Ska vara hundvakt 10 dagar framöver. Det är min handledare som ska iväg på semester och har bett mig och mina sambos att ta hand om hennes hund. Hon heter Keli och är en stor labrador som är väldigt snäll och social. Hon har även ganska mycket vaktinstinkt så hon ser till att skydda oss också! Så fort det går förbi någon utanför på gatan börjar hon morra och skälla. Var ute och gick med henne första gången igår och hon är verkligen en trevlig hund som är lätt att ha att göra med.
Problemet är bara att folk här är livrädda för hundar. Speciellt stora hundar så för dom är Keli verkligen skrämmande. När vi var ute och gick i området bytte i princip alla jag mötte på trottoaren till andra sidan gatan eller gick en stor omväg när de såg mig. Det är rätt ovanligt med hundar som husdjur här så det blev rätt stor uppståndelse när vi kom gående. Keli skötte sig exemplariskt och såg jättesnäll ut men det hjälpte inte mycket. Nästan tillbaka vid vårt hus mötte jag en mamma med tre barn. Ett av barnen började gråta direkt när hon såg Keli och sen när jag närmade mig började de allihop springa för de var så rädda. Jag ska väl tillägga att jag självklart hade Keli kopplad när jag var ute och gick. Ändå blev de så rädda att de sprang därifrån så fort de kunde. Det var en mamma med ett litet spädbarn på ryggen och två lite äldre barn. Eftersom jag inte pratar kinyarwanda så kan jag inte kommunicera med folk och förklara att hon är en jättesnäll hund. Vi var lite oroliga över hur det skulle gå med vakterna och hushållerskan men det verkar fungera bra. Keli blev direkt förtjust i hushållerskan Clothilde. Jag är rätt övertygad om att Keli är den bästa inbrottsförsäkringen man kan få här. Inte nog med att hon är stor, hon vaktar väldigt bra också! Om folk blir så rädda av att se henne kopplad ute på promenad så borde de inte vilja komma i närheten av vårt hus när Keli är på vakthumör. Som en liten bonus blir man även av med alla ödlor som bor i trädgården eftersom hon jagar dom och sedan äter upp dom. Tyvärr kommer vi nog bli av med alla fina fåglar också...
lördag 27 mars 2010
söndag 21 mars 2010
17-19 March - Planning days in Kibuye
The office has annual planning days when all the staff go away somewhere to discuss the coming year and other important issues. This year we went to Kibuye at Lake Kivu for three days. The schedule was packed and we were all pretty tired when we got back. Lake Kivu is in western Rwanda on the border with DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo). The eastern province of North Kivu in DRC is the area where there has been the most active and prolonged conflict and last year was very bad. This is nothing you notice really on the Rwandan side of Lake Kivu so it’s a very safe area to be in.
The lake itself is also very interesting. Since it is situated in a volcanic area there are some special circumstances. Deep underneath the lake is a huge pocket of methane gas which leaks out into the lake and kills most of the life in it. This gives the water a beautiful green/turquoise colour and makes it very clear but on the other hand it poses a great danger for the people who live in the area around the lake. There is a constant risk that there will be a bigger leakage of gas that could form a big cloud and kill all the people in the area. This could happen either spontaneously or as a result of one of the frequent earthquakes in the region. The reason they know about the gas is that they started examining many of the lakes in Africa after a very unfortunate incident in Cameroon, where several thousand people died after a similar leakage from a lake. They found that Lake Kivu is one of the areas where there’s a risk that the same thing could happen again but on a much larger scale since there is more people living in the area and the lake is much bigger. The lake is also very deep and is one of the world’s biggest fresh water reservoirs. The scenery is beautiful with the volcanic mountains surrounding it.
The actual planning days were good and productive. We discussed a lot of issues for the coming year and analysed some of the developments during the former. One thing we have to handle in some way is what the Rwandan government calls Division of Labour. The government here is a very interesting development partner since they have a big ownership and are very much driven to achieve progress for their country. This is exactly according to the Paris Agenda (international guidelines for development cooperation) where it is said that the receiving government should own the process and that the aid should be channelled through the country’s own systems and the work should be led by the receiving country and not the donor agencies. Therefore they should tell us what they want and how they want it and the donors should supply it if they think it’s reasonable. The Rwandan government have now developed a division of labour framework for the donors, in an effort to decrease the transaction costs of having many donors active in the country.
They made the suggestion that all donors should only be able to be active in three different sectors (sectors which they have defined themselves) and thereby concentrate their funds and efforts on fewer areas and projects but hopefully with better results. This way we would all complement each other and not duplicate our projects at the same time as it is easier for the government to keep track of who does what and there would be less meetings and representation that takes up a lot of the government’s time and money. As it is now, even though the different donors started the process of adhering to the Paris Agenda and harmonising our efforts we still do a lot of the same things and work with a lot of different projects without a clear focus. The challenge for Sida is that we also have the Swedish government’s agenda to follow. Our government have its own opinion of what they want Sida to work with in Rwanda, which does not necessarily coincide with the sectors that the Rwandan government has suggested we be active in.
One of the days we also had RBM training (Results Based Management), something that has been increasingly popular the last couple of years. RBM is not very complicated really. The principles behind it stipulates that all projects should be designed with the results in mind and that results are all that matters, making activities totally superfluous if they don’t lead to the intended results. Thereby it’s very important that you have clear goals formulated when you design a project and that you develop clear results indicators to be able to measure if you’ve reached the intended goals. Not very complicated in theory, much harder to do in practice! Not everything is easy to measure, or even possible to measure, and some activities might actually have a value in themselves even though they might not achieve the results intended. However it is necessary to consider the feasibility and effectiveness as well as efficiency of the projects and programs when it comes to development so that you don’t waste money on projects that does not yield results.
Something has to be said about the hotel we stayed at as well. It was called Holiday Hotel and was a default choice really. We had already booked another hotel when, less than a week before the trip, they called and cancelled our reservation and Holiday Hotel was the only one that could offer 20 rooms on such short notice. Unfortunately it was quite bad. They did not have mosquito nets in any of the rooms and in some of the rooms either the water did not work or there was only cold water. The food was not very good and always delayed causing delays in our very packed schedule. The beds were huge but incredibly uncomfortable and the rooms were quite expensive despite all these flaws.


