we talked with Baraka's brother for awhile about Rwanda and the US. Then we all ate a delicious dinner of beans and rice, and then we all talked about our lives. Baraka started a christian NGO in Rwanda after the genocide called Gates of Hope, which focuses on counseling and helping children. She talked about how many kids that weren't alive during the genocide still experience trauma, especially if their parents were involved in the genocide. She tries to help survivor's children and the perpetrator's children with education and psychological issues. She told us that a lot of the perpetrator's children feel alienated in society because they feel like they did something bad too, even though they didn't. God, that would be such a hard position to be in.
We ended up going to bed really early, which was so much fun. Meghan, Jenny, and I all slept in the same room, on bunkbeds (which I was pretty sure were going to collapse, haha). When we woke up in the morning, we went exploring around Baraka's home. It so incredibly beautiful because there were flowers and trees everywhere. We also discovered a barn/area where the cows sleep! We went to take picutres of them, and the farmer came to talk to us. We could not communicate whatsoever, but he was really nice. He showed us a room with at least 20 really cute rabbits. One ran out of the cage, and he picked it up by its ears and was carrying it around! I got a picture, haha. The cows were cute too, but they weren't as happy to see us as the rabbits. Its funny, because here, there are two kinds of cows: Rwandan cows and "Muzungu" cows (which means white people cows). The rwandan cows are brown with huge horns, and the Muzungu cows are the regular black and white ones we see in the US.
Before lunch, we went to a Cathoic mass with Baraka, which was held to remember the mother of her friend that died in the genocide. It was really sad sitting there, because I kept thinking about that poor woman who lost her family. Afterward, we all gathered near the church for a soda and a talk. Different people got up and talked about their experience in the genocide. I thought it was interesting because literally everyone that spoke talked about how they truly believe Rwanda can achieve peace and unity, even if it takes awhile. I just thought it was amazing to hear the victims of the genocide saying that! Hopefully, they are right.
Then we went to a wedding!!! It was seriously soo cool. We got to wear traditional Rwandan outfits, how amazing is that??! Don't worry, I took pictures of that too. The wedding was at a church, and we couldn't really understand anything because it was in Kinyarwanda. But it was still absolutely beautiful. The bride and groom looked so happy! I was kind of surprised when they didn't kiss at all, and I kind of laughed out loud because I really thought they were about to kiss but they didn't! Apparently, they don't kiss in ceremonies in Rwanda. Ooooppsss. Right afterward, we went to a hotel nearby, called Novotel, to watch the families take pictures after the wedding. It was kind of boring until everyone asked us to get in the pictures, even though they were just pictures of family members!!! I guess they wanted to document the Muzungus at their wedding. So anyway, I got to be in the wedding pictures of this couple that I have never met! haha
That night, I went with Moriah, Julia, and Jenny to an art gallery/Co-op right next to our guesthouse. It was aaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzinnnnnnnnnngggggggg. It is a co-op where young artists (like my age) live and paint. We took a tour of the gallery, and I wanted to buy every single thing in there. My favorite painting was of two women dancing. I took a picture of it so I could remember it forever. I would have bought it, but it costs $700 and I would have no way to bring it home. After, we sat down to talk with the artists. We meant to stay for like ten minutes, but we all ended up talking for like three hours. They were soooo cool! And kind of famous too, haha. There was one short and funny guy with dreds, who was pretty quiet at first. But then I started talking to him about everything, and I found out that he is a former Ugandan national soccer player/former undercover photo journalist/current hip hop artist/producer. Isn't that crazyyyyy. True, he could have been lying, but I really really dont think he was. I talked to him about Uganda, because that is where he is from. We got into a converstation about the civil war in Uganda and the LRA, which is basically the rebel group that is terrorizing the Acholi ethnic group in Northern Uganda. The war has been going on for over 20 years, and he told me that the Ugandan government could totally stop it if they wanted to, but they get more international aid and money when they pretend to be "negotiating for peace." That is sooo awful. I also talked to him about dredlocks for awhile, because I want them sooo bad! He was really funny, because he told me that he has to wear them in a pony tail, otherwise he sees them out of the corner of his eye and thinks someone is following him, haha!!
The other artists were really really cool too. Collin was the guy who painted my favorite painting, and I was really excited because I talked to him about the 33 countries he has been to. He said his favorites are South Africa and Kenya. Maybe I will go there one day! His brother Charles is from Uganda, and he wasn't an artist, he was just visiting. He was really cool though. He said he had been to Iraq and Afghanistan with some US security company. He really didn't want to talk about it, which I totally understand. He said he didn't want to remember the awful things that happened there. Innocent was another cool artist. He is soooooo tall, he is six foot seven and really skinny and funny looking, but I like him a lot. He showed us his art exhibit at a restaurant downtown called Torero's and it was so fun (we all had to pile in a taxi to get there. There were seven of us in one tiny taxi!!).
It was seriously such an awesome weekend! awesome!!
love colleen
We ended up going to bed really early, which was so much fun. Meghan, Jenny, and I all slept in the same room, on bunkbeds (which I was pretty sure were going to collapse, haha). When we woke up in the morning, we went exploring around Baraka's home. It so incredibly beautiful because there were flowers and trees everywhere. We also discovered a barn/area where the cows sleep! We went to take picutres of them, and the farmer came to talk to us. We could not communicate whatsoever, but he was really nice. He showed us a room with at least 20 really cute rabbits. One ran out of the cage, and he picked it up by its ears and was carrying it around! I got a picture, haha. The cows were cute too, but they weren't as happy to see us as the rabbits. Its funny, because here, there are two kinds of cows: Rwandan cows and "Muzungu" cows (which means white people cows). The rwandan cows are brown with huge horns, and the Muzungu cows are the regular black and white ones we see in the US.
Before lunch, we went to a Cathoic mass with Baraka, which was held to remember the mother of her friend that died in the genocide. It was really sad sitting there, because I kept thinking about that poor woman who lost her family. Afterward, we all gathered near the church for a soda and a talk. Different people got up and talked about their experience in the genocide. I thought it was interesting because literally everyone that spoke talked about how they truly believe Rwanda can achieve peace and unity, even if it takes awhile. I just thought it was amazing to hear the victims of the genocide saying that! Hopefully, they are right.
