Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Things That Are Illegal Here

I've gradually discovered that a surprising number of things are illegal in Rwanda, so I'm keeping a running list. Here are the crimes I've discovered so far:

-Plastic bags (should be the case everywhere...)

-Talking about ethnicity (an attempt to reduce ethnic tension)

-Homosexuality (sad, but common in Africa)

-Mosquito nets that haven't been treated with insecticide

-Being barefoot outside (It seems this is not actually enforced...)

-A pregnant woman being tested for HIV w/o the father present

-Not having a kitchen garden (an effort to improve nutrition)

-Accusing someone of having been a member of the Interahamwe

-Prostitution (not the case in all African countries)

-Polygamy (ditto)

-Not participating in umuganda

2 comments:

  1. Hi Jennifer,

    My teammates and I are students at the University of Pennsylvania, and part of a research team under the mHealth Alliance of the United Nations Foundation (UNF). Two of us are ex-Peace Corps Volunteers (Togo and Dominican Republic) and we wanted to reach out to the PC community while we are there. Our goal is to study how mobile technology can address maternal health issues in four countries, including Rwanda.

    We will be traveling to Rwanda from August 23 – 27. We would be very interested to meet with you or with other people or NGOs in Rwanda responsible for maternal healthcare projects.

    Please forward this email onto any other volunteers or people you may know that may help us while we are visiting.

    Thank you so much and it has been so much fun reading your blog - it takes me back to my own PC experience!

    Caitlin Dougherty
    University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing
    caitlinatpenn@gmail.com

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  2. Hi Jen!

    Miss you and hope you are well (seems you are :)).

    I was just reading an article about ethnic issues in Rwanda where the author basically says that what appears to be reconciliation in Rwanda is largely a facade propped up by the government's tight hold on its political space.
    Link: http://texasinafrica.blogspot.com/2010/07/why-rwandas-facade-of-reconciliation-is.html

    Anywho, much love!

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