The lake itself is also very interesting. Since it is situated in a volcanic area there are some special circumstances. Deep underneath the lake is a huge pocket of methane gas which leaks out into the lake and kills most of the life in it. This gives the water a beautiful green/turquoise colour and makes it very clear but on the other hand it poses a great danger for the people who live in the area around the lake. There is a constant risk that there will be a bigger leakage of gas that could form a big cloud and kill all the people in the area. This could happen either spontaneously or as a result of one of the frequent earthquakes in the region. The reason they know about the gas is that they started examining many of the lakes in Africa after a very unfortunate incident in Cameroon, where several thousand people died after a similar leakage from a lake. They found that Lake Kivu is one of the areas where there’s a risk that the same thing could happen again but on a much larger scale since there is more people living in the area and the lake is much bigger. The lake is also very deep and is one of the world’s biggest fresh water reservoirs. The scenery is beautiful with the volcanic mountains surrounding it.
The actual planning days were good and productive. We discussed a lot of issues for the coming year and analysed some of the developments during the former. One thing we have to handle in some way is what the Rwandan government calls Division of Labour. The government here is a very interesting development partner since they have a big ownership and are very much driven to achieve progress for their country. This is exactly according to the Paris Agenda (international guidelines for development cooperation) where it is said that the receiving government should own the process and that the aid should be channelled through the country’s own systems and the work should be led by the receiving country and not the donor agencies. Therefore they should tell us what they want and how they want it and the donors should supply it if they think it’s reasonable. The Rwandan government have now developed a division of labour framework for the donors, in an effort to decrease the transaction costs of having many donors active in the country.
They made the suggestion that all donors should only be able to be active in three different sectors (sectors which they have defined themselves) and thereby concentrate their funds and efforts on fewer areas and projects but hopefully with better results. This way we would all complement each other and not duplicate our projects at the same time as it is easier for the government to keep track of who does what and there would be less meetings and representation that takes up a lot of the government’s time and money. As it is now, even though the different donors started the process of adhering to the Paris Agenda and harmonising our efforts we still do a lot of the same things and work with a lot of different projects without a clear focus. The challenge for Sida is that we also have the Swedish government’s agenda to follow. Our government have its own opinion of what they want Sida to work with in Rwanda, which does not necessarily coincide with the sectors that the Rwandan government has suggested we be active in.
One of the days we also had RBM training (Results Based Management), something that has been increasingly popular the last couple of years. RBM is not very complicated really. The principles behind it stipulates that all projects should be designed with the results in mind and that results are all that matters, making activities totally superfluous if they don’t lead to the intended results. Thereby it’s very important that you have clear goals formulated when you design a project and that you develop clear results indicators to be able to measure if you’ve reached the intended goals. Not very complicated in theory, much harder to do in practice! Not everything is easy to measure, or even possible to measure, and some activities might actually have a value in themselves even though they might not achieve the results intended. However it is necessary to consider the feasibility and effectiveness as well as efficiency of the projects and programs when it comes to development so that you don’t waste money on projects that does not yield results.
Something has to be said about the hotel we stayed at as well. It was called Holiday Hotel and was a default choice really. We had already booked another hotel when, less than a week before the trip, they called and cancelled our reservation and Holiday Hotel was the only one that could offer 20 rooms on such short notice. Unfortunately it was quite bad. They did not have mosquito nets in any of the rooms and in some of the rooms either the water did not work or there was only cold water. The food was not very good and always delayed causing delays in our very packed schedule. The beds were huge but incredibly uncomfortable and the rooms were quite expensive despite all these flaws.
Monday 15 March - Field visit to Kayonza
I feel I’ve neglected the blog this week. I have been very busy but I will try to retrace my steps and tell you about the most interesting things that happened. We had colleagues from Sida in Stockholm visiting and a very full schedule. On Monday we went on a field visit to Kayonza district to look at how some of our civil society partners are working. It was a long day and we made three stops that I will tell you about.
The first project we visited is actually located in Kigali, not far from where I live actually. It is called Village of Hope and is run by the Rwanda Women Network and started out as a refuge for women that were victims of rape but survived the genocide. Many of these women had contracted HIV/AIDS since it was a strategy during the genocide that the men carrying this decease would be the ones raping the women so as to inflict as much damage as possible. A small piece of land was donated by the government and the women could come here with their children. It later developed to a sort of women’s shelter for women who were victims of both gender-based violence and rape. Women and the older children who have dropped out of school are trained in order to develop skills that could generate an income.


