Felicien our language teacher
These are the “One Laptop Per Child” laptops that the government aims to give each child in the next few years
Meghan and Zach
Felicien, Loren, Emma, Jo, Evan, Susan and John
Kinderwandan Charades. Kelly Jo and Felicien sitting. Hewsan and Mitesh charading
Eric (Program Director) and Kelly Jo (Field/Country Director)
Nymara is a Catholic church and hour from Kigali. Tutsi’s were encouraged to go there by the priests and community leaders and then killed. 10,000 people hid in the church and were killed. They are all buried there now. The memorial saved all of the clothes.
This week has been filled with orientation activities in Kigali. We have done everything from a scavenger hunt to lesson planning instruction. On Tuesday, Ben Mateyko came to speak with us about Rwandan history. We knew it going to be intense when he walked across the room to shut the door.
Ben started with the first Rwandan dynasty in 1350. The common origin myth is that when the Tutsi’s arrived in the area with cows, the Hutu and Twa were already there. The Hutu asked the Tutsi where he came from, the Tutsi said heaven. Thus, the Tutsi became the ruling class. A lot of my books had said that Tutsi and Hutu were changeable and were based on wealth more than tribal identity, but Ben said this is untrue. He also brought up the contradiction in the current government. They have outlawed the use of Hutu or Tutsi, people cannot identify themselves or others. They also put forth that the identities never existed, but yet they commemorate the genocide which was committed against Tutsis. In regards to the Belgian colonizers, Ben said “If there was something to choose, I would not choose the Belgians”
When Ben began to discuss the specifics of the genocide, he started reading dates in a low almost monotone voice, whereas before, he had been candid and animated. He brought up the French direct involvement in the violence, saying they bought machetes for Hutu Power. But he also quietly condemned the U.S. and other countries for “the sin of omission” and the media who sat in Kigali watching people being killed.
At the end, we were able to ask questions. One was about the current relations. He said that Rwandan’s are still very much identifying themselves in private according to their tribal identities. He said, people might be friendly in school and in public but would intermingle on any deeper levels. I wrote down some direct quotes that are pretty powerful.
On H vs. T relations:
“There is now a culture of suspicion”
“It is like a volcano at peace”
“If you give me a microphone, I will say we are all one Rwanda”
We also had headmaster Martin Masabo come to speak to us about the Rwandan school system. My internet is about to expire so I have to go but quickly here are some facts. There is universal primary school now and by 2015 there will be 9 years of universal education. By 2011 the goal is to have all classes in English.
“Education will help them avoid another genocide. Maybe if they have good education, then we will not think to kill each other again.”
Rwandan ATM’s do not take foreign visa cards. Thus spending cash for the year plan was thwarted early on. So, Tuesday our field director Kelly Jo took the whole group to the bank to open accounts.
This is not as easy as you might think. There are many steps involved
1. Wait in line for 20 minutes to exchange money so you have Rwandan Francs.
2. Sit down and wait for 30 minutes to speak with a bank representative. Get bank booklet and account number.
4. Go back to line and wait for a teller again to deposit money.
5. Come back 2 or 7 days letter to get checkbook. You will wait 3 months before you are eligible for an atm card (but you probably wont get it). to access your cash, you must write yourself a check and cash it.
Except… I decided to prolong the process and my experience went horribly awry. I had successfully completed steps 1-4 when I decided to listen to my new friend Mitesh. He is a former private equity guy from BofA and insisted the exchange rate at the forex bureaus was far superior to the banks. So after the bank, we went to forex and I exchanged all my spending money for the year. She handed me 80 bills!! (the highest denomination is RWF is 5000). So, with Mitesh as my bodyguard (A word on women-we walked back to the bank my sack full of money burning a hole in bag. I was sure everyone could see right through my bag and right at the pile of cash. So I walked down the street with a bullseye on my back and a big red arrow over my head.
by the time we got to teller, I was sweating with nervousness. Then, we got everything wrong. I didn’t fill out the deposit slip right, I didn’t count the number of each denomination bill… so We are standing at the counter, counting stacks of money and now I am hysterically giggling from embarrassment, The more nervous and foolish I felt, the redder my face got and the more I giggled. But now it is done. I also have a Rwandan cell phone now! its 250-078-551-9361. (not sure about the second 0) Call me everyone! You can also text me but I can’t text out yet.
Pictures tomorrow.
