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Author Archives: Katherine Ann Weikert
Rwanda’s Positive Attributes
For starters, Rwanda offers the concept of Gorilla Trekking, which is alluring because of its rarity. In other areas, people are only given the privilege to see gorillas from afar. Rwanda offers opportunities for people to come inches from the animal- which is an experience that can’t be duplicated. Roughly 480 gorillas call the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda their home, which is more than half the world’s entire population. According to people who have attended the trek, looking into the eyes of a large silverback gorilla is amazing because he will look back at you with a thinking and intelligent gaze. The experience has been quoted as being “a magical encounter that transcends any other wildlife experience.”
is the central area for both political and commercial life. It is developing at a rapid pace, and is a showpiece capital designed for visitors, tourists, and foreign investors. It’s growing business sector gives younger Rwandan’s who aspire to have an office job or modern lifestyle to move toward the capital. It has created a new home for many people who left Rwanda during times of conflict, and have returned due to new economic opportunities. It is a successful destination for young church or NGO volunteers having their first experience with Africa due to its clean and comfortable conditions. It is considered to be an area with a low level of crime. In addition to this, It is jam-packed with local markets that have Rwandan clothing, handicrafts, jewelry, and other alluring objects dripping with culture. In regards to its cuisine, Kigali is known for its combination of Belgium culinary influence. Popular dishes include freshwater fish and vegetables at an affordable price. The top three restaurants- Rz MANNA, Meze Fresh, and Heaven Restaurant and Inn- received raving reviews on Trip Advisor.
The people of Rwanda are very in-tune with social etiquette. Unlike most cities in the United States, it is important to greet everyone that passes by saying either “Mwaramutse (in the morning)” or “Mwirwe (in the afternoon),” where as in the US, it is typical to ignore those who pass by. When talking to friends, a common practice is to lay a hand on the others hip while the right hand touches their shoulder. In order to show respect, people hold their right forearm with their left hand while shaking hands. Holding hands with someone of the same sex is a sign of friendship. The importance that is put on social manners is directly correlated with their respect for others in the community.
In regards to community, the family unit in Rwanda is also very important. A family is typically comprised with a husband, wife, and children. However, people from related households form a kinship with those who are not directly related. Having a kinship with those in the community is seen as being a necessity. Through kinships, Rwandan’s can better care for themselves and their family.
Rwanda has a rich tradition of celebrations that involve music and dance. Celebratory dances often performed with roughly nine drum players providing a beat. One of the oldest Rwandan music and dance groups is called the “Dance Troupe.” The “Dance Troupe” directly translates to “the chosen ones.” It was founded several centuries ago, and still maintain a strong success by performing across the country and at the National Museum in Huye. They use music and dance to convey concepts such as peace existing between formally opposed ethnic groups. Being able to sing and dance is a point of pride and source of happiness for Rwandans.
All of these positive things do not affect my view of the country, because I already had a positive view on Rwanda. Despite all of its social unrest, I am aware of the fact that there are countless beautiful attributes that outweigh the bad.
Paul Rusesabangina
Paul Rusesabagina is mostly known as the humanitarian Rwandan hotel manager who withheld and protected 1,268 Hutu and Tutsi refugees during the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide will go down in history as one of the bloodiest and deadliest times in Rwanda’s history, during which an estimated 500,000-1,000,000 Rwandans lives were taken. The origin of the war was a genocidal mass slaughter of the Tutsi and moderate Hutu by members of the Hutu majority. The genocide was so widespread that even top members of the national government were intimately involved, making it extremely difficult for members of society to escape the violence.
