[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: Today’s post comes from Andrew Potter, an Engaging Peace intern and regular commenter, and a member of GIPGAP. Andrew will be traveling to Rwanda in early June.]
As many people know, in 1994, Rwanda, in East Africa, was plagued by a 100 day genocide that left more than 800,000 Tutsis (20% of the population) dead and thousands displaced. Two Hutu militias were primarily responsible; however, the genocide was coordinated by the Hutu national government and the media played a crucial role in urging ordinary Hutu civilians to participate in the slaughter.
Sixteen years have passed since that bloody summer and today Rwanda is described as one of the safest and least corrupt African nations. Nevertheless, Rwanda’s future is uncertain.
Some human rights groups describe Rwanda as “orderly yet repressive,” and wonder if the current government is more a dressed up dictatorship than an authentic democracy. Kagame (former RPF Tutsi opposition leader) has pulled the country from shambles by using hardline policies, such as shutting down independent media and imprisoning all those who utter the words Tutsi or Hutu in an offensive way.
At this point Rwanda stands at a juncture between its horrific past and the possibility of a promising future. It is my intention to visit Rwanda during the first two weeks of June, equipped with a video camera, in order to document ongoing efforts at reconciliation.
I will be traveling alongside Nathan Felde, chair of the design department at the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. We hope to return able to recount the experiences of the Rwandan people in their recovery from genocide.
Andrew Potter
[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: Please contribute to Andrew’s trip and documentary work through your Amazon.com purchases. First go to engagingpeace.com and click on the Amazon link in the sidebar. All proceeds coming to Engaging Peace from Amazon.com in May and June will be contributed to Andrew’s trip.]