Rwandan terms
Thank you – Murakoze (moo-rrah-KO-zay)
Yes – Yego (YAY-go)
No – Oya (OY-yah)
Good day – Muraho (moo-RRAH-ho)
Good morning – Mwaramutse (mwa-rrah-MOOT-say)
Good afternoon/good evening – Mwiriwe (MWIRR-ri-way
Good-bye – Mwuramuke (mwoorr –ah-MOO-kay)
My name is ___ – Nitwa ______ (NEET-wah ______)
What is your name? – Witwande (wit-WAN-day)
Thinking about the Catholic priests & murders who massacred 15 thousand people in two churches in 1994, & how the Rwandan justice system works. One wonders if ‘gaccaca’ the traditional tribal court in which the criminal admits his crime & asks for forgiveness is enough. Rwnadan seems to have prospered after the genocide and this place is so beautiful well organized & most of all neat & clean.
Habyare Rumana leader of the RPF plane shot down at Kigali was the spark needed to ignite the country into genocide. He was brokering a peace deal. There were many cases of people saving many lives, for instance Paul Ressebegene had 1200 people hidden and saved Hotel Rwanda. There are also many cases where the church was complacent in the genocide St. ? Hostel Kigali for instance where …According to Canadian hero Romeo DAillaire 5000 troops could have saved 800 000 lives. Bill Clinton said that we did not call these crimes what they were we didn’t fail you I failed you…Catholic Church needs to also ask for this forgiveness. Dianne Fossey observed & researched the Susa group here. It is a Tragedy that such a beautiful country is synonymous with genocide.The Interrahamwe killed 800000 Tutsi’s & many are still in DRC (Zaire). Democratic Republic of the Congo has lost four million in the war. Rape is a way of life so many women have been raped how can they even keep track. Goma which lies on the border of Rwanda & DRC & was a refugee camp where the Interrahamwe hid after the genocide and also where cholera killed many people. Those with guns controlled the food, aid & money pouring into the camps, this is something all of those aid organizations aiding the Somali camps should perhaps examine.in addition to these issues the area around Goma has also been deforested because they used trees for fuel.
Monday August 1, 2011
Sunny beautiful morning Kigali
10:40 p.m. I’m back at the war widows house, they are the nicest people but they don’t speak much English at all. I just got greased by a cab driver but it works out to be peanuts by North American standards & although today was a good reminder of how hard things were even a few years ago for me in Sierra Leone, taking ‘busses’ which are vans with 20 people packed in them, at this point I’d rather pay $5 extra & have a comfortable ride. I ate dinner with the Operation Groundswell group at an Italian place, we got there after 7:00 & I didn’t get my food until 9:30 p.m. I really laughed a lot & enjoyed their company but I was concerned about showing up at the house too late. I’ll really miss that group. We went to the restaurant after meeting them at their hostel. Apparently it was a site where a large number of children were massacred. Rachel, Glennys, Amy & I walked there from the Hotel Rwanda (Hotel Des Mille Collines). Glennys & I went there & Rachel & Amy came afterwards. Glennys & I had something to eat. The hotel a place where a huge number of people were saved during the genocide is now really a nice place. Glennys & I walked there after we finally arrived back in Kigali. The ‘bus’ ride was cramped, hot, uncomfortable. Nelson, Katy, Glennys & I all waited forever for the van to fill up with passengers, this after we took motorcycles back from Nyamata where we saw a church where then thousand people were massacred, we also went to Ntarama where 5 thousand died. It was hard to fathom & profoundly disturbing, Glennys, Nelson, Katy & I went. To get the bus out there was incredibly frustrating. I met up with most of the group at breakfast at Bourbon Street Cafe. I was looking at my laptop when I looked up & a little African boy was suddenly sitting across from me, I ended up buying him some food, then I took him down after to the. Drug store where I got him a toothbrush, shirt, & soccer ball, neat experience. One of those experiences that make traveling so worthwhile.
8:43 a.m. I’m sitting in the Internet cafe at UTC listening to cool tunes (Bourbon Street Cafe internet is still down) Colter & Laura came by. I got here before it opened but was able to sit outside & get wireless. I’m not feeling up to par but I’ll live. We’re off to see the genocide churches today. This poor country is only known as where the genocide happened, whereas it should be known as the Jewell of Africa. This is the most beautiful place I’ve been to so far in Africa, it is still Africa, but Africa lite. I was lucky a motorcycle taxi driver who lives next door to Verdiens was polishing up his bike so I got him to take me to UTC for 1300 francs. I washed myself with the basin of water in the outhouse this morning…the cockroaches were gone.