Interestingly enough, Rusesabagina was from both Hutu and Tusti descent. He was one of eight other siblings, and during his upbringing ethnic background did not pose as a threat. He was introduced to the concept and importance of protection at a young age when his family gave shelter to refugees during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s when issues between the Hutu and Tutsi were heating up. As Rusesabagina grew, he decided to capitalize on his passion of helping others and becoming closer to god by attending a seminary to become a minister of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
His endeavor did not go as planned, for after much trial and error Rusesabagina changed his life paths and found himself employed as the general manager of the Diplomates Hotel- a small portion of a hotel chain owned by the Swiss-Belgian Sabena conglomerate. Rusesabagina’s leadership skills were noticed early on in his career as manager, for he made a point of engaging with guests instead of sitting behind a desk. Rusesabagina took pride in his job, and
Rusesabagina’s leadership skills were founded in his ability to relate and manipulate people. For example, taking on the task of sheltering refugees took a lot more effort than simply opening up the doors to his hotel. When military captains would come to retrieve Tutsi refugees, Rusesabagina bribe them with alcohol, money, and cigars in order to leave the hotel. Bribing the military as a colossal gamble, for he was putting his own well being in jeopardy with these acts. Without his social skills, many of the Tutsi refuges would have been easily taken.
Rusesabagina also demonstrated his leadership skills by going to extreme levels in order to protect his “guests.” An example of this is within his ability to go to the ends of the earth in order to provide by repeatedly smuggling food and water into the hotel. Later, when the water supply was taken away, Paul used the water from the hotel’s pool so they wouldn’t become too dehydrated.
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The Similarities in America and African’s history
American’s do not typically associate their own history with Africa’s, but once presented with the similarities between the two are impossible to overlook. Slavery is an longstanding human practice, that stretches far back into our world’s history. It has played an enormous role in determining countries economic and cultural past and future. America and Africa have both felt the fire of slavery, and
During the construction of the new world, America used slavery as a means to advance economically. Europeans used slavery long before traveling to the New World, therefore its influence was felt in the early colonial days of America. When the United States did officially break free from Brittan, the relationship between slavery and African American descent was strong. The divide between Caucasian and African American races was obvious in both physical differences and hierarchal standing. After the Revolutionary war, abolitionist laws spread as well as the cotton industry. Slavery was an intimate part of America, being seen as a feasible method in order to advance economically.
Slave trade in Africa had its share of similarities with the Slave Trade resonating in America. A common misconception is that slave trade only existed with European countries and America- but in reality, slave trade was prominent within the boundaries of Africa as well. Africans were known to sell other Africans. For example, tribes could be geographical neighbors but enemies and of different descent. West African kings were known to dominate their neighbors. An illustration of this lies in King Nzinga Mvemba of Congo – who was known as having a strong alliance with Europeans, therefore posessing more power over his neighbors. This cycle of supremacy lead to a vicious cycle of enslavement of neighbors in order to protect their own people.
Slavery generally did not have a positive effect on Africa’s well being. Slavery made societies militaristic and hierarchical, centralized power, and devastated the economy. The practice of slavery was so lucrative that Kings would hold the majority of the wealth, leaving the working class to live in poverty. Slavery also stifles innovation- for with the presence of slaves comes the lack of motivation to come up with innovative solutions to problems.
To contrast with this, America’s slave trade was the backbone of the economy. Most colonial economies in the America’s from the 16th-19th century were dependent on enslaved African labor for survival. According to European colonial officials, the abundant land they had discovered in the Americas was useless without sufficient labor to explore it. The practice of slavery blew up so much so that they became the majority of the colonial populations in the Americas. Of the 6.5 million immigrants who survived the crossing of the Atlantic, only 1 million were Europeans.
I feel as if the idea of slavery and imperialism definitely carry through into current events. Slavery gave African American’s a horrible economic foundation when they became working class people in America, which carries over to the majority of their economic standing today. Once slavery as abolished, it was difficult for African American’s to find a place in the workforce. They were not particularly wanted, because the discrimination against African American’s in society was still a heated issue. Because of this, they were forced to accept low paying jobs that did not provide adequate pay to support themselves or their families. Looking at this from a psychological standpoint, the most accurate predictor of how a child will turn out is dependent on their same sex parent. So it is likely that the son of a father working a low paying job will end up with a low paying job. Unfortunately this has carried through the years, and affected African American’s general economic standing.