Then we went to a wedding!!! It was seriously soo cool. We got to wear traditional Rwandan outfits, how amazing is that??! Don't worry, I took pictures of that too. The wedding was at a church, and we couldn't really understand anything because it was in Kinyarwanda. But it was still absolutely beautiful. The bride and groom looked so happy! I was kind of surprised when they didn't kiss at all, and I kind of laughed out loud because I really thought they were about to kiss but they didn't! Apparently, they don't kiss in ceremonies in Rwanda. Ooooppsss. Right afterward, we went to a hotel nearby, called Novotel, to watch the families take pictures after the wedding. It was kind of boring until everyone asked us to get in the pictures, even though they were just pictures of family members!!! I guess they wanted to document the Muzungus at their wedding. So anyway, I got to be in the wedding pictures of this couple that I have never met! haha
That night, I went with Moriah, Julia, and Jenny to an art gallery/Co-op right next to our guesthouse. It was aaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzinnnnnnnnnngggggggg. It is a co-op where young artists (like my age) live and paint. We took a tour of the gallery, and I wanted to buy every single thing in there. My favorite painting was of two women dancing. I took a picture of it so I could remember it forever. I would have bought it, but it costs $700 and I would have no way to bring it home. After, we sat down to talk with the artists. We meant to stay for like ten minutes, but we all ended up talking for like three hours. They were soooo cool! And kind of famous too, haha. There was one short and funny guy with dreds, who was pretty quiet at first. But then I started talking to him about everything, and I found out that he is a former Ugandan national soccer player/former undercover photo journalist/current hip hop artist/producer. Isn't that crazyyyyy. True, he could have been lying, but I really really dont think he was. I talked to him about Uganda, because that is where he is from. We got into a converstation about the civil war in Uganda and the LRA, which is basically the rebel group that is terrorizing the Acholi ethnic group in Northern Uganda. The war has been going on for over 20 years, and he told me that the Ugandan government could totally stop it if they wanted to, but they get more international aid and money when they pretend to be "negotiating for peace." That is sooo awful. I also talked to him about dredlocks for awhile, because I want them sooo bad! He was really funny, because he told me that he has to wear them in a pony tail, otherwise he sees them out of the corner of his eye and thinks someone is following him, haha!!
The other artists were really really cool too. Collin was the guy who painted my favorite painting, and I was really excited because I talked to him about the 33 countries he has been to. He said his favorites are South Africa and Kenya. Maybe I will go there one day! His brother Charles is from Uganda, and he wasn't an artist, he was just visiting. He was really cool though. He said he had been to Iraq and Afghanistan with some US security company. He really didn't want to talk about it, which I totally understand. He said he didn't want to remember the awful things that happened there. Innocent was another cool artist. He is soooooo tall, he is six foot seven and really skinny and funny looking, but I like him a lot. He showed us his art exhibit at a restaurant downtown called Torero's and it was so fun (we all had to pile in a taxi to get there. There were seven of us in one tiny taxi!!).
It was seriously such an awesome weekend! awesome!!
love colleen
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Secondary School and Millenium Village
Last Thursday, a few people in our group went to volunteer at a secondary school called CDV (i really have no idea what it stands for). I have already been there to help teach English to teachers, but on thursday we also taught students, which was really cool! I helped teach computer science, which sounds kind of scary since I don't know much about computers. But basically I just sat at a computer with at least fifteen students around me, showing them how to use microsoft word. I let them practice copy and paste, changing the font and color, and typing. Then I let each of them write their name in word art, which they all lovvvvvvvvedddd. It was fun talking to them as well, because they wanted to know all about us and about the US. They asked most of us how many parents we have, which is probably because most of them are orphans and had lost their parents in the genocide or to HIV.
The secondary school is amazing, but it is so sad to see how little money and resources they have. There are 520 students that go to the school, most of which live at the school because they have no where else to go. We calculated that the school runs on about $60,000 a year, mostly coming from the genocide survivors' fund. Can you imagine a boarding school with over five hundred students only being able to spend $60,000??? That is like one teacher's salary in the United States.
Teaching English to teachers at the school that night was really interesting. A few of them were asking me about the names of different food in English, so we got in to a discussion of eating habits in Rwanda and the US. When I tried to explain that in America, we often eat a lot for breakfast (unless we are too busy), they were a bit confused. They told me that in Rwanda, you are lucky if you have enough money to have tea for breakfast; otherwise you only get water. I don't think I would be able to make it through the day.
We were also teaching one man who had been accused of genocide. He had been in jail for ten years before his trial in the gacaca courts (the traditional courts), and then he was found innocent (which I think is pretty rare). But can you imagine being stuck in jail for soooo long for a crime you didn't commit?!?! That is one major problem Rwanda faced after 1994; there were so many people that were involved in the genocide that it would literally take a century to try them all in court (there were almost one million perpetrators of the genocide, and about one million victims). They set up gacaca courts (traditional courts) to help speed up the process.
The next day, Friday, we went to visit a Millenium village in Bugasera, Rwanda. It is one of about 15 villages in Africa that are supported by the Millenium Village Project which was created by Jeffery Sachs. The project works on health care, education, agriculture, and other things as well. But there are a lot of criticims of the Millenium Village project, because it pours soooo many resources into one tiny village and basically ignores the rest of the country. The project also only lasts for five or so years, I think, then it just leaves. That is soooooooooooooooooo ridiculous. I really don't think its a good idea to flood resources into such a tiny area, then completely stop funding a few years later. The villages will just fall apart! and I think the amount of resources they are putting into these villages could be used in a much more efficient way; a way that could help a hell of a lot more people. It also only works in African countries that have stable governments. But what about the poor, struggling people in the rest of Africa?!?
