Notes from Rwanda
By Erin Galegher
Maternal and Child Epidemiology
Writing from Rwanda
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."
--Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad (1869)
So, I know I do not post very often while in Rwanda. I have learned that I thouroughly enjoy fast internet connections; it is one of the luxuries of the developed world. At work, I often am without an internet connection and the guesthouse I am staying at has a slow connection that I am sometimes unpatient.
For those who are interested the website for the organization I am working at is: http://www.fact.org.rw/ and this would be much easier for you to look at then for me to explain what they do. I have learned that the everyday workings of, at least a Rwandan NGO, can be quite tedious. The internet can cause a two hour task to take two days and there are so many viruses on the computers her I don't understand how some of them function. Yet, for a country that has been through so much the people I work with are so interesting. I have learned so much about what happened in '94 and the political issues behind it that it has made my trip worthwhile. Many of my co-workers have had parents killed and/or tortured and the situation with refugees in Rwanda is very interesting. There is a book by Gerard Prunier that is very interesting for those wanting to know a thourough background on the subject. I have heard so many stories of torture that are happening now that baffle me. I am willing to share all of my stories with anyone who wants to hear, but don't feel posting them is necessary, since Rwanda really isn't a country full of present day torture like many may take it.
There is a recurrent theme in our office that has plagued many of my conversations with my coworkers. This theme is one of ghosts. Apparently, almost all the people in Rwanda believe in these ghosts. FACT has a hotline that people can call in to seek assistance and often the counsellor will not answer the phone. When I asked why she told me that it is, because everyone thinks that they are calling Satan, since the line is free. I don't totally understand this, but it is a constant area of joking between us all. We have a counsellor in Kibuye, Western Province who stated at the staff meeting that there is a ghost in her home that takes her away at night and needs to move. I saw her today and she told me that the ghost has gone, so she can stay in her home. Also, I am taking a bus from Kigali, Rwanda to Kampala, Uganda on July 6th and my coworkers tell me not to take the popular Jaguar bus lines. They say that there has been many accidents in which people have died and this is because the owner has a pact with the ghosts. Digging deeper this also means that every year around Christmas Jaguar has a crass and that is the price they have to pay to have this pact with the ghosts. Yet, all the returnees from Uganda tell me that Jaguar is fine. I guess I will decide the day before I go.
There are two Americans that are at my guesthouse who I often hang out with. Last week, we went to La Fiesta, a really good Mexican resturant in town. If I lived here I think this would be a fequented resturant by us. On the 24th of June we went out together to celebrate my two year wedding anniversary at an Italian resturant in town and had some pretty good wine. I suppose I should admit that the rest of the time we eat avacado and tomato salad with some vinegar and salt poured over the top. I think I am still looking forward to the great Ugandan Indian food the most though.
A couple weekends ago we went to Gisenyi, which is a border town to the DRC, on Lake Kivu. It was a really great town and would be even better if we had the money to climb the mountain in Goma, DRC. If anyone has ever wanted to see the gorillas this is a great time to do it. Rwanda is the best, safest, and most expensive country to see them. Truthfully, Rwanda really is safe to visit and has three diverse national parks to visit.
Like many sub-Saharan African countries Rwanda has a great deal of poverty. I say this all the time in Tanzania and it hasn't changed to drastically here. When I walk to my guesthouse in the evening I regularly run into high street children. I do not see many beggars and zero street venders in Kigali, because the government really has cleaned that up. I know a decent amount about the politics here, but am not versed enough in them to discuss them on such a public website. The other night we had a small boy follow us for over 1/2 a km to our guesthouse saying: "Please, I am hungry." This happens a lot, but is often a child wanting money. So this night we went inside and brought him out food and gave no money, he was so persistant. It is a difficult situation to be in.
My four weeks in Rwanda have reminded me on how humbling this part of the world can be. Traveling has always been the one place that shows me what I am capable of and creates a state of clear-mindedness for me to think. I am not always happy, nor am I always sad, but I am always thinking. Rwanda is an experience that will add to the story of my life and hopefully, clear the idea that it is such a scary part of the world.