Our flight went from Washington to Rome, refueled; then went to Addis Ababa, Ehiopia, where we got on another plane to Rwanda. The trip was 22 hours from Buffalo to Kigali.
The Hamburg Crew: (from left to right) Teachers Drew Beiter, Matt Meader, and Lori Raybold, next to School Board President Greg Wichlasz, and Superintendent Dr. Mark Crawford. The trip was generously funded without any taxpayer dollars by the Hamburg Foundation (http://www.thsf.org/) and Churches in Action (http://www.churchesinaction.com/)
Rwanda is about the size of Western New York, or the state of Maryland.
The first week of our trip was centered in the Eastern Province around Rwamagana; the second, in the capital of Kigali. We also visited Akagera National Park which is the large green piece of land on the right on the Tanzanian border.
The trip was planned and coordinated by Carl Wilkens, the only American to stay behind during the genocide. He was wonderful. We traveled in this van, with him driving, and being very patient with our many questions and concerns. To raise awareness about the genocide in Darfur, he currently is pedaling across America with his wife Theresa. You can make a donation for their efforts at http://worldoutsidemyshoes.org/blog
Here we are pictured with our Rwandan hosts, including Ephraim Kabaija (center right next to Lori), Governor of the Eastern Province. Due to his efforts, we were given every opportunity to see the country in great detail, to which we were incredibly thankful.
Our guest house on Lake Muhazi, about an hour east of Kigali. While modest inside, it was perhaps one of the biggest houses we saw in the country.
Matt and Mark looking out onto the lake.
Carl Wilkens and Helen Kweskin, an English teacher from Connecticut who started her own educational foundation to help Rwandan schoolchildren. You can read more about her efforts at http://www.thehour.com/story/472538/%22%3ELocal%20teacher%20reaches%20out%20to%20Rwandan%20orphans%3C/a%3E
While we didn't see a ton of mosquitoes, there were nets to prevent malaria, and medication we took to be proactive. For a $10 donation, nets like this can be purchased for a family in the developing world through http://www.nothingbutnets.net/
Our reception at Gakoni High School: several hundred students, many of whom were orphaned by the genocide.
Dr. Crawford shaking hands with their principal. Hamburg is entering into a long term partnership with the school, both for humanitarian and educational needs. His article on our trip is available at http://www.hamburgschools.org/878901115132057/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=58270&878901115132057Nav=|1061|&NodeID=1061
Dr. Mark and their principal.
Their school motto. How wonderful.
Some of the dedicated teachers at Gakoni, all of whom seemed eager to learn English, and to further their educations. Part of Hamburg's plan is to have teacher exchanges for professional development for both faculties.
Lori gets a walking stick.
Buffalo for Africa gear in Rwanda! The hats were the gracious donation of New Era Caps: http://www.neweracap.com/ and http://www.buffaloforafrica.org
Students doing a play on making the right choices in life.
Matt, Lori, and Drew with a student who is wearing Buffalo for Africa shirt. The three are board members of the group Buffalo for Africa (http://www.buffaloforafrica.org/) and co-direct the Summer Institute for Human Rights and Genocide Studies here in Buffalo. (http://www.summerinstituteofbuffalo.org)
The cafeteria floor Hamburg is hoping to help renovate.
The same goes with their dairy farm, which was strikingly small for a school of that size.
Their kitchen which serves over 400 students a day.
Same with the crowded dormitories, forcing many girls to sleep on the floor.
The Never Again Club of Gakoni High School. The government requires that each high school in the country has such a group.
Drew with Monica and Gloria, who were in charge of doing skits in their communities on tolerance and reconciliation. Both are genocide orphans. They were able to read a story about Irena Sendler in English that Drew's students in Springville wrote before the trip.
Their Political History teacher Etienne with the same teaching packets that the students from Springville sent. We were especially happy because he was holding the packets two days after we gave them to him. Notice the picture of Mrs. Sendler in the upper right hand corner of the page.
Lori outside of Gakoni High school.
Orphans at Gakoni
Greg with some children there.
Matt fell in love many times, as did all of us.
Helping out a little guy at Gakoni.
Carl at another area school. His efforts helped save countless other children during the genocide in 1994.