If people thought that I was left leaning before, after being in Rwanda I have become a staunch socialist. Because it works. The other African countries that are right wing, & what is mine is mine & you take care of yourself are horrible places & I mean every single one, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Somalia, I wouldn’t call Tanzania terrible like the other places but they certainly have it better in Rwanda than there. It should be the model of all African countries in fact all developing nations. The tax rate is very high, sales tax is 22% and they are taxed about half of their income. Every Saturday every citizen gives 4 hours of ‘umuganda’ which means everybody, President Kagame included, gets in the streets & cleans up. As a matter of fact the Ugandan leader is here seeing the secrets to Rwanda’s success. And yes he had to take part as well.
Sunday July 31, 2011
Sunny warm
11:03 p.m. My lower intestine is still not real good. I just returned from the outhouse, diarrhea in the dark surrounded by cockroaches. I was sleeping & I was hit by that clenching claw that seems to grab my lower intestine from the inside & squeeze it. The wrenching is exacerbated by the fact that I’m crouching over a hole that is about 6 inches in diameter in the concrete floor, not always the easiest target to hit by the light of a my headlamp. I looked around & there was no water or toilet paper. This is not finished so I asked them to keep a key handy so I could get out if I needed to. I began reading ‘Tweak’ a story suggested to me by Jed Roberts who also suggested ‘Pygmy’ that I had read shortly before coming to Africa. I see how the author had become an addict who began smoking pot daily at the age of twelve & became a meth addict. I am thinking that I may need to take some Imodium. I fell asleep reading.
7:17 p.m. I’m at home in my room. Amy, Laura & Colter wanted me to go out with the group for dinner & they’re all going out to a club afterwards. I would have liked to go with them but out of respect for Verdien I stayed in I thought I was gone all day and I did not want to concern her. As much as Christie, my wife & I are great traveling partners, I also really love traveling alone I can be present when traveling solo (Christie is usually my navigator) & I enjoy being totally nice to everyone & not have to worry about anyone else. I took a motorcycle home & found Centre Cesar. I was with Amy, Laura, & Colter for most of the day. We sat in a restaurant & ate, talked about many things & I laughed my ass off. Colter the nicest guy and as confident an ex-marine should be we teased him that he is hopeless with the girls & I laughed so hard at the two girls ripping on him. The girls were relentless with their jesting and he was a good sport about it. I got dropped off at the Centre & it seemed so empty without all of the energy that the Groundswell group brought.
11:30 a.m. The Bourbon Street Cafe in Kigali until the WiFi went down.
1:59 p.m. I’m in an Internet cafe in the UTC Centre in Kigali. The students that I met & were also at Centre Cesar were in here after lunch in the UTC. They were dropped off at their hostel that 1000 ( I think) were rescued during the genocide In 1994. There are so many places here with both heart warming and heart wrenching blood curdling stories about the genocide. We had breakfast at the Centre & I got a lift in the van to the hostel which is not far from the UTC. I got really lucky & have really enjoyed these people.
7:27 a.m. I’m sitting on the edge of my bed sweating, I need some water. Colter & I went for a 20 minute run, he won by default (I wanted to go 30 minutes) since I had what Christie & I call a ‘911’. An emergency # 2. Wouldn’t you know it we get back to my outhouse in the nick of time & someone was in there. I went to Sgt. Mancini’s outhouse.
5:22 a.m. I’m in bed bed typing away by the light of the iPad. The gentle tapping of rain on the tin roof occasionally grows to a dull roar of a down pour. They needed the rain here, it was pretty parched & dry. I was woken up about an hour ago initially I think by a mosquito whining in my ear, I killed that one only to have another one or two bother me. It is odd, I don’t think I’d even seen one in Africa never mind Rwanda, so I ditched the mosquito net over my bed. A Canadian volunteer, Shivaughn was quite sick yesterday, I suspect that she has the same stomach ailment that I did a day or two ago but a couple of the leaders, Rachel & Paul claim that she has malaria, I disagree, Nicole has been here for five years & nothing, yet with these Mosquitos buzzing around this morning I’m sure that I got bitten last night, it is on my mind. I didn’t get back to sleep, a few things are on my mind, first & foremost the gorillas. I came to Rwanda to primarily fulfil my goal of seeing the great apes. One couldn’t really count on the plane crashing & airline going bankrupt but I suppose that this is testing my resolve. I will see these guys & get great video & photographs. Its too bad, I was looking forward to being by the live volcano & lava flow. I would like to stay at the Hotel Rwanda one night & I’m hoping that I can get back to join the group on the trip to the genocide church up North, apparently the Catholic Church was instrumental & allowing the genocide to happen. I’ll learn more, Colter the American ex-marine sergeant from Lake Placid & I were supposed to run this morning, with the rain, I’m unsure of this. I’m thinking if I can find the Beep test on my iPod that would be perfect, Colter doesn’t want to run for more than 20 minutes, as a lighter guy he doesn’t want to lose too much weight. I was also thinking if we could find the kids lifting weights (the bar cemented to paint cans on either side of the bar like in Somalia) by Meagan’s house that would be fun too. Today I may even travel up to the gorillas to get on with a group on standby if someone cancelled. The pigeons (I’m assuming thats what they were) were running back & forth on the other side of the ceiling I wondered if a cat was chasing them. I will say that the mosquitoes here are certainly not as large nor are they as aggressive as in Alberta. 6:00 a.m. The rain seems to have subsided & I smile as the rooster crows.
