Expectations and Truths
By Andrew Kinton, ED2
"Life is simple. Have a look at Maselow’s hierarchy of needs; what most people want in modern society is so far down the list it’s not funny. If you have a roof over your head, food on the table and no-one is going to shoot you in the street tomorrow then you’re better off than about 3 billion people." -Unknown
I have taken some time to reflect back about what I thought Rwanda would be like and what I have come to find out after living here for the past 17 months.
My Expectations before we came here:
Violence –We have rarely seen any forms of violence here. We know the history of genocide in Rwanda but it is hard to imagine on some days. You see the remnants of genocide not in people‘s physical actions or violence, but in the culture, psychology and behavior. The only forms of violence I have seen in my 17 months in Rwanda were a guy getting beaten and drug out of the market for stealing something and a fight between two neighbor hoodlum teenage girls.
Unsafe –Not true, especially towards foreigners. I don‘t know what Rwandans have been told, but the people here seem to have a healthy respect for us and usually treat us well (not counting the annoying stares, follow-ing, shouts of 'muzungu‘, and occasional requests for money). As far as safety is concerned though, I feel very safe in Rwanda, probably as safe as anywhere I have traveled before. I have felt more in danger on the streets of Rome, Italy than on the streets of Kigali, Rwanda. The government has had public relations campaigns and managed to educate people that foreigners are very im-portant to the economy and bring money with them; the better you treat them, the better off the country will be.
Corruption – There seems to be little to none. Rwanda is maybe the least corrupt country in Africa. I am not saying this because I am biased towards Rwanda, it is true. Google it. They do not tolerate corruption. You do not find a police or government worker asking for bribes. Corruption inevitably happens in every government, however there is nothing major apparent in Rwanda. . They also have a very strict 'Anti-Corruption‘ policy.
Live on 'African' time –For those of you who don‘t know what African time is, it is very fluid and flexible. Time is well respected and followed in America. In Rwanda, a meeting set to start at 2pm may not actually start until 3:30pm. A wedding that is set to begin at 11:00am probably won‘t begin until 12:30pm. Time is not a determining factor here. It comes and goes just as time does. If you are late, it‘s no problem. Trying to plan a day on a schedule – don‘t depend on it!! We volunteers, often try to schedule out our days because we are American. Those days most often go crazy and we will have to wait for a bus for 2 hours or wait in a random store for the rain to stop. Here, time is not money – it is simply time. Some aspects of this are refreshing, but others are definitely frustrating.
Hot, dry, savanna looking –Mountains, valleys, volcanoes, lakes, rivers, trees, flowers, tea, coffee, rainforests, vegetables, fruits . . . . . Need I say more.
My Expectations before we came here:
Violence –We have rarely seen any forms of violence here. We know the history of genocide in Rwanda but it is hard to imagine on some days. You see the remnants of genocide not in people‘s physical actions or violence, but in the culture, psychology and behavior. The only forms of violence I have seen in my 17 months in Rwanda were a guy getting beaten and drug out of the market for stealing something and a fight between two neighbor hoodlum teenage girls.
Unsafe –Not true, especially towards foreigners. I don‘t know what Rwandans have been told, but the people here seem to have a healthy respect for us and usually treat us well (not counting the annoying stares, follow-ing, shouts of 'muzungu‘, and occasional requests for money). As far as safety is concerned though, I feel very safe in Rwanda, probably as safe as anywhere I have traveled before. I have felt more in danger on the streets of Rome, Italy than on the streets of Kigali, Rwanda. The government has had public relations campaigns and managed to educate people that foreigners are very im-portant to the economy and bring money with them; the better you treat them, the better off the country will be.
Corruption – There seems to be little to none. Rwanda is maybe the least corrupt country in Africa. I am not saying this because I am biased towards Rwanda, it is true. Google it. They do not tolerate corruption. You do not find a police or government worker asking for bribes. Corruption inevitably happens in every government, however there is nothing major apparent in Rwanda. . They also have a very strict 'Anti-Corruption‘ policy.
Live on 'African' time –For those of you who don‘t know what African time is, it is very fluid and flexible. Time is well respected and followed in America. In Rwanda, a meeting set to start at 2pm may not actually start until 3:30pm. A wedding that is set to begin at 11:00am probably won‘t begin until 12:30pm. Time is not a determining factor here. It comes and goes just as time does. If you are late, it‘s no problem. Trying to plan a day on a schedule – don‘t depend on it!! We volunteers, often try to schedule out our days because we are American. Those days most often go crazy and we will have to wait for a bus for 2 hours or wait in a random store for the rain to stop. Here, time is not money – it is simply time. Some aspects of this are refreshing, but others are definitely frustrating.
Hot, dry, savanna looking –Mountains, valleys, volcanoes, lakes, rivers, trees, flowers, tea, coffee, rainforests, vegetables, fruits . . . . . Need I say more.
