Tuning in to Last Summer’s Regularly Scheduled Program

"I’m having 80’s flashbacks… or is it just Ryan’s in Africa again?”

Dear Family, Friends and Blog-Readers (FF&B),

For those you just tuning into this program for the first time, this sight was a well-conceived (if ill-executed) attempt to keep everyone updated on my exploits across the Atlantic last summer. Well, since I am back again for another incredible experience, I thought I’d reuse the blogsite and try to update everyone once per week… (oops, too late!). Feel free to peruse my *ahem* monthly postings from last summer. For my returning readers… welcome back (and bless you dear sirs and madams)!!

For those of you who have no idea what I’m hinting at, I'll back up:
Most of you know by now, but I’m currently conducting research in Rwanda. The goal is to determine the market feasibility for an agricultural waste-based charcoal (think banana leaves or corn cobs). The idea is to convert natural byproducts from subsistence farming or food manufacturing (not already being used for fertilizer) into an alternative fuel. The goal: save trees and improve incomes by making a business out of it (hence my involvement). The technology for making the charcoal is from MIT (where my classmate and in-country research partner, Jessica, studied before)… and the goal is to sell the briquetters or perhaps the charcoal directly. But as you will see from my planned posts, it isn’t always so easy to figure out how that is best done.

As we are now in the “wrap-up” section of the program (by that I mean we are in our last week), my posts will be structured as weekly recaps and highlights – both on cultural and research experiences. However, instead of kicking it off with Week 1, I thought I’d leave you with some thoughts after finally visiting the National Genocide Memorial last weekend.


For those of you who have traveled to developing countries, it is easy to imagine the hunger and desperation that may exist on any village roadside or city market. Those without the fortune of daily jobs (and here day laborers earn less than $2/day in the sections outside of Kigali) find begging from tourists an easy means of supplementing their income (and who can blame them?).

But there are a few countries that have had traumatic events in their past so widespread that you can literally see the signs flitting across the national consciousness or in your everyday interactions. Two summers ago, I encountered this for the first time in Cambodia. The devastation of Pol Pot’s regime beginning with Year Zero, the forced work migrations, and highly systematized massacres left a generation of children without fathers or mothers, depleted the intellectual resources of a nation, and left a host of amputees and starving individuals who struggled to survive (especially because there were so many of them). At Angkor Wat, these individuals would not only ask if you wanted to buy a book/scarf/postcard/necklace/shirt/figurine as you walked around… they would approach you at lunch (where you are trapped by your food) and as long as you talk to them at all (most people don’t even respond) would continue to ask you until you said “maybe” and then tell you that you said “you said yes.” Or if you buy one item, they will ask if you need more for “your sister, your mother, your brother, your father, your girlfriend…” All this behavior might be best explained by the simple fact that there were more vendors at Angkor Wat than travelers – the desperation for a single sale is that palpable.

I share this reverie about Cambodia because it is the only true comparison to my experience here in Rwanda. I have not been able to visit a Holocaust memorial, and my experience in Japan is the powerful illustration at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial – but I did not see this event etched onto the faces of the people I met during my travels.

The National Genocide Memorial itself is a collection of gardens, mass graves, and three series of exhibits within the building that also serves as an educational center for genocide prevention, all of which officially opened in 2004 on the 10th anniversary of the genocide. The day was hot… so we started with a tour of the interior exhibits, which consisted of:
1) a history of the genocide (including events that lead up to the genocide, the genocide itself, and the aftermath);
2) other similar events throughout the world during this century; and
3) a special focus on children of Rwanda who died during the genocide.

The exhibits are translated into Kinyarwanda, French, and English. We also opted for the English audio tour (helpful, and includes some different details at certain exhibits… but not necessary as the exhibits themselves usually had more detail than the audio tour). During this somber tour, I did not take any pictures (sorry Christina) or notes, but opted instead for fully engaging with the emotional experience of the memorial. While some of you may be curious about the details of the exhibits, I would not be able to do them full justice (and am fairly sure there are more accurate accounts written in books than my memory). But I can say that it was truly emotional as the exhibits used a full range of techniques beyond the typical arrangement of illustrative photos and facts, including displays of artifacts, a room full of individual photos, and extensive use of video that helped personalize the event.