This is some of the things the women and children in the village has produced.

They also make money from baking bread that they sell to some of the schools in the area.
The second project we visited is situated in Kayonza district about two hours east from Kigali. First we met with the district authorities who are cooperating with the NGO’s on the projects. It was more of a courtesy visit but it was interesting to see how engaged and helpful these authorities are. It makes a big difference! After this meeting we continued to a village where an organization called AJPRODHO (a youth organization that works for human rights) have started a micron credit project. It’s a way to empower poor people on the country side that does not have access to the financial system so that they can get a chance to improve their lives. They create small groups which have to be made up out of at least 70% women. It is a well known fact that women are much better at paying back their loans then men in poor countries. I’m not going to get in to the discussion about why but this is a pattern that has been observed everywhere where this kind of projects have been organised.
These groups then sit down together and decide on a constitution that will set the rules for their activities. The principle is that they all have to save a certain amount every week that is place in a communal fund and after four weeks a number of the members get to borrow money that they can decide to do whatever they want with. After five weeks they have to pay the loan back with interest as in any bank. This particular group had decided that the minimum contribution per week should be 100 RwF (a little more than 1 SEK) which constitutes one share. One could buy a maximum amount of 4 shares per week and the amount they were allowed to borrow depended on the amount they had contributed every week. All members had small books where their transactions were written down so there would be no confusion. They had a small cash box where they collected all the money which had three locks with three different people in possession of the keys and a fourth who keep the box. A small amount of the savings is also put in a different social security fund which is used to help the people in the village who have more urgent needs.

We had lunch on the shore of Lake Muhazi. Across the lake on the opposite shore President Kagame has built a house. The view was very pretty but we had to wait over an hour for our food which delayed us significantly!



The book where they register their transactions. One stamp represents one share. It is done like this to make sure that everybody understands even if they can't read.
The final project was perhaps the most interesting one. It is run by AJPRODHO and deals with the issue of gender-based violence. It is a sensitization campaign that aims at raising awareness and change people’s opinions on the subject. In Rwanda gender-based violence is the most common crime and it is widely accepted as normal. We attended a village meeting where representatives of the organisation led the discussion and people were able to stand up and share their views. The most striking thing is that the discussion did not look very different from what it does in Sweden for example. A bit frightening since the context is so different. The discussion centred a lot on gender equality and most of the arguments were very familiar. What bothers me is that Sweden, which is supposed to be one of the most equal countries in the world, is still discussing the same issues as they do in a small poor village in Rwanda, a country which is light years away from Sweden on any equality index. It illustrates some disturbing features of the Swedish society I think. Anyway it was a very interesting experience!


