June 17th, 2017

Wiriwe (good afternoon in Kinyarwnda) Family and Friends! 

We are coming to the end of our final week here in Kigali. My colleagues, and I have viewed numerous sites of Kigali, and Butare. I am surrounded by beautiful nature, a astounding culture, and numerous delightful people. Prior to coming on this trip I didn’t know much about the history of the genocide. I started to do some research about the economy, and the culture of Rwanda while I was still in school to educate myself a bit more. I read many articles, books, and viewed multiple photos. However, in my opinion everyone should travel here to Rwanda to get a clear understanding of what the genocide was. Reading about what happened in 1994 is different from viewing actual artifacts up close in person which portrays the genocide did occur. I’m thankful to receive this opportunity. Not many people receive the chance to travel to Rwanda, and observe their past, present, and future. Our days consist of being in lectures, traveling to many organizations that were created because of the genocide, and visiting many corporations whose number one action is to strive for reconciliation. We have also had the opportunity to meet with people who have a relationship with the genocide, such as victims, perpetrators, political figures, and much more. We’ve each received a host family we have to live with for our last week here. I must say living with someone you don’t know does seem as if it would be hard to do, but this experience has helped me look into a deeper context of Rwandan culture, and everyday life experiences they have. My blog is briefly going to summarize our discussion with political figure Edourad Bamporiki, and my personal experience/ thoughts about my host family.

Yesterday, we received the opportunity to meet Edourad Bamporiki. He is known for being an actor, poet, and an award winning filmmaker. Here’s a fun fact, he is the youngest member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Rwanda Parliament! He is around his 30’s. Edourad took the time out of his day to share with us his story of the genocide. He explained he was in the hospital seeking treatment during the genocide. Edourad wondered why random people were being killed. His mom didn’t explain the ethnic differences among the Rwandans, and who was being targeted. Edourad asked her numerous times why were people dying, but she refused to tell him. This was not the first time I have heard of a parent holding in information about the genocide. Many parents didn’t want their children to know what was going on, because they were young. Every parent had to tell their children eventually about the violence that was surrounding them. For example, in Edourad’s position his mother didn’t have a choice to explain the violence. Edourad’s mother took in a tutsi man, and his daughter, and hid them in Edourad’s room under his bed. He didn’t understand why his mother was hiding somebody else in their home. For whatever reason, his mother decided to explain to him what was taking place in their country. As time went on Hutus found out they were hiding a tutsi, and came and killed them. Edourad was 10 when the killing happened in front of his face. He expressed how traumatizing it was to witness a killing. To let out his feelings, and come to terms of what happened he expressed his thoughts, and messages through poetry. After years passed he began to publish poems, and novels that displayed peaceful messages. Many people begun to like his writings, and him as a person. Edourad mentioned that after hearing the explanation “why” these killings were happening, he still didn't understand why a person is being killed because of their ethnicity. Even I still don’t understand why some people felt as if that was a good enough reason to kill somebody. I have heard many stories, and been to many memorials, and I am so confused on how so many people made their mind up on killing an innocent person. I appreciate Edourad coming and telling his story. His story was very interesting to hear, because looking at the person he is today you would've never thought he experienced something so harsh. The message I took home with me from this discussion is that many things happen unexpectedly, and can sometimes bring out negative outcomes, but those outcomes don’t have to be negative forever. There are many people in Rwanda who are living well, happy, and successfully even after being survivors or perpetrators of the genocide. In my opinion the people are the most important factor in helping this Country develop throughout the years! I could only imagine what Rwanda was portrayed as 20 years ago. From what I seen it is a natural beautiful Country!

