Rwanda

 I wanted to talk about the story entitled "The Yellow Wallpaper" today, but I thought I would instead take a post and talk about the trip my mother recently returned from. She has been involved in a charity called "Women for Women" for a number of years now. They are a charity organisation that goes into previously war torn countries to help the women there. They run a two year course that teaches the women all about their rights, both civil and personal, and teaches them a trade. At the end of this program the women are eligible for micro loans to start small businesses. My mother had previously traveled to Bosnia to meet the organisation there, and has just arrived home from Rwanda, where they also run an school.

The civil war and attempted ethnic cleansing in Rwanda was horrific. Men, women, and children were brutally massacred during a race war between the Hutus and the Tsutis. It is interesting to note that those words have recently been banned in Rwanda, as the government is trying to break down these social tensions. During the civil war, there were a number of atrocities and massacres of women and children that happened. In one particular massacre, men in a Church murdered children. They were ritualistically executed by being thrown of smashed head first into a wall of the church. One attacker elaborated on the process, saying that the children made a very pleasing “popping” sound when they died.

To hear some women speak, my mother said, was  incredibly frightening. One woman is the last living member of her family as her husband, four children, parents, siblings and extended family were all murdered during the fighting. She still carries the scar on her chest from which her unborn child was ripped. Yet, there is a silver lining in that these women carry on. As my mother's trip arrived, the women sang and danced and cheered. My mother danced and sang with them, as they lived, and learned and grew. Rwanda is now a strengthening economy and a growing social structure. While much of Africa is imploding, Rwanda seems to be improving. Perhaps these women could have a better life. What was amazing to me, was that these women who had endured incredible tragedy, tragedy that I cannot even begin to imagine, were trying to improve. The resilience of these women, and this country as a whole, is truly astounding to me.

women who had endured incredible tragedy, tragedy that I cannot even begin to imagine, we trying to improve. The resilience of these women, and this country as a whole, is truly astounding to me.