I just wanted to share that there is more to the complex reality of life in Rwanda than the difficult events of the past.
We are often woken up in the morning by the singing of the nuns at the convent- beautiful voices, but not always the most welcome at 6:30 in the morning! Oh well.
This past weekend has been very relaxing, and we had some good group bonding time. On Friday afternoon we had a T-shirt competition. Most of our group went to Kimironko Market to dig through the piles of American thrift store rejects- finding some pretty hilarious T-shirts. Mindie won and was awarded a jar of nutella which she graciously shared with the rest of us girls.
We played some group games in the evening, and then the girls had a sleepover in the Jackson’s living room- thanks Dwight and Brenda for putting up with our crazy ideas!
Saturday afternoon we went to a World Cup Qualifier football (soccer) game of Rwanda vs. Algeria. We went super early to get good seats, and then had to face a sudden hailstorm, huddled under an umbrella. It was quite hilarious, really! The game itself wasn’t the most incredible one that I’ve seen, but it was still a great experience. The sun came out after the rain and hail subsided, and caused us to squint hard in order to keep up with the action.
This morning I attended St. Stevens Anglican church, and once again enjoyed the service. It is wonderful to join a community of believers half way around the world.
I ought to do some more reading for classes, so I best be going now.
It is hard to believe that I have just slightly over a month left here in East Africa. There is a lot that has to happen yet, and I know that it will go so fast…
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Reflections…
We sat on the bus in silence today, pondering what we had just seen. As I had climbed the steep stairway of the mass grave, I was overwhelmed and deeply moved by the raw facts of death. In the dusty, dank chamber femurs and other human bones were stacked on top of each other like so many cords of firewood. Row after row of skulls, some with gaping holes due to the forceful blows of the murderers, lined the walls. This atrocity occurred only 15 years ago, on April 14, 1994. It is estimated that 10,000 people were killed here, when they had fled for protection inside the Roman Catholic Church. I feel strange discussing this in such a public place, but the caretaker of the genocide memorial in Nyamata encouraged us to tell people what happened here.
Why did this happen? It is difficult to boil something this horrific down into a simple statement. I found a concise explanation in the book, “Promises Not Kept: Poverty and the Betrayal of Third World Development” by John Isbister.
“The tragedy in tiny Rwanda was staggering. Rwanda is a former Belgian colony populated by two ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis. The Belgians did nothing to reconcile the two groups. They initially favored the Tutsis, then switched their allegiance to the more numerous Hutus before independence. A civil war between 1959 and 1963 led to the massacre of one hundred thousand Tutsis, the forced exile of two hundred thousand Tutsis to Uganda, and the establishment of a Hutu-dominated state. Tutsi resistance, under a military organization called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), continued from that time until 1994. By early 1994, negotiations seemed to have produced a tentative agreement under which the two groups would share power and the Tutsis living outside the country would be allowed to return.”
“In the spring of 1994, however, following the death of president Habyarimana in an airplane crash, extremist Hutus led their people in an orgy of violence against both Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The exact number of dead will never be known, but the estimates range from five hundred thousand to 1 million, mostly Tutsis, who were slaughtered over a ten-week period by their previous friends and neighbors. It was not a military operation but a frenzy of civilian violence, fueled by the Hutu-controlled radio, which urged more killing” (130).
We have been studying the Rwandan Genocide in our Issues of Peacebuilding Course. There is so much more than these two short paragraphs can hope to convey. At times I am overcome by incredible feelings of sorrow and grief at the fallen state of humankind. But there is reason for hope. Peace and reconciliation clubs are formed in schools, and people are encouraged to talk about their experiences in order to facilitate healing. I’m sure that I will continue to learn more about how the government and the people are seeking to restore their country.
The Rwandans are such beautiful people, and there are only a few outward signs of the recent tragedy that they experienced. There are bullet holes in the parliament building, and signs on the street saying something about Genocide. They are written in Kinyarwanda, but I believe that most of them are genocide-prevention study centers. These issues are not something you can talk openly about with people in the streets, but it is amazing how much you can sense that their lives have been formed by these events.
I feel powerless to help. But I am forced to recognize the depravity of my own heart, and I want to love those around me more fully. God, help us all as we learn to treat those around us with dignity and respect.
Why did this happen? It is difficult to boil something this horrific down into a simple statement. I found a concise explanation in the book, “Promises Not Kept: Poverty and the Betrayal of Third World Development” by John Isbister.
“The tragedy in tiny Rwanda was staggering. Rwanda is a former Belgian colony populated by two ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis. The Belgians did nothing to reconcile the two groups. They initially favored the Tutsis, then switched their allegiance to the more numerous Hutus before independence. A civil war between 1959 and 1963 led to the massacre of one hundred thousand Tutsis, the forced exile of two hundred thousand Tutsis to Uganda, and the establishment of a Hutu-dominated state. Tutsi resistance, under a military organization called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), continued from that time until 1994. By early 1994, negotiations seemed to have produced a tentative agreement under which the two groups would share power and the Tutsis living outside the country would be allowed to return.”