Helpless poverty – While poverty is definitely a daily distraction here, it is not as bad as I imagined (at least in our village). People are generally poor here and don‘t have much in the way of discretionary money to spend. But, we don‘t see people starving. There is a reason why Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa; the land is fertile and the climate is perfect for cultivation. Many people are paid about $1 per day for hard labor. But, these same people can stay at home and grow what they need to eat on their own land. |
While they may face malnutrition, because they aren‘t eating a good variety of foods, they are eating food. It‘s hard to tell a person who can‘t leave the village or buy new clothes that their poverty isn‘t serious, but it is just different from what American media brainwashed me to think of when I thought of Africa before I came here. Our village may be different however, as we have a large tea industry and the money from those workers filters down to even the poorest in our community.
Low technology –True in the fact that Rwanda skipped land line phones all together .Now 80% or more of the people have cell phones. While they might not be able to talk freely (cell phones work on a pre-paid basis and translates to about $0.02 / minute), they have cell phones, and most places in country are covered by service. There are only a few places in the most rural areas that don‘t have phone coverage. With this coverage also comes wireless internet in most places working with a
USB modem for which you must buy the same airtime as your cell phone. The technology is here but almost no host country nationals have laptops (except the richest 5% of the people) and foreigners.
No exposure to outside world - In the village, the only form of mass communication is radio. Radio is generally listened to by all people. Rwandan radio includes VOA (Voice of America) and the BBC (British Broadcasting Corp) and international news. But most Rwandans have no perspective. If you hear that there was a tsunami in Japan but have never seen the ocean, how can you understand? If you hear about the financial crisis in Greece but have never been inside a bank, how can you understand? I think the whole calling all white people 'muzungu‘ is proof positive that there is little exposure to the outside world. In this day and age of globalization with people so mobile in the world, there is no rea-son to differentiate people based on the color of their skin unless you have never interacted with these strange skinned people! Another thing, try explaining the scale of the world to a person who doesn‘t know what exists 30 kilometers from their house!?! How can you
explain the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the height of the World Trade Center to a person who has never seen a building taller than 2 stories? They see some movies occasionally, but you just can‘t understand things like New York City or Reliant Stadium full of people, from just a picture or in a movie.
Low technology –True in the fact that Rwanda skipped land line phones all together .Now 80% or more of the people have cell phones. While they might not be able to talk freely (cell phones work on a pre-paid basis and translates to about $0.02 / minute), they have cell phones, and most places in country are covered by service. There are only a few places in the most rural areas that don‘t have phone coverage. With this coverage also comes wireless internet in most places working with a
USB modem for which you must buy the same airtime as your cell phone. The technology is here but almost no host country nationals have laptops (except the richest 5% of the people) and foreigners.
No exposure to outside world - In the village, the only form of mass communication is radio. Radio is generally listened to by all people. Rwandan radio includes VOA (Voice of America) and the BBC (British Broadcasting Corp) and international news. But most Rwandans have no perspective. If you hear that there was a tsunami in Japan but have never seen the ocean, how can you understand? If you hear about the financial crisis in Greece but have never been inside a bank, how can you understand? I think the whole calling all white people 'muzungu‘ is proof positive that there is little exposure to the outside world. In this day and age of globalization with people so mobile in the world, there is no rea-son to differentiate people based on the color of their skin unless you have never interacted with these strange skinned people! Another thing, try explaining the scale of the world to a person who doesn‘t know what exists 30 kilometers from their house!?! How can you
explain the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the height of the World Trade Center to a person who has never seen a building taller than 2 stories? They see some movies occasionally, but you just can‘t understand things like New York City or Reliant Stadium full of people, from just a picture or in a movie.
Not familiar with white people –I have mentioned more than a few times people yelling 'white man‘ to me while
walking down the street. In fact, this happens every few days or every five minutes when I go to a new place where the people are not familiar with me.
Giant, carnivorous, wild animals everywhere –In fact, we didn‘t see our first lion until going to the zoo in South Africa. We did see the rare mountain gorillas in Rwanda, but you have to pay big bucks to do that. We do not have any wild (ANY!!) wild animals (by animals I mean mammals) in our village except birds. Nothing, no squirrels, no rabbits, no deer, no groundhogs,. . . .NOTHING. Animals were hunted out of Rwanda about a hundred years ago. There is a national park in the east of Rwanda where you can find some large mammals, but it is only a tiny tract of land within Africa.
These have been some of my general ideas. I hope they help to paint a better picture of life in Rwanda!
walking down the street. In fact, this happens every few days or every five minutes when I go to a new place where the people are not familiar with me.
Giant, carnivorous, wild animals everywhere –In fact, we didn‘t see our first lion until going to the zoo in South Africa. We did see the rare mountain gorillas in Rwanda, but you have to pay big bucks to do that. We do not have any wild (ANY!!) wild animals (by animals I mean mammals) in our village except birds. Nothing, no squirrels, no rabbits, no deer, no groundhogs,. . . .NOTHING. Animals were hunted out of Rwanda about a hundred years ago. There is a national park in the east of Rwanda where you can find some large mammals, but it is only a tiny tract of land within Africa.
These have been some of my general ideas. I hope they help to paint a better picture of life in Rwanda!