a glimpse of rwanda

Alright, in uploading these images their order has been completely jumbled. Rather than try to reorganize them, I'm just going to leave them as is...try to keep up ;) And I apologize for what I am sure will be confusion.

This is the front of the church in Kibuye where dozens of people were massacred. Further down there's an image of the skulls and bones of the victims as well as a shot of the scenery directly next to it; such a gruesome thing in such a beautiful place.


This is the image that one sees immediately entering Rwanda, actually, it was taken on the walk into the country.

Ahhhh, yes....a tile floor bathroom that you have to pay to use. What's that, you want toilet paper? Tough.

Rwanda is just putting it all out there in their quest for an AIDS free society.


While Ugandans love to have their photo taken, Rwandans do NOT. This is the only shot I took of actual humans while I was there and I only managed to snap it as I held the camera by my waist and was a distance away. This is the road just out front of the church memorial and these women are en route to market, those are guavas on their head...heavy! Seriously, putting all my own beliefs aside, if God was going to take a human form - African woman.

Here's the front of the church memorial; my limited knowledge of Swahili has left me with NO idea what that says...any notions?

This is the above mentioned scenery to the side of the church memorial...it really is lovely.

A window in the sky!

Our boat to Peace Island, you can somewhat make out the DRC in the background.

Oh, there it is! Wave hello to the Democratic Republic of Congo!! After my time spent in Rwanda and hearing from several people who have made it into the DRC, I am fairly set on getting there as I imagine it would be stunning.
This is in front of our hostel, I really love the trees.


The central roundabout in Kigali; when comparing the water situation that I deal with everyday (jerry cans, etc) it is really remarkable that Kigali has an actual running fountain.

This is the fountain in front of the Kigali Memorial Center, taken before I learned that cameras weren't allowed. Whoops!! You can also grab a glimpse of Kigali in the background. HeeeeyyyY!!


The procession we encountered en route to the memorial. We were given a surprising amount of appreciative nods and gestures of support for our presence.

Once again, kind of a sketchy photo (the driver was annoyed I took it, too) but this was our taxi out to Kibuye. You have to admit, it is kinddddda funny!!

So, there it is! Rwanda in a nutshell! Visiting the country was very appealing to me even before I left for the continent as, in my reading, I'd encountered several mentions of the way Rwanda incorporates women into their government; over 50% of their legislature is female, and I really wanted to see how that did/didn't impact the country.

As some of you might know, I leave on Sunday! Please cross your fingers that some gigantic dust cloud doesn't impede my flight path, which is, for the moment, through Amsterdam. Eh, I'll get there - maybe a boat would be fun ;)

Happy Friday to all!
xo,
FS