After spending time at the Millenium Village, I started disliking the project even more. We were basically forced to invade these people lives. They took us into a primary school classroom, and we just stood there looking like fools and disrupting their learning. Then they took us on a tour of a hospital, which was pretty much a horrible experience. I felt so uncomfortable, because the guide was basically opening the doors to every room and showing us the sick people like they were tourist attractions! It really really pissed me off, and I wish I had walked out of the hospital. Some people from our group did, because it was so uncomfortable I cannot even describe it. Some of these people had literally just given birth and others looked so sick that I thought they could die any second. Why on earth would we be brought on a tour of that?! I do think there is a point when you can over-react and over-analyze the bad effects of tourism, but after my experience at Millenium Village, I definitely look at tourism and international development projects in a different way. Oh yeah, and then we went to a reconciliation part of the village, where genocide survivors, perpetrators, and returnees who came back to Rwanda after the genocide all live together. They had a dancing ceremony for us, which was kind of cool. Then we heard testimonies from a survivor and a perpetrator of the genocide. It was weird sitting like five feet from a man that had killed multiple people. But that has probably happened so many times while I've been here in Rwanda, but I just didn't know it. It was really strange and uncomfortable during the perpetrator's testimony, because the translator kept laughing. I mean, WHAT? We really didn't understand why she was laughing, because what she was translating certainly wasnt funny. It was so strange.
But there was one good part of the Millenium village visit. I got to try Casavas! We went to a fruit farm, and the farmer dug a hole in the ground near a tree and pulled out a Casava. It looked like a potato, but it was the strangest and best thing I have ever tasted. It is such a weird texture, but I loved it! And I got to help a woman weave a basket, which was really exciting!
The secondary school is amazing, but it is so sad to see how little money and resources they have. There are 520 students that go to the school, most of which live at the school because they have no where else to go. We calculated that the school runs on about $60,000 a year, mostly coming from the genocide survivors' fund. Can you imagine a boarding school with over five hundred students only being able to spend $60,000??? That is like one teacher's salary in the United States.
Teaching English to teachers at the school that night was really interesting. A few of them were asking me about the names of different food in English, so we got in to a discussion of eating habits in Rwanda and the US. When I tried to explain that in America, we often eat a lot for breakfast (unless we are too busy), they were a bit confused. They told me that in Rwanda, you are lucky if you have enough money to have tea for breakfast; otherwise you only get water. I don't think I would be able to make it through the day.
We were also teaching one man who had been accused of genocide. He had been in jail for ten years before his trial in the gacaca courts (the traditional courts), and then he was found innocent (which I think is pretty rare). But can you imagine being stuck in jail for soooo long for a crime you didn't commit?!?! That is one major problem Rwanda faced after 1994; there were so many people that were involved in the genocide that it would literally take a century to try them all in court (there were almost one million perpetrators of the genocide, and about one million victims). They set up gacaca courts (traditional courts) to help speed up the process.
The next day, Friday, we went to visit a Millenium village in Bugasera, Rwanda. It is one of about 15 villages in Africa that are supported by the Millenium Village Project which was created by Jeffery Sachs. The project works on health care, education, agriculture, and other things as well. But there are a lot of criticims of the Millenium Village project, because it pours soooo many resources into one tiny village and basically ignores the rest of the country. The project also only lasts for five or so years, I think, then it just leaves. That is soooooooooooooooooo ridiculous. I really don't think its a good idea to flood resources into such a tiny area, then completely stop funding a few years later. The villages will just fall apart! and I think the amount of resources they are putting into these villages could be used in a much more efficient way; a way that could help a hell of a lot more people. It also only works in African countries that have stable governments. But what about the poor, struggling people in the rest of Africa?!?
After spending time at the Millenium Village, I started disliking the project even more. We were basically forced to invade these people lives. They took us into a primary school classroom, and we just stood there looking like fools and disrupting their learning. Then they took us on a tour of a hospital, which was pretty much a horrible experience. I felt so uncomfortable, because the guide was basically opening the doors to every room and showing us the sick people like they were tourist attractions! It really really pissed me off, and I wish I had walked out of the hospital. Some people from our group did, because it was so uncomfortable I cannot even describe it. Some of these people had literally just given birth and others looked so sick that I thought they could die any second. Why on earth would we be brought on a tour of that?! I do think there is a point when you can over-react and over-analyze the bad effects of tourism, but after my experience at Millenium Village, I definitely look at tourism and international development projects in a different way. Oh yeah, and then we went to a reconciliation part of the village, where genocide survivors, perpetrators, and returnees who came back to Rwanda after the genocide all live together. They had a dancing ceremony for us, which was kind of cool. Then we heard testimonies from a survivor and a perpetrator of the genocide. It was weird sitting like five feet from a man that had killed multiple people. But that has probably happened so many times while I've been here in Rwanda, but I just didn't know it. It was really strange and uncomfortable during the perpetrator's testimony, because the translator kept laughing. I mean, WHAT? We really didn't understand why she was laughing, because what she was translating certainly wasnt funny. It was so strange.
But there was one good part of the Millenium village visit. I got to try Casavas! We went to a fruit farm, and the farmer dug a hole in the ground near a tree and pulled out a Casava. It looked like a potato, but it was the strangest and best thing I have ever tasted. It is such a weird texture, but I loved it! And I got to help a woman weave a basket, which was really exciting!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Class and some fun adventures
The school week (Monday-Wednesday) of last week was really cool too, even though it wasn't that eventful. On Monday, I met a student named Peter next to the guesthouse. He told me that he wanted to learn English because the first person who comforted him after the genocide spoke English. Then we had a speaker come talk to us at lunch. It's crazy, because the man was like my age and he had already started an NGO! I mean, dang. He talked about how he thought we could stop genocidal ideology through education and financial empowerment. I totally agree.
Then Jenny, Meghan, and I went to this really cool Co-op where there are like twenty stores all filled with awesome souvenirs. I bought a lot of cool things, which I probably won't be able to fit into my luggage. Don't worry, I bought everyone awesome gifts, so get excited! I also bought these awesome tiny wooden elephants that cost almost 8 dollars, but I lost them already! I think I left them in the store, sniff sniff. When I walked into one of the stores, I saw a National Geographic lying on the ground. I got really excited, and I started talking to the store owner and these two German guys about National Geographic and other books too. The Rwandan store owner named Abraham had read the Kite Runner, isn't that awesome!? I told him he had to read A Thousand Splendid Suns, because it is seriously the best book ever.