“In the spring of 1994, however, following the death of president Habyarimana in an airplane crash, extremist Hutus led their people in an orgy of violence against both Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The exact number of dead will never be known, but the estimates range from five hundred thousand to 1 million, mostly Tutsis, who were slaughtered over a ten-week period by their previous friends and neighbors. It was not a military operation but a frenzy of civilian violence, fueled by the Hutu-controlled radio, which urged more killing” (130).
We have been studying the Rwandan Genocide in our Issues of Peacebuilding Course. There is so much more than these two short paragraphs can hope to convey. At times I am overcome by incredible feelings of sorrow and grief at the fallen state of humankind. But there is reason for hope. Peace and reconciliation clubs are formed in schools, and people are encouraged to talk about their experiences in order to facilitate healing. I’m sure that I will continue to learn more about how the government and the people are seeking to restore their country.
The Rwandans are such beautiful people, and there are only a few outward signs of the recent tragedy that they experienced. There are bullet holes in the parliament building, and signs on the street saying something about Genocide. They are written in Kinyarwanda, but I believe that most of them are genocide-prevention study centers. These issues are not something you can talk openly about with people in the streets, but it is amazing how much you can sense that their lives have been formed by these events.
I feel powerless to help. But I am forced to recognize the depravity of my own heart, and I want to love those around me more fully. God, help us all as we learn to treat those around us with dignity and respect.
Friday, March 20, 2009
New Culture #3
Now I am writing from the Switzerland of Africa: Rwanda. It is such a beautiful country, with green rolling hills and it really does remind me of Switzerland. It’s too bad that they don’t produce chocolate here! Oh well!
I arrived here last Saturday, after an 11 hour bus ride. We are staying at Centre Cristus, a Catholic retreat center. We took a few days to become accustomed to Kigali and rest before a couple day trip. We went to Nyungwe Rainforest and enjoyed a 6 hour hike up and down mountains. It was so gorgeous, and a great way to stretch my legs out after a tempo run the other day with some of the guys (without a warm-up!). I was very impressed by the whole eco-tourism establishment, and enjoyed seeing Rwenzori turacoes. My experienced was definitely enhanced by the excitement of Erik and Molly Lindquist. Erik is a biology professor at Messiah who is helping to set up a GoEd program in the Andes. They were here for the week to see how the program is run here in East Africa. It was great to have a little connection to home, and I received a very sweet care package from my darling roommate Sarah (Thanks for that, Sarah- but there’s more to the story, which you will find out about in a few days…)
Then we stayed overnight in Butare, a fantastic little college town. We had two good games of Settlers of Catan, but sadly I did not win either time! Oh well. It was fun nevertheless.
I am enjoying the semester so much. It is hard to believe that it is going by so fast. Pray that I can constantly be present here, and engage in the culture. I am looking forward to continuing to attend the Anglican Church that I went to last week. I long for some consistency in my church experience! Classes start for real this Monday.
I tried to upload some photos, but it was taking too long- sorry about that!
I arrived here last Saturday, after an 11 hour bus ride. We are staying at Centre Cristus, a Catholic retreat center. We took a few days to become accustomed to Kigali and rest before a couple day trip. We went to Nyungwe Rainforest and enjoyed a 6 hour hike up and down mountains. It was so gorgeous, and a great way to stretch my legs out after a tempo run the other day with some of the guys (without a warm-up!). I was very impressed by the whole eco-tourism establishment, and enjoyed seeing Rwenzori turacoes. My experienced was definitely enhanced by the excitement of Erik and Molly Lindquist. Erik is a biology professor at Messiah who is helping to set up a GoEd program in the Andes. They were here for the week to see how the program is run here in East Africa. It was great to have a little connection to home, and I received a very sweet care package from my darling roommate Sarah (Thanks for that, Sarah- but there’s more to the story, which you will find out about in a few days…)
Then we stayed overnight in Butare, a fantastic little college town. We had two good games of Settlers of Catan, but sadly I did not win either time! Oh well. It was fun nevertheless.
I am enjoying the semester so much. It is hard to believe that it is going by so fast. Pray that I can constantly be present here, and engage in the culture. I am looking forward to continuing to attend the Anglican Church that I went to last week. I long for some consistency in my church experience! Classes start for real this Monday.
