A time for Reflection

Muraho once again!

It has now been three weeks since I hugged my Rwandan family and friends goodbye and left Kigali. I am back in New Hampshire and things have been quite busy here since my return home.

My first week back was filled with some much needed quality time around family and friends. The B-day/coming home party was a blast in which Anna and Ayden ( for lack of better words my little sisters) filled up a GIGANTIC bag of candy from the town parade that took place. Since my voyage to Rwanda, my mom moved to a great place in Downtown New London.

Kara and I made a few trips down to the Cape to see the Hyannis Sound, and I was even able to make it to Nantucket to see my Nana and Uncle as well as spend some time playing on the beautiful beaches.

Unfortunately I was unable to go down to Adventure Links to finish off my summer at camp, but I was able to land a sweet job at Harvard First Year Outdoor Program for two weeks, thanks to my best friend, Christa. So, presently I am up at my prof's condo below the whites acting as basecamp and support staff for the 35+ trips that went out on Saturday.

Oh yea, I almost forgot!....MY BROTHER JOE WAS MARRIED THIS WEEKEND! This meant that I got to spend my weekend in Nashville, TN rocking out to country music with my cowboy boots. The wedding was beautiful and perfect in every way.

Perhaps more importantly, I have tried to be as aware as I am able of myself during this important time of re-entry. Reflection is one of the most important steps to an experience, and here are some of the things I have noticed:

1) I have been very family oriented. Kara and I were literally attached by the hip my first week back, and I was ecstatic when I saw my grandmother.

2) Random moments have struck me in random ways. I have found myself tearing up to weird moments as well as having a rush of different emotions. Often times these come with a memory, but sometimes I have to ask myself " Seriously, why am I crying right now?"

3) Thinking about the Genocide here has been harder for me than when I was actually in Rwanda.

4) Every time I see a black child I want to go over to him/her and pick them up.

5) I am making a big effort in trying to use my Kinyarwanda because I already started loosing it.

I will let you know how these things change over time and when I get back to school,

-Rach

The Dream

I dream of the plains in tales of old

Where cockspur ferns stretch to the sky

Where the hoof beats of herds have measured the passage of time

Where the cool of the evening carries the songs of shepherds

Where the music

Of the evening breeze accompanies the conversation of friends

Where the lion grunts

And roars in the night

Where the noise of the war

Is silenced forever

 

I dream,

I dream of waking

Beneath a morning moon, lost

Under the endless sky

Of Umutara

 

 

 

 

 

Rwanda Nziza

“A treat for the eyes”

The ribbon of tarmac snakes,

Flows into the hollows, climbs the slopes.

The drunken eye trying to find some steadying detail

Merely looses itself in a thousand hills

The furrows of terraces, the chess board of crops

The plumb line valley bottoms.

 

A visual Symphonie Fantastique

From the behind leafy screen of banana trees

Points the rusty red of roofs

Mounted on the white of a thousand tiny houses

A magic garden for tropical gnomes?

 

Far distant where the sun sets

Where the line of mountains stands

Dressed in every shade of blue

Reaching for the heavens

Remains a last elusive plot

Eluding the hand of Man

The spade of man

To the very last.

 

Each stage of the journey unfolds

Sky of Kamonyi, Gitarama

Kabgayi the seat of Bishops

Nyanza, home of Kings

Fountain of mysteries

Where lovers quench their thirst

Rubona, Save, Butare

Each seeming glimpse of elegance

Is merely part of daily life

 

Take the journey again

This time in your mind

All is colour and light

 

The spirits of the martyrs are my witness

Beneath the value of the eternal sky

Land of sweetness and of pain

Just as in the proverb I say

God may spend his days elsewhere

But this is where he lays his head

God’s house is here

 

 

Rwanda's History and Genocide Memorials

Mwaramutse (Good Morning),

 I can’t believe that I return to the states in just two weeks time. I get a little sad whenever it passes through my mind, but the thought of ice cream has helped to sooth the anxiety. The last two weeks have been packed, hence the reasons why I have not given a detailed update for quite some time.

 I would like to share with you my experience at one of the memorials I visited, but first I think it is necessary to give a brief history of Rwanda for those of you who may be unfamiliar with it.

The Belgians and French colonized Rwanda. Before this time, the Rwandan people lived together in unity, sharing the same culture, language, and traditions. When the Belgians took over, they began to create an ethnic divide between all Rwandese, creating two ethic groups: Hutu and Tutsi. The ways in which the Belgians divided the people came down to simple tactics such as the number of cows a person owned. If you owned more than ten cows, you were Tutsi, less than ten, you were Hutu. The Belgians also tried to give certain physical features to the Hutus and Tutsi, specifically the for-shape of the nose. The Belgians decided that the minority, the ethnic Tutsis, was to be the superior group. They were given the best government positions and jobs, as well as the support of the Belgians.

