Visit to Lake Kivu: A Beautiful Paradox

A few weekends back Mary, Andy, our friend Els and I travelled to the town of Kibuye, located in the Western Province of Rwanda on Lake Kivu, one of East Africa’s great lakes. Let me begin by saying that the photos posted here do not do justice to the immense beauty of this place: in all of my travels within the US, across Europe and around Africa so far, this place is home to some of the most stunning views that I have ever witnessed. It is also probably the least expensive weekend excursion that I have ever taken, when you factor in the equivalent of a $3 (3 hour) bus ride, $10/night stay in a lakeside bungalow, and around $3/meal plus less than a dollar per Mutzig or Primus (Rwandan beer) consumed. Since arriving to Rwanda, my housemates (or new “family” as we sometimes refer to each other – with all due respect to my real family, whom I love and miss dearly) have repeatedly mentioned how much they are looking forward to showing me this place that they visit regularly, due to its relatively close locale, calm, laid-back atmosphere and natural beauty. Many foreigners who visit Rwanda stop in Gisenyi for a lakeside excursion, however this place, located on one of the fingers of Kivu, is a little more off the beaten path and is frequented more by those seeking quiet and relaxation than by tourists. Anyone who visits Rwanda will get a sense of its hilliness, but on the ride to Kibuye I think I really did see over a thousand hills. Although I am not usually a fan of driving along narrow, winding paths overlooking steep inclines - especially when there is no guard rail for mental reassurance - the road was paved and the moments of anxiety + vertigo were well worth it. As we neared our destination, Mary told me to keep my eyes open for a surprise. Sure enough, about 5km from Kibuye I had my first bird’s eye view of sparkling Lake Kivu, nestled in the densely forested jade hillside. I also noticed the gorgeous balconied villa atop the most prominent hill in view which overlooked the lake, roughly 1000 feet above the water…which, I guessed correctly, was our hotel! Home St. Jean is actually the less expensive option in places to stay in this town, but we certainly did not make any compromise when it came to choosing a place with a breathtaking view, friendly service and comfortable accommodation. We spent the weekend relaxing on the terrace balconies and enjoying our meals there (which did take hours to arrive, but this was not much of a problem given our agenda), swimming, reading and tanning by the lake.

Despite the seemingly inherent tranquility and sense of calm that this gem of a place exudes, the prefecture of Kibuye witnessed the most comprehensive slaughter of Tutsis anywhere in Rwanda between April and June of 1994. Prior to the genocide, this region had an unusually high percentage of ethnic Tutsis (20%), and by its close, an estimated 9/10 had been killed. We passed the genocide memorial church, in which over 4,000 people were killed, on our walk to Home St. Jean. Remarkably, the church has re-built itself both physically and as a community and mass is held and well attended each Sunday.

I often wonder how a country this vibrant - rich in history, culture and natural beauty - could have experienced such an event. At Kibuye, this was especially hard to accept. What is even more unbelievable in visiting a place so serene and picturesque is knowing that across the lake in neighboring DRC, millions of people around Goma and throughout the eastern part of the country have been and continue to be killed by the FDLR (Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda - ex Interahamwe/Hutu power militia). In order to end the genocide, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by current Rwandan President Paul Kagame, overpowered the Hutu (Interahamwe) militia and forced them to flee the country in July 1994. A high concentration of Interahamwe officials and masterminds behind the genocide flocked to Goma alongside millions of displaced persons, where refugee camps were set up and humanitarian aid flowed like honey, as the UN and Western based aid agencies came to realize how little they had done and at such an unforgivable detriment to the Rwandan people over the past three months of slaughter. Ironically, a great deal of this highly publicized aid effort, a consolation prize for ignoring Rwanda’s cry for help, allowed those fleeing punishment in Rwanda for their acts of mass murder a kind of carte blanche, enabling them to live for months, even years in these well stocked camps. Many of these Hutu power officials regrouped in the Eastern Congo and formed the FDLR, a rebel faction which has terrorized millions of innocent people in the region through vandalism, rape and murder since its formation at Goma. While this region continues to experience devastation, one can only hope that the recent accord between the Congolese and Rwandan governments, which has sent a joint militia of thousands to disarm the FDLR and forge stability into the region, will put an end to this brutality once and for all.