The next day after class, we were sent on an assignment to interview someone from an NGO. There are like ten NGO's on every street in Kigali, so it wasn't hard to think of one to go to. Jenny, Moriah, Julia, and I tried to talk to someone at the Clinton Foundation, which has an office about five minutes from our guesthouse, but no one was available. Or maybe no one wanted to talk to us. So we stopped by a couple other organizations on the same street, and we walked by a lot of embassies, which was pretty cool. After awhile, we finally go to talk to someone from World Vision, which is an international Christian organization that works to improve the lives of children and to help reconcile the country. We interviewed the communications director, whose name was Frank. It was really interesting because it turns out that he used to be a news anchor for the Rwandan news! (isn't that cool Lauren?!). But he quit because he got kind of sick of the government censorship, even though he believes that there has to be some level of censorship in Rwanda to prevent divisionism between ethnic groups, especially because the media (radio) played such a huge role in the genocide. We ended up going to dinner with him a few days later, and then he confessed his love for me, haha. Most girls on our trip have gotten at least five marriage proposals, haha.
After class on Wednesday, we had another assignment. We were put into groups of three and then given different districts in Kigali to go and explore. We had to take a photograph (after asking permission), and then we had a photo competition. Julia, Amber, and I went to the Biryogo district, which is mostly a residential area. It was really cool, because we just walked around and talked to people. There were women and girls on almost every street corner, sewing with sewing machines powered by their feet. We took a picture of one of those women. She was so nice and so beautiful. Julia printed the picture and brought it to the lady a couple of days later. She was just sitting in the exact same spot, sewing away. Our photo didn't win, but that's ok! In Biryogo we also went into a hospital started by a few Spanish women. It was really cool because I got to practice my Spanish! But there were so many people there that looked very sick, and very sad. The organization is really cool though, because it provides free HIV treatment.
The end!
Love Colleen
Then Jenny, Meghan, and I went to this really cool Co-op where there are like twenty stores all filled with awesome souvenirs. I bought a lot of cool things, which I probably won't be able to fit into my luggage. Don't worry, I bought everyone awesome gifts, so get excited! I also bought these awesome tiny wooden elephants that cost almost 8 dollars, but I lost them already! I think I left them in the store, sniff sniff. When I walked into one of the stores, I saw a National Geographic lying on the ground. I got really excited, and I started talking to the store owner and these two German guys about National Geographic and other books too. The Rwandan store owner named Abraham had read the Kite Runner, isn't that awesome!? I told him he had to read A Thousand Splendid Suns, because it is seriously the best book ever.
The next day after class, we were sent on an assignment to interview someone from an NGO. There are like ten NGO's on every street in Kigali, so it wasn't hard to think of one to go to. Jenny, Moriah, Julia, and I tried to talk to someone at the Clinton Foundation, which has an office about five minutes from our guesthouse, but no one was available. Or maybe no one wanted to talk to us. So we stopped by a couple other organizations on the same street, and we walked by a lot of embassies, which was pretty cool. After awhile, we finally go to talk to someone from World Vision, which is an international Christian organization that works to improve the lives of children and to help reconcile the country. We interviewed the communications director, whose name was Frank. It was really interesting because it turns out that he used to be a news anchor for the Rwandan news! (isn't that cool Lauren?!). But he quit because he got kind of sick of the government censorship, even though he believes that there has to be some level of censorship in Rwanda to prevent divisionism between ethnic groups, especially because the media (radio) played such a huge role in the genocide. We ended up going to dinner with him a few days later, and then he confessed his love for me, haha. Most girls on our trip have gotten at least five marriage proposals, haha.
After class on Wednesday, we had another assignment. We were put into groups of three and then given different districts in Kigali to go and explore. We had to take a photograph (after asking permission), and then we had a photo competition. Julia, Amber, and I went to the Biryogo district, which is mostly a residential area. It was really cool, because we just walked around and talked to people. There were women and girls on almost every street corner, sewing with sewing machines powered by their feet. We took a picture of one of those women. She was so nice and so beautiful. Julia printed the picture and brought it to the lady a couple of days later. She was just sitting in the exact same spot, sewing away. Our photo didn't win, but that's ok! In Biryogo we also went into a hospital started by a few Spanish women. It was really cool because I got to practice my Spanish! But there were so many people there that looked very sick, and very sad. The organization is really cool though, because it provides free HIV treatment.
The end!
Love Colleen
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Music and performances!
Over the weekend, we did a lot of different things. Most of it was really fun, although there were some frustrating parts. We started out trying to participate in Umuganda, the country-wide community service day that happens once a month here in Rwanda. We went to our friend Gilbert's neighborhood, the areathat we went to on the first weekend we were in Rwanda (where all the orphans followed us). But we ended up getting there too late, so we missed it! That was the frustrating part of the day. But it ended up being OK. When it started raining, we hung out in Gilbert's living room, watching music videos! The people in that neighborhood are so incredibly poor, so it was kind of strange when I walked into Gilbert's living room and there was like a whole stereo system and TV. They had a video of a Phil Collins concert playing, haha.
Then we ate lunch at another local restaurant. Of course, we ate kabobs and french fries, because that is basically all there is here. But it was good. And MTV was on, so we just talked about music for like 2 hours. Everyone here loovvvvvesssss Akon (who is from Senegal, in case you didn't know). Probably because he achieved what so many youths in Rwanda dream of: success in America. Gilbert and his friend David would basically do anything to get to the United States. They are desperately trying to find the money to get a visa and plane ticket, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon. I tried to tell them there are problems in the US too. But when I think about it, I guess they just have the emotional need to leave Rwanda, where so much tragedy has happened. And America looks like the best option to them. I absolutely do love it here in Rwanda, really. But now I realize more than ever how lucky we are to have comfortable lives back in the US.