In Africa, Slavery demolished cultural standing. For example, the slave trade affected Africa’s culture in a negative fashion. When slaves were sold within neighboring colonies, the culture of those slaves was lost. They were not able to practice previous religions in their new situation. This created new cultural mixes, such as the creation of voo doo, and created new races. It is difficult to deny that slavery in Africa changed the culture, because without it the current culture wouldn’t exist.
Rwanda’s History of People
King Kigeri IV Rwabugili was the ruler of the Kingdom of Rwanda from 1853 to 1895. He was of Tutsi descent, and is known for being the most powerful king to rule during this time period. He was also the first King in Rwanda’s history to come into contact with Europeans. His interests lied heavily in the military, and chose to establish an army equipped with guns in order to forbid foreigners from entering his kingdom.
The people that settled in this region were a mixture of the Tutsi and Hutu clans. The relationships between them was not of perfect equality, but were also not particularly problematic either. The Hutu occupied the majority of the population, covering around 82-85%. They were mostly poor peasants who were thought to possess healing power and agricultural skills. On the other hand, the Tutsi were known to reign over the Hutu- being mainly compromised of upper class individuals or those of noble standing. Intermarriage played a part in bringing the two groups together. Through intermarriage, it was possible to change from a Hutu into a Tutsi and vise versa. Intermarriage also allowed both groups to be able to sometimes come to a mutually beneficial agreement through trade and hold power in the other clan’s decision making. Within the royal court, there were ceremonial roles for both the Hutu and Tutsi clans. Strangely enough, peoples at the time believed that the main distinction between the Hutu and Tutsi was only ethnicity, rather than their obvious differences in their populations socioeconomic standing.
Throughout time, the Tutsi King Mwami Rwaburgiri made the decision to centralize power by distributing land among individuals rather than allowing it to be passed down through lineage groups. This proved as a disadvantage to the Hutu chiefs because much of their land was passed down through lineage, and individually they were not chosen to occupy land. King Rwaburgiri then imposed the patronage system, which allowed Tutsi chiefs to demand manual labor in return for the right for Hutus to occupy their land.
Rwaburgiri played a huge part in transforming Rwanda into an expansionist state. He did not believe that ethnic identifies held any importance, and instead decided to label all conquered people as “Hutu.” This abolished the Hutus socially and politically, and helped to create the idea that the names Hutu and Tutsi were a socioeconomic distinction rather than ethnic. Rwaburgiri believed that one could kwihutura, or “shed Hutuness” by accumulating wealth and rising through the social hierarchy.
To be honest, I felt extremely strained while writing this entire blog. There was not much information about pre-colonial Rwanda available, and the information that I found was contradicting and vague. I am still uncertain as to how a kingdom was borne to Rwanda, or around what time a hierarchy emerged. Whenever I would try to piece together a timeline, I would find information that proved my previous invalid. I tried to find articles that mentioned religion or language, but had no luck. I suppose this could be due to an extreme lack of documentation- for oral was the chief medium in that era.
Visit Rwanda!
If you’re looking for a nature-oriented vacation, Rwanda is the place for you. The luscious and diverse topography of Rwanda has been luring tourists for years. Located in central and east Africa, Rwanda showcases miles upon miles of stunning emerald hills, flourishing gardens, and tea plantations. No matter who you are, or what interests you have, Rwanda has the resources to satisfy. Contrary to popular belief, regardless of Rwanda’s close proximity to the equator, the high elevation of its landscape adjusts the average daily temperature to a breezy 73 degrees. Our tourists are toughly satisfied by this- finding that it is neither too warm nor too cold. An adequate amount of rainfall is required in order to keep Rwanda’s landscape healthy, but sunny weather is just as common as the rainfall.
If you’re feeling adventurous –Rwanda is home to the Albertine Rift Mountains that dominate the central and western areas, running from north to south along Rwanda’s western boarder. The Alberdine rift is one of the most bio diverse regions of the African Continent, acting as a home for a diverse range of birds and gorillas. It is also home to the Virunga volcano chain, with a peak of 4,507 meters. The views created by these monstrous figures are breath taking. You would be hard pressed to find anything like them in the world. There are numerous avenues to explore within the Albertine Rift mountains- such as trails and several scenic overlooks.