References: McCrummen, Stephanie. “U.N. Unit struggles as Rwandan Hutu militiamen seeking repatriation emerge in Congo.” The Washington Post, 4 February 2009. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/03/AR2009020303758.html
Booth, Janice and Philip Briggs. Rwanda. UK: Bradt Travel Guides, Ltd, 2007; 161-165
Additional references as included in my senior thesis, “Modern Genocide and Its Effect on Women: An African Case Study,” completed at GW University ESIA in May 2007.

Rwandan Superstitions

1. A woman should not eat goat meat. If she does, she will grow a beard.
2. A woman should never call her father in-law by name or refer to him by name to anyone else.
3. A pregnant woman should never look into a tomb. If she does, she will give birth to a stillborn child.
4. You should never touch something that has been struck by lightning. If you do, you too will be struck by lightning later on in life.
5. A girl/woman should not climb trees.
6. A woman should not milk a cow.
7. A man should not drink the milk of a pregnant cow.
8. You should never kill a cat. If you do, you will lead an unlucky life.
9. You should never cut your nails at night. If you do, you will become a thief.
10. Girls should not sit by the fireplace. If they do, they will not get married.
11. Whistling is taboo in general and forbidden at night, as it is said to conjure up snakes or evil spirits. Women should never whistle, men should never whistle indoors.
12. A woman who is menstruating should never hold someone else's baby. If she does, the baby will get sick.
13. You should never tell a fable in the daytime. If you do, you will turn into a lizard.

As you can see, many of these superstitions are aimed at limiting the activities of women. Rwanda has a long history of gender inequality, but fortunately the country has made great strides in recent years to combat this and encourage the promotion of women. Today, Rwanda has the highest percentage of women in parliament of any country in the world, and it is the ONLY country in which women claim the majority of seats (56%), including the coveted position of speaker! When I asked my English class at the district office about these traditions, they explained that many of them are rooted in strong cultural significance but may no longer be applicable. For example, now that many girls and women wear pants, climbing trees is okay. On the flip side, I'm still always careful about not whistling in public (or ever).

For more information on women's improved roles in Rwanda, refer to the following article: McCrummen, Stephanie. "Women run the show in a recovering Rwanda." The Washington Post, 27 October 2008. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/26/AR2008102602197.html?sid=ST2008051504314&s_pos=
(There is also a link to this article and other relevant web pages on top right side of this blog).
Senator Aloisea Inyumba, who is quoted, serves on our school's advisory board and was one of the people integral in getting the Maranyundo School started.

In addition to the Maranyundo Initiative, there are many great organizations that work in the US and in developing countries such as Rwanda to promote the education, health and financial stability of women. One that I know that does great work is Women for Women International, www.womenforwomen.org. This DC-based nonprofit, which I interned for in college, assists women survivors of war in eight developing countries to re-build their lives and their families by means of weekly support groups, trainings and small business loans.

Getting Around Rwanda: by car, bus, and foot

Other than committing to living in sub-saharan Africa for a year without ever having visited, one of my proudest accomplishments since leaving the US last month has been learning how to drive a manual car. Our school has the good fortune of owning a 10 person van, which is used for school events, grocery shopping (feeding 120 children plus faculty and staff is no easy feat ), picking up guests and dignitaries at the airport and, on occasion, teaching residents like Mary and me how to drive stick shift. Since she and I share an interest in working in developing countries in our future careers, it is only logical that we know how to operate the kind of transmission that most of the developing world uses. We put ourselves to the test one evening a few weeks ago when our fearless instructor and compatriot Andy patiently talked us through every jostle, jolt, shift and stall-out as we took turns driving to the Burundi border and back, which is located less than 30 kilometers south of our school. I would love to say that I was calm, cool and collected throughout the experience, but the fact of the matter is that when I got into the driver’s seat, turned on the car, waited for a herd of cattle to cross the road, and finally shifted the gears into motion, I was sweating bullets. Twenty minutes and countless honks of the horn later, with the requisite guidance of Andy (or Teecha And, as he is called by many Rwandans), I had driven the three of us back to Nyamata without jeopardizing the life of any person or animal along the way. Because practice makes perfect and my driving was very far from perfect, future driving lessons with Teacher Andy will resume in the next few weeks.