The next day, I slept late (yay!) and did some laundry. I talked to the cleaning ladies in our guesthouse. Ok, I didn't really talk to them because we could only understand about two common words. But it was really cool seeing how much we could communicate without words. Then I went to a performance in the community where my homestay will be next week. There was beautiful singing and a play (that we couldn't understand any of, haha). Then we had to introduce ourselves in front of the entire audience. I spoke like three phrases of Kinyarwanda, and it was really cool! The audience laughed at me, haha. We talked to some little kids too, and I guess they like us so much because they followed us all the way to the bus stop when we left! (which was at least a fifteen minute walk). Then we went to the Simba supermarket/restaurant for dinner. Simba means lion in swahili, like the lion king! Anyway, I ate a banana split and french fries for dinner (I may be gaining weight, haha). Then we came back to the guesthouse in the minibus taxis. I may have already talked about the minibuses, I can't remember. But in case I haven't, they are these tiny vans that you fit at least 20 people in. Even if they look full, don't worry, because you can always stuff more people inside, hehe. And they are so efficient and fast! The man collecting money one day tried to jip me on the price, because he probably thought I am an oblivious tourist or something. But nope! I made him charge me the right amount, and everyone on the bus was laughing. It was pretty funny.
And that was the end of my lovely weekend!
Then we ate lunch at another local restaurant. Of course, we ate kabobs and french fries, because that is basically all there is here. But it was good. And MTV was on, so we just talked about music for like 2 hours. Everyone here loovvvvvesssss Akon (who is from Senegal, in case you didn't know). Probably because he achieved what so many youths in Rwanda dream of: success in America. Gilbert and his friend David would basically do anything to get to the United States. They are desperately trying to find the money to get a visa and plane ticket, but I don't think that will happen anytime soon. I tried to tell them there are problems in the US too. But when I think about it, I guess they just have the emotional need to leave Rwanda, where so much tragedy has happened. And America looks like the best option to them. I absolutely do love it here in Rwanda, really. But now I realize more than ever how lucky we are to have comfortable lives back in the US.
The next day, I slept late (yay!) and did some laundry. I talked to the cleaning ladies in our guesthouse. Ok, I didn't really talk to them because we could only understand about two common words. But it was really cool seeing how much we could communicate without words. Then I went to a performance in the community where my homestay will be next week. There was beautiful singing and a play (that we couldn't understand any of, haha). Then we had to introduce ourselves in front of the entire audience. I spoke like three phrases of Kinyarwanda, and it was really cool! The audience laughed at me, haha. We talked to some little kids too, and I guess they like us so much because they followed us all the way to the bus stop when we left! (which was at least a fifteen minute walk). Then we went to the Simba supermarket/restaurant for dinner. Simba means lion in swahili, like the lion king! Anyway, I ate a banana split and french fries for dinner (I may be gaining weight, haha). Then we came back to the guesthouse in the minibus taxis. I may have already talked about the minibuses, I can't remember. But in case I haven't, they are these tiny vans that you fit at least 20 people in. Even if they look full, don't worry, because you can always stuff more people inside, hehe. And they are so efficient and fast! The man collecting money one day tried to jip me on the price, because he probably thought I am an oblivious tourist or something. But nope! I made him charge me the right amount, and everyone on the bus was laughing. It was pretty funny.
And that was the end of my lovely weekend!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Volunteering/field trips
Last Thursday, we had our first day of volunteering. I am in the group that goes to an orphanage! Or we were supposed to go to an orphanage at least, but we kind of had a change of plans at the last minute because when we arrived at the orphanage, the nun said that no visitors were allowed on Thursdays! We were all a bit upset, because we had already talked to the director who said we could volunteer, and because we all really wanted to see the orphanage! But I guess when you're traveling, you have to be flexible. Donna, our professor, calls it the "f-word," haha. FLEXIBLE. So we were standing in this orphanage with this kind of mean nun, and our taxi driver told us that he knew a place that we could go and volunteer. So we went! It was a primary school and an orphanage.
We didn't really do that much, but it was really fun anyway. First, we just walked around saying hi to the orphans. One tiny little girl was sooo cute. She held my hand the whole time. Then we went into one of the classrooms and helped teach English. We taught the students the song "head, shoulders, knees, and toes." They were soo cute. When the teacher asked them a question, they would all raise their hands and yell "please, teacher, please!" Anyway, we taught them the ABC's and colors too. Then we played on the playground. Basically they just chased us all around, and it was tiring!
Then we went to get goat kabobs and potatoes for a late lunch. When you go to a restaurant and there is no menu and all they have is goat kabobs, you know it is a restaurant where locals go. Then Moriah, Jenny, Matt, and I went to volunteer at another primary school, where we were supposed to teach dance! But it ended up that the kids taught us dance instead. They did an Intore performance (Rwandan traditional dance) and it was seriously so incredibly cool. Sooo cool, I was just smiling the whole time.Words can't even describe how awesome it was. Then Matt showed them a little ballet. He is seriously sooooooo good; it made me want to learn ballet.
Afterwards, the walk back to the bus station was sooo long. We walked up and down mountains trying not to trip over rocks or fall into huge holes in the dirt road. Then we went to dinner at the Chinese restaurant down the road, and had a really interesting conversation. We knew that Friday, the next day, we were going to visit two churches where thousands and thousands of people were killed in the genocide, and we were nervous. We started talking about how sometimes we feel nervous here. People smile, but we know how sad they still are. We also started talking about god and religion. It's kind of hard, for me at least, to believe in God when something like the genocide happened. I mean, a million innocent people were slaughtered by machetes. How could god let that happen? But at the same time, religion has definitely helped Rwandans move on and get through reconciliation after the genocide.
So on Friday, we visited the two churches, called Ntarama and Nyatama. They were about a half an hour outside Kigali. On the way, we passed by the school that is the subject of the movie Shooting Dogs. Thousands of people gathered there during the genocide because the UN was protecting the area. But the the UN soldiers were given the order to pull out, and the killers came right away and just killed everyone in the school. The UN soldiers basically had to stand there and watch all of those people get murdered, because they could not shoot to stop the killers. They could only shoot the dogs that started eating the dead bodies. That is why the movie is called Shooting Dogs.