I tried to upload some photos, but it was taking too long- sorry about that!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Ethiopia in Review
So it has been two weeks since I last posted, and I am currently in an Ethiopian Airlines 757 traveling from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Entebbe, Uganda. This must be the most comfortable flight of my life: I have three seats all to myself. I curled up for awhile in an attempt to sleep, but then we were served lunch and I decided that I’d like to type up this blog so that I can hopefully post it when I get back to the guesthouse. I had a rather short night last night, probably because of the massive amounts of caffeine that I ingested yesterday as well as anticipation over returning to Kampala today. So, Ethiopians love coffee. And although I had only had one or two cups in my life before 3 weeks ago, I drank between 1-3 cups every day. I mean, you have to engage the culture, right? So here’s the story from yesterday: We went out for breakfast and I had a macchiato (one part coffee, five parts milk), then at lunch I had milk with coffee (steaming hot with a spoonful of sugar, this is probably a 9:1 milk to coffee ratio). During the afternoon the 4 of us girls walked around Addis for awhile and stopped at…. a coffee shop where I had another macchiato. When we got back to the Norwegian Missionary guesthouse where we were staying, we sat outside awhile chatting, and became slightly chilled. So Suzy made some VERY strong black tea, and I drank that to warm myself up. An hour or so later Tesfa (our driver) and Aweke came to pick us up for a cultural evening. This consisted of one last delicious meal of njera with various vegetables and shiro, excellent Ethiopian dancing, and of course: a coffee ceremony, where I ingested my last cup of the day.
But life here isn’t all about the coffee. After my last post, Tessa, Eli, and I spent one more week in Sasiga. We continued to develop relationships with the staff, and came to greatly appreciate their love for the communities and their commitment to Christ. Tessa and I spent a good “girls night” with Banchayo, Chuche, Tigist, and Zabiba when they braided our hair. We looked truly “abesha” (Ethiopian) with our new style. Okay, well, Tessa looked a little more authentic than I did, but the maintenance free style was a plus either way. On Saturday we met up with Suzy and Kristen and went past Bareeda to a gorgeous waterfall. We got to ride with Adani, their driver, which was the ride of a lifetime. He was pushing 100 km/hr (60 mph) on dirt roads that are slightly more dilapidated than the farm lane at my house that goes from the chickenhouse to Rt. 283. And he keeps the windows shut so as not to let dust in the car- I was thankful that I was able to keep my lunch down because of the lack of ventilation!
Sunday we attended a church service, which was conducted in Afan Oroomo. Beautiful singing, bright purple and green choir robes, adorable children who were crowded next to us on the backless wooden benches. The weekend was pretty quiet around our compound because several of the staff were in Nekempt for business. Monday morning we walked to Madajala with Dawit, and informally talked to a few farmers on the way. During the afternoon our sheep “Dinner” met his fate at the hands of Eli and a knife. In the evening we celebrated Eli’s birthday with a bonfire, devotions, singing, a meal, and of course: coffee. But this wasn’t just any coffee, it was “forenge” coffee because it was “prepared” by Tessa and I. In reality, we only stirred the beans a bit as they were roasting, ground the beans, and poured as we were instructed by Zabiba. She is the one who provided all of the expertise.
Much to our dismay, “Dinner Number 2” showed up at the compound on Tuesday. Thankfully we didn’t have to eat him as well, but he did occupy the extra shower stall at night so Tessa and I were serenaded with the sweet smell of manure and the bleating of a tired animal as we tried to clean ourselves. We did a few more community visits and education talks on Tuesday and Wednesday. We had a staff debriefing and goodbye on Wednesday night. It was sad to leave these people with whom we have spent two wonderful weeks.
Thursday morning Aweke came with Kristen and Suzy, and we left Sasiga bright and early for an all day journey to Ambo, punctuated by stops for tomatoes, berries, roasted corn, charcoal, macchiatos, etc. We stayed overnight in a fantastic hotel, and were able to scrub more of the dirt off of our bodies. I discovered that I actually DO have a tan from my chacos sandals: it wasn’t just dirt caked around the straps. Friday we drove, on much smoother roads thankfully, to Zeway. We stopped briefly at the FH office there, then checked into our hotel. That hotel wasn’t quite as nice as the previous one, and we only had water sporadically. But we managed to stay half clean. We had an orientation on Saturday and visited a market. We attended church on Sunday, and relaxed for a good part of the day. Monday we made some home visits, which were quite incredible. All of the children that we visited are in FH’s CDP- Child Development Program. I was saddened by some of the living situations, but encouraged by others. We visited a child-headed household (a boy of around 13 who lives by himself), a Muslim family, an ill grandmother who cares for her young granddaughter, and two single mother households. One of the fathers died from tuberculosis, and another died in a drunken brawl. One home was perhaps 7 by 7 feet- barely large enough to hold the bed and pile of dishes necessary for the family of three children and a mother. The doorway was only 4 feet tall as well, so we had to duck to make it inside. We were quite a sight, all 8 or so of us crammed into the tiny hut.
