Day 42, Kigali

A day of many surprises. Firstly, we flew Rwanda Air, probably the only airline that I can enthuse about. The staff are excellent, the 50-seat Bombardier jets are brand new and superbly maintained. The airway, like the country, is fresh, future focused and delivers the goods in all ways (even the food was good - no 'chicken' or 'beef', but tasty local fare). Next, Kigale airport is small, modern, clean and very efficient. Dedicated airport Taxis' had us dropped at a budget hotel in the city (recommendation in the in-flight mag) and ready to see Kigale, in less than an hour. The next surprise is, off-course, Kigale. Unfortunately, as stubbornly associated with its chapter of most violent history, the media have naturally not spent any time on the incredible healing and reconstruction of the people and country that is Rwanda. Noticable absent is any form of litter. Airport posters announce that plastics (plastic bags etc) are not allowed in Rwanda (full stop). We visited the Kigali Tourist Office, which quickly issued our permits to see the Gorillas. We opted for one of their tours of Kigale, to see the Genocide memorial and get our bearings in the city. Beautiful, hilly, Kigale, its people and the vision of Rwandans was passionately and sensitively communicated to us by Timothy (the guide) on a bus tour (just the four of us). Timothy is a young man who was 10 years old in 1994, when he was in a refugee camp in Uganda. Carefully, and without criticism, he explained the background and personal impacts of the systematic violence that was unleashed on the Tutsi people in 1994, but also the historical context of German and Belgian colonisation and preceding massacres from as early as 1959. Timothy only told his personal story when asked, and we had to realise that not a single person in this country is unaffected. More than 1 million (about 10% of the population) people were butchered and tortured in the most cruel manner by their own neighbours. When the tide turned, those afraid of retribution fled, resulting in the displacement of 2/3 of the population. Our visit to the genocide memorial was deeply disturbing. The story of ordinary people is told graphically but from a perspective of learning and hope (from early history through the violence of 1994 and beyond to healing). The memorial also is not restricted to the Rwandan genocide, but places it in context by presenting other histories (the holocaust, Serbia, Cambodia, the Herero, Armenia, and other similar situations). Most important to Timothy was that he passionately wishes for the world to understand that genocide differs from other forms of voilence in the fact that it is carefully fostered, developed through relentless propaganda and unleashed in a considered manner. He seemed to think that this is still not understood. Part of the visit included a visit to the site where 8 UN force members were murdered in the military base nearby. It is certain that this act was purposefully done. The UN withdrew, allowing the vicious persecution to start. Timothy's second plea is that we personally inform our friends at home to see today's Rwanda. People are aware that this healing will take some generations, but reconciliation is constantly reinforced by government. Kigale's Mayor is, by his account, a most dynamic woman who is determined to make Kigale a 'great place' (also the meaning of the name). She has achieved much. The city is spotless,law abiding, safe and beautiful. New homes, businesses, hotels are springing up. Slums are being redeveloped, roads built to accommodate future growth. Young people are proud to be Rwandans. English has been adopted as official teaching language. The French legacy is not highly regarded, but is not the cause of the language changes. Rather, most teachers were Tutsi people, and almost all were killed. Replacements were found in the Rwandan diaspora rather than from neighbouring French countries, and these were largely English.
Walking out (safely) from Bourbon Coffee Shop (which does GREAT coffe - all Rwandan) on a balmy evening, the surrounding hills looking like fairyland, we passed by the people of Kigale. Most disturbing to me, is not the terrible deeds committed to people, as much as realising that perpetrators, victims, survivors and returned exiles and refugees were all there, in the street, looking alike. No monsters, clear heroes and villians. It is easy to think that ordinary people are not capable of the deeds committed here, or that apparently bizarre fascist beliefs (like the Bahutu commandments) can only be held by insane people. South Africa, Germany, so many others frighteningly show the contrary. Through systematic social influence, entire populations of 'ordinary' people can far too easily be led down these paths. That, is the sad and scary nature of man. So 'Never Again' of the holocaust or 'Never Again Rwanda' go down in history, but can the world remember and act soon enough when the ominous symptoms of fascism rear their heads in any form? Even today, Turkey is in the news, battling with the ghosts of the Armenian genocide (which it denies), of a hundred years ago. Do we learn from history?

If anyone has the opportunity, do visit this lovely city and its amazing people. This is not a war-zone of smoking ruins. It is a country of incredible beauty and resilience, with young people who want others to know that things are happening here, that Kigali is up-and-coming and cool, that investing or establishing business is efficient and simple, that the country should not be judged on its past, but on its vision and its people.