I have been attempting to start my blog for several days now. I began writing briefly on my laptop, intending to transfer it at the internet café. However none of the computers that I have tried day after day have accepted my disk. Today I decided to re-format my disk, not remembering that I didn’t save the updated copy to my hard drive. So of course I lost much of what I originally wrote. But here goes!

I have been in Kigali for over three weeks now, working for the Kigali Urban Commission to Combat Against AIDS and attempting to conduct my own research in the realm of women’s civil society organization.

I am currently living in a suburb of Kigali called Remera. I ended up here through a friend of a friend sort of situation. Eric, who is my host, works for Rwandans and Americans in Partnership (RAP) doing AIDS work and also aiming to do some alternative tourism. Eric is renting me a room on a weekly basis. Downtown is an easy 25-minute minibus ride from Remera and the stop is just 10-15 minutes walking distance from the home I am staying in. The house itself has three bedrooms, living and dinning room, and kitchen. Cement walls and a metal gate enclose the house. In addition, the walls are lined with shards of glass from empty coke and fanta bottles, so as to deter those thinking of climbing the walls. There is a little house in the backyard where Jean and Felix reside. Felix is responsible for household duties and was hired by Eric. Felix does the cooking, cleaning, laundry and some security. Jean primarily does security for the house. There is always somebody at the house keeping an eye on things.

Eric:
§ Divorce – doesn’t understand Americans and the high occurrence of divorce
§ Boyfriend/Girlfriends should not live together - the boyfriend will grow less interested and will have women on the side (women more attracted to the man living with a girl and try lure him away)
§ Father has two wives – very happily according to Eric. The women are not jealous because they have the equal amount of belongings and their own homes (but what about equal attention?)
§ Family resides in the villages south of Kigali
§ Lost grandparents at Nytarama during the genocide and countless cousins. His brother was a soldier who died the day before the RPF liberated Kigali.
§ Was a child soldier during the civil war. Was living in Burundi prior to the war but then traveled through Tanzania to join the RPF in Uganda.

Felix: Cook, laundry, security; Very amusing little guy; Tries to help me with my Kinyarwanda everyday; From Gisenyi

Lt. Col. Rose Kabuye is the one who invited me to come work with the Kigali AIDS Commission (she is the president), but as she is the highest-ranking woman in the Rwandan military and has an assortment of other responsibilities, I rarely see her. I work primarily with three people: Appolinaire, Jean-Marie, and Claire.

Appolonaire: Kind, helpful, Second in charge behind Rose, Married with children, Invited me to the marriage of his brother next month
Jean-Marie: Four children, lives in Remera
Marie-Claire: Lost three older sisters during the genocide – she was fortunate with a good hiding place, Is a UNDP volunteer with the Kigali AIDS Commission, Family resides in Gitarama

Thus far I have been in learning mode, attending several conferences, reading up on the literature and visiting with various AIDS associations around Kigali. My first such visit to an association took place in an area of Remera that has a high concentration of AIDS and sex workers. The meeting took place in what appeared to be a bombed out brick building with a chalk drawing on the wall of a soldier with a rather large gun and pretty girl at his side. The members of the association gathered in orderly position along several wooden, not-too-stable, benches and warmly received myself, a colleague, and the heads of the association. The entire meeting was of course carried out in Kinyarwanda, but I read off of my colleague’s notes (who composes them in French). After the meeting we went to the side of the building so I could take a picture. One woman was too eager to wait for the group to gather and insisted I take her picture. She got instant gratification as I have a digital camera and she was laughing at herself. After several minutes we managed to organize everybody and get a photo. Afterwards they formed a mob around me to get a look at the photo.

The inauguration of Kagame was on September 12, 2003. Of course the night before I managed to get sick (bacteria from food). So I missed the whole showdown. I was even invited to an inauguration party late on the 12th, but I was already sick in bed, practically comatose. I did not fully appreciate what I had turned down until I rolled over the next morning moaning at myself for missing such an opportunity. But Rose Kabuye presented the flag to Kagame during the ceremony, which I later got to view on the evening news.

Rose KABUYE: Powerful woman, running place to place; Presented flag to Kagame at his inauguration; Everybody knows who she is; I rarely see her, but a few times have seen her in the news; The person I call if I ever have a problem

Rwanda is an exciting place to be right now. The country is opening a new chapter in its history as the transition period outlined in the Arusha Accords comes to an end. Kagame was elected last month. The presidential elections were met with outside scrutiny, as there were clampdowns on some human rights organizations (LIPRODHOR) and political opposition to the RPF (party of Kagame) found it difficult to campaign. Parliamentary elections will be held at the end of this month and for the first time in Rwandan history, there will be elections for a senate (the new constitution calls for a bi-cameral legislature). The elections are the very first multi-party elections held ever in the country.

There are gradual changes that have been underway since 1994, including changing of the national flag, the national anthem, and the name of the international airport from Kayibanda to Kanombe (Kayibanda was the first president of Rwanda who promoted ethnic division and Hutu Power). However, under the surface, many tensions have not been altogether alleviated. The country is still very much impoverished and is facing new challenges with the dramatic increase in HIV/AIDS rates since the genocide.

But aside from all the socio-political goings on in Rwanda, I am doing very well. Although of course it would be nice to have running hot water, I am doing just fine in my new lifestyle. I bathe from a bucket of hot water that is heated over charcoals in the yard. I say to Felix, “Dyshaka amaz ushushe,” and he fetches the water for me. That is another thing - I am not used to having people do tasks for me. Felix fixes meals when I am here and he also does laundry and light cleaning.