Perhaps equally noteworthy of an experience in traveling around Rwanda has been taking inter and intra-city buses. For 500 Rwandan francs - slightly less than 1 US dollar - you can make the 30km journey between Kigali and my village, Nyamata, while taking the buses within Kigali will cost about 200Frw (less than 40 cents). Upon arrival, I was surprised to learn that buses in Rwanda do run fairly regularly (fortunately, the notion of African time does not apply to all situations) and they are generally a safe means of transportation. The downside to riding the bus is a little more obvious: there is no apparent vehicle standard, and you can kiss your personal space good-bye for the duration of the ride. A “bus” is almost always a white colored van with a logo on the side and its destination route hand-painted on the back or front end. The interior varies: some vans have the steering wheel on the left, while others have it on the right. Every one I’ve been in is in pretty awful shape on the inside, with broken seat fixtures, hanging bars and patchwork upholstery, not to mention the Fanta citron/orange soda bottle caps that are screwed into the backs of seats to cover some of the sharp edges. I’ve been able to notice some of these details in the times I’ve been sandwiched between other passengers and/or the side of the van, which is an implicit fact of riding a public bus. The buses are always filled to capacity, which means there are at least three people up front next to the driver, and usually 5-6 in each of the subsequent rows (which are designed for three, perhaps four people). One saving grace is that there is normally some form of ventilation coming from the windows…but even that doesn’t really compensate for the range of odors that exist on a public bus ride in the heart of a developing country. Getting out of Nyamata on the bus also requires a good deal of patience, as - depending on the driver, time of day and demographic aboard - the bus will stop multiple times to allow passengers to chat with passing friends/neighbors along the route, drop off/pick up more passengers, and flag down other buses or seemingly unaffiliated vehicles to exchange information or goods (it’s really not as sketchy as it sounds...or is it?)

One of my favorite means of exploring Nyamata has been by going on early morning runs around the hillside and main road. The first few weeks I always tagged along with my housemate, Kate - who has also inadvertently become my yoga guru - but now I am at the point where I’m familiar enough to run by myself from time to time. Although I ran regularly prior to arriving in Rwanda and was happily anticipating my first jog, my first 30 minutes in the Maranyundo hillside felt more like a death march than anything resembling leisure, due to the huge change in altitude. Newton, MA=100 feet above sea level, Nyamata, Rwanda=5200 feet above sea level (…and in comparison, the champion runners from Kenya who take the gold in the Boston Marathon each spring are training at about 5700 feet!) Although it is not common for Rwandans to run for sport, they are more supportive and enthusiastic about seeing runners pass by than any people I’ve ever encountered! On the hillside routes, people always shout muraho! (hello), ama kuru? (how are you), and hooray from afar. When little children see Kate and me coming down the path, they start jumping up and down shouting “muzungu!” and often they will run alongside of us for several minutes, usually barefoot. There have been other times à la Forrest Gump, when not only children but groups of women on their way to the market will see us and join in on the journey to the main road, carrying baskets and other goods and dressed well for the day, as is customary in Rwanda. Last week, one woman in particular caught up to my speed and we raced the last five minutes of the route until we arrived at Maranyundo; despite a full-on sprint on my part, in her skirt and sandals she was victorious! While running on the hillside is quite scenic, running on the main road also has its benefits: each kilometer is clearly marked and there are even more people passing by on foot, moto, and bike-taxi (yes, there are cyclists who will bring people to their destination – often uphill – for a minimal fare) who are thrilled to witness a muzungu trekking across Rwanda, and will subsequently express their enthusiasm through cheering in Kinyarwanda, French or English.