When we arrived we were welcomed by women dancing and singing.
The first project we visited is actually located in Kigali, not far from where I live actually. It is called Village of Hope and is run by the Rwanda Women Network and started out as a refuge for women that were victims of rape but survived the genocide. Many of these women had contracted HIV/AIDS since it was a strategy during the genocide that the men carrying this decease would be the ones raping the women so as to inflict as much damage as possible. A small piece of land was donated by the government and the women could come here with their children. It later developed to a sort of women’s shelter for women who were victims of both gender-based violence and rape. Women and the older children who have dropped out of school are trained in order to develop skills that could generate an income.
This is some of the things the women and children in the village has produced.
They also make money from baking bread that they sell to some of the schools in the area.
The second project we visited is situated in Kayonza district about two hours east from Kigali. First we met with the district authorities who are cooperating with the NGO’s on the projects. It was more of a courtesy visit but it was interesting to see how engaged and helpful these authorities are. It makes a big difference! After this meeting we continued to a village where an organization called AJPRODHO (a youth organization that works for human rights) have started a micron credit project. It’s a way to empower poor people on the country side that does not have access to the financial system so that they can get a chance to improve their lives. They create small groups which have to be made up out of at least 70% women. It is a well known fact that women are much better at paying back their loans then men in poor countries. I’m not going to get in to the discussion about why but this is a pattern that has been observed everywhere where this kind of projects have been organised.
These groups then sit down together and decide on a constitution that will set the rules for their activities. The principle is that they all have to save a certain amount every week that is place in a communal fund and after four weeks a number of the members get to borrow money that they can decide to do whatever they want with. After five weeks they have to pay the loan back with interest as in any bank. This particular group had decided that the minimum contribution per week should be 100 RwF (a little more than 1 SEK) which constitutes one share. One could buy a maximum amount of 4 shares per week and the amount they were allowed to borrow depended on the amount they had contributed every week. All members had small books where their transactions were written down so there would be no confusion. They had a small cash box where they collected all the money which had three locks with three different people in possession of the keys and a fourth who keep the box. A small amount of the savings is also put in a different social security fund which is used to help the people in the village who have more urgent needs.
We had lunch on the shore of Lake Muhazi. Across the lake on the opposite shore President Kagame has built a house. The view was very pretty but we had to wait over an hour for our food which delayed us significantly!
The book where they register their transactions. One stamp represents one share. It is done like this to make sure that everybody understands even if they can't read.
The final project was perhaps the most interesting one. It is run by AJPRODHO and deals with the issue of gender-based violence. It is a sensitization campaign that aims at raising awareness and change people’s opinions on the subject. In Rwanda gender-based violence is the most common crime and it is widely accepted as normal. We attended a village meeting where representatives of the organisation led the discussion and people were able to stand up and share their views. The most striking thing is that the discussion did not look very different from what it does in Sweden for example. A bit frightening since the context is so different. The discussion centred a lot on gender equality and most of the arguments were very familiar. What bothers me is that Sweden, which is supposed to be one of the most equal countries in the world, is still discussing the same issues as they do in a small poor village in Rwanda, a country which is light years away from Sweden on any equality index. It illustrates some disturbing features of the Swedish society I think. Anyway it was a very interesting experience!
When we arrived we were welcomed by women dancing and singing.
lördag 13 mars 2010
Friday 12 March - Field visit
Today I went on a field visit in the south of Rwanda. To be honest I don't remember the name of the place but it is situated about an hours drive straight south out of Kigali towards the border to Burundi. Here the country side is strikingly different from the northern and eastern parts of the country. The terrain is more flat and bushy, almost like semi-savanna and the area is not as densly populated. We were in luck because the weather was very good, sunny and warm.
When we arrived in the village we were shown a very interesting project. One of Sida's civil society partners is bringing cheap electricity to villages by installling solar panels and teaching the inhabitants in these villages how to use and maintain the equipment. Another organisation has built all the 110 houses in the village.

Four of the women were sent to India for 6 months to learn how to operate and maintain the equipment. These women have the responsibility of training women from other villages so that the knowledge can spread throughout Rwanda. These women also manage a fund where all the families in the village have to contribute 1000 RwF every month to pay for the maintenance of the equipment.

This woman showed us how it all works and what they do. The solar panels are on the roof of the houses and are connected to batteries which are charged with the electricity that is generated. Every house get two lamps to ligth up the house and one mobile lantern that can be brought along when going to the citchen or the outside lavatories. If charged for 12 hours the lantern will last for a whole week.

