Another Side of Kigali

When I’m Kigali, which isn’t too often, it’s a chance to relax, catch up with fellow Volunteers, enjoy Western food, stock up on things I can’t get in Nyagatare, and frequent muzungu hang-outs where I can be somewhat anonymous. As such, most of my time in Kigali has been spent downtown and in the wealthier neighborhoods. But, I recently had an opportunity to see another side of Kigali, and it was fascinating.

While waiting for Ryan (whose two-day journey from Bozeman to Kigali has become a five-day one, and he’s currently still stuck in Brussels), I was staying alone at Auberge La Caverne, a small budget hotel on the edge of downtown. Walking from downtown to the hotel, it was clear that this area was worlds away from Union Trade Center, the muzungu hub housing both Nakumatt and Bourbon Coffee. So, after checking-in at the hotel, I decided to do a little exploring. Continuing past the hotel and away from downtown, I came upon a seemingly-poor residential area, dotted with hole-in-the-wall boutiques (small stores or kiosks that sell an incredibly random assortment of things), tiny restaurants, and blue bars (many local bars in Rwanda are painted bright blue, the color of the Primus label). Each mud-brick house nearly touched the next, families sat on the ground outside, women washed clothes in basins and cooked over charcoal stoves, children played on the narrow paths. Free of anything that would attract a tourist or ex-pat, it felt more like “real Africa” (whatever that means) than anywhere else I’ve been in Kigali.

During my walk, I unexpectedly befriended a Rwandan girl around my age named Amélie who lived in the neighborhood. As Rwandans often do, she immediately invited me to visit her home. The brief visit was really the quintessential Rwandan experience.

As we climbed up the hill from the main road and squeezed between the houses, she greeted and introduced me to nearly every person we passed. “Mwiriwe! Amakuru? Dufite umushitsi!” – “Good afternoon! How are you? We have a visitor!” When we reached her house, three members of her family were cooking outside. She led me into the cramped living room and sat me down on the couch. Before I had even sat down, she asked if I’d like a Fanta, which flavor, and whether I preferred warm or cold. I requested a cold Fanta Orange, and she dashed out of the house, returning a minute later with a bottle of Fanta. After popping the cap off, she looked at the bottle, frowned, and told me that bottle was not good. She left again and returned almost immediately with a new bottle. After opening the new bottle and determining that it was good, she turned on the TV and put on a DVD of Rwandan music videos. As I took my first sip of Fanta, she informed me that she was going to go shower (by “shower,” I mean “bucket bath”). In Rwanda, that’s a pretty normal thing to do when you have a visitor. She went into another room and returned a second later, topless. Again, not entirely out of the ordinary here. So, I sat in their living room alone for a few minutes, drinking Fanta, and watching music videos of Tom Close and the Urban Boys. After returning from the shower, she asked if I’d like another Fanta, but I told her I needed to get going, as it