Everyday I cram into the minibuses with 20 Rwandans to get to and from town (at just $.20). Taxis are not too expensive, but when compared with the minibuses, a $4 taxi to town seems too big of a splurge. When I am walking in my neighborhood or pretty much anywhere for that matter, I hear, Umuzungu! Umuzungo! Which basically means white person. Although I have been told repeatedly that it is not a derogatory term, I sometimes wish I could go just one trip outside without hearing it. There are many adorable children on my street that I pass everyday. When one of them spots me, they yell to their siblings or friends that the Umuzungu is coming. Some of the small children come out to shake my hand and sometimes to pass along a hug. They seem thrilled with the few Kinyarwanda words that I have acquired.

Internet is less than a dollar an hour, though of course it is often quite slow and Kigali is prone to power outages. So that is my primary source of entertainment and method for keeping in touch with the western world and East Timor. I purchased a cell phone – in fact the exact one I have in the States. It is expensive for me to call out, but free to receive calls. So I make Imanuel and whoever else call me.

Food is pretty good though beans and rice can get monotonous. I swear I eat about a half dozen little bananas everyday since they are so plentiful. I also get my fix of avocado. I admit that there isn’t the variety of fruits and foods that I was expecting, but nonetheless I am eating much healthier than I would with my take-out routine in DC. I did try one of the gyms out but I am afraid I feel I am hurting myself more than helping (the machines are pretty ghetto).

And religion. How could I forget? This is something that people like to ask me about. They want to know if I am a Christian. I go into the big story of how my family is Catholic but that I don’t practice…that I think all religions have equal merit…and I learned early on to not attempt to explain agnosticism. People seem a little worried about my lack of religion. There is a huge influx of evangelical churches since the genocide. So this means that many people are walking around “saved.” Prior to the genocide, Rwanda was a Catholic country. However the Catholic Church was highly complicit in the genocide and thus many people turned away from the Church following 1994. See below for me on the religion issue with Pastor Placide.

So work is good, research is developing, and I am gradually seeing Kigali and the country. This weekend I began to feel overwhelmed thinking about what I need to accomplish between now and December. I have to do two 50+ page SRPs (they are both well underway), a report for the Kigali AIDS Commission (in French), mini-projects and commitments I made (like to Survivors' Rights International). But I will make sure I have time to view the mountain gorillas and I will hopefully do a trip to Uganda at the end of October.

Actually just a few days ago there was a horrible bus crash in Uganda and the very bus line that runs from Kigali to Kampala that I was intending to take next month. Over 60 people died, apparently the fault of the bus driver (collided with a World Food Program truck en route to Burundi, killing the driver). I may have to consider taking an airplane to Kampala.

Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon and evening with this very nice woman from New York, Claire, who has been in Rwanda for three months with Esther’s Aid. They do a bunch of projects for orphan children (as in taking them directly from the dumpsters, dressing, feeding, educating and housing them). They also work a lot on HIV and issues of prostitution. The organization works with one of the zillion churches in Rwanda and Claire works closely with Pastor Placide, who is a raging bible-beater. The Pastor is very kind but narrow in his views (and I dare to say not so respectful of a woman’s point of view). Last night, as there is a monsoon of rain, the Pastor is driving Claire and I to her hotel for dinner. He is ranting and raving about how sometimes the world needs a George Bush (don’t even get me started on how I pummeled him on this one) and the problems facing America are things such as lesbians and Muslims. Oh, I was getting so hot and bothered and just as I was wishing he would concentrate more on his driving than on his closed views, he ran into a minibus. It wasn’t a major accident by any means, but in Rwanda the minor becomes major (waiting for the police, etc).

Before when I was working on this entry I included an op-ed from the local English edition of the paper. I found it amusing and troubling at the same time, and even though I hate to type it out again, here it goes:

“Please Ladies Dress Decently”
Allow me to throw out a point of two to our lovely sisters. Yes ladies if you could take care of how your really dress it would be so wonderful for you could be so beautiful. In the Rwandan culture, a lady was not supposed to show off her secret body parts, but today they are moving almost half necked in town and they are really “comfortable”. It’s really very nice when you ladies put on those long skirts and nice blouses remembering to cover your tummies. Some ladies say that they feel very comfortable when they dress in jeans or other trousers, which to me I think is good as long as they are not bothering other people. But now you ladies who go almost necked in town its better to let us know how you really enjoy that and what gain is in dressing that way. Well ladies its upon you to think what will give you value as a lady of noble character that is to be smart [make sure you cover yourself and feel comfortable] wear a smile and be of importance to our society not forgetting our brothers, dear parents that would wish to see you as a woman of noble character. Concerned Citizen (word for word, including “necked”)

But then a few pages later:
“Be proud, woman, enjoy your sweat”
This one states that “a woman can live up to 29 years, single and successful, with marriage being the furthest from her mind and still be comfortable without being the object of distaste from her fellow people.” What happens after 30 years?

Another blurb that I enjoyed from this week’s paper was about Rockefeller’s son’s visit to Rwanda. He is quoted as saying that he is here to enjoy the guerrillas.
(Note: not gorilla, the animal)

So tomorrow I am heading to Akagera National Park in the east (it is Republic Day – whatever that means). I suppose you could call it going on safari, but it isn’t supposed to be as action packed as the bigger parks in Eastern Africa. I was invited to go along with a USAID friend and some others. I am just happy for a free ride! Depending on my work load I may make it to Kibuye this weekend to relax on Lake Kivu – but Women Waging Peace just contacted me to do some work before the parliamentary elections next week.

This maybe my only entry for a while, though I will try to keep up!