After Rwanda’s independence in 1962, extremist Hutu groups started to stand up against the “superior” Tutsi. Thus started the gradual killing of the Tutsi people. From 1962 -1994, sporadic cleanings of the Tutsis took place.

In April 1994, after much planning and preparation, a Genocide against the Tutsis commenced. In just 100 days, 1 MILLION people were murdered. The goal was to have a complete ethnic cleansing of the Tutsi people. Men, women, and children all over Rwanda were slaughtered. Thousands of people took refuge in schools and churches where safety had been guaranteed, only to be road blocked, deprived of food and water, and then killed. During this time, almost no foreign aid or intervention took place, including the United States.

 I arrived in Kigali during the 100 days of commemoration of the Genocide. Since my arrival, I have visited the Kigali Memorial Center, Nyatama and Ntarama Churches, as well as Murambi memorial.

 Last weekend I visited Murambi, a school where 50,000 people took refuge during the Genocide. Out of the 50,000 people who went there, only 4 survived. Having been to three memorials already, I figured I was fairly prepared. This feeling stayed with me until I entered the first classroom, where low-lying tables held rows of bodies. Although each body has been covered in lime, they have not been preserved in any other way. While visitors have been viewing these bodies for the last 15 years, they have been rotting right before their eyes. Some still have hair, some clothes, and some teeth. One can see the injuries they concurred.

After spending about an hour walking through all the classrooms, our guide showed us the mass grave that the bodies had been dumped in by the French, some still alive. Now the grave is empty for viewers to see. Before we went through the memorial, we were given a testimony of our guide, one of the four survivors. He had a visible round indent on the top of his head where a perpetrator had tried to shoot him. His wife and children laid in one of the classrooms.

The last two months have definitely given me a powerful perspective on what took place here in Rwanda 15 years ago. This week I attended a conference on reconciliation, where I was able to hear more testimonies of both survivors and perpetrators of the Genocide. Wether it be at Gisimba, the memorials, or just conversing with friends, I continue to learn everyday about this difficult process.

I hope that this blog has given you a little insight on this very special country and the time I am spending here.

Umunsi mwiza (have a good day!),

 -Rach

 

 

 

Another year older in Rwanda!

Muraho!

So my birthday here will definitely be one to remember:

I was sung to by 50 Rwandeese in English, French, and Kinyarwanda.

I had frosting smeared all over my face by a friend that said it was tradition....I think it was more because it matched my pink shirt.

I had my first experience with Ethiopian Food that made for quite the dinner night.

My Brofro called me with 20 minutes to spare, although it was six hours back in the U.S.

I GOT TO SPEAK TO KARA THREE TIMES!

All in all, it was a great b-day.

Amahoro,

-Rach

Pics are up!

Hey everyone!

I have finally posted some pictures on my facebook because google blog is too complicated for my simple mind. If you don't have a facebook account (Mom), just ask the person next to you because there is a 99.999% chance that they do...

Half of the pics are sideways but it takes so long to fix them that I figured it would be quicker for you all to to just tilt your heads...

Love you all,

-Rach

No thankyou, No Merci, Oya Morokoze....no, seriously, I don't want to buy that.

So there is this one man in town that has tried to sell me the same ugly map everytime I walk by him. You would think that he would get the message by now....but he hasn't.

This last week as been filled with some great learning experiences and adventures.
On Tuesday, "the group" of us ex-pats went out to celebrate two birthdays: Michelle's and Karens. While enjoying a lovely meal of Iitalienne food and South African wine ( I know, silly us) the group somehow managed to get into a very heated discussion on family planning, growth population, and westernized humanitarian work. Oh to have been one of the nearby tables listening in on 8 muzungus trying to justify their stand point on anthrapological theology. It was all in good fun of course. It has been great to be surrouned by so many inspiring individuals with such diverse backgrounds, yet the common passion to be here in Rwanda.

Friday was a very special day at Gisimba. Proclamation Day! Being the last day of school before holiday, all the parents came in with their children. The kids performed the songs they have learned this term (including the ones that I taught them) and were given back their "exams" for their parents to awe over. We also put coloring books together of a Kermit the frog story that the children had learned to recite. It is so cute to hear little children try to read an american story in their African accent.

I was very honored when after school ended the teachers asked me to join them for fanta (soda) and beer. We spent almost 2.5 hours together which was largely filled up with them giving speeches about me. Father Gisimba also joined us, telling stories about the orphanage and his time he spent in Ohio. His quiet presence and witty humor added to the afternoon celebration. Anne Marie (the principal), also asked for my presence at her sons graduation party on August 1st, which is also the same day that Saundra (a young woman from Gisimba) will be getting married at the orphanage. I am looking forward to both.

This weekend the group is going to Nyungwe National Forest to go Monkey trekking and camping. 7 people. One Tent. I may be the only one who brought a sleeping bag to Rwanda. Should be a blast!

-Rach