On this black-board were written down a guide for the work they do. I don't really know what the purpose is since none of the women could read or write... It is also a great achievement that they managed to learn all this is a foreign country without understanding the language!

The woman also really wanted to show us her house. This is in the bedroom where she now has electricity and can charge her mobile phone or listen to the radio. The houses are small but the standard is not bad. She also had a mosquito net which is a luxury for many people in this country.

This is the yard behind the house. The small house to the left is the citchen. It seems like the citchen is always situated in a separate building here. In the middle is the shelter for the cow. This woman is obviously quite well off.
After the visit in the village we went to two genocide memorial sites that were on the way back to Kigali. During the killings a lot of people sought refuge in the churches where they thought they would be protected either by the priests or by God himself maybe. Both of these memorials are churches where people had gathered but couldn't be protected. They were all slaughtered and these memorials serve as reminders of the atrocities mankind is capable of and to send the message: never again!
Church 1


In this church about 10 000 people gathered and hid for a whole week before the interahamwe attacked it with grenades and broke in. It's unbelievable to think that that many people managed to fit in this small space and I can only imagine how many people were already dead from starvation and diseases when the killers entrered the building. Layed out on the benches are the clothes from all these people that lost their lives here. Only five persons survived this massaker.

In the crypt of the church are some of the remains layed out together with personal belongings and the notorious identity cards people were forces to use. The first thing written on them underneath the picture is the racial belonging, either hutu, tutsi, twa or other. There is also a coffin containing the reamins of a woman that was brutally raped and then impaled in front of the terrified crowd of people next in line to die.

Outside the church are the mass graves where most of the people are burried. Here lies the reamins of more than 40 000 people from the surrounding area and the number increases every year as more remains are found. Every year on genocide memorial day (7 April) the remains found during the year are layed to rest here during a traditional ceremony. The color purple represents sorrow and white stands for hope.
Church 2


The second church is much smaller than the first. About 5000 people gathered here in this little space and only 10 persons survived. Here also the clothes of the people who died here have been hung in the ceiling and on the walls.

Unlike in the other church all the bones have been layed out on display inside the church and have not been burried in mass graves. It was not until 2007 that the clothes were separated from the remains and ordered in this manner. Most of the sculls have big wholes in them and the evidence of violence is present on most of the bones you see.

The walls are littered with wholes like this from grenade explosions. As well as in the other church this is how the killers managed to get into the church.


People brought food, cooking utensils and all they owned to the church showing that they had planned to hide out there for a longer period of time.

