Lord Nigel's Travels - People of Rwanda

Some history and a personal perspective on Rwanda

This could be very controversial. 

For those that follow my travels you know I pull no punches in giving my perspective and if you do decide to read this post please keep this in mind.i.e. It’s just an individuals perspective, It is not meant to cause harm, disrespect or twist the truths. It is the perspective of a Aussie guy who visited another country and nothing more.

The Rwanda genocide took place in 1994.   It was an ethnic cleansing type deal, where a group called the Hutu murdered 800,000; people mostly from another group called the Tutsi.   

....Just take a moment to think about it for a bit, nearly 1 Million people massacred, many were just sleeping in their beds, then knock, knock..smash!! a mob breaks in, rapes, steals and kills you and your family - pretty messed up!. Now I wasn't there when this happened, I visited many years after...but this is how more then one local explained it to me, when their neighborhood got hit, it was straight from a horror movie.

Like many countries these two groups (Hutu and Tustsi) have been fighting and arguing for years and a combination of events led to this ridiculous and dreadful outcome.   Many of the locals believe the UN could have easily prevented/stopped this.

When I visited it was clear the pain of the event had not left these people and there is much hatred towards western society for not stepping in, the UN who had troops available and present did nothing. Having said this, I understand not all UN troops were happy about their orders.

Like most of these devastating events the population was massively disrupted and approx 2 million refugees has been the outcome. Think about that number for awhile 2 Million humans....why is this stuff not on our TV's? instead what is the Queen of England wearing at her garden party is....something not right here guys? not that I'm anti the Queen, I like the Royals (although, never met them)  it was just an example.  

I understand it was the Tutsi militia that finally took control with minimal external support and hence the large majority of the refuges were the Hutu (those apparently who created the offense).   

Talking with the locals it is a very sensitive subject. Everyone knows someone who was damaged by this event. I was told by one local it was just an ordinary night in an upper class suburb, when they could hear cars and commotion up the road. Car loads of Hutu were basically just pulling up out the front, kicking in doors raping and murdering families before moving on to the next houses, and its incredible but this was done on mass and very quickly, so people didn’t even have time to escape..And escape to where?   

Today they still haven't recovered and this region of the world is struggling in many areas; there are 170,000 refugee’s pretty much living in tents covering hills for miles once you leave the capital city. I drove down past these tents and saw it with my own eyes, there aren't many vehicles on the road in the country parts of Rwanda and some of the people spitting at me and throwing rocks at the car are probably the reason why.

The UN is feeding the people, most are from the Congo or other neighboring regions savaged by war.   Again, this is happening today. 

Yet? It is not on the news, it’s not on the Internet?why? I think because if people knew then they might need to do something about it yeah…and the issue being it would cost allot and so it’s classed as a local issue and needs to be handled locally by neighboring countries with the support of the UN. 

It makes sense in one way that other countries shouldn't be involved, living here in Australia we work out our own issues - but I was born in one of the luckiest countries on earth and don't have to face these issues.  

As I traveled further into the country side, like many of these countries they are forced to tear down their wonderful forests and plant tea or coffee plantations to fuel our western societies demands for consumer goods.

The locals are schooled to think it’s fantastic as they can make as much as a couple of dollars a day, if they work the fields. It's a way of restoring dignity as they don’t have to just rely on handouts. Many are religious as you will see people for miles walking to church between townships on a Sunday.   

When you arrive in Rwanda chances are you will come in at Kigali. Gisozi. For all intensive purposes it’s a modern thriving city and it could be anywhere on the planet. The roads are clean, the houses are modern and large, it reminded me of the middle east except instead of cars with no doors and chaotic roads, the roads are filled with motorcycles with up to 4 people per bike…crazy!   

I don’t want this post to be depressing and there are some wonderful people in Rwanda, in particular the new generations coming up the ranks and they are making a good go of it.   

This is a photo out the front of a local church where the young kids are going to one of the good outer city schools across the road. They are fascinated by my white skin, the car and of course the camera :)  

 

For toys (like many poor countries of the world) kids will often share an old wheel, normally off a wheel burrow or something, which they will push along with a stick. The key to the game is to keep the wheel moving as long as possible and don’t let it fall over. The kids smile and laugh playing the game, most have no shoes or rags for clothes, but they are happy and run along in groups following the wheel…..Take the IPAD away from my nephew and listen to him go off! Imagine his face if I took it away and gave him a wheel and a stick.

There is a strong heritage and culture of dance and the newer generation is encouraged by the government to get involved and learn a peaceful trade. 

Look at those mountains, such gorgeous country side in these parts...but not sure for how much longer.

The hatred is still very strong among the older people, to be honest I even felt uncomfortable in a couple of spots as the car was checked for bombs regularly by armed gaurds after parking in shopping malls.   

When you drive in the country/remote areas you will see 1000,’s of people walking the country roads, many wearing suites and ties as the only clothes they have are donated by the US and they have no concept of fashion, just need hardy clothes to work the fields. 

Surprisingly nearly every adult has a mobile phone, these are sold by the Chinese in nearly every country town or outpost, they have erected stalls, where they have reps, with mega phones constantly talking to the crowds and convincing the people to hand over a good part of their wage for a cheap Chinese made mobile phone.    The end result is 10's of thousands of human beings walking up and down poorly managed roads, in suits and ties, formal dresses on mobile phones, many of which have no shoes, but they are talking on mobile phones to each other via, short range Chinese built towers.  

I only hope the phones also do internet now so they can get onto things like Steemit and make some currency posting their true stories on what is happening out there in the world. I suspect their leaders would be stopping it, or threatening as it's important to keep the poor, poor and isolated.

!steemitworldmap -1.917377 lat 30.072071 long Lord Nigels travels - People of Rwanda d3scr