The Country is beautiful, and as well as the people who live here. This leads on to my brief summary of my experience, and thoughts of staying with an Rwandan family.  I will first like to mention how nervous I was to stay in another family’s house. Now I am sad to be leaving them tomorrow. To give you some background about my family, they are newly weds who are expecting their first born baby boy in three months. My host parents are extraordinary! They are both so generous, intelligent, funny, and loving. They made me feel safe in their home. While living with them for a week I had to adapt to many things, such as showering, meals, etc. It was more easier to adapt than what I expected. By day three I felt everything I was doing was normal, as if it is my normal routine, and that I’ve been doing it for years. I have created a bond with each of them, and their friends. A bond that  know wont ever be broken. I have exchanged Facebook names, and phone numbers with these people I view now as my family after only one week. I am grateful for them to take on this experience with me, and I hope they have learned about my values and culture, as much as I learned about theirs. My host parents treated me as if I was their own. They expressed to their friends that I was their first born daughter. It was nice to gain that type of connection with the family. My host mother doesn’t want me to leave, and wishes I could stay for a month. She spent her whole afternoon with me after having a long day at work. I enjoyed my day with her today. At night time, she invited her family members to dinner because it is my last night staying with them. We are all currently dancing, and singing in the living room together. It feels like a family. It feels like home. It is hard to express how amazing my host family has been to me in words. I wish you all could meet them in person, and see for yourself how awesome they are! I wish you all could experience this beautiful Country in general. I know many of us here on this trip were home sick at times, but this trip was definitely worth the money, the time, and the experience. There is my summary of my personal thoughts, and feelings about the things that are the highlights of my week! We miss you all, and can’t wait to see and share this experience with you!

(My host mom, and I searching for oil in the store ( on the bottom), and my host dad and I walking through the city (on the top).

14 June 2017

Hello, friends and family! Today is our 17th day in Rwanda, and I started the day off attempting to master the Rwandan public transportation system! An hour and a half and two buses later (proud of myself for shaving 30 minutes off my very first commute,) I arrived at SIT for today’s lecture on economic development in a post-genocide Rwanda, led by the CEO of the Rwandan Stock Exchange, Pierre Celestin Rwabukumba. Pierre began the lecture by offering a brief overview of Rwanda’s economic climate leading up to, during, and immediately following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Beginning in 1990, Rwanda’s economy began to decline, and was completely destroyed with the conclusion of the violence that occurred in the country. The country was deprived of almost all its resources, resulting in the government’s confrontation with many barriers in regards to overcoming the country’s poverty. With an increased poverty rate of 53% in 1993 to 70% in 1997, the Rwandan government partnered with World Bank in order to introduce privatization of state-owned enterprises, with the hope of putting an end to the draining of government resources.

Rwanda soon understood their need for integration into the EAC, since the country is one of Africa's many small and economically unviable states which produces what they don't largely consume, and consumes what they don't largely produce. The EAC, also known as the East African Community is a regional intergovernmental organization comprised of the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Rwanda (who joined in 2007). Integration into the EAC had a positive impact on the Rwandan economy post-genocide, with economic benefits including: better management of shared resources, marketing the EAC as a single tourist destination, avoiding the duplication of costs born by individual states offering the same services, and the free movement of people, goods, and labor across the five states. Benefits to Rwanda's integration into the EAC doesn't stop with economics, however, as there are numerous social and political benefits as well. The EAC promotes a cost effective political administration, good governance, democracy, and political stability, enhanced democratic space (devoid of ethnicity and nepotism,) and ore viable and cost effective infrastructure projects.

The country has numbers to show for its strengthened economy as well, with a gross domestic product (GDP) equivalent to 8.3 billion USD. Rwanda's sustained annual economic growth has averaged at 8% since 2005, with only a moderate inflation rate of approximately 4.8%. In 2000, Rwanda also embarked on an ambitious development agenda known as "Vision 2020": a project aiming to transform the country try into a knowledge-based, middle-income country by the year 2020. Later this afternoon, we had the opportunity of speaking with Philip Lucky, an employee of the Rwanda Development Board, to further elaborate on Vision 2020. He explained to our group that the vision follows five pillars in order to succeed in the transformation into a middle-income society:

1. Private sector led economy
2. Transform agriculture into a more commercialized system
3. Good governance
4. Infrastructure improvement
5. Integration (into the EAC)

After Rwanda's integration into the EAC, the RDB was established in 2008 by merging eighty pre-existing, stand-alone government institutions. The creation of the RDB moved the country in the direction of achieving its 2020 vision by providing more efficient services offered under the same roof. Their vision of constructing economic development through private sector growth has been successful, explained Lucky, who described the three measures of the RDB to be private sector influence, imports/exports, and tourism. When it comes to imports and exports, he discussed a  relatively new policy being implemented by the Rwandan government known as "Made in Rwanda," which encourages the in-country production of local products to reduce the high amount of imports. Some other key reforms since the creation of the RDB in 2008 include, but are not limited to: online transactions, 6 hour business registration, online visa applications, and online payment of taxes. The institution is built around economic sectors, such as investment registration, marketing, tourism, an export promotion department, and the SPIU, which is in charge of all externally funded products. Falling under the tourism sector are the departments of new product development, strategic investment, and the division of conservation (wildlife, national parks, etc.) It's nice to see how much the country values their environment and the creatures living in it-- Rwanda doesn't even allow plastic bags to enter its borders!