This banner reads: If you knew yourself and if you knew me, you would never have killed me.
When we arrived in the village we were shown a very interesting project. One of Sida's civil society partners is bringing cheap electricity to villages by installling solar panels and teaching the inhabitants in these villages how to use and maintain the equipment. Another organisation has built all the 110 houses in the village.
Four of the women were sent to India for 6 months to learn how to operate and maintain the equipment. These women have the responsibility of training women from other villages so that the knowledge can spread throughout Rwanda. These women also manage a fund where all the families in the village have to contribute 1000 RwF every month to pay for the maintenance of the equipment.
This woman showed us how it all works and what they do. The solar panels are on the roof of the houses and are connected to batteries which are charged with the electricity that is generated. Every house get two lamps to ligth up the house and one mobile lantern that can be brought along when going to the citchen or the outside lavatories. If charged for 12 hours the lantern will last for a whole week.
On this black-board were written down a guide for the work they do. I don't really know what the purpose is since none of the women could read or write... It is also a great achievement that they managed to learn all this is a foreign country without understanding the language!
The woman also really wanted to show us her house. This is in the bedroom where she now has electricity and can charge her mobile phone or listen to the radio. The houses are small but the standard is not bad. She also had a mosquito net which is a luxury for many people in this country.
This is the yard behind the house. The small house to the left is the citchen. It seems like the citchen is always situated in a separate building here. In the middle is the shelter for the cow. This woman is obviously quite well off.
After the visit in the village we went to two genocide memorial sites that were on the way back to Kigali. During the killings a lot of people sought refuge in the churches where they thought they would be protected either by the priests or by God himself maybe. Both of these memorials are churches where people had gathered but couldn't be protected. They were all slaughtered and these memorials serve as reminders of the atrocities mankind is capable of and to send the message: never again!
Church 1
In this church about 10 000 people gathered and hid for a whole week before the interahamwe attacked it with grenades and broke in. It's unbelievable to think that that many people managed to fit in this small space and I can only imagine how many people were already dead from starvation and diseases when the killers entrered the building. Layed out on the benches are the clothes from all these people that lost their lives here. Only five persons survived this massaker.
In the crypt of the church are some of the remains layed out together with personal belongings and the notorious identity cards people were forces to use. The first thing written on them underneath the picture is the racial belonging, either hutu, tutsi, twa or other. There is also a coffin containing the reamins of a woman that was brutally raped and then impaled in front of the terrified crowd of people next in line to die.
Outside the church are the mass graves where most of the people are burried. Here lies the reamins of more than 40 000 people from the surrounding area and the number increases every year as more remains are found. Every year on genocide memorial day (7 April) the remains found during the year are layed to rest here during a traditional ceremony. The color purple represents sorrow and white stands for hope.
Church 2
The second church is much smaller than the first. About 5000 people gathered here in this little space and only 10 persons survived. Here also the clothes of the people who died here have been hung in the ceiling and on the walls.
Unlike in the other church all the bones have been layed out on display inside the church and have not been burried in mass graves. It was not until 2007 that the clothes were separated from the remains and ordered in this manner. Most of the sculls have big wholes in them and the evidence of violence is present on most of the bones you see.
The walls are littered with wholes like this from grenade explosions. As well as in the other church this is how the killers managed to get into the church.
People brought food, cooking utensils and all they owned to the church showing that they had planned to hide out there for a longer period of time.
This banner reads: If you knew yourself and if you knew me, you would never have killed me.
onsdag 10 mars 2010
Wednesday 10 March – furniture
For the last three weeks I’ve been living in a room with only a bed and nothing else in it. I’m not the one to complain about such things but it’s starting to get old now. Last weekend I was out furniture hunting with a colleague from the office and my new house mate but we didn’t find anything. For me who is used to IKEA and minimalistic design the furniture here is a big disappointment. I have a small room so I need quite small furniture and everything here is so big and tasteless. I did not find anything that even fit in my room in any of the places we visited. I guess I will have to live without furniture for some time before I find something that works but it’s not too much fun having all my stuff on the floor. I do have a closet for my clothes but everything else is in a pile on the floor. Frustrating but I’ve heard patience is a virtue so I guess it might do me some good…
söndag 7 mars 2010
Sunday 7 march – Genocide memorial
Today I visited Kigali Memorial Centre which is a genocide museum in Kigali. It is also a memorial with mass graves of more than 200 000 people which has been brought there from all around Kigali for their final resting place. Inside the museum you get the whole story of the genocide including the history leading up to it, the actual event as well as the aftermath. It is all very tastefully done and comprehensive. You can also watch short video where genocide survivors tell their stories. In addition there are also the remains of some of the victims on display as well as the belonging found at the killing sites such as clothes and personal belongings. The reason why they show this is not only to make your stomach turn but also as evidence so that nobody can come and say that this never happened. There are also hundreds and hundreds of photographs of people who fell victim to the genocide so as to give a more personal picture of these gruesome events.
On the second floor of the museum they take on the subject of genocide in more general terms and tell the story of several other genocides that has occurred during the twentieth century. Here you can learn more about the killings in Cambodia, the holocaust, Bosnia, Namibia and the genocide on Armenians in Turkey. It is an experience that is quite hard to digest and there is so much information to take in that it is overwhelming. It does make you wonder how people can treat each other this way. In certain situations human life seem to be worth very little. Outside the museum they have planted a beautiful rose garden in memory of all the people that are laid to rest here. The spot of the museum is truly beautiful as well and you have a nice view of Kigali from there. You do need to have lots of time when you go there since there is a lot to take in and it feels almost respect less to the victims not to read and look at everything carefully.


