Rwanda

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Rwanda is one of those countries in the world which has an image problem. For may it sums up many of Africa's long term problems - poverty, corruption and civil war. The events that took place in the mid eighties that led up to and included the mass genocide of 1 million (10%) of it's own people is still remembered by most even though wasn't reported about that much in the West, mainly because we (especially the UN) chose to leave Rwanda to it's own devises at the time when it needed outside help most.

Over the last few years the situation has been stable enough for tourism to start again. Our main purpose for going to Rwanda was to try and trek the mountain Gorillas there and spend some time at a Rwandan orphanage. What we found was a beautiful country full of people determined to get it back on it's feet.

The landscape of Rwanda does not meet the stereotypical image of Africa. In fact it's a beautiful country set amongst hundreds of hills and mountains. In terms of development it seems similar to Uganda and Kenya - yet it's lush green fields and forests and fast flowing rivers make it appear to me more hospitable than it's neighbors.... provided you don't mind climbing hills for most of the day though.

We entered Rwanda across land from Uganda and camped at a Christian Commune that had freezing cold water and no electricity. In fact, electricity seems to be as much a luxury as in Uganda, with it only being available for a few hours a day. The streets take on a very eery feel at night and you have to use a torch to make sure you don't fall down any holes. That night we feasted (if you can call it that) on chewy goat and had an early night in preparation to trek the gorillas the next day. I'll save the gorillas for another post, but before I go here is some of the other things we did in Rwanda.

Rwanda is a country with it's own set of problems. During the civil war between the two main tribes - Tutsi and Hutu, millions were killed, raped, tortured or forced to fell to neighbouring countries. Gradually over the years, people have begun to return, but many remain traumatised by the experience, have lost family members, and now face the prospect of having to live side by side with some of those that wopuld have perpetated crimes against them. This now means that around 75% of people are aged under 25 years old, and nearly all of them have been without a conventional upbringing. No one therefore really knows any life skills whatsoever. Mothers often feed their babies beer when they have no milk. Men have no understanding of money or finance. Having food in a restaurant was hilarious as they have no knowledge of how to take an order or even cook particularly well. the food is served on dirty plates and you have to eat with your fingers.. nice!

We spent quite a bit of time in Rwanda helping out an orphange. We took up some sacks of rice and beans and it was good fun to play the kids, although we did have to question just what difference we made if any.

We also visited the Capital, Kigali which I expected to pretty unattractive and hectic but actually turned out to be a mountain town nestled in a valley surrounded by green hills. We visited the new Genocide Museum they have set up there to tell story of what happened and also as a final resting place for those they have found in mass graves (they keep finding them). It was a very sobering experience watching them place coffins into the tombs.

So far...Rwanda is our favourite place! (MD)

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Photos

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Typical rural town, Rwanda

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Excitable kids, Rwanda

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Kim at the orphanage, Rwanda

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More kids at the orphanage, Rwanda

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Kid at the orphanage, Rwanda

Comments

[farhat]

i...
i like Rwanda alot but cant find no information for in in my project