Hope

Green space in downtown Kigali.

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by Katherine

Rwandese---the moniker that the Rwandan population has adopted in place of the publicly separate tribal identities of Hutu and Tutsi---are a very warm and friendly people. They are also very reserved and never speak openly of the atrocities that they experienced here. But dig a little deeper, and everyone has a terribly sad story beneath their cheerful surface. There isn't anyone here who was not personally affected by the genocide, but you would be hard pressed to notice anything amiss.

The constant reminders---both visible and invisible---have undoubtedly played a large part in Rwanda’s amazing progress in the last decade. Brought together by a common grief, this little country seems resolved to turn their fortunes and reputation around, with amazing results. The cleanliness and order here make it difficult to believe that we are travelling in East Africa! The streets are uncluttered and the sidewalks are swept. Brilliant splashes of colour adorn residential gardens with obvious pride. Public spaces have been beautified with monuments and well-kept gardens. The bathtub-sized potholes characteristic of East African roads only appear in the most rural parts of the country. Glass beverage bottles are diligently recycled; if you purchase pop or beer, you must return your previous batch of bottles or you are charged a premium. And to top it all off, Kigali is currently vying for the safest capital city in Africa; we can walk freely without fear of criminal assault, even at night.

The parliament buildings still bear scars from the genocide. The building is undergoing a refurbishment, which will retain some of the shelled walls as part of a memorial.

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From whence such collective achievement originates seems peripheral to the fact that it is embodied in every facet of life in Rwanda. Nevertheless, it has evidently been helped along by a generous dose of support and guidance, both local and international. Likely a result of guilt and a tremendous sense of responsibility felt by the international community following the tragedy of 1994, every international non-governmental organization that you can think of---and more---has an office in Kigali. (This does not seem an appropriate venue for an indepth discussion of the irony of expenditures on the part of the NGOs who are established here to alleviate poverty and suffering; suffice it to say that the numerous gargantuan houses and shiny new SUVs displaying NGO emblems seem to fly in the face of these noble ambitions.) But Rwanda hasn't relied solely on international aid---far from it. As it seems to be with any country in Africa, the state of affairs at any one time is heavily dependent on the government of the day. Paul Kagame has exhibited tremendous leadership, and his concern for the well-being of Rwandan citizens at the personal level is so apparent that it trickled down into many of the conversations we had with people here; without even having met him, we started to feel as though we knew Kagame personally. (A rare achievement among world leaders and politicians!) We can only hope that the next election will not reverse this positive momentum.