Day 10: An early rise

Day 10: An early rise

We left at 5 a.m., driving about 1-1 ½ hours to the hiking site.  We had a guide and seven trackers with us throughout the morning.  Naturally, I could not keep up with the main group.  Emil remained patiently with me as I slowly descended the trails.  The only thing that I could think the entire first hour was, “Oh, the more we go down, the more I have to come up later.”  At one point, I stopped and asked if we were going to continue to descend and the answer was “yes.”  I noted my concern for the hike back up the mountain.  The guide, Christian, was with us at that point and he suggest that I continue with Emil down for about 20 more minutes to a bench.  He said the chimpanzees might move back in that direction.  I agreed.  We got to the bench and rested.  I could listen to the sounds, view the trees,…take in the forest.  Christian (a “Tutsi” that lived in the Congo during the genocide; noted that had he lived in Rwanda, “I would not be here today.”) came back and suggested that we continue, as there was one chimpanzee that had remained in a tree from the time the main group saw him.  So, we continued for another twenty minutes or so and came to the chimpanzee.  We moved down off the trail to see him in the tree.  We sat and watch him for a while.  We (and he) heard the call of chimpanzees a distance away; he responded to their call and then he moved.  We moved to watch him.  He walked on the trail, defecated, and moved back into the trees to forage.  We continued to watch him eat until he dropped below our sight.  THEN, we began the hike up the mountain.  It was not that my knees or feet hurt; it was simply difficult on my lungs.  The higher altitude was a factor in catching one’s breath;  I have not hiked since perhaps 2003 and I simply found it tiring.  Soon the main group was with us in the ascent and everyone went at my pace, taking photos along the way.  It was a fun and beautiful day (and I could not have done it without Emil); I enjoyed seeing the male chimp in his environment; the tree were beautiful; there were many lovely butterflies as I have never seen; the sounds of the birds were spirit lifting.  We rested for the rest of the day, although I heard Emanuel run by my hut looking for a soccer ball…he was playing with locals/guests.

Day 9: Vervet Monkeys

Day 9: Vervet Monkeys

This morning, we packed to leave for the Gisakura Guest House.  Before traveling to our next accommodations, we spent the morning at the university.  Dr. Rundus set up an exercise for us to do with the monkeys.  He explained how we would begin with an “ethogram,” a list of activities of the monkeys.  We observed for about 15 minutes, constructing our ethograms: a list that included grooming, playing, feeding, foraging, grouping, lounging, scanning, sitting, vocalizing, dominating,…  We each then tried to follow one monkey and watch for one type of general activity (foraging/eating, violent behavior, filial behavior) – an “all-occurring sample.”  We learned that these monkeys had group relationships that differed from chimpanzees…that we would see the next day.  

 

When we left the university, we stopped for some shopping at a co-op and then had lunch.  I purchased a picture frame made of bark.  I will put a photograph of our group in it.  We had a long drive (3-4 hours in the later afternoon) in which we stopped once to for everyone to take photos.

 

Our accommodations for the next 4 nights are quite different from the first 8 nights.  (Students, I am switching tenses at times, but again, this is not a formal paper)  I am in a large circular cottage/hut, with a cone-shaped thatched roof.  There are two bedrooms, a small sitting room, and a bathroom.  Four of the students were quite excited with their accommodations – two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a large, lovely sitting room.  They were told that the president stays there.  It is the only place on this campus that has wi-fi.  They have found guests sitting on their front porch.       

 

Day 8: National University of Rwanda

Back in school…?

We began the day by visiting with National University of Rwanda students in a biology classroom.  Many of these students were seniors, still on campus because they were finishing their “memoirs.”  The memoir is similar to a senior thesis project, a study that they have prepared, which also shows their conclusions.  There were perhaps 20-25 students who spoke with us…more than 1/3 women.  It was a give and take session of questions going both ways.  As time passed, the number of Rwanda students winnowed…they needed to get back to their memoirs.  Five or six of the students walked with us (about a ½ mile down the road) to a nearby restaurant and we shared lunch.  I spent my time with a young man named Enock.  I was very impressed with him.  We spoke back forth on the walk and some during lunch.  His parents are deceased.  He has an elderly grandmother in her 90s and two young siblings.  Next year, Enock will graduate and will have to take a low paying job to help his family before he can really move on with his individual direction.  He has a few goals already in mind: Enock wants to teach English; he wants to help the less fortunate find jobs…  He has a strong sense of duty and faith…a very impressive man.