Tuesday morning we drove to Addis, where we spent time meeting staff at the head office. Since then we have gone shopping, continued enjoying coffee, and just hanging out and debriefing at the guesthouse.
Practicum has been an incredible experience, and it is hard to believe that Part 2 of the GoEd experience has come to a close. I have learned so much and I am still processing it. I’m not looking forward to writing my practicum paper, but I know that it will be helpful to me to think through things.
Oh my, this plane is nearly ready to land, so I must bring this update to a close. I ask that you continue to pray for an open mind and sensitive heart, that I can be compassionate and loving to all around me. I especially ask for prayer for direction in my life. God has been teaching me a lot of new things, and I want to learn so much more.
But life here isn’t all about the coffee. After my last post, Tessa, Eli, and I spent one more week in Sasiga. We continued to develop relationships with the staff, and came to greatly appreciate their love for the communities and their commitment to Christ. Tessa and I spent a good “girls night” with Banchayo, Chuche, Tigist, and Zabiba when they braided our hair. We looked truly “abesha” (Ethiopian) with our new style. Okay, well, Tessa looked a little more authentic than I did, but the maintenance free style was a plus either way. On Saturday we met up with Suzy and Kristen and went past Bareeda to a gorgeous waterfall. We got to ride with Adani, their driver, which was the ride of a lifetime. He was pushing 100 km/hr (60 mph) on dirt roads that are slightly more dilapidated than the farm lane at my house that goes from the chickenhouse to Rt. 283. And he keeps the windows shut so as not to let dust in the car- I was thankful that I was able to keep my lunch down because of the lack of ventilation!
Sunday we attended a church service, which was conducted in Afan Oroomo. Beautiful singing, bright purple and green choir robes, adorable children who were crowded next to us on the backless wooden benches. The weekend was pretty quiet around our compound because several of the staff were in Nekempt for business. Monday morning we walked to Madajala with Dawit, and informally talked to a few farmers on the way. During the afternoon our sheep “Dinner” met his fate at the hands of Eli and a knife. In the evening we celebrated Eli’s birthday with a bonfire, devotions, singing, a meal, and of course: coffee. But this wasn’t just any coffee, it was “forenge” coffee because it was “prepared” by Tessa and I. In reality, we only stirred the beans a bit as they were roasting, ground the beans, and poured as we were instructed by Zabiba. She is the one who provided all of the expertise.
Much to our dismay, “Dinner Number 2” showed up at the compound on Tuesday. Thankfully we didn’t have to eat him as well, but he did occupy the extra shower stall at night so Tessa and I were serenaded with the sweet smell of manure and the bleating of a tired animal as we tried to clean ourselves. We did a few more community visits and education talks on Tuesday and Wednesday. We had a staff debriefing and goodbye on Wednesday night. It was sad to leave these people with whom we have spent two wonderful weeks.
Thursday morning Aweke came with Kristen and Suzy, and we left Sasiga bright and early for an all day journey to Ambo, punctuated by stops for tomatoes, berries, roasted corn, charcoal, macchiatos, etc. We stayed overnight in a fantastic hotel, and were able to scrub more of the dirt off of our bodies. I discovered that I actually DO have a tan from my chacos sandals: it wasn’t just dirt caked around the straps. Friday we drove, on much smoother roads thankfully, to Zeway. We stopped briefly at the FH office there, then checked into our hotel. That hotel wasn’t quite as nice as the previous one, and we only had water sporadically. But we managed to stay half clean. We had an orientation on Saturday and visited a market. We attended church on Sunday, and relaxed for a good part of the day. Monday we made some home visits, which were quite incredible. All of the children that we visited are in FH’s CDP- Child Development Program. I was saddened by some of the living situations, but encouraged by others. We visited a child-headed household (a boy of around 13 who lives by himself), a Muslim family, an ill grandmother who cares for her young granddaughter, and two single mother households. One of the fathers died from tuberculosis, and another died in a drunken brawl. One home was perhaps 7 by 7 feet- barely large enough to hold the bed and pile of dishes necessary for the family of three children and a mother. The doorway was only 4 feet tall as well, so we had to duck to make it inside. We were quite a sight, all 8 or so of us crammed into the tiny hut.
Tuesday morning we drove to Addis, where we spent time meeting staff at the head office. Since then we have gone shopping, continued enjoying coffee, and just hanging out and debriefing at the guesthouse.
Practicum has been an incredible experience, and it is hard to believe that Part 2 of the GoEd experience has come to a close. I have learned so much and I am still processing it. I’m not looking forward to writing my practicum paper, but I know that it will be helpful to me to think through things.
Oh my, this plane is nearly ready to land, so I must bring this update to a close. I ask that you continue to pray for an open mind and sensitive heart, that I can be compassionate and loving to all around me. I especially ask for prayer for direction in my life. God has been teaching me a lot of new things, and I want to learn so much more.
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