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Re-branding Africa.
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I got kidnapped by blokes with guns outside that big nightclub in Kigali (I forget its name but it had no roof and they stamped your hand with ultraviolet ink) but they let me go and even drove me back to the nightclub when they realised I was Irish
ah... the Africans, a great bunch of lads.
You don't get that type of service from a standard kidnapper no-siree:pac:0 -
Rwanda is a fantastic country. Spent some time working all over the country in 1999/2000 and loved it and the people. I got kidnapped by blokes with guns outside that big nightclub in Kigali (I forget its name but it had no roof and they stamped your hand with ultraviolet ink) but they let me go and even drove me back to the nightclub when they realised I was Irish
Worked in Kigali and surrounding areas and also Gitarama, Ruhengeri, Butari and some other places there I can't remember at the moment (humanitarian).
Lovely place, lovely people.
You make that sound ridiculously normal.0 -
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When I worked in Irish hotels I'd have Brits and Americans on bus tours around Ireland and so nervous about heading North and asking me about bombs and shootouts.
Sure it's grand I'd say, those days are over.
Stop worrying, Northern Ireland is beautiful
I dismissed their worries as silly
But reading this thread I think I'm doing the same
I think Rwanda and I know a bit about the atrocities and that's my first reaction to the country.
If I was choosing countries to visit it would be one of the last I'd choose over safety. As that's the message that went out about Rwanda.
Just my 2c0 -
Just a couple of things I see about Africa that tends not to be commented on in the media...when there's an outbreak of war, nobody mentions that most of the borders were drawn by Europeans and have no respect for local tribes/ethnic groups (Stalin pulled a similar stunt in central Asia) and the fact the US is more than happy for weapons from their companies to flow in to the warzone. Hypocrtical scum.
Great location Zebra. Yeah, the US has adopted a patronising paternalistic attitude towards many an African country on the one hand, rebuking them for being undemocratic whilst secretly funding and arming guerrilla wars on the other.When I worked in Irish hotels I'd have Brits and Americans on bus tours around Ireland and so nervous about heading North and asking me about bombs and shootouts.
Sure it's grand I'd say, those days are over.
Stop worrying, Northern Ireland is beautiful
I dismissed their worries as silly
But reading this thread I think I'm doing the same
I think Rwanda and I know a bit about the atrocities and that's my first reaction to the country.
If I was choosing countries to visit it would be one of the last I'd choose over safety. As that's the message that went out about Rwanda.
Just my 2c
I understand where you're coming from. I will try to paint a picture of the kind of Rwanda it is today with a little story.
My friends and I had gone out on the town one night when our house was burgled. When we returned at about six in the morning, I noticed that my laptop was not on my bed but because I was a little drunk, I didn't dwell too much on it (we hadn't realised that we had been burgled yet). I got up a couple of hours later to do some work and looked everywhere for it in vain-even woke up my very irritated roomies to help me find it. It was while we were searching for it that we found evidence of the theft. Someone had climbed in through my bedroom window and left marks on the window sill.
I was hangover, sleep deprived and depressed at the thought of forking out money I didn't have to get a new laptop. I decided to go take a shower and clear my head while I figured out the next steps. Before I could complete the thought, the doorbell rang. At the door were two policemen and a third man holding my laptop. They asked me if the computer was mine and I said yes.
A little context: You cannot go 500 metres in Rwanda without seeing either a policeman or a soldier with a gun and every evening at about 5:30pm, trucks drop off armed soldiers in neighbourhoods around the country. These soldiers patrol the neighbourhoods in files all night long. The trucks pick them up at six in the mornings. Friendliest dudes ever. Always willing to chat to me when I am out on my evening walks.
Back to the story: Anyway, so this guy had been apprehended on account of looking suspicious at about 3:00am in a neighbourhood about 30 minutes away from my house. The police had questioned him, found his responses wanting and asked him to turn on my laptop. When he couldn't figure out the password, he confessed to having stolen it and they held him overnight before bringing him round to my place in the morning. I was so happy to get my laptop and all my work back I didn't press charges so they let him go as he had no previous record. They left after cautioning us to lock up before leaving our house the next time.