 

Michael met a genocide survivor among the students. 

 

In the afternoon, we stayed at the university observing the vervet monkeys that hang around on the campus.  It was our first monkeys!  We watched as they played, foraged, and groomed, and we learned how to recognize quickly the males and females.  As the monkeys moved away from us, we continued to walk through the arboretum.  The species of trees were marked; we saw varieties of eucalyptus as well as bamboo…and many other types of trees.  We planned to visit the university the next day to continue observation of the vervet monkeys. 

Day 7

Many of you have heard of Lourdes and Fatima,… These are places of Marian Apparitions.  Mary, the Mother of Christ, is believed to have appeared to people in these places.  In each situation, the Catholic Church had to investigate and substantiate the claims of the visionaries.  In all of Africa, there is one place where the Catholic Church has documented apparitions of Mary – here in Rwanda.   Today, we visited (made a pilgrimage) to the shrine of our Lady of Kibeho.  Three young women experienced these apparitions in the 1980s.  In these apparitions, Mary is said to have encouraged the people…and wept for what she saw.  Many see this as a prophecy of the genocide that followed in the subsequent decade.  Whether one believes or not, the Catholic Church is important in Rwanda and this is a site of international pilgrimage.  Father Mark and a sister spoke to us for a brief time in the priest’s office.  Fr. Mark noted that, in 1994, many people were killed in the neighboring parish.

 

The ride to the shrine in Kibeho was a bumpy one – dirt road for over an hour each way.

 

In the afternoon, we returned to the National Museum of Butare to witness a group of African dancers (they dance through Rwanda and have been to France).  When they finished, they came to each us to come down and dance as well. 

 

Tomorrow, we visit professors and students at the National University of Rwanda.

 

 

       

Day 6 - Images of Genocide

I would call this “genocide” day.  We visited the Murambi Memorial.  Murambi had been a school, and over 25,000 Tutsis were murdered there in the 1994 genocide. The “school” lies on hill surrounded by other hills; this is an important point to the story.  Tutsis were encourage to go to the school as a place of safety, but in reality, the killers planned to “concentrate” the Tutsis in the school.  If any Tutsi tried to flee that hill, Hutus on the surrounding hills could see them and go after them.

 

We started with the memorial museum, museum material that both reinforced what we learned at earlier sites and added to our knowledge.  Our guides then led us to a place of covered mass graves, noting that bodies continue to be found (often in remote areas).  Bodied can easily be added to the concrete-covered mass graves.

 

[Skip the following paragraph if you do not want to read about the bodies we saw in the schoolrooms!]

 

The guides then to us to the classrooms; but, these were no longer classrooms.  The rooms held the bodies of many victims.  The bodies lay on (perhaps) 24-inch high wide wooden shelves/benches.  These are the actually bodies of the murdered people.  They have been covered with lime…apparently to preserve them.  YOU cannot imagine.  We saw a body with an outreaching arm…another body with a mouth wide open…eyes open…smashed skulls…pieces of clothing sticking out…some with hair on the skulls.  The smell in each small room was overpowering…I believe it was the lime.  One after the other…many classrooms of bodies…

 

I believe that students of genocide must see this particular site (and the Nyamata Church).  

 

Outside, as we passed from room to room (one room had only babies and children), we could hear the people talking from around the nearby hills.  When a dear one dies, some might wonder how/why the world goes on with no one noticing.  (Thinking of you, R) Here, as these bodies lie in these schoolrooms, life in Rwanda goes on.  I believe that these victims of the genocide would be happy that their fellow Rwandans have been able to unify.

