3 – 5 OCTOBER 2011

RWANDA – Country number 21 – RWANDA

KIGALI

Waving farewell to my new truckie friends at the border car park, I cross the frontier bridge by foot and with my visa have no problems getting stamped in. Conveniently there are forex currency bureaus here at the border, along with a waiting coaster bus that is filling to go to Kigali. We leave within the hour and after two hours and many more fabulous hills later we arrive at the outskirts of Kigali which is built on more hills. Whose bright idea was it to build a city on hills? And I have to mention that these are not small hills either! This makes every street either going up or down a hill – there is no level ground areas unless created by concrete!!  

This gorilla is telephoning the world to tell them of the genocide.

SERIOUSLY

Arriving at the bus station, I take a moto taxi to the Auberge La Caverne, check into an ok room and head straight into town to pay a visit to ORTPN, the issuer of all Gorilla Trek permits in Parc de Vulcans. Now popular advice tells travellers that they should book a gorilla trek permit months in advance as the demand is so great. But of course those who know me will not be surprised that I just try my luck as I have a week to spare so can afford a few days I ask for a permit for Friday, my first preference  and get it, no problems and yes they take plastic for the US$500 payment!! This is fantastic (if expensive) and I leave ORTPN with a huge smile on my face and a gorilla trek permit in my pocket.  Walking about the small centre of town is either uphill or downhill and I make a big effort to walk everywhere in anticipation of the volcano hike on Friday. Next morning I head out to the Kenyan Embassy to enquire about visas. Multiple entry visa please? “No, not available. Single entry only.” I explain my travel plans that include an entry from Uganda and another entry from Madagascar four weeks later. “That’s ok – you get a visa each time, $50 and $50.” Could I get a multiple entry visa in Kampala? “No.” I try again, “But you used to have multiple entry visas?” “Yes, but we don’t have the stickers for them anymore.” Aha, the ol’ sticker problem again… I suggest that perhaps they could use a single entry visa sticker and annotate it? “No, that would not be possible.” 

The infamous Hotel Rwanda

 I then ask if perhaps the border may have multiple entry visas – you know, less demand  and maybe there are still a few older stickers left in a drawer somewhere – you can try she tells me. Oh well, no success but that’s one less job for Kampala anyway.

Not too many sights here in Kigali – the highlight if you can call it that, is the Kigali Memorial Centre. And what can I tell you other than it is a lovely memorial to an absolutely tragic genocide with this very sad story told within the parameters of other world genocides. 

Peaceful now...

A few of the thousand hills in the distance

 The centre was established by www.aegistrust.org and is well thought out, even to the unmarked, mass graves here that are still being added to with an established rose garden to supply roses that are sold to visitors who wish to leave them at these graves. There is plenty of background evidence provided to adequately explain how this genocide was planned and ruthlessly carried out with numbers of deaths estimated at nearly two million people from the population of 7 million. And over 3 months the world stood back and watched.  I learnt that the division of tribes was formalised by the Belgium colonialists with the introduction of identity cards: A Tutsi owned more than 10 cattle, a Hutu less than 10 cattle and the remainder classified as Batwa (pygmy).  The country’s media was manipulated and used in the lead up to the genocide to cement suspicion and ill feeling but most did not suspect what was being plotted and were unbelieving at how ruthlessly and efficiently it was carried out. There are video recordings of survivors telling of their continuing traumas including one fact that really stood out for me: women were raped by HIV + men who were identified after the genocide to stand trial at the War Crimes court in Arusha, Tanzania.

There these men received ARV treatment but for the raped and infected victims left in Rwanda, there was no such luxury.  www.kigalimemorialcentre.org  The final room is a lovely tribute by surviving parents and families to their innocent children who fell victim to the human carnage with photos and accounts of their interests, talents and even their favourite foods.  After the genocide, Rwanda’s former districts were abolished and the country was divided into four districts – east, west, north and south along with many major towns being renamed in an effort to abolish any past perceived land divisions.

There are two further memorials to the genocide: churches in Ntarama and Nyamata on the outskirts of Kigali that I decide not to visit. During the genocide hundreds of people fled to these churches for shelter but all victims were indiscriminately killed. In one case it was the priest who alerted the Interahamwe militia to their presence and abetted his parish’s death!! According to the blurbs, bones and skulls are left on display and personal belongings left after the bodies were removed are a testimony to the genocide for anyone who may deny its occurrence. As an aside, many of the designers and instigators of this genocide fled into exile and remain out of reach today in Kenya, Cameroon and DRC Congo.

Every road is either uphill or downhill here

I have discovered free wifi at the Bourbon coffee shop so after lunch there, I visit the Girl Guide headquarters and am warmly welcomed by staff there including Ange, Pascaline, Laurence and Alexia the Chief Commissioner. They have a fab headquarters including a couple of rooms for accommodation. I check out Centenary celebration photos and am presented with a scarf woggle and earrings that are hand made. I also hear how they are tackling that age old acorn of deteriorating premises and little money to repair.  But in the meantime assests are put to good use including a nursery school of local parents.

working fountains, manicured gardens, what the??

I spend the rest of the afternoon searching for gardening gloves to wear on my gorilla trek- the advice is that there are nettles on the mountain. Not an easy task but I find a pair of mercerised rubber gloves that are way too big but might do the trick. I make sure my camera is charged with lots of room on the memory card and cannot wait to head east on Thursday, towards the Congo border which is where the gorillas live.

NOTE: More than 17 years after the 100 day Rwandan genocide, that resulted in the deaths of over 800,000 Tutsis (85% of the Tutsi population) and moderate Hutus, the Rwanda Demobilization and Reintegration Commission (RDRC) has been established as a step home for those who fled to the DRC militia at that time. Mutobo is a half way house between war and peace where over 90000 ex combatants have been processed since 2001 as part of the reintegration of armed militia members from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into Rwandan society. Many of the thousands had not been home since the 1994 genocide. Every ex-combatant including from the FDLR, DRC army, defunct FAR and Mai-Mai militias is required to go through the RDRC to become a civilian, a compulsory rite of passage in post-genocide Rwanda.  As well as a psychological demobilization, the reintegration package participants must have ‘elaborated a small business project’ by the time they leave, receive US$100 towards it and assistance with medical fees. However there are some civilians trying to disguise themselves as ex-combatants to be eligible for the Mutobo program which has now implemented screening followed by ‘fine screening’ to separate three of every 10 potential clients, who hoped to sneak into the programme under false pretences.