One of our favorite photos.
Checking out the camera. Most kids we photographed were thrilled to see themselves digitally, most of whom did so for the first time!
At a local school, included in the Millennium Village project.
Notice the girl on the far right just holding some sticks.
A young boy at the Gisimba Orphange, a place that was saved through the efforts of Damas Gisimba and Carl Wilkens. More information on the orphanage and how you might help is available at http://sites.google.com/site/gisimbaorphanage08/collaborators
In 1994, Damas managed to hide 400 people in the orphanage - 325 children and 75 parents; luckily he had a stock full of food. When the genocidaires came, he gave them money and then food. He was obligated to do this, because if they found out he was keeping other individuals besides children, they would have taken them and killed Damas. After the food ran out, Carl Wilkins helped them get water. When word got out that he was saving people, everyone was eventually moved to a church in town. Some people stayed behind and were found by the genocidaires. After the genocide the entire area was devastating. The center then received funding for rebuilding. Learning about his story, like many we heard in Rwanda, reminded of us of the power we all have to make the world a better place.
Dr. Mark with some students at the Cow Dedication ceremony.
Debbie is a history teacher from New Jersey who was part of the group.
A toy made out of a laundry detergent bottle.
Look how proud he is--then compare his toy with those our children have!
Same with this young guy.
Recently, a mass grave was exhumed on this hill in the heart of Kigali, as another was found the week we were there. While we never experienced any hostilities between Rwandans, everyone seemed to have a story to tell of someone they lost in 1994, which makes sense numbers wise: One million Rwandans dying is the equivalent percentage of close to 30 million Americans being killed!
Kiziguro Memorial in the Eastern Province. Thousands of bodies were dumped under the gazebo on the left, which covered a deep pit.
This woman barely survived the pit, only because she was knocked unconscious and left for dead along with her daughter, who was on her back as a baby at the time.
Mother and Daughter today, who just turned 15--the same amount of years since the genocide.
Ntarama Genocide Memorial, about an hour outside Kigali.
Thousands of people were killed here. Afterward, the local people made the church into a memorial, hanging the clothes of their loved ones off the walls and rafters.
Greg is positioned in front of several shelves of skulls and larger bones.
Possessions of that the victims left behind.
Shoes of the victims.
Most of the killing was done via machete, which is a common tool in Rwanda due to the many farms.
The Church Memorial at Nyamata
The clothes of the parishioners of Nyamata church...These clothes were taken off the bodies from mass graves and put on the pews as a permanent memorial.
A grenade hole in the side of the Nyamata Church Genocide Memorial, the site on which over 10,000 people were killed between April 10-12, 1994
Inside the church.
The mass graves behind the church at Nyamata. The following pictures were taken from inside one of those graves, one of which is pictured where the three of us are standing on the right.
At the Nyamata memorial. Notice that the center skull is labelled "Patrick", written perhaps by a friend or family member. Most of the skulls were exhumed from mass graves and cleaned by family members as a sign of respect, love, and memory.
Carl Wilkens at a mass grave at Nyamata.
Inside the grave. On the shelves are rows of skulls and other bones. What a powerful experience being down there. One has to wonder: what message would those people say to us today?
A wreath in the mass grave at Nyamata.
Bullet holes in the wall at the Belgian Memorial in Kigali, where ten UN peacekeepers were slain at the start of the genocide to scare off a possible international response.
Memorial columns dedicated to the Belgian soldiers.
Dr. Crawford talks with Marie Josee Mugabowashema, a museum guide/survivor at the Belgian memorial. /She is displaying a bullet wound from the genocide.
A poster within the memorial center on the history of the Rwandan genocide. Notice that the 1994 killings were the culmination of 35 years of ethnic hatred directed at the Tutsis.
Another poster at the Belgian Memorial. Notice the ingredients that are similar to other genocides.
The solutions to preventing genocide.
Matt, Drew, and Lori in front of the Kigali Genocide Memorial, an incredible museum in the heart of the city, which is part of a mass grave for close to a quarter million victims. It was an incredible place. More can be read at http://www.kigalimemorialcentre.org/old/index.html
The eternal flame at the Kigali Memorial Center.
