Blogs from Province de L'Ouest, Rwanda, Africa - page 4

If you knew me, and you really knew yourself, you would not have killed me." That was a quote engraved on the wall of the Genocide Memorial Museum in Kigali, Rwanda. Kate and I took a visit to the memorial and it was as tough to go through as I had imagined. There were three parts of the memorial, and we started out slowly, going through the exhibit that just explained Genocide and gave some information about all of the genocides throughout history. That part was bearable, not too personal. I thought I would be OK. I was wrong. The second part we went into was a memorial to the children that were killed in the Genocide. There were blown up pictures of these gorgeous, smiling, care free children and a plaque underneath each one explaining ... read more

We’ve set off from Kigali on the smooth tarmac south, bearing west at Gitarama toward Lake Kivu and the Congolese border. Just reaching Kibuye - a pretty lakeside town on Kivu’s wooded shores - takes you through some of Rwanda’s most dramatic scenery, the green folds of hills stretching in an endless procession. The road is a bold feat of modern engineering - blasted through solid rock, hugging the hills’ edges, with bridges vaulting across brown sluggish rivers where village women stoop to wash their laundry. On the side of the road, barefoot boys lounge in the tall grass; farmers swing their hoes and spades; women balance bundles of manioc on their colorfully wrapped heads, stopping to adjust the infants on their backs. Centuries collide on these terraced hills, cultivated by Rwandan villagers and paved by ... read more