Från ett ämne till ett annat är det en sak jag tänkt skriva om ganska länge men som aldrig blivit av. Det gäller det här med att pruta. Vi befinner oss ju i Afrika så att pruta hör ju till men det verkar inte direkt vara satt i system här. Det är lite svårt att förklara, man förväntas pruta på de flesta ställena men ibland verkar folk inte riktigt förstå vad det handlar om. Ibland när man åker taxi eller moto så drar de till med ett riktigt överpris när man frågar hur mycket det kostar att åka någonstans. Andra gånger ger de det ”rätta” priset direkt. Det händer även ibland när man börjar pruta att de ger ett lite högre pris och när man sedan kontrar med att erbjuda hälften så tar de det bara utan att ens försöka få en bättre deal. Man blir lite förvånad för om man varit i t.ex. Asien är man ju van vid att det kan vara en ganska lång process och att man hamnar någonstans mitt emellan i slutändan. Jag har även varit med om att de prutat ner sitt eget pris, t.ex. när man erbjuder dem ett pris så kommer de själva en lägre summa. Ja, det är inte lätt att förstå sig på alla gånger. Det finns ingen direkt förutsägbarhet i processen och ibland vill de inte pruta över huvud taget. Man lär sig ju efter ett tag vad saker och ting kostar men det är inte alltid de själva vet det vad det verkar. En rätt kul egenhet tycker jag. Det verkar nästan bero mer på vilken personlighet man stöter på än att det är en kulturell grej. Vissa orkar helt enkelt inte med att hålla på och pruta och ger dig sitt pris direkt.
On the second floor of the museum they take on the subject of genocide in more general terms and tell the story of several other genocides that has occurred during the twentieth century. Here you can learn more about the killings in Cambodia, the holocaust, Bosnia, Namibia and the genocide on Armenians in Turkey. It is an experience that is quite hard to digest and there is so much information to take in that it is overwhelming. It does make you wonder how people can treat each other this way. In certain situations human life seem to be worth very little. Outside the museum they have planted a beautiful rose garden in memory of all the people that are laid to rest here. The spot of the museum is truly beautiful as well and you have a nice view of Kigali from there. You do need to have lots of time when you go there since there is a lot to take in and it feels almost respect less to the victims not to read and look at everything carefully.
Från ett ämne till ett annat är det en sak jag tänkt skriva om ganska länge men som aldrig blivit av. Det gäller det här med att pruta. Vi befinner oss ju i Afrika så att pruta hör ju till men det verkar inte direkt vara satt i system här. Det är lite svårt att förklara, man förväntas pruta på de flesta ställena men ibland verkar folk inte riktigt förstå vad det handlar om. Ibland när man åker taxi eller moto så drar de till med ett riktigt överpris när man frågar hur mycket det kostar att åka någonstans. Andra gånger ger de det ”rätta” priset direkt. Det händer även ibland när man börjar pruta att de ger ett lite högre pris och när man sedan kontrar med att erbjuda hälften så tar de det bara utan att ens försöka få en bättre deal. Man blir lite förvånad för om man varit i t.ex. Asien är man ju van vid att det kan vara en ganska lång process och att man hamnar någonstans mitt emellan i slutändan. Jag har även varit med om att de prutat ner sitt eget pris, t.ex. när man erbjuder dem ett pris så kommer de själva en lägre summa. Ja, det är inte lätt att förstå sig på alla gånger. Det finns ingen direkt förutsägbarhet i processen och ibland vill de inte pruta över huvud taget. Man lär sig ju efter ett tag vad saker och ting kostar men det är inte alltid de själva vet det vad det verkar. En rätt kul egenhet tycker jag. Det verkar nästan bero mer på vilken personlighet man stöter på än att det är en kulturell grej. Vissa orkar helt enkelt inte med att hålla på och pruta och ger dig sitt pris direkt.
fredag 5 mars 2010
Friday 5 mars – life in Kigali
I’m now starting to feel like this is home. I am settled in my house, am starting to actually know what I’m doing at work and know my way around Kigali pretty well by now. The routines are also starting to be established. I work-out a couple of times a week, study some French when I get the time and go to quiz night on Mondays. It’s not much different from my life in Sweden since I don’t have any money and it rains quite often. Well maybe a little different. I think to myself sometimes when I walk through the tall grass by the lake that if I get bitten by a snake I will probably not survive, even though there’s a hospital 300m away. If it’s a mamba or a cobra it doesn’t matter. Luckily there doesn’t seem to be a lot of snakes in Kigali and they mostly come out at night. And well I wouldn’t like to get sick in this country at all actually. Not sick enough that I have to go to the hospital anyway. I’ve heard some horror stories so I better stay healthy and not getter sicker than my little home pharmacy can handle. Apart from that I guess there’s also the water situation. Water can be quite scarce here in the dry season, that’s normal but we are having water problems now, during the wet season, as well. Some days the pressure is not high enough to take a shower and when that happens you can only hope that you’re not just back from a jogging tour.
Now that I’ve talked some about the negative things about living here I guess I should mention some of the positive ones. First of all there’s the wonderful weather which is not too warm and never cold. It rains a lot this time of year but that just cools the temperature a bit and that is a good thing. Then there’s the food. You can find an amazing supply of fruits and vegetables! There never seems to be the wrong season for anything and they can actually get three harvests a year here. If you by locally produced foods there’s not at all as much chemicals and preservatives in them as there is at home and they taste much better. It feels so much healthier than the food at home even though there’s more sugar and fat in it. You just don’t eat as much since you get everything you need through a smaller quantity. Another positive thing is the stunning beauty of this country. Calling it “the land of a thousand hills” is really not an over statement! There are terrace fields all along the slopes of the hills where they grow all kind of crops like coffee, tea, bananas, corn, potatoes and cassava. There are so many nice things about this country it would take forever to list them here. I think I'll stop here for now...
Now that I’ve talked some about the negative things about living here I guess I should mention some of the positive ones. First of all there’s the wonderful weather which is not too warm and never cold. It rains a lot this time of year but that just cools the temperature a bit and that is a good thing. Then there’s the food. You can find an amazing supply of fruits and vegetables! There never seems to be the wrong season for anything and they can actually get three harvests a year here. If you by locally produced foods there’s not at all as much chemicals and preservatives in them as there is at home and they taste much better. It feels so much healthier than the food at home even though there’s more sugar and fat in it. You just don’t eat as much since you get everything you need through a smaller quantity. Another positive thing is the stunning beauty of this country. Calling it “the land of a thousand hills” is really not an over statement! There are terrace fields all along the slopes of the hills where they grow all kind of crops like coffee, tea, bananas, corn, potatoes and cassava. There are so many nice things about this country it would take forever to list them here. I think I'll stop here for now...
tisdag 2 mars 2010
pictures from field visit to Musanze
I just managed to get a hold of the pictures from the fieldvisit I went on last week and thought I'd share them with you.