This trip has brought into focus What I’m Grateful For
My wife who when I think about I just well up with love inside my chest, if I ever think about her being sad my heart breaks, I am so lucky to have such a loving & understanding wife someone who is so easy to get along with is honestly the nicest person that I have ever met & thinks positively
My dogs, I love & miss those creatures. I think of the heart breaking stories of the dogs I’ve seen on the streets in my travels & I think if that were my best friends suffering like that how sad I would be
My house, seeing so many people living in terrible conditions, I am so fortunate to have a home
The ability to eat& drink without fear of illness
As trivial as it sounds easy communication, with unlimited easy Internet
Infrastructure , you realize how important something we take for granted; paved roads, with traffic devices and organization really is
Clothes, we all have a closets full of clothes
Being able to travel & experience these things in life
Vehicles that are nicer & run better than any vehicle I’ve seen in Africa
Running water
A bathroom, a clean bathroom
Electricity
Refrigeration
In 1994, the Hutu majority in Rwanda organized and implemented the mass slaughter of the Tutsi minority. In just 100 days, 800,000 Tutsi were murdered as the world (less Canadian general Romeo D’Aillaire) stood by & did nothing. I am staying in Kigali with Verdien & her two daughters who lost their husband & Father in the genocide. The best depiction of this that I have seen is a film called ( far better than Academy Award nominated Hotel Rwanda by the way ) ‘Shooting Dogs’. For some reason the movie is sometimes also called ‘Beyond the Gate’. How much can a heart take. This clip is not for the feint of heart however it encapsulates what happened.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noxLqmb_L1o
Thursday July 28, 2011
9:21 p.m. I’m in my bed at Verdeins’s house. There are cockroaches everywhere here. The big ones in the outhouse & three small ones in a crack in the bed frame that I’m looking at right now, no sign of the gecko since the first night though. The little orange kitty at the centre is fun, a little scrappy brat, but she plays pretty softly actually. We all walked to our perspective homes under the guidance of Colters head lamp. We all sat around & watched Nicole’s adopted Rwandan son Roderique & his crews movies. Before that, Colter, Amy, Laura, all sat around on the balcony over looking the lights of Kigali debating various political, social, literary & philanthropic topics. We had supper after we broke off into groups & discussed what we would do to change Rwanda, my suggestion…nothing! Whatever Kagame is doing , all that I have to say is wow! This place is an African utopia & gives me hope for the continent that there can be a success story. I found out that there tax rate is 22% according to Gilbert but I’ll have to research that myself as his grasp of the English language is not strong, a reason why I’m in bed actually, the household speaks very little English. At any rate tonight’s discussion reinforced yet again that socialism is the best system in the world. People here complain about their high rate of taxes, all I have to say is visit, Ethiopia (3/10), Somalia (2/10), Egypt (3/10) , Sierra Leone (1/10) Tanzania (6/10) & even Afghanistan (4/10) for, that matter. If Canada’s standard of living is a 10, Rwanda would be a 6-7′ Ethiopia a 2 or 3 Sierra Leone a 1 the worst place poverty & infrastructure wise that I have been. Regardless of the rank, this place demonstrates to me that taking care of the people is better for everyone, also I have seen the devastating effects of raw capitalism. Don’t get me wrong, The debate that I walked in on someone argued for communism. Issue is communism doesn’t work, it’s been done, we’ve been there & done that, it’s been proven, jury’s back, it doesn’t work. It never has & never will because humans need incentive, don’t get me wrong capitalism doesn’t work either & that’s been proven by the Bush administration, greed, corrupts & when profit & growth are the goal, the end game in a confined space such as the earth does no one see the blatant problem with this? They argued money blind to the fact that money is nothing but a symbol of exchange. Totally fabricated my man; imaginary & non existent. Something completely worthless, paper & now cash doesn’t even exist most money is virtual. I walked in on the debate after getting a motorcycle taxi from the UTC center. I sent most of my emails but it took, until almost 2:00 p.m. I sat in the Bourbon Street Cafe until their Wi Fi went down then I had to find an Internet cafe in the center. It was slow, I was able to FaceTime Christie. seeing the gorillas is on my mind & I think that I’d like to stay at the Hotel Rwanda before I leave Kigali, the group is going to a genocide church up North Sunday or Monday, I’d really like to join them but seeing the gorillas is a priority. What a disaster the airline Hewa Bora crashed about a month ago killing 80? People, the second time this year so we haven’t heard back from them. They were my flight from here into Kinshasa. This changes everything, I only have single entry visas to Rwanda & the DRC & since now I can’t fly out of Goma to Kinsasha, if I see the gorillas from the DRC side I’ll have to overland to Kinsasha, what would be easier & what I’ll try & do is get on a Rwandan trek. I took a taxi into Kigali after breakfast.