With all the discussion of the country's development and its vision for a middle-income society, I couldn't help but ask Philip about Rwanda's vision for its rural communities. Earlier in our trip, we had the privilege of visiting a school in a rural area of the country, and the environment was visibly different from the capital city of Kigali. A small community lined with dirt roads and buildings marked by red x's demonstrating the need for demolition, I was curious as to how Vision 2020 played into areas that weren't major cities. Lucky emphasized that Vision 2020 does encompass all of Rwanda, yet private sector investment, factories, and more funding from a national level are necessary in directly rebuilding rural communities in the country. Instead, the vision targets main cities to act as catalysts for further development to bleed into outside areas. It would be amazing to come back and visit a few years from now and see this vision accomplished!

Looking forward to soaking up our last few days in this beautiful country! Can't wait to share this amazing experience upon our return to the U.S.!

13 June 2017

Waramutse (“good morning” in Kinyarwanda) friends and family! It is crazy to think that we only have one week until we are back in the States and will be leaving behind all of the Rwandan beauty and experiences we have had thus far! Fortunately, this last week is still packed with lectures, activities, and new sites throughout Kigali. 

The theme for the week is Post-Genocide Rwanda, so most of our lectures and speakers are discussing Rwanda’s development and growth since 1994. Today, after everyone arrived to SIT (on time!!!) we sat in sorrow at the Cavs loss :/. Shortly after, we began our day with a lecture from Hollie on transitional justice with a focus on Rwanda’s gacaca courts. Transitional justice occurs usually during a country’s transition from an authoritarian regime, or a period of conflict, to a democracy, or a period of peace. During our lecture, we discussed the five main types of transitional justice: trials, truth commissions, amnesties, vetting/lustration, and reparations. After the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsis, it was clear that the justice system Rwanda had at the time would not be able to accommodate the masses that needed to be tried. At the international level the United Nations set up the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in an attempt to try the actors most responsible for planning the genocide. More importantly, at the local level Rwanda modified their traditional Gacaca (meaning “grass” and pronounced “guh-cha-cha”) courts to address the genocide. The judges were people of integrity that were elected from the community and could not have participated in any criminal acts during the genocide. Trials were held weekly and community members would come and discuss what they witnessed and experienced during the genocide. 

After our morning lecture, we traveled to the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC). We met with Mr. Alphonse Kalinganire, the National Identity and Disapora Coordinator at the NURC. Mr. Kalinganire spoke to us about the goals and objectives of his organization. Since March 1999 the NURC works to combat discrimination and create positive cultural values through their own homegrown solutions. Some homegrown solutions that were discussed were the gacaca courts, njyanama (elected advisory councils that are voices of Rwandans), ubusabane (festivals to promote unity and community), umuganda (the community work done on the last Saturday of every month), and various other solutions that work to open up the dialogue on progress to all Rwandan citizens. It was extremely interesting to learn about all the work this organization has been doing to help move Rwanda forward and ensure that such violence and hatred does not occur within the country again.

After enjoying the amazing view and Italian food at Sol e Luna for lunch, we made our way to Never Again Rwanda! Our host, Eric, began the lecture by showing us a five-minute video explaining the focus of his organization. The slogan “Never Again” was adopted from the “never again” statements that formed after the Holocaust in order to challenge the failures of others and really work to ensure never again applies to everyone this time. The main goal of this organization is to help citizens become agents of change and participate in the dialogue of decision and policy makers at all levels of the government.

Finally, we headed back to SIT to hear about Media and Post-Genocide Development from Dr. Christopher Rayumba. His lecture was short, as he discussed the impact media had during the genocide. He went into detail about the "hate-radio” that began in August of 1993 and also what media and journalism has developed into today. We learned that journalism was not taught as a profession until 1996, but as of today there are approximately 33 radio stations, 50 print medias (three of which are daily's), and 80 web driven medias in Rwanda! 