Notice the word "Trust" written underneath the base.
Drew stands near one of the mass graves there. In most cases, the remains of several people would be put in one casket.
Flowers outside the Kigali Genocide Memorial Museum Mass Grave
The memorial did a wonderful job of remembering the victims, reminding us of the rich life that surrounds us, one that impels us to prevent genocide today.
Survivor Adelle with her daughter Vanni. Both were left for dead after being attacked with her husband in 1994. (One can see the machete scar on her forehead.) Remarkably, she later forgave her attacker, even welcoming him to stay at her house after he got out of prison.
Vanni next to a picture of her father, who was a respected local pastor killed because he was Tutsi.
Pictured on the left, the pastor and his family who helped Carl help others during the genocide. The young boys are their grandsons.
This is a picture of a man who was part of a family that Carl helped save as a boy in 1994. He is pictured here as a UN peacekeeper in Darfur just a couple of years ago. How powerful.
Carl with his nightwatchman Harry, who was also responsible for helping to save orphans in a children's home. An orphan himself, he realized that he was obligated to help as others had helped him.
Greg at the real "Hotel Rwanda". (Des Milles Collines is French for "a thousand hills", the description of Rwanda's countryside.) As school board president in Hamburg, Greg hopes to expand the scope of international education there, encouraging their students to be global citizens.
Matt and Drew in front of the same hotel where the Hutu manager saved over 1,200 Tutsis.
On July 4th at Amhoro Stadium Stadium in Kigali, we were privileged to attend the 15th Liberation Day Ceremony to mark the end of the genocide The word pictured above in the stands means "liberation".
The biggest cheers were for an all female police battalion. Reflecting Rwanda's commitment to gender equality, the parliament requires that half of its legislators also be women.
The president Paul Kagame on the Jumbotron. Our seats were fairly close to his, allowing us to get the following pictures...
A wonderful book on President Kagame and Rwanda by Stephen Kinzer is available at http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Hills-Rwandas-Rebirth-Dreamed/dp/0470120150
At the ceremony, President Kagame gave medals to the presidents of Uganda and Ethiopia for their efforts to help end the genocide. It was an incredible sight to see them and their motorcades.
A Rwandan helicopter flying over the stadium, a powerful symbol of recovery 15 years after the genocide.
The gentleman on the left is a judge at the local Gacaca trials of perpetrators in the Eastern Province. The Gacaca courts are local tribunals of community members that made it possible for a basic level of justice to be had throughout the country. If the trials had to go through conventional courts, it is estimated they would have taken 400 years!
Some Rwandan prisoners on roadside work detail, many of whom were perpetrators during the genocide.
One of the customs that touched us the most was the two handed wave that most Rwandans used. Two hands open to you, as a sign of peace.
With a homemade soccer ball, made primarily out of banana leaves.
The same boy with a soccer ball donated from Hamburg.
Banana Tree
They were wicked heavy!
A basic house in the countryside that most Rwandans live in. The government is attempting to reach villages like this with electricity and running water, all of which would improve their lives considerably.
Hill outside Kigali
Local villagers practicing for their Liberation Day ceremony on July 14th, the 15th Anniversary of the end of the genocide. We got a chance to dance with them, which we all enjoyed a great deal. One Saturday per month all Rwandans work together on civic improvement projects.
Greg with a local fruit seller. One secret we discovered is that many African women who carry such things wear a small base on top of their heads which help stabilize what they are carrying.
A "Rwandan taxi" carrying a sack of produce.
Greg with an elderly Rwandan gentleman.
A local woman with a cow that was just given to her through by an American group led by a Rwandan in Michigan called http://www.lifeliftinghands.org/. For a $250 donation, you can buy a cow to donate as well. This woman will in turn be able to sell its milk, which will allow her children to perhaps go to school and get out of poverty.
A Rwandan woman lights a symbolic fire to keep the cow safe and healthy.
Drew with Chantelle at a cow dedication ceremony. She didn't let go of his hand for close to an hour!
Many bikes were fitted to become taxis.
This view is taken from our guest house on Lake Muhazi of a group of children walking down from their village to get water, a task they would do up to three times a day. The following pictures were taken when we walked over there to see how difficult it was.