The first church we stopped at was called Ntarama. This is probably in my head, but when I stepped off the bus, the air seriously felt oppressive. When we first walked in the church, all we could see was rows and rows of skulls and bones almost piled high to the ceiling. Some of them were broken, and one had a rod through the top of the skull and down through the chin. God, that must have been an awful way to die. There were piles and piles of clothes tied around everywhere, that were from the bodies that were found in the church. There was a kitchen were a few hundred people were burned alive. Almost 5,000 people were murdered there. Afterwards we walked around the road, and it was weird to see that life still goes on in that area. It was such a contrast, seeing so much death and then walking outside and seeing people living their lives. But there still seemed to be a sadness in people's eyes, more so than in Kigali.
Next we stopped at another church called Nyatama, where 10,000 were killed during the genocide. It was similar to Ntarama, but there was a grave in the ground that you could walk in to. It was really dark and eery, and when I walked down the stairs I seriously was scared, for some reason, that I would never come out. There were even more skulls and bones. It was awful. There were people filming a documentary, which was going to be about the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. They wanted to interview some of us, but I wasn't really in the mood. And I don't really feel like I can articulate my feelings well about the Rwandan genocide. After being in those churches, I just didn't feel like myself. And not all of it has even been prosessed in my mind; it will probably take months and months after leaving Rwanda for me to start to understand what we have experienced. Even the things that don't ever completely surface in our minds will still profoundly affect our lives. Anyway, one of the girls on our trip, Moriah, did do the interview, and I can't wait to see her become famous!
Oh! and I also peed in my first hole in the ground. It was a legitimate hole in the ground, no toilet or water or anything!
On the way home, we stopped at a river called Nyabarongo. During the genocide, thousands and thousands of bodies were thrown in the river. It is a tradition to go back and visit the site, and throw a flower or a piece of paper with a message into the river. I threw in a piece of paper, and I wrote a message. I watched it flow away.
At night, I went to teach English to secondary school teachers for three hours. That is a long time, and it was exhausting! But it was totally worth it. It was really really hard to communicate with them, because the group I was with hardly spoke any English at all. I never thought it would be so hard to teach someone the word "smile." But I have been back a couple of times, and I really love going, because I feel useful!
Then we went to get dinner. It may have been the strangest dinner of my life. It wasn't because of the food, it was because of the people. We went to meet two people from our group who were at the restaurant already, but they had been talking to some Rwandans for a couple of hours. The Rwandans there were really strange, and we felt a little uncomfortable. They were government workers, we think they might have been in parliament. One of them was a former RPF leader, which is the militia that defeated the Hutu genocide leaders and ended the genocide. They were just kind of strange, and later we found out they tried to exchange a prostitute for one of the girls in our group. How awful is that?! (I wasn't there when that happened though, so don't worry mom and dad.)
We didn't really do that much, but it was really fun anyway. First, we just walked around saying hi to the orphans. One tiny little girl was sooo cute. She held my hand the whole time. Then we went into one of the classrooms and helped teach English. We taught the students the song "head, shoulders, knees, and toes." They were soo cute. When the teacher asked them a question, they would all raise their hands and yell "please, teacher, please!" Anyway, we taught them the ABC's and colors too. Then we played on the playground. Basically they just chased us all around, and it was tiring!
Then we went to get goat kabobs and potatoes for a late lunch. When you go to a restaurant and there is no menu and all they have is goat kabobs, you know it is a restaurant where locals go. Then Moriah, Jenny, Matt, and I went to volunteer at another primary school, where we were supposed to teach dance! But it ended up that the kids taught us dance instead. They did an Intore performance (Rwandan traditional dance) and it was seriously so incredibly cool. Sooo cool, I was just smiling the whole time.Words can't even describe how awesome it was. Then Matt showed them a little ballet. He is seriously sooooooo good; it made me want to learn ballet.
Afterwards, the walk back to the bus station was sooo long. We walked up and down mountains trying not to trip over rocks or fall into huge holes in the dirt road. Then we went to dinner at the Chinese restaurant down the road, and had a really interesting conversation. We knew that Friday, the next day, we were going to visit two churches where thousands and thousands of people were killed in the genocide, and we were nervous. We started talking about how sometimes we feel nervous here. People smile, but we know how sad they still are. We also started talking about god and religion. It's kind of hard, for me at least, to believe in God when something like the genocide happened. I mean, a million innocent people were slaughtered by machetes. How could god let that happen? But at the same time, religion has definitely helped Rwandans move on and get through reconciliation after the genocide.
So on Friday, we visited the two churches, called Ntarama and Nyatama. They were about a half an hour outside Kigali. On the way, we passed by the school that is the subject of the movie Shooting Dogs. Thousands of people gathered there during the genocide because the UN was protecting the area. But the the UN soldiers were given the order to pull out, and the killers came right away and just killed everyone in the school. The UN soldiers basically had to stand there and watch all of those people get murdered, because they could not shoot to stop the killers. They could only shoot the dogs that started eating the dead bodies. That is why the movie is called Shooting Dogs.
The first church we stopped at was called Ntarama. This is probably in my head, but when I stepped off the bus, the air seriously felt oppressive. When we first walked in the church, all we could see was rows and rows of skulls and bones almost piled high to the ceiling. Some of them were broken, and one had a rod through the top of the skull and down through the chin. God, that must have been an awful way to die. There were piles and piles of clothes tied around everywhere, that were from the bodies that were found in the church. There was a kitchen were a few hundred people were burned alive. Almost 5,000 people were murdered there. Afterwards we walked around the road, and it was weird to see that life still goes on in that area. It was such a contrast, seeing so much death and then walking outside and seeing people living their lives. But there still seemed to be a sadness in people's eyes, more so than in Kigali.