After this information packed day it was nice to head back to our homestays and relax for the night! We can't wait to see everyone! Sending lots of love from Kigali!

- Judy Norton 

June 10-12th

June 10-12^th

By Morgan Mahr

                                                        Photo credit- Morgan Mahr

            Muraho Family and Friends! Greetings from Kigali, Rwanda!  We have come to our last week here in Kigali. Where has the time gone! After arriving at my host families house Friday night, I was welcomed in with open arms. After settling in and resting for a while, dinner was prepared. We shared in a nice meal and I went to bed after a very long day. On Saturday June 10^th  I had the pleasure of attending a traditional Rwandese wedding with my host family. This wedding was very different from our traditional American wedding. It was beautiful in its own special way. This was an incredible experience that I would not have had if I did not come to Rwanda! I was lucky to have another classmate attending the wedding as well. Hannah informed me that this wedding was between two Rwandan ethnic groups. She proceeded to tell me that the bride’s family did not want her to marry this man, but she convinced her family that she was marrying for love. As you can see from the picture above, the important men of the groom’s family sat at the table across from the bride’s family, with the same set up as the bride’s side. The father of the groom presented many gifts including wine and orange Fanta to the father of the bride. With not knowing Kinyarwanda, it was hard to know what they were staying to each other, but Hannah and I were able to understand the gestures. I could not have been happier to witness this union.

One Sunday June 11^th, at 6:30 in the morning we were picked up one by one and we started our three-hour journey to Akagera National Park, Rwanda. Akagera National Park is located in the north east of Rwanda along the border of Rwanda and Tanzania. The park was founded in 1934 and has three ecoregions: savannah, mountain, and swamp and is the largest protected wetlands in central Africa. The swamps make up a third of the entire park. The park was originally 2,500 sq km and after the Rwandan Civil War the park reduced to 1,122 sq km. As refugees came back to Rwanda, they brought back their cattle and ended up killing some of the parks animal population due to protecting their cattle. About 70 percent of the animals were killed after the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsis. As of today, the park is working on getting it back to its former glory. They have reintroduced larger predators such as lions and black rhinos and has restored Akagera’s “Big 5” status. The “Big 5” includes black rhino, elephant, lion, leopard, and buffalo. On our six-hour safari tour, we saw two of the “Big 5”. We were so amazed to see one elephant that ended up crossing the street behind our bus. We also saw a buffalo resting under a tree along Lake Shakani. We also saw many zebras roaming in the savannah, hippos along the lake shore line, antelope, water bucks, impalas, olive baboons, warthogs, and giraffes (they were very far away, we had to use the guides binoculars to see them). We learned that in the park there is over five hundred species of trees, five hundred species of birds, elephants can walk about six and a half miles to find water, the deadliest animal in the park is the hippo, the black mambo is the deadliest snake, giraffes do not make any noises to communicate to other giraffes, and hippos spend twelve hours grazing outside before returning to the water. Akagera National Park was one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. I was overwhelmed with the natural beauty of the entire park.   

Photo credit- Morgan Mahr         

                                                          Photo credit- Morgan Mahr 

                                                        Photo credit- Amanda Fontana

                                                      Photo credit- Morgan Mahr

            On Monday June 12^th, our class had the chance to visit a non-profit association called Avega. Avega was created in 1995 by 50 women to help surviving widows of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis (From Avega handout provided). As of today, there is about 19,000 member’s country wide. Avega’s vision is “to restore hope and life to genocide widows and to help them be reintegrated into Rwandan society” and their mission is “to work for progress, empowerment and re-integration of Genocide widows into Rwandan society”. Avega has helped set up four programs to help accomplish its goals. The programs include, a medical program, advocacy and justice program, socio economic program and an organizational reinforcement program. These programs are a vital key in helping Genocide widows in their everyday life.

            After visiting Avega, we took a trip to Kigali Heights (a small mall) to grab coffee for our friend Sunday’s birthday. We went to his favorite coffee shop called Java House. Everyone enjoyed a wide variety of food and coffee. I enjoyed a cold coca cola! Happy Birthday Sunday, hope you enjoyed your favorite coffee shop!

                                           ** Everyone enjoying the free wifi**

We miss you all! Happy 28th Birthday to my husband, Adam! 

- Morgan Mahr