5:16 a.m. I got up for the second or third time tonight to pee, so in going out to the outhouse by headlamp, unlocking the door & coming back,I’m wide awake. I’ll see the church up North & gorillas, I’d also like to see Hotel Rwanda. I should also find a way to encapsulate the beauty, order & of Rwanda. Almost everyone here speaks French so speaking a un peu of parlez vous helps a bit.
Wednesday July 27, 2011
Kigali nice day, some thunder & a shower
9:54 p.m. I am back in my room, we just had a question & answer period after watching a short film on the Rwandan Genocide. Some questions were raised; how culpable was the UN in what happened in Rwanda in 1994? Very. Let’s face it the UN is controlled by the nations of the security council & with their veto power one nation can put any action at a standstill. Genocides can never happen again is the theme yet going through the genocide memorial I was especially struck particularly at the propaganda section & how similar it is today in parts of the globe with the beginnings of what led up to what happened in Rwanda in 1994. For instance could you imagine if the Norway shooter was a Muslim? We came back to the Centre Cesar after going through the Rwandan Memorial. It was remarkable & shows that Africa can work, I am amazed at Kigali & Rwanda, this should be the template for not only countries suffering from post war & conflict but every African nation. Rwanda is the most beautiful African place I have ever seen. Perhaps in part due to cash pumped in out of guilt from the world after the genocide, if this is the case then it shows what Rwanda & what the world can do if they choose. It is not like any other African nation that I have ever seen, it is clean, well organized, orderly with out mass subject poverty & chaos. At the memorial I was especially impacted by the children’s section. It was a powerful day. We had lunch & I partnered up with a mostly Canadian group that was visiting the centre & Rwanda. I really enjoy being around like minded individuals & the conversation that is seen as off limits & out of bounds is encouraged & relished. I spent time with each of the people in the group at different times sharing experiences & stories. One American Colter is an ex-marine from Lake Placid NY. I went to the centre fairly early, I am feeling much better today certainly not 100% but I can at least function with out soiling my pants today. I’d like to see Hotel Rwanda, the church up North, & I really have to figure out what’s happening with seeing the gorillas.
Tuesday July 26, 2011
Kigali, Rwanda, sunny hot
10:11p.m. I just ate a little of the mushy rice with crunchy bits in it that Meriam & Sheldon brought me earlier, it is risky yet I thought that it would help me build my strength. If I can get another night of rest hopefully I can get out & about tomorrow
7:52 p.m. I am in my room, I am feeling marginally better, I think that beginning the cipro treatment was wise, I’ll have to watch sunburn but even if it doesn’t work all options have been exhausted. I sat outside for a spell, the fresh air felt better. At least I was able to sit up. Hopefully a night of rest can get me back to functioning, so I can see the war museum, genocide sites & most of all the gorillas. Nicole recommended that I see them from the Rwanda side. I spent most of the day sleeping & reading Through BlackSpruce. I haven’t been this sick in recent memory, my killer workout yesterday probably didn’t’ help my muscles are so sore it’s hard to tell if it’s from the illness or my workout.
