Kinda green hey?
When people speak about Rwanda - at least to me, they talk about how clean the country is. Ok - so what exactly does that mean because I've seen clean and so what? Under my kitchen sink is clean but that doesn't mean I'd make it a holiday destination.
No Rwanda is so much more than clean. It's quiet - green - peaceful - free of garbage - and a place where broken concrete is repaired immediately. It's the same with power poles and potholes. Rwanda is the absence on indifference. She leans forward like a sprinter in the blocks excitedly waiting for the race to begin and confident of another win. With the exception of one road (5 hours to travel 100kms and the loss of 2 fillings) the entire country is well attended. So much so in fact - that on the last Saturday of month "The Nation" cleans the streets. That's right - the entire nation turns out to tidy up. Even the most fastidious among us have to utter a "Damn"! That's something!
Equally impressive is the commitment to be corruption free. Your truly sits next to the " No money for you Muchachos" award near the city center on the convention center grounds. Though more than the award, you can feel it as you move around the country. Sharp as a tack police officers are every 500 meters or less.
When I was pulled over for passing on a solid line (good one Layno) I shouldn't have been surprised to see an officer immediately wave me to the side. She - looking very nice indeed - in her uniform and listened to my plea for leniency before politely waving us on. In Kenya I'd be emptying my wallet and soul.
Rwanda seeks to become the Financial capital of the African continent in the same way that Switzerland is to western Europe. My good friend Lucy, an expert in mass communication tells me that time and again Kenya (and most African countries) lose out when governments and companies are looking for places to come together for conventions. Safe makes cents!
So safe is the country that it is host to the Tour of Rwanda, a 6 day professional bicycle road race over hill and dale. My travel companion (more on that character later) and I are avid fans and enjoyed the race or at least the 30 seconds we saw as 100 or so bikes wiz past. In a moment of weirdness I stepped into the area where the honorable Chris Froome was getting ready for the race. Frommie (as his good friends call him) looked a bit frightened as I reached for his hand and pumped it overly enthusiastically as lunatics do. In the end - I'm glad to have met and shook the hand of this living legend. He was a real gentleman.
Now - the success of the present can't be told without the story of one of the darkest events of human history and in modern times. Lunch at the Hotel Rwanda (Hotel des Mille Collines) was a particularly sober event especially after watching the movie (Hotel Rwanda) just before the trip.
One could image the thousand or so Tutsis hidden throughout the hotel while my Canadian hero Lt -Gen Romeo Dallaire did his utmost to save the lives of innocents.
The Kigali memorial to the genocide sits well within the city limits on a hillside like any other. If I didn't mention earlier - Rwanda is only hillsides. You walk up or you walk down but nothing else.
This hillside however is different in that it's the mass grave of 250000 Tutsis murdered by the Hutu. In the photo below you can see one of 6 mass graves that will forever tell the story of that awful 100 days in 1994 while the world picked it's nose and looked away. 1 million lost their lives as the Belgians, French, United Nations and so on committed the most atrocious of act of all. The act or indifference to suffering.
I wonder how many were saved due to the actions of Mr. Dallaire and his small band of heroes. It must have been near impossible to breathe and take the next steps as the horrors unfolded throughout the country.
The rented Rav4 took my travel companion and I across the country to Lake Kivu and the tiny town of Kibuye where one of the worst single days massacres occurred. The Memorial was the story of how 15000 Tutsis were lured from the safety of the hills and forests to a soccer field where they were then murdered by those who convinced them that they were their protectors.
In the building that sits on that site (beside) the bones and skulls are piled high in bins as you walk through. The clothes of the slain still bloodstained and oddly normal looking hung on racks along one wall not unlike the cloakroom of a kindergarten class. It was here that I broke down completely overwhelmed by the senselessness of it all. The Hutus fired from that hillside to the rear while the Hutus in front made sure they could not run away.
We were told that 11,600 Tutsis had been unable to get into the soccer field for "protection" and had instead gone to a church only 500 meters away. We found the church after a bit of searching and were astonished to find that we could just walk in. It is largely unchanged since those 11,600 souls were murdered on that day in April 1994. Almost all were killed by pushing burning tires in through the doors at the one end of the church - only to be slaughtered by machetes as they fled through the other.
As we approached the church, these silent sentries starred at us through the window under a message that ought to be sent to the Israelis. Never again...
Now onto my travel partner Barry. I can't thank him enough for this and other crazy adventures he has invited me to share. He is as funny as he is thoughtful and as patient as he is generous. All that said, I note that in most photos (see below) there is a beer so wonder at times if the travel is just and excuse to drink copious amounts of beer and have a few laughs. Thanks Barry - you're a true gentleman!
Next week takes me to Ethiopia and an attempt to summit Das Rashen in the Simien mountain range. As I stare down the proverbial barrel of my 62nd birthday I wonder how many more of these fine fine adventures lay ahead of me. With that said - I'll be sure to enjoy this one and make the most of the 5 day climb to the top of the 6th highest peak in Africa!
If you would like to donate to help hungry kids - you can email me to chat about it or do so through:
MPESA -- +254745237248 (Kenya)
Or interact -- Laynemahon@live.com (Canada)
I'll be going in with a food donation on April 6th and helping feed 250 kiddlies!
50 bucks would really help!!
Thanks for reading ... Layno with scotch not bought from donations - honest!!