Each of these cans weighs between 20-40 pounds. Notice how dirty the water is.
Matt carrying a couple of water cans for the children. Check out the banana used as a cap.
This young man was in charge of getting water that was in a tank for our guest house, supplying the water for our showers and bathrooms.
His helper.
Water tanks like the ones outside our guesthouse.
Carl Wilkens helping with a water pump that sent its supply to water the plants around the guest house.
Some other Rwandan boys bringing water back to their village. This load weighed somewhere between 120-160 pounds!
Bringing the water to the village.
Notice no sidewalks along the main road.
A local village doing laundry about a mile away from where we stayed.
A picture of the President.
Kagame is intent on restoring Rwandans' faith in their government.
We saw these on the doors of most government offices we visited.
To cultivate trust in the army, three weeks before Liberation Day the soldiers are required to build villages and roads.
A house they built. The resident will be required to put in the windows and door.
A fantastic sight: the first public library being built in Kigali. It was the idea of a Yale graduate who got funding for the project. Think of the role that books play in educating citizens in a democracy.
Internet cafes were available in most towns we visited. The government hopes to have wireless access for the whole country within the year, allowing it to leap over the land lines of the 20th Century.
A cell phone tower.
Satellite dishes in Kigali.
Cell Phone ad in Kigali. Many people seemed to have one, even in the remote villages. This allows commerce, education, and communication to grow throughout the country, which, in the words of Thomas Friedman, is a powerful "steroid" for development.
Boys selling phone cards, which were small, lottery-sized pieces of paper with a scratch-off number which gave you minutes. We were able to buy these to call home for about .40 a minute.
Local moms gather with their babies on immunization day. We were told that these women also had access to an 800 number of a health care worker supplied by the government who could come out to their village if their children were ill.
More internet access at a local college.
Such digital communication is a powerful tool which will link Rwanda to the rest of the world.
The downside though: orphans watching an MTV video in their recreation room...
A teacher college being built in the Eastern Province. Another fantastic symbol of Rwanda's commitment to the future.
Some of the young teachers who are studying there already.
Solar panels made by a local technical school.
While silos are something we take for granted here in America, they are relatively new in Africa, and can provide a long-term food source that is so crucial to a country's development.
Many genocide widows and survivors at a local basket cooperative.
Drew with a woman who made the basket he bought.
Carl with Gerard Sina, a local entrepreneur intent on adding value to all of his agricultural products. Mr. Cina was highlighted in a wonderful book on Rwanda by Stephen Kinzer entitled "A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the man who dreamed it", available at http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Hills-Rwandas-Rebirth-Dreamed/dp/0470120150
Mr. Sina and Dr. Crawford walk up a hill at one of Mr. Cina's plantations. It was gorgeous.
A pineapple plant at Mr. Sina's farm. Who knew how they grew?
Mr. Faustin Niyonsenga, a teacher at a school that Mr. Sina has for his employees. Faustin sent this picture of him and his students preparing for the national exams.
At Mr. Sina's market...Rwanda is the home to the largest mountain gorilla habitat, and the forest that Dian Fossey did her research in--the basis for the movie "Gorillas of the Mist".
Drew in the van that Carl drove the group in.
From left to right: Helen, Lori, and Debbie...
Matt and Larry, a history teacher from Florida. Larry and his wife were kind enough to sponsor a Rwandan student we met for her college career.
Part of our group on safari at Akagera National Park. Some of us did see a poisonous black mamba snake, fortunately, from the car above! http://www.rwanda-akagera-park.com/
Baboon eating a sucker!
At Akagera.
Hippos, who as Greg put it, "weren't wearing pink skirts!" They are quite nasty if provoked, and spend a great deal of their time in the water.
Can you tell they were happy to see us?
An antisocial monkey that Drew would rather forget!
While in Kigali, we left our van lights on, requiring us to get a charge from these Rwandan boys who brought us a battery on their motorcycles! Notice the jumper cables the boy is holding on the left. A Rwandan version of Triple A which saved our bacon!
Adam Kweskin was another member of our group. He is a MBA student at Georgetown who is interested in international development.
Carl with a goat.
With U.S. Ambassador W. Stuart Symington.