4:16 p.m. I am lying in my bed in the genocide widows house. Man this has really been something. I was laid out all day & I still don’t think that I can get out of bed, I certainly am unable to eat. Luckily I did get some water. Verdein the widow led me back to the house which is maybe 50 meters from the center. Nicole Pageau was explaining to me her incredibly inspiring story. What began as a bad stomach problem progressed into me listening to them a cold sweat beginning to form, the room was tilting, I felt weak, sore & dizzy. All I was focused on was keeping my butt cheeks clenched & not throwing up. Verdien’s other daughter Alisse walked me to the center, I was feeling pretty rough but hoped that my body could prevail. There was a time today when I considered going home. Feeling how I do (even typing is about all that I can do right now, this is taking every ounce of energy, when I go out the locals & the children are curious & want to come & visit yet when you feel like this it’s hard to be friendly, but I did.) I was sitting on a cement floor in an smelly outhouse, spraying brown water into the hole, chills & aches consuming me, in a house where nobody speaks English, & I have to stumble oeut in the darkness to find my way to the outhouse. It is hot in my room & the greasy LibyaOil jacket I traded in Addis permeated the stench of diesel in my room. The other daughter is washing it. She has taken the most care of me in her broken English.
As sick as I was I was still in awe of what Nicole Pageau has created, a neat, tidy place where the war widows are self reliant, clean, neat, well run establishment. The vision was hers & she created this with the help of Rwandans & currently there are three other Canadians, Sheldon a mechanical engineer from Thorhill Alberta, Cnada & his girlfriend or wife Miriiam a French Canadian teacher, they live in Montreal. Nicole who adopted Dominique the Rwandan boy who picked me up last night. What Nicole has done without any funding from the Canadian or Rwandan governments is amazing. The facility is amazing what they rely on now are private donations for operating costs. This organization is the pinnacle of what Africa could be & gives me hope. It is neat tidy, well run, the Africans are incredible industrious & well organized. Rwanda reall from what I have seen so far in my brief stay is the nicest African country I have been to yet. Unlike other nations they do not have the large dog population. During the genocide packs of wild dogs were eating the bodies & got a taste for human flesh so all feral dogs were exterminated because they had no way of telling what dogs were viscous & what were not.
9:46 a.m. I am sitting in a stiff wooden chair next to the net covered bed that I just made. My stomach is certainly not feeling very good. I am constantly thinking about my stomach & on the verge of vomiting. The Imodium has subsided the diarrhea for the time being for which I am grateful as there was no water or toilet paper that i could see & the toilet is a hole in the ground. However I am sure my body needs to expel these toxins in my gut. The sleep was not terrific although it’s not crazy hot in Rwanda it was stifling & I baked in here last night. I opened the window early in the morning, when i went to the outhouse for a much needed pee, the cockroaches were gone by then. The house though neat, tidy & very small, it is about the size of our living room & dining room. Because of the size there is no privacy, everyone can hear everything, I am embarrassed as they can surely hear me getting sick. I smile as a chicken clucks by outside my open window, people talk, I can hear the slapping of laughing children’s feet on the concrete as they run by. This is quite similar to the set up on Thunderhill, however it is so neat & organized here & they are not living in piles of garbage & there are not feral dogs everywhere.
3:04 a.m. I am lying in a bed covered with a mosquito net in a war widows house in Kigali, Rwanda. There is a lizard on my yellow plaster wall who was checking me out, I like him. It is a clean & tidy yet very Spartan house. It is cleaner in Rwanda than Sierra Leone, although we have the same bathroom set up; an outhouse, with just a hole in the floor & a room for bathing with a basin. I was just shown around by one of her two daughters. The outhouse had so many cockroaches all at least 2 inches long I couldn’t count how many were scurrying from the light. A group of five young Rwandans were at the airport to meet me, one wearing a white Canada jacket knows my friend Meaghan. There were two girls, & one of the guys a bit older walked with braces to fit his arms. Rwanda so far has been by far the nicest African country that I’ve been to so far. The airport was neat, shrubs & hedges trimmed, entering the country was orderly & not the dog eat dog chaos of the other places like Sierra Leone, Ethiopia or Somalia. We are in a very nice part of town In fact I never saw an area this nice in all of Addis. I haven’t seen the subject poverty as in other places or the stray animals like in other African nations. The plane ride, a Dash 8 by Canadian company Bombardier was a very rough ride in the plane getting tossed around, it was unnerving, but the flight like most of the day I was preoccupied with my stomach concerns. I took three Imodium’s today so I’m not overly worried about diarrhoea today but my guts sure don’t feel very good. I mainly read Black Spruce.
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