Next we stopped at another church called Nyatama, where 10,000 were killed during the genocide. It was similar to Ntarama, but there was a grave in the ground that you could walk in to. It was really dark and eery, and when I walked down the stairs I seriously was scared, for some reason, that I would never come out. There were even more skulls and bones. It was awful. There were people filming a documentary, which was going to be about the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide. They wanted to interview some of us, but I wasn't really in the mood. And I don't really feel like I can articulate my feelings well about the Rwandan genocide. After being in those churches, I just didn't feel like myself. And not all of it has even been prosessed in my mind; it will probably take months and months after leaving Rwanda for me to start to understand what we have experienced. Even the things that don't ever completely surface in our minds will still profoundly affect our lives. Anyway, one of the girls on our trip, Moriah, did do the interview, and I can't wait to see her become famous!
Oh! and I also peed in my first hole in the ground. It was a legitimate hole in the ground, no toilet or water or anything!
On the way home, we stopped at a river called Nyabarongo. During the genocide, thousands and thousands of bodies were thrown in the river. It is a tradition to go back and visit the site, and throw a flower or a piece of paper with a message into the river. I threw in a piece of paper, and I wrote a message. I watched it flow away.
At night, I went to teach English to secondary school teachers for three hours. That is a long time, and it was exhausting! But it was totally worth it. It was really really hard to communicate with them, because the group I was with hardly spoke any English at all. I never thought it would be so hard to teach someone the word "smile." But I have been back a couple of times, and I really love going, because I feel useful!
Then we went to get dinner. It may have been the strangest dinner of my life. It wasn't because of the food, it was because of the people. We went to meet two people from our group who were at the restaurant already, but they had been talking to some Rwandans for a couple of hours. The Rwandans there were really strange, and we felt a little uncomfortable. They were government workers, we think they might have been in parliament. One of them was a former RPF leader, which is the militia that defeated the Hutu genocide leaders and ended the genocide. They were just kind of strange, and later we found out they tried to exchange a prostitute for one of the girls in our group. How awful is that?! (I wasn't there when that happened though, so don't worry mom and dad.)
Class and sports!
We have class every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I love what we are talking about and it is really interesting to learn about all the different aspects of the genocide. This week, we focused on UN prevention/intervention of genocide. I think we all really wish that the UN could do something, but with the amount of power it has right now, it can't really do much to stop genocide. One of our assignments was to come up with a plan that would give the UN power to intervene. We basically ended up deciding on an amendment to the UN charter that created a UN Independent Commission on Genocide (UNICOG). In our ideal world, this commission would have three goals: one to work on preventing genocide (through dialogue, economic sanctions, and other means of international pressure), one to stop genocide if it is already occurring, and one to sustain peace in post-genocide situations. We decided to create a standing army controlled by the UN, that would be funded by payments from each member state. Each country would have to pay 1% of their military budget for this standing army. We gave UNICOG the power to intervene in a country where genocide is occurring without getting the approval of the Security Council. But after 30 days of UNICOG intervention, the Security council would vote on whether to pull out the troops or not. The Security council could also vote before the thirty days end, if 3/4 of the representatives want to do so.
So what do you think?! Should we send this proposal to the UN?! Maybe we could become famous for solving the world's problems, haha. Before this activity, I wasn't really sure how I felt about military intervention during genocide. True, it could stop a genocide, but couldn't it also lead to more deaths? But now I really think it is one of the only options. The international community can't just sit at watch genocide happen, like we did during the Rwandan genocide. I really wish there was an easy solution to this! But I have begun to realize how incredibly complicated it is.
After class each day, we found a lot of cool things to do. One day, we went to play basketball at a primary school/orphanage. There were at least 100 kids there, and it was so much fun! We played games, we talked to them, and we just hung out with them. There was one kid playing basketball with us that could barely walk. It was so sad, but I admired him so much. God, he must be brave.
On Wednesday, we didn't have too much to do, so we went to hang out with the people that were near our guesthouse. We have become friends with all of them because they are usually at the church next door almost every day, taking English classes. We went to visit one of their English classes, and it was really cool! We met two girls that were from North Dakota, and we have hung out with them a little bit since then. We feel sorry for them, because their professor basically doesn't let them go out anywhere.
On Wednesday night, we went to watch the European soccer championship on a big screen in the Kigali volleyball stadium. It was sooooooooooooooo much fun. It was Manchester United vs. Barcelona. Most of us from our group were cheering for Barcelona (and they won, yay!). The stadium was full, and we were pretty much the only foreigners there (and basically the only girls. but we were with guys from our group, so don't worry!). It was kind of funny when it started raining. Even though there was a roof, the rain made the satellite go out, so we missed some of the game! We ended up missing Barcelona's second goal because of the satellite! But there were people there that had radios, so we all got to cheer when they scored anyway. The rain also made these gigantic moths come into the stadium, and they were basically doing nose-dives into my lap, grossssssss. But it was so awesome and we had so much fun!
So what do you think?! Should we send this proposal to the UN?! Maybe we could become famous for solving the world's problems, haha. Before this activity, I wasn't really sure how I felt about military intervention during genocide. True, it could stop a genocide, but couldn't it also lead to more deaths? But now I really think it is one of the only options. The international community can't just sit at watch genocide happen, like we did during the Rwandan genocide. I really wish there was an easy solution to this! But I have begun to realize how incredibly complicated it is.
After class each day, we found a lot of cool things to do. One day, we went to play basketball at a primary school/orphanage. There were at least 100 kids there, and it was so much fun! We played games, we talked to them, and we just hung out with them. There was one kid playing basketball with us that could barely walk. It was so sad, but I admired him so much. God, he must be brave.
On Wednesday, we didn't have too much to do, so we went to hang out with the people that were near our guesthouse. We have become friends with all of them because they are usually at the church next door almost every day, taking English classes. We went to visit one of their English classes, and it was really cool! We met two girls that were from North Dakota, and we have hung out with them a little bit since then. We feel sorry for them, because their professor basically doesn't let them go out anywhere.
On Wednesday night, we went to watch the European soccer championship on a big screen in the Kigali volleyball stadium. It was sooooooooooooooo much fun. It was Manchester United vs. Barcelona. Most of us from our group were cheering for Barcelona (and they won, yay!). The stadium was full, and we were pretty much the only foreigners there (and basically the only girls. but we were with guys from our group, so don't worry!). It was kind of funny when it started raining. Even though there was a roof, the rain made the satellite go out, so we missed some of the game! We ended up missing Barcelona's second goal because of the satellite! But there were people there that had radios, so we all got to cheer when they scored anyway. The rain also made these gigantic moths come into the stadium, and they were basically doing nose-dives into my lap, grossssssss. But it was so awesome and we had so much fun!
