Kigali Stories


The amazing resilience of the people of Rwanda

I have to say that if I sounded impressed with Rwanda in my previous posts, I'm only more so now... I just got back from the Genocide Memorial here in Kigali and WOW. Of course I knew a bit about the genocide that took place here but I had no idea of the scale of it, the level of apathy on the part of the international community and mostly, the RESILIE...


Am I still in Africa?

From the minute you cross the border into Rwanda, you sense that something is very different. It doesn't hit you immediately but slowly things seem to be a bit... well, orderly. ;) First of all, there is NO GARBAGE anywhere. It's hard to imagine a developing country with no garbage on the streets, in the gutters, in the fields... but that is exactly...


A Muzungu in Rwanda ....

Yes, I'm a Muzungu - I must be, I've been called it enough during the last 2 weeks ! Apparently it means "White person", something that the local kids find it important to shout when they see someone who looks like me - lovely ! So, as promised some tales of my 2 weeks in Rwanda. The primary reason for my visit was to go up to the Volcano National Pa...


They smoke cigars and wear diapers

I was absolutely amazed as to how much cargo that African women can carry on their heads. You name and they carry it: Firewood, crops, water, commercial items. I think I saw one woman carrying a transmission to a minibus up there. Rwanda: Rwanda seems to have done a really good job of rebuilding considering the horrific genocide there in 1994. Th...