In conclusion...

Greetings! This year, I opted not to post at all during the course. I've now been back in the US a little over two weeks and have wrapped up most course-related tasks - and decided that I could now offer some of my own thoughts.

First, this group of students was pretty darn spectacular and for that I'm profoundly thankful. Second, my staff colleague, Caroline Hilk, was fantastic. I can't fathom doing this work without another non-student along. Caroline, thank you, thank you, thank you - for everything including your photos! Though he may never see this, I want to publicly thank our guide, Yvan. He remains as amazing as ever.

This course was a little longer than that offered in 2012. Those who went gorilla trekking visited all three of the current national parks in Rwanda; others visited two. We visited all five provinces. In retrospect, I think we spent a bit too much time moving about. But, then, we also had terrific experiences everywhere we traveled.

In 2014, when I traveled to Rwanda alone, I met with my colleague Kazu Sasaki at the Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (PIASS). At that point I just wanted to learn more about what he was doing with the Peace and Conflict Studies program. Then I got this wild idea. How about a workshop with Hamline and PIASS students? Fortunately, as a result of my Fall 2014 First Year Seminar, I met three outstanding students who were willing to take this on. Sadly, one of them was unable to join us. But, Marissa and Tess remained and did terrific work. On Saturday, 4 June - as you can read here and here - we spent the day with the PIASS Peace Club. It's safe to say that the day exceeded all expectations. Why? Students were able to have one-to-one and small group conversations that would never have happened in a formal setting; e.g., a meeting with an NGO. And, the PIASS students were incredibly open about their thoughts, experiences, and questions. And, not just with regard to the genocide and, for example, issues surrounding Rwandan ethnic identities. Why, for example, do we in the US use the term "African-American" when we have no idea whether someone is of African descent? Take it from there. It was nothing short of fantastic. It was one of those experiences that you dare not try to replicate. I could give my own blow-by-blow debrief of the rest of the course. I'll spare you. In short, it was exhausting and wonderful.

Okay, just a couple of snapshots -

I've been following Team Rwanda off and on pretty much since its inception, as well as the blog of their Director of Marketing and Logistics, Kimberly Coats. They just happen to be headquartered in Musanze! So, while others were "chasing" gorillas, Kimberly generously gave us a tour of their home, the Africa Rising Cycling Center. Very cool for this (former) cyclist!

As others have noted, while in Huye we visited Inzozi Nziza for ice cream, twice - at the demand of the students. In addition to the ice cream, I highly recommend the film, Sweet Dreams, available to stream on several digital platforms. Here are a couple of Pipers enjoying the treats!

In closing, a few things of which to take note. First, a "hold the date" note. On the evening of Monday, 14 November, we may be kicking off a photo exhibit - part of International Week - with a panel discussion. I hope you can join us. I'll post details here and create a Facebook event later.

Second - and this is very, very, very preliminary... but I'm exploring the possibility of the Center for Justice and Law offering an educational trip to Rwanda - open to all - in January or May of 2018. This would be a non-credit, abbreviated version of the course. If you're interested in knowing more as things unfold, please contact me to be placed on a mailing list.

I'm going to cut myself off here lest this get too long. Thanks for "joining us" in our journey!

High Above the Canopy of Nyungwe Forest

Today the Hamline group ventured into the Nyungwe National Forest for a hike and canopy walk. Every one of our brave group made it across the high bridge hanging about 50 meters above the ground. It was a thrilling experience for us all!

 

On the way back to Huye we stopped at Les Étains de l'Étainerie de Huye. We learned the process of how tin is used to hand-craft beautiful pieces of art and jewelry.

No day of adventure is complete without a stop for ice cream. Thanks to Melissa's recommendation we visited Inzozi Nziza for ice cream. The women owners of this business were featured in the movie, Sweet Dreams. We enjoyed the coffee, honey, or chocolate ice cream so much we are headed back for breakfast tomorrow!

New friendships, new views.

Yesterday we went to PIASS (Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences) and met with students our age who are a part of a peace organization on their campus. We did ice breakers and got to know each other, then we began discussing the civil rights movement in the United States. It was really interesting to hear their perspective and their questions, it opened my eyes to things in my own culture that I would not have questioned otherwise. The conversations were very productive and really showed our cultural differences, but also showed that we all are working towards the same goal of peace in the world. After the discussion on civil rights, a PIASS student presented on the youth involvement in Rwanda regarding reconciliation after the genocide. This experience with the students was probably my favorite thing that we have done on this trip. Although we all have our history, we are all trying to make a better future for ourselves.

Today, one of the women from PIASS took me to church, I wanted to see what a Rwandan Catholic mass was like. It was beautiful, the music was very different from what I am used to at church in the United States, but I felt welcome and at home there. I'm glad I went to church because today was a very emotional day. We went to the Murambi Memorial Center with some of the students from PIASS, it is a site where tens of thousands of people were murdered in the genocide. They had human remains that were preserved at the memorial, and some of the students that we were with were very emotional. It is hard for me to explain how powerful the memorial is, so I will include a link in this blog for you to look at. After visiting the memorial, I was dealing with many emotions, especially towards my new friends from PIASS. And I hope that no one has to ever feel that pain in the future. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murambi_Genocide_Memorial_Centre

How the Heck Do I Make this Funny?