The moral of this long winded response is that Rwanda is a safe place and the police are not corrupt and while crime happens, there is security in place. The other moral of the story is that I have too much time on my hands and I should really get some shut eye. 0 -
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I first visited Africa in 2006. I was fairly clueless about the continent at that time but somehow, I got past all the media negativity and decided to visit.
On that first trip, I visited a lot of countries, overland style, and spent a few days in Rwanda. I met some really lovely people there who were really welcoming. The country is also amazingly beautiful, a real Garden of Eden. I did a trek to visit the mountain gorillas which was a fantastic experience. While trekking through the forest to find them, our guide showed us wild blackberries growing - something I had never associated with Africa! I'm going back to Rwanda next year for a few weeks and I can't wait.
Regarding the continent in general and the way it is represented, I had all of my preconceptions turned upside down when I travelled there. Yes I did see cases of desperate poverty - people with obvious health issues due to poor water supply, people in fear of armed attacks by neighbouring communities (these examples are from a part of northern Kenya btw). However, I also encountered much positivity throughout the continent. People may not have all the commodities that we in the West consider to be important, but they have strong family and community ties that have been lost in many parts of our society. The perceptions of Africa that the media and aid agencies (see Linda Polman's book, War Games, for an insight on this) instill in us are pretty insulting and do little good for the continent. I think that, rather than focussing on the negatives all the time, we should look at the positives - vibrant cultures and communities, amazing natural beauty, vast potential to develop and innovate in a sustainable manner, - and learn from those a bit before we cast off the continent as a hopeless place to be fixed by Western "wisdom".
Thanks for the book recommendation. I will definitely look it up. +1 for the bit in bold. Community ties that are being torn because of the advancement of western ideals of development but that's another story for another day.
You are more than welcome back to Rwanda. Do you have any friends in the country? If not, I could always introduce you to people who could show you around or just to hang out whenever you will be there. What will you be doing there? I will be heading home for the summer in two weeks and back to Dublin in September for another year and then it's back home for good.
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Itwasntme. wrote: »Thanks for the book recommendation. I will definitely look it up. +1 for the bit in bold. Community ties that are being torn because of the advancement of western ideals of development but that's another story for another day.
You are more than welcome back to Rwanda. Do you have any friends in the country? If not, I could always introduce you to people who could show you around or just to hang out whenever you will be there. What will you be doing there? I will be heading home for the summer in two weeks and back to Dublin in September for another year and then it's back home for good.
I'll be going for a college field course in ... development studies - as you can probably tell, I take a healthily critical view of current approaches. I don't have the full details on where I will be based yet. I'll be with others from the course, but it would be really great to have some local contacts as well!0 -
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I'll be going for a college field course in ... development studies - as you can probably tell, I take a healthily critical view of current approaches. I don't have the full details on where I will be based yet. I'll be with others from the course, but it would be really great to have some local contacts as well!
Wait. I am a Development studies student as well. In fact my entire class is also going to Rwanda this summer for field work. Lovely coincidence. Are you an undergrad or post grad? Just asking because I like puzzles and I am trying to guess where you go to school and which course you are doing. 0 -
Itwasntme. wrote: »Wait. I am a Development studies student as well. In fact my entire class is also going to Rwanda this summer for field work. Lovely coincidence. Are you an undergrad or post grad? Just asking because I like puzzles and I am trying to guess where you go to school and which course you are doing.
I'm starting a postgrad in Development in September. Sounds like it could be the same course?0 -
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Itwasntme. wrote: »haha. I knew it! Yes, it is the same course.
Haha, I actually started getting suspicious when you mentioned going home, then coming back for a year.
Sure, drop me a PM, I would love to hear some more about what to expect on the course.0 -
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Cookie_Monster wrote: »At the rate the Chinese are buying the place up you'll soon be able to re-brand it as China-minor
Bloody cunning Orientals! Buying land rather than just robbing it like the Europeans did.
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Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 60,387 Mod ✭✭✭✭
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Very true, however exploitation doesn't always require the exploiters to be behind guns. There are already concerns among locals and observers about how many of the Chinese companies are doing business.Bloody cunning Orientals! Buying land rather than just robbing it like the Europeans did.Many worry about Artificial Intelligence. I worry far more about Organic Idiocy.
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