Rwanda (Day 25)
We came to Rwanda to see gorillas, but we ended up falling in love with the people and the country!
The Rwandans we met were very friendly and proud of the turnaround their country has had from its depths in the 1990’s. (See below for more.)
Another thing that made Rwanda special was having dinner with an expat friend of Jamie’s and her son. Her knowledge about Rwanda and optimism about what they have achieved was nice to hear. And it is fun that the first friend we connected with was in Kigali !
Later, Hazel and Hugh had a great day with local kids in a small town. The kids were very friendly and interested in us, and Hazel and Hugh were excited to have playmates besides each other – almost for the first time since the trip started! In the village, Hazel shows Rwandan kids where we are from.
The kids showed Hazel and Hugh something: a form of Rwandan dodge ball that Huey loved especially!!
Rwanda is one of the poorest countries, with GDP per capita about 98% below the USA. Kids make due with very little. One little girl dragged around a toy that was a plastic fertilizer container (toxic?) cut in half and filled with rags. Other kids played soccer with balls made out of recyclable materials held together with string. Our kids thought the soccer balls were super cool - who do you know that can make their own soccer balls? And they loved the recycling/ reusing aspect of it. We got a soccer ball as a present, and we have played with it since! (Look again at the soccer ball Hazel is holding in the first picture.)
In many ways, rural Rwandan kids were more interested in us than we were in them (even though we were interested). They would wave and say hello, often from very far away, hoping for a response from the interesting, foreign looking people — us!
The children in one spot were very interested in Huey’s light up sneakers. Here, Huey does a dance in a Rwandan house to show the blinking lights in their full glory!
We also had things to learn from them. Hazel learned (a bit) how to carry things on her head.
Later, Hazel danced with kids in the village.
Lots of kids seemed really interested in doing selfies with Hazel.
*****
TURNAROUND STORY
You could probably write a fun and optimistic political science senior thesis on the Rwandan turnaround story. Rwanda had a horrific time in the 1990’s, with government mismanagement, an economic crisis, and even a very recent genocide that saw the death of about 1 million people, mostly from 1 ethnic group.
Today, Rwanda is held up as an African success story. A number of people have called it the Switzerland of Africa.
The current government is probably best described as a benevolent dictatorship, but it has achieved amazing success in turning Rwanda around. Here are some things they have done despite crushing poverty, a historically bad educational system, etc.
· There is a national clean up day on the last Saturday of every month, so the country is very clean, with no graffiti or trash on the streets. Kigali might be the cleanest city in Africa.
· Plastic bags were banned in the 1990’s! That is decades before even liberal Boston.
· All guns and other weapons were banned.
· Women hold more government jobs than almost any country in the world.
· EVERY motorcycle rider wears a helmet.
· All poor families were given a cow (3.7 million cows!)— giving them milk, fertilizer, and sometimes meat.
· Opened first public library in 2012 (is that great — or depressing because it is so late?? Not sure)
· Near the lowest rate of government corruption vs other African countries
· All while growing the economy faster than peers.
A Rwandan proudly told us the story of how the government enforced the no guns rule in 3 stages:
1. A 3 week amnesty program where you could hand in your guns no questions asked
2. The night after the 3 weeks ended, police searched every single house in the country, took every gun, and arrested all remaining gun owners
3. After that, police have orders to shoot anyone with a gun on sight
Sounds like tough love for sure! But crime rates are low, and people feel safe walking around at night. That is important in a country where only 25 years ago, gangs of thugs armed with machetes, clubs, and guns brutally murdered about 10,000 people a day for 100 days.
The motorcycle helmet policy is less tough but is still very clear and direct. To buy a motorbike, you need to actually show your helmet (or 2 if you will have passengers) in person.. If police see you riding without a helmet, they stop you and take your motorbike for a month!
Success in countries with troubled pasts can be fleeting, but we hope Rwanda continues to keep improving the lives of its people! We are excited to return.