 

Our main guide (I will call him “D”) told us that he is one of two survivors from his family.  He was 19 years old at the time.  The time was tense and many had spent time on the hills watching to see if something was going to happen.  “D” went home to have lunch; he went out to the porch to see his father.  At that moment, armed men came and shot his father (while “D” was directly next to his father).  “D” ran into the home to tell his family and then ran away from the home…up a hill.  A younger brother followed him, but the younger had to go in a different direction when men shot at him.  “D” spent time hiding in a marsh; he eventfully decided to leave the marsh.  He ended with a group of people hiding on a hill and then found his brother.  The rest of his family had been murdered.  This happened in Nyamata.  One thing that I noticed “D” said more than once was, “That was my decision.”  He may have felt some survivor guilt, but a young man of 19…well, he wanted to survive.

 

“D” also showed us the outside mass graves (under grass and soil).  He showed us the barracks occupied by French soldiers during the genocide, and he noted how the soldiers played volleyball over the (already) mass grave.  I asked him how the Rwandan people feel about the French today.  His answer was quite thoughtful!  He noted that Rwandans cannot blame all French, that it was only a number of Frenchmen there in Rwanda and their leaders that could have done something…but did nothing.  He also said that the French took the black box of the downed presidents’ plane (recall that the genocide started immediately after the airplane carrying the president of Rwanda and the president of Burundi crashed in April 1994.)  “D” said that Rwandans simply want the truth.  Rwandans are moving forward and they want all the facts of the genocide…there is nothing to hide.  So, why does France hold onto that black box? he asked.  I noticed in one of the Rwanda newspapers that a city in France had planned on holding a memorial service in April this year to commemorate the genocide, but it cancelled it when leaders did not like that President Kagame (of Rwanda) noted that the French should have done more in 1994.

 

In the afternoon, we visited the National Museum of Butare.  We saw many traditional items used by the earlier Rwandan people.  We visited another royal family hut (this was an original) and did some shopping of traditional woven handicrafts.

Day 5

I am writing this after a few days and things may get a mixed up in my mind.  I do not want to take notes throughout the day, but simply imbibe the day.

 

On day 5, we drove from Kigali to Butare (southwest of Kigali)…about 2 ½ drive.  The day’s site included the “King’s Palace,” a favorite for sightseeing...  At this site, we saw not one King’s palace, but three homes of the king.  Kings ruled Rwanda for centuries, and just like European royal dynasties, the kingship passed down through the king’s family.  Other royal families had close ties to the king’s family.  When the era of (new) imperialism emerged in the nineteenth century, European colonial leaders worked with the kings and their families. 

 

The first “home” of the king that we visited was a large beehive shaped hut with a rounded entrance.  We took off our shoes, as the flooring was layered with mats.  The king’s sons would sleep close to the doorway and the daughters next to them inside.  The king entered his bedchamber (raised off the floor) from one entrance near the fire in the center, while the queen entered from the side.  The king had many wives or concubines, but he slept with only one at night.  There was some sort of wooden flask or bottle always at the bed…some sort of “energy” drink.  It was very cool in the house.  The only light would come from the fire, but they could withdraw individual woven panels to allow in light from the door.  This “older” style house was not an original, but an excellent recreation.  The King of Rwanda lived in this style housing until the early twentieth century.

 

Once the king had seen what the Europeans lived in, he decided to have a palace built for himself.  This was the second home we visited.  It lay on the top of a hill (at this “King’s Palace” site) and had many comfortable rooms.  (Much of the original furniture was destroyed during the genocide in 1994.)

 

Later in the twentieth century, the king decided to have another palace built on a nearby hill.  He died two days before he could move into it.  Rwanda became an independent country (freed from the colonial power of Belgium…as part of three decades of de-colonization) in the 1961 and she became a republic.  The King still maintained an unofficial role for a period of time.  (You can look up more on line…)

 

Afterwards at the same site, we visited the cattle…one baby born only a few months ago…  A shepherd (that’s what I will call him) showed us how he controls the cows (long-horned cows…could easily poke out your eye…don’t ask for one for Christmas) with whistles, and he seemingly sang to the cow.