I like being funny when I blog. Making people laugh, or at least smile, is a great feeling. And I like using humor when faced with something heavy emotion-wise. Jokes and sarcasm make for great defense mechanisms.

At least, until you go to a Rwandan genocide memorial. Especially Murambi. Yeesh.

Suffice to say, it was bad. We're talking about mummified bodies frozen in their last moments of agony; that's not exactly a third grade field trip. A few students from a local college came with us and two of them collapsed sobbing at the first room.

Some people might use the word morbid to describe the display, and that might not be a bad term. Normally memorials are...well, clean, for lack of a better term. You'll read about what happened and maybe see the names and some photographs, but you don't actually see the bodies. Definitely not exactly as they died, where you can see for yourself how they died, whether they were begging or trying shield themselves or if it was too quick for them to try to defend themselves. Rwanda certainly knows how to leave an impression.

Everyone likes to compare the Rwandan genocide to the Holocaust, and I'm no exception. As I was thinking about this blog post (more like panicking, because seriously, how the hell am I supposed to write about this s***?) I started thinking about how people react to tragedies like this. Humor is my shield of choice. But at what point does that start to do more harm than good?

We've all heard a Holocaust joke or two, maybe more if you have the weird uncle who drinks too much and says things he really shouldn't. Very few people actually enjoy them, but for most of us we kind of shrug it off as just having bad taste. It happened ages ago, and it's not like it'll ever happen again.

Except...it did. Not against Jews, but against Tutsis. That underlying hatred is still there. It's on every inhabited continent and every country. Not even the US is exempt (*cough cough* Native Americans *cough*).

It's the distance that does it. After a tragedy, we shed our tears, put up a memorial or two, say our prayers, and promise never again. But then we forget about it. We make light of it. We make really bad jokes that dismiss the suffering of millions of people. We let hatred seep back into our respective societies and fester until it explodes in another horrendous tragedy, and the cycle starts anew.

Rwandan memorials don't do that, especially not Murambi. They don't just show you pictures that you can distance yourself from. They show you the bodies, the caved-in skulls and shattered ribs of innocent people, and they dare you to make light of it.

Humor's a great shield. It needs to remain a shield, not a weapon.

We made it!

After two days of traveling, including an overnight in Qatar, we've made it to Rwanda! The long flights, long lines, and long waits in airports were all worth, because this country is breathtaking. I see why they call it the land of 1,000 hills, they're everywhere! Our guide, Yvan, is very welcoming and informative, I see why our professor likes him so much. We haven't walked around much of Kigali today, we drove some, the motorcyclists are everywhere and we got to see the landscape and buildings from the van. We had dinner at Republika Lounge, the staff met us with smiles and LOTS of food. The food was traditional Rwandan food served family style, there was rice, fish, lamb, beef, chicken, spinach, beans, plantains, and samosas. Everything tasted delicious. The hostel is really cool, with a nice patio to socialize. We're all pretty tired from our travels, but so happy to be here. Tomorrow we will explore the city! If the first day was this amazing, I can't wait to see what the rest of this trip holds.

Airports, Hostels, and Little Fried Fish

We woke up in Qatar and are about to fall asleep in Kigali.

That may sound exciting, but really it was just exhausting. Minneapolis to Kigali took roughly 48 hours. We are inches shy of ODing on airport coffee and tray meals. Several of us almost fell face-first into dinner and slept at the restaurant.

That is a great thing about Kigali that I've discovered. For me, I'm all or nothing when it comes to my taste in food. I love Japanese cuisine but can't do Chinese. Authentic Mexican food hates me, but poorly-imitated American Mexican food is fine, and Italian food is even better. So going in, I knew that I was either going to have three weeks of cuisine heaven or I'd be rationing whatever snacks that survived the airplanes.

Luckily, Rwandan food is the bomb. I was chomping on little fried fish like French fries.

Now we're going to surrender to the crushing weight of 48 hours of travel, take full advantage of our beds, and get some much-needed shut-eye.

Muraho Rwanda!

In a few short hours we will meet at the MSP airport to embark on our trip to Rwanda. Fourteen amazing students, one incredible professor, and me.

I am reminded of the eve of my own college study abroad experience in 1997 before I left for the Global Semester. Mother Teresa had died and at the same time the press coverage was all consumed with the premature death of Princess Diana in a car accident. I remember feeling both exhilaration and trepidation. What had I gotten myself into? Was this going to be the life-changing experience I hoped it would be? Indeed it was an experience that would change my life forever: I became a globally-conscious citizen, better travel companion, thoughtful observer, and a person with an insatiable curiosity about the world.

Rwanda will be a new experience for all of us. I am thrilled to accompany this group of amazing individuals as we hear stories from people not so different from us, learn about the country's reconciliation efforts, explore unfamiliar places, and begin to understand a bit more about our shared humanity.