By the end of the tour within the building, I was already emotionally spent. At this point, we opted to skip most of the symbolic gardens (that represented unity, division, reconciliation and other themes), but made sure to take a long, respectful walk amongst the mass graves and the Wall of Names (which details identified remains within the mass graves but is far from completion as the research continues on).

In terms of what I have seen here on the faces of the individuals I meet, there are the visible signs of amputees, broken or partial families, and resettled villages. On the one hand, there is no single display of mass desperation such as what I felt at Angkor Wat… but there is a sizable portion of the population throughout the entire country that has been obviously affected by this event. Our work with one cooperative is from a resettled village where work becomes more difficult because they own no land. During surveys, I came across one woman who openly spoke about a husband that fled during the genocide and was still missing, but that she would never know if he was still alive and still hoped for his return.

Despite these visible scars, the genocide is rarely talked about. During one survey, my translator pointed out a woman who was Twa (the local pygmy population that were the original inhabitants of Rwanda and apparently mostly live in the bush or remote areas). As I did not know about this third ethnic population, I began to ask about the Hutu and Tutsi… but my translator quickly told me that this is not spoken about openly. Also, during my first full day in Rwanda, I walked around another translator as we talked about how peaceful and safe Rwanda feels. (I can attest – while I had my wallet stolen twice in Lusaka, Zambia last summer… mainly where tourists could be targets, I have not even felt the least bit unsafe when walking down a very dark and mostly deserted street in the pitch dark anywhere in Rwanda.) Titi (my translator’s nickname) pointed out that the recent history of the genocide taught people how important amahoro (peace) is, regardless of the daily difficulties of poverty or hunger. This all points to a country that consciously tries to heal its divisions for the betterment of all.

But I will also share two discussions in the past day or two that taught me the picture is more complicated than that. On Tuesday, I randomly met one Rwandan/American (dual citizenship) named Pascale. We talked a lot about business and personal lives… but he also strayed into politics as it related to Rwanda’s recent history. In particular, he asked me about America’s commitment to democracy and what I would do (were I the President) if that democracy put in power a majority that had resorted to violence when the minority government had demonstrated peace and reconciliation. On the one hand, he seemed to be partially worried about upcoming elections. We debated about how the recent government was democratically elected and whether that was likely to change in the near term. During the discussion we agreed that the situation was much more complicated than events from the last 15 or so years, and that giving a voice to the majority was also important. But it just goes to show that the results of those events are still etched onto part of the population’s current concerns.

Later that night, I had a chance to meet up with two friends where talked ranged again from business to personal lives to the resettlement villages. In particular, Jess and I have been struggling with how to work sustainably in areas that have a so called “charity model” – individuals, NGOs, and other benefactors give help to survivors so they may be able to improve their livelihoods, but in doing so may increase the sense of entitlement or expectation of future donations and at the same time weaken their sense of ownership over their new possessions. One friend in particular even suggested that the way the government has also given away things to this group of people has contributed to the problem. During our discussion, we talked about how ways to help survivors improve their livelihoods was important, but the structure of help (donations versus microcredit, equipment and possessions versus knowledge) could be just as important in helping them maintain their drive and the long-term sustainability of their new activities. Because… what would happen if the donations were to dry up tomorrow?


All these issues are particularly sensitive to talk about with Rwandans… and to share. I don’t pretend to know more than the next development worker or student… and especially any Rwandan (as I am still learning about the history and culture). But these are complex issues that are highly emotional which we can only hope to be part of the solution (rather than an exacerbating contributor to the problem). I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

In the meantime, I wish you all love and peace.

Safe and Peaceful Journeys,
-Stan