Rwanda
Republika y’u Rwanda Area 10K mi2; 26K km2 Arable 47% Population 12.2M(1,220/mi²; 469/km²) Gov’t Presidential republic Capital Kigali (1.1M metro) GCP/capita $2,100 Unemployment 3% In poverty 39% WEALTH OWNED BY TOP 10% 43% Life expectancy 65 yrs Infant Mortality 29/1K live births Literacy 71% Languages Kinyarwanda (official/universal Bantu vernacular), French, English, Swahili Religions Protestant 50% (includes Adventist 12% and other Protestant 38%), Roman Catholic 44%, Muslim 2%, other 1%, none or unspecified 3% Health 8% of GDP (67th) Education 4% of GDP (130th) Military 1% of GDP (98th) Labor Force Agriculture 75%, industry 7%, services 18% PCVs 1975–1993, 2008–present CURRENT: 173, Health, Education; TTD: 858 |  Rwanda We gathered early in the morning in Rwanda’s Parc National des Volcans to embark on an adventure to see the magnificent mountain gorillas, the largest of the great apes, which are found only in their natural habitat in Central Africa. Little did we know that we would first be treated to a vibrant traditional dance performance that represents and honors Rwanda’s beloved cows. Beneath the misty slopes of the volcanic Virunga massif, it was a stunning beginning to an unforgettable day. |
Adult Books
Jean De Dieu Musabyimana
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: January 10, 2011, by Authorhouse
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1456700448
ISBN-13: 9781456700447
Summary:
In 1994, in Rwanda, a country in Central East Africa; genocide was perpetrated against Tutsis by some extremist Hutus. In less than 100 days, over one million (1M) Tutsis were exterminated—and my family perished among them. Eleven years old then, I became an orphan.
My life struggle started then, commemorating my lost family and the way they died, searching if any of my relatives survived, and fixing to earn everyday life as I did not hope for the future. This struggle took long. However, as time went on, I started gaining hope for the future. I first started thinking beyond myself, then about helping my fellow genocide survivors and finally about contributing to the reconstruction of my country in particular—and assisting to people of all generations in general.
My belief in God generated love, love brought me to forgiving people who killed my family, and forgiveness took me to making them my friends. Peace and forgiveness resulting from love is what I preach and this is what I wish for everybody.
Kids' Books
By Jean-Phillippe Stassen
Format: 79 pp.; col. ill.
ISBN: 9781596431034
Age Range: 16+ years
Publisher: NewYork: First Second, 2006.
The harrowing tale of the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, as seen through the eyes of a boy named Deogratias. He is an ordinary teenager, in love with a girl named Bénigne, but Deogratias is a Hutu and Bénigne is a Tutsi who dies in the genocide, and Deogratias himself plays a part in her death. Told with great artistry and intelligence.
Films
Film: Rwanda pour mémoire
Genre: Documentary
Director: Samba Félix Ndiaye
Date of Release: 2003 (Senegal)
Country: Senegal, France, Rwanda
Language: French
Run Time: 69 minutes
Summary: In 1994, between April and July, the massacre of Tutsis and and moderate Hutus left one million dead. Instigated by Fest’Africa, a dozen African authors met four years after the events as writers in residence at Kigali, to try to break the silence of African intellectuals on this genocide.
In May 2000, on the occasion of the publication of series of works based on this experience, writers and artists from Africa and elsewhere gathered in Rwanda. Facing up to the scars left by the genocide, Samba Felix N’Diaye manages to find just the right sense of distance to film the inexpressible while nevertheless communicating a message of hope. Writers in the film include Boubacar Boris Diop, Véronique Tadjo, Benjamin Sehene, Nocky Djedanoum, Koulsy Lamko and Yves Simon, who all participated in a writer in residence program organized in Rwanda in May 2000 by the Fest'Africa literature festival based in Lille, France.
Music
Igendere Umwiza by Ruremire Focus, Rwanda Traditional Music
Inganzongari by Rwandan traditional dance