If you’d rather spend time in an aquatic environment, Lake Kivu is the place for you. It is one of the great African Lakes in Rwanda, located at the foot of the Albertine Rift. It is known for being one of the twenty deepest lakes in the world, with a maximum depth of 480 meters. Lake Kivu is a fresh water lake with a limited amount of aquatic life, making it easier to swim in. In addition to this, Rwanda is home to Rusumo Falls, a waterfall located at the border of Rwanda and Tanzia. The falls are 15 meters high and 40 meters wide. The falls are a popular tourist destination due to their natural beauty.
The Nyungwe Rainforest National Park (est 2004) covers an area of approximately 970 km of dense rainforest, bamboo, magnificent grassland, swamps, and bogs. It has been rumored to be one of the best-preserved rainforests in Central Africa, located in the watershed between the basins of the river Congo. The rainforest is home to roughly 310 bird species, and is one of the most important bird watching destinations in Africa. There is not one other place in the world that will be able to offer such a diverse tapestry of both wildlife and landscape in one area.
When you visit Rwanda, you’re not limiting yourself. The possibilities are endless, as are the views. Not only is the climate virtually perfect, but the landscape is as well. Fly to Rwanda as soon as you possibly can. You will not be disappointed!
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The Ebola Epidemic Stereotype
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/09/01/world/africa/ebola-ghost-town/index.html?hpt=iaf_t2
For this assignment, I read the CNN article “Funerals, Ghost Towns and haunted health workers: Life in the Ebola Zone.” The article discusses the Ebola epidemic that is currently plaguing the northern Liberian area of Africa. Ebola is not only stealing human life from the infected villages- it is robbing them of religious practices as well. Due to the level of contagiousness equated with Ebola, individuals are stripped from being able to practice their typical burial ceremonies. This is important not only because of the number of lives it has claimed, but also because of the multiple levels in which it violates the families. The article continues to deeply describe the extreme precautions that are being taken in order to avoid Ebola. It describes men dressed in “space-suit-like outfits, cautiously throwing the dead body into the grave, [pausing] only to toss in anything else they are wearing that came into contact with the deceased.”
The key words that are used within the article are mourning, burying, devastating, suffering, deaths, and abandonment. Judging by the frequency and duration of the words used, the tone of the entire article is a mix of fear and morning. The author wants the reader to feel the pain that the affected individuals are subjected to. I suppose that CNN could be giving a stereotypical impression of Africa because of the bleak and pitiful nature of the article. It projects a vibe of helplessness towards the reader, which can be found in the majority of articles written about Africa. CNN is also known for having biased views on a myriad of topics.
Even though the language suggests differently, it’s hard for me to personally label this article as stereotypical. The reason behind this lies within the attached video, in which locals are interviewed and asked about how Ebola is currently affecting them. It might be easy to believe that the author is exaggerating the torment Ebola is inflicting upon Africa, but the words that came from the mouths of the locals makes the suffering seem real. For example, there’s a section in the article that describes the Ebola response team had been called to a village where a woman died of unknown causes. The health team is required to cover their entire body with gowns, goggles, and gloves in order to collect the body; which is then placed in an airtight polythene bag. When the team exits the house, the article states “those crying are the dead woman’s family members; for their own safety, they can only mourn from a distance.” I personally feel that whether the article is biased or not isn’t an issue. I doubt that the writer would go into such detail about the pain that is experienced if it was not true (at least on some level). It’s heartbreaking to hear about the abrupt fashion that Ebola steals loved ones. Whether you’re from Africa, the United States, Germany, or even the North Pole- death is devastating. It’s devastating to live through and it’s devastating to read. Ebola is largely equated with death, so no matter what, this article is going to be an unpleasant read. I’m not sure how the author could have rewritten it in order to not give off a bias view of Africa.