Adventures in Teaching English

My primary duty in Rwanda is to serve as an English language tutor and mentor to the girls at the Maranyundo School by conducting tutoring sessions from 6-7 and 8-9 every week night in small groups and individual sessions on course content. While our girls are admitted based on academic achievement and most normally would not require extra help to succeed, learning in an Anglophone environment means that most require further assistance in building their course specific vocabulary in working toward English proficiency. In addition to leading these tutoring sessions, the other two mentors and I are responsible for leading clubs, social events and facilitating community outreach. Our school is fortunate to be able to offer a variety of extra-curricular activities so that students can participate in what suits their interest, from Debate Team to Computer Club to after-school sports. This year, I’ve elected to be the basketball coach for the first ever Maranyundo School Team, as well as lead the Anti-AIDS club and the Art Club. Judging by our first practice and first few club meetings, it is looking to be an eventful year! Although our court is not yet paved and our hoops are net-less, we clearly have some talented individuals who seem eager to represent their school in inter-village basketball games, once I establish contacts at area secondary schools.

One major aspect of our community outreach is teaching English classes at the Bugesera District Office every morning. This year, the Rwandan government has mandated a shift from conducting all official business (including all district operations) from French to English, as it seeks to take a more active role in the East African Community (EAC), the regional governing alliance comprising Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, which uses English as its official language. Being a landlocked country with few natural resources, Rwanda also seeks to develop itself economically by becoming an African hub for the services industry worldwide, for which English is the most prevalent method of communication. Although we are only working in one district, I still see our daily, hour-long classes for government workers as an integral part of helping to further Rwanda’s long-term development. After conducting a written/spoken assessment of the 50 district employee this past week, we divided them into beginner/advanced levels of about 25 students per class. I am responsible for teaching the advanced class, which means I don’t have to explain some of the more rudimentary aspects of learning English for the first time and I get to have more detailed conversations with my students using the language. However, it also challenges me to make more extensive lesson plans that are both relevant to job functions and expose the employees to a large vocabulary. One lesson that went particularly well this week was focused on formal letter writing. We examined the style, format and verbiage of a formal letter written in English, and spent class time learning appropriate title designations (Mr., Ms., Dr., Rev., Hon. and suffixes like Jr., Ph.D., Esq.) and reviewed ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd) which are necessary for writing dates. Their homework was to write a formal letter in English specific to their job…which I’m looking forward to grading this weekend! Like the students of Maranyundo, the Bugesera district employees are great people to work with and learn from. Knowing French has helped me greatly in my interactions with the mayor and secretary in setting up the classes and other initiatives while they are still in the process of becoming fully proficient in English. Aside from helping the district along in its English immersion, our relationship with the local government also gives our school more notoriety and makes us more aware of what is happening outside of our campus.

The girls that I have been working with most closely at Maranyundo these past few weeks are the seven who failed three or more subjects on last year’s national exams, and thus must repeat the seventh grade (Level S1). In conjunction with Andy and Mary, my co-tutors, we are leading intensive group English classes and individual tutoring sessions for these girls during the day until the 53 new seventh graders, whose exam scores and corresponding eligibility for placement have just been released, arrive to complete the class early next week. Although it may be tedious for these seven girls to study English all day for several consecutive weeks, we hope that it will give them a boost in their language ability prior to beginning all academic subjects with the new class. They still participate in all of the same extra-curricular activities as their peers who have already begun classes at the eighth grade level, and we’ve done our best to keep them engaged by playing language games and teaching them songs in English (including Edelweiss and Do, Re, Mi, which they will very likely sing along to when the whole school watches The Sound of Music for movie night next weekend). While some of these girls are more discouraged than others by their failure of the seventh grade, they are still by and large model students who truly want to succeed and see their peers succeed, no matter how hard they must work. To me it seems that the girls at our school feel privileged to be part of a community of academic excellence, and as such they do everything they can to maintain and develop that opportunity. Rwandan students are characteristically disciplined, detail-oriented and eager learners, and our school certainly fits the bill when it comes to fostering a group of girls who share that kind of positive energy.