When we arrived we were met by the whole village and the women danced and singed to welcome us! Very nice and typically African.


This woman lost 12 of her 13 children in the genocide and barely survived herself. You can actually see the pain and hardship she has been through in her face. She now lives in the reconciliation village with her only surviving child.


Some boys were playing football. This goes to show that children are the same everywhere, no matter under which conditions they live. Playing is what they live for! These kids are too poor to have a football but they make due with a ball made out of... eh what is that exactly? (Normally it's made out of banana leaves)

You are met by this stare almost everywhere you go and it's a very illustrative example of what is lacking in the Rwandan society, trust - interperonal trust. To me this look expresses distrust and suspicion. However, as soon as you start interacting with people it disappears.

This is what all the houses in the village looked like. The government have decided on a common standard that all the houses have to meet, with the result that they all now look basically the same. ALL the 137 houses in the village looked the same and were the same size. Notice also the color of the soil. It's all black vulcanic rock in this area. The soil is very fertile and this part of the country is the most productive but at the same time also the most densly populated, more than 1000 people per square km!!!

Inside the newly built and not yet completed trauma centre. Here we had to listen yet again to the compulsary and neverending speeches. And after that, we had to stand in a circle and pray of course. That's just a normal day in Rwanda...

The local police really wanted to show us the weapons they'd confiscated. A hand grenade anyone? This is not exactly what I call safe storage. They could easily expload for any number of reasons because of the rust and bad shape their in.
When we arrived we were met by the whole village and the women danced and singed to welcome us! Very nice and typically African.
This woman lost 12 of her 13 children in the genocide and barely survived herself. You can actually see the pain and hardship she has been through in her face. She now lives in the reconciliation village with her only surviving child.
Some boys were playing football. This goes to show that children are the same everywhere, no matter under which conditions they live. Playing is what they live for! These kids are too poor to have a football but they make due with a ball made out of... eh what is that exactly? (Normally it's made out of banana leaves)
You are met by this stare almost everywhere you go and it's a very illustrative example of what is lacking in the Rwandan society, trust - interperonal trust. To me this look expresses distrust and suspicion. However, as soon as you start interacting with people it disappears.
This is what all the houses in the village looked like. The government have decided on a common standard that all the houses have to meet, with the result that they all now look basically the same. ALL the 137 houses in the village looked the same and were the same size. Notice also the color of the soil. It's all black vulcanic rock in this area. The soil is very fertile and this part of the country is the most productive but at the same time also the most densly populated, more than 1000 people per square km!!!
Inside the newly built and not yet completed trauma centre. Here we had to listen yet again to the compulsary and neverending speeches. And after that, we had to stand in a circle and pray of course. That's just a normal day in Rwanda...
The local police really wanted to show us the weapons they'd confiscated. A hand grenade anyone? This is not exactly what I call safe storage. They could easily expload for any number of reasons because of the rust and bad shape their in.
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