5K in Rwanda! ....yep that's right!
So one night while we were all hanging out, Thomas, Kate, and I decided that we were going to do a 5K. It was an event that had a marathon, a half marathon, and a Fun Run (5K) on the same day, all to promote international peace and raise awareness to end violence against women and children. It was sooo cool and I think it will be one of the things I remember most about Rwanda.
When we arrived at the stadium where it started (Amahoro stadium, which means "peace"), we were too late to register for the race, so we just decided to run it "bandit," which means without numbers (that is what most people ended up doing anyway). When we got to the starting line, we realized that we were by far the oldest and tallest people that were doing the FunRun. So basically we ran a 5K with about a thousand African kids. We ended up with a group of about ten kids surrounding us that we talked to for the whole race. It made the time go by faster. Since I hadn't run in awhile, it was hard, especially since Rwanda is sooooo hilly and Kigali is almost a mile above sea level. We ended up finishing in about 30 minutes... is that good?! It was amazing.
Afterward, we went to get a soda from a little convenient store across the street (lime fanta is the best thing ever!) and we watched the marathoners run by. Oh my gosh, they were so intense ( I bet you looked like that dad, when you were running your marathon!), they were all running faster than I could ever ever run, and they were pouring water all over themselves to cool off (it was really hot that day). Most of the runners were from Africa, and I think the winner was from Kenya. While we were sitting there watching, we met a cool DJ named DJ focus, who plays at a club called Papyrus. He invited us to go see him, but we haven't gone yet so far because we are sooo busy! We also met a women that writes for National Geographic, my dreeeeeeeeaaaaaammmmmmmmmm. Unfortunately, I didn't know she worked there until right after she left. I suppose I could have run after her, and maybe I should have. But I talked to her friend and gave her my email address. She probably won't email me, but it would be sooooo incredibly awesome if she did. That is seriously my goal in life, oh my gosh.
Then we came back from the 5K/marathon, and it was still really early in the morning! So we hung out and did some wash. Around dinner, Jenny and I left our guesthouse to look for other people in our group who were at a play. But we got completely lost! I tried to call the people in the group that were already at the play, but most people had turned their phones off. I tried to call one guy named Doug, because I knew he was there, but I guess I had mixed up numbers in my phone book, so I actually called this guy named Serg (who works at the genocide memorial) instead of Doug. It took me like five minutes of talking to Serg to figure out that it wasn't Doug (even though I was wondering why Doug suddenly had an accent and was stuttering). It was a mess!
So Serg offered to come show us where the play was. That is seriously how all Rwandans have been; they will just drop everything they are doing to help us. We ended up finding the play (and I accidently walked on to the stage), but it was in French, and all the people in our group looked so incredibly bored. So Jenny and I just ended up getting dinner with Serg at the Blues Cafe, which was so much better than the play probably was. We had a really interesting conversation with Serg about racism. He said racism is just an example of one group of people trying to dominate another group, and if there were no such thing as race, we would just find other ways to categorize and differentiate ourselves. But Serg doesn't like that, because he says we are all just human. I totally agree. Serg lost almost his entire family in the genocide.
When we arrived at the stadium where it started (Amahoro stadium, which means "peace"), we were too late to register for the race, so we just decided to run it "bandit," which means without numbers (that is what most people ended up doing anyway). When we got to the starting line, we realized that we were by far the oldest and tallest people that were doing the FunRun. So basically we ran a 5K with about a thousand African kids. We ended up with a group of about ten kids surrounding us that we talked to for the whole race. It made the time go by faster. Since I hadn't run in awhile, it was hard, especially since Rwanda is sooooo hilly and Kigali is almost a mile above sea level. We ended up finishing in about 30 minutes... is that good?! It was amazing.
Afterward, we went to get a soda from a little convenient store across the street (lime fanta is the best thing ever!) and we watched the marathoners run by. Oh my gosh, they were so intense ( I bet you looked like that dad, when you were running your marathon!), they were all running faster than I could ever ever run, and they were pouring water all over themselves to cool off (it was really hot that day). Most of the runners were from Africa, and I think the winner was from Kenya. While we were sitting there watching, we met a cool DJ named DJ focus, who plays at a club called Papyrus. He invited us to go see him, but we haven't gone yet so far because we are sooo busy! We also met a women that writes for National Geographic, my dreeeeeeeeaaaaaammmmmmmmmm. Unfortunately, I didn't know she worked there until right after she left. I suppose I could have run after her, and maybe I should have. But I talked to her friend and gave her my email address. She probably won't email me, but it would be sooooo incredibly awesome if she did. That is seriously my goal in life, oh my gosh.
Then we came back from the 5K/marathon, and it was still really early in the morning! So we hung out and did some wash. Around dinner, Jenny and I left our guesthouse to look for other people in our group who were at a play. But we got completely lost! I tried to call the people in the group that were already at the play, but most people had turned their phones off. I tried to call one guy named Doug, because I knew he was there, but I guess I had mixed up numbers in my phone book, so I actually called this guy named Serg (who works at the genocide memorial) instead of Doug. It took me like five minutes of talking to Serg to figure out that it wasn't Doug (even though I was wondering why Doug suddenly had an accent and was stuttering). It was a mess!
So Serg offered to come show us where the play was. That is seriously how all Rwandans have been; they will just drop everything they are doing to help us. We ended up finding the play (and I accidently walked on to the stage), but it was in French, and all the people in our group looked so incredibly bored. So Jenny and I just ended up getting dinner with Serg at the Blues Cafe, which was so much better than the play probably was. We had a really interesting conversation with Serg about racism. He said racism is just an example of one group of people trying to dominate another group, and if there were no such thing as race, we would just find other ways to categorize and differentiate ourselves. But Serg doesn't like that, because he says we are all just human. I totally agree. Serg lost almost his entire family in the genocide.
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