My last (!!!) day of classes began with the usual breakfast at my homestay: bread and coffee/tea. After a quick bite, we hopped into the car and began our 45 minute commute into town. Although I won’t miss the 6:45 departure time, I will miss watching the sun creep over the hills and the balmy sounds of 94.3 FM, the family’s go-to radio station on the way to class.
Shortly after arriving to class, we hopped on the bus for a trip to CNLG, a government organization with the goal of preventing genocide and fighting genocide denial and ideology. When we got there, we were given a refresher in the history of Rwanda and some of the events that contributed to the 1994 violence. This served as a preface to the work the organization currently does. A good deal of their works aims to preserve the memory of genocide for historical purposes, but serves as “evidence” to counter the arguments of genocide deniers. Some of their work also involves maintenance of memorials, providing public education, and collaboration with other groups to better preserve the memories and artifacts of memorial sites. To give us a better idea of what CNLG was fighting, we were walked through a couple of slides considered genocide ideology. Most of the statements were part of a conversation, where one person brought up past violence, sometimes relating it to one’s family, in effort to upset them or re-traumatize them. After questions, we headed back to SIT to hear about the refugee situation in Rwanda, and more life in a refugee camp.
When we got back, we heard from a representative who explained more about the the current refugee situation in Rwanda. A sizable portion of the refugee population in Rwanda comes from the neighboring country of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC.) Refugees from the DRC have sought refugee from turmoil in their country, and have settled in communities across Rwanda. The representative explained that the refugee camp he works with in particular challenges the typical perception of refugee camps; the brick buildings and bright blue roofs might not match one’s assumption when they hear of refugee camps. While we didn’t get to tour this refugee camp in particular, we did get a glimpse of it on our way back from a visit to a genocide memorial. He shared some insight to what daily life looks like in a camp. He expressed some of the education, health services, and other facilities refugees have access too. He expressed some struggles that people face, such as finding ways to keep people busy, such a securing them jobs or forms of entertainment such as books. This tied into our group’s newfound project of working with a Rwanda-based group to supply the books that match the needs of the refugees.
Our final stop for today was at Hope Haven, a school established by an Ohio State alum. It was established 8 years ago and is a 30 minute drive from the city center of Kigali. When we arrived, school was in session, with kids hanging out in and around the building. We were given a tour around the school, stopping by classrooms teaching subjects ranging from chemistry to English. We also popped into communal spaces like the library and the computer lab to check out some of the facilities offered at the school. Our tour concluded with a tour of the spaces for the volunteers, who comprise the majority of the teaching force at Hope Haven. After the tour concluded, our debrief in the bus started our discussion of how organizations and visitors can be more conscious in their interactions with Rwandan communities. While I found the education the school provided to be beneficial, I questioned if Hope Haven was truly in sync with the needs of the community or solely those able to get into the school with the lottery. While our discussion never provided a conclusive answer, I believe our time spent considering the highs and pitfalls of philanthropic work was invaluable.
Next stop: Kibuye! :^)