 

Rwanda is called the “land of a thousand hills” (we have seen about 100 so far), but it is also the land of a million smiles.  We have really enjoyed the people.

Day 4 - a lesson in forgiveness

It was a wonderful day today…experiencing “forgiveness.”   Killers and families of the killed live side by side.  Extremist Hutus tried to get rid of every Tutsi in Rwanda from 1992…ending with the spring-summer 1994…genocide.  Perhaps 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered.  In 2003, the Rwandan government asked the killers to admit their guilt.  Many did and victims began to forgive the “perpetrators”…with help from the Church.  Today, we listened to a man talk about his father’s murder in 1994 and then we heard from a man who participated in the mass killings.  They live together now in the village, as do many from “both sides.”  They built the houses together and set it up so that a “Hutu” family lived beside a “Tutsi” family...throughout the village.  They teach their children not to hate and to identify as Rwandans…not by the tribe names (the way colonialism divided the people).

We also visited the Nyamata Church. In 1992, Hutus had wanted to kill the Tutsis in this region and the Tutsis found refuge in the church.  A nun, Sr. Tonia Locatelli, demanded that the Hutus not kill anyone, that the Tutsis had done nothing wrong.  The only killing that took place was the murder of Sr. Tonia the next day after she spoke out using the media.  In spring 1994, when the genocide was in full swing, the Nyamata Tutsis took refuge in the church, but it did no good.  The Tutsis had the iron doors locked, so the Hutus threw in grenades (one can see the whole through the door and shrapnel marks on the ceiling and walls.  Women inside the church tried to protect their babies from the grenades and shrapnel by putting them at the back of the church.  When the Hutus could finally enter, they smashed the babies against the wall.  We were able to walk down into what is called a mass grave.  We saw many skulls and rows of bones.  It is the final resting place for these people.

This may be hard to read, but imagine…twenty years later, most of these people have been able to forgive what happened.  They understand what colonialism did to their people…what the Europeans did by grouping Rwandans into economic groups - minority Tutsis were preferred.  The Hutus took advantage of their own numbers when de-colonization took place.  Now, Rwandans are recreating their identity.  Do you remember when the Amish girls were murdered a few years ago?  The elders of the Amish community went the same day to visit the wife of the murderer of their daughters.  The elders wanted to offer her their help.

On a happier note, we all had fun watching ceremonial dancers in a village – male and female – and then danced with them.  We sat and watched women weaving baskets and then picked out several to buy.  The not only showed us how they weave the baskets, but also they handed us their needle to pull it through.  It was a “cooperative,” where these women work.  They make their own money from this work.  It started as a way to bring the people back together.  Hutu and Tutsi women learned to weave the baskets…side-by-side…and they talked about what happened.  Rwandans do not hesitate to talk about the genocide of 1 million people in their country.  They have faced it…admitted that it happened…and moved on to forgive.

We visited a health center and a primary school (it was Sunday so no pupil were there).  We visited a farm that is part of the Millennium Village Project (in a number of struggling countries).  The 59-year-old farmer (whose wife had 19 children…and looked good…not tired) showed around his farm…many different types of fruiting trees and crops.  Years ago, the farmers had enough only to feed their families and perhaps some locals…but now, when the weather cooperates (no so much this year), they can produce enough to export.  The farmer dug into the ground and pulled out a cassava root.  Our guide, Gertrude, peeled it and cut pieces off for us to eat. Tasty!  To me, it tasted like a combination of coconut and kohl rabi.

It was a full, interesting, thoughtful, fun, and important day.  For one to understand the Rwandan genocide (and any genocide) truly, it is important to travel to the sites of genocide and, if possible, talk with the people.  For those who do not understand me well…well, I found this to be a spiritual day in my life.  Forgiveness!  Genocide – death, yes, but FORGIVENESS!  If you still do not understand me…that I did not note this as a “sad” or “depressing” day, no prob…this is simply I.