So many new sights, sounds and tastes for our team this first full day in Rwanda. Loud birds call out from the lush bushes by the breakfast table and a hint of smoke fills the air from thousands of charcoal cooking fires. We cut open odd-looking fruit to reveal a sweet and seed-filled interior. On the streets, motorcycle taxis are everywhere. There is an amazing variety of items squeezed between the riders. One brave lady holds on to a large piece of plate glass as she and her “taxi driver” streak past us. The word conspicuous comes to mind as we endure the stares. We are four of maybe seven total muzungus (white people) we see as we walk among thousands.
Going to market was quite the experience. Everyone was trying to make a deal. Rice and sugar are weighed in kilos on a scale hung from the door frame of each tiny shop. Soap for doing dishes is a solid bar, two feet long. After a few hours of haggling for the best value, we stuffed everything in the back of the Toyota van and headed into the exotic country side. The hills are covered with a patchwork of crops. The roads are lined with bicycles overloaded with bananas and a stream of people, young and old, walk on both sides of the road.
This was also the day for Amber, Donna and Eric to experience the Genocide Memorial. The transformation of this country from most dangerous in Africa to safest is miraculous. Takeaways:
Amber – The stories in the children’s room were heartbreakingly overwhelming and affected me very strongly. The capacity to forgive this kind of brutality is beyond my understanding.
Donna – The ability for Rwanda to overcome this most horrible experience is amazing. It gives me hope that one day our own country will learn how to overcome our political differences.
Eric – I wash shocked by how best friends and neighbors on one day became killers the next. Quote on a plaque, “Genocide was not the killing of 800,000 people, but the killing of one person 800,000 times.
Angel (Interpreter): Marriages between families of perpetrators and victims testify to the level of true forgiveness in our country.
Going to market was quite the experience. Everyone was trying to make a deal. Rice and sugar are weighed in kilos on a scale hung from the door frame of each tiny shop. Soap for doing dishes is a solid bar, two feet long. After a few hours of haggling for the best value, we stuffed everything in the back of the Toyota van and headed into the exotic country side. The hills are covered with a patchwork of crops. The roads are lined with bicycles overloaded with bananas and a stream of people, young and old, walk on both sides of the road.
This was also the day for Amber, Donna and Eric to experience the Genocide Memorial. The transformation of this country from most dangerous in Africa to safest is miraculous. Takeaways:
Amber – The stories in the children’s room were heartbreakingly overwhelming and affected me very strongly. The capacity to forgive this kind of brutality is beyond my understanding.
Donna – The ability for Rwanda to overcome this most horrible experience is amazing. It gives me hope that one day our own country will learn how to overcome our political differences.
Eric – I wash shocked by how best friends and neighbors on one day became killers the next. Quote on a plaque, “Genocide was not the killing of 800,000 people, but the killing of one person 800,000 times.
Angel (Interpreter): Marriages between families of perpetrators and victims testify to the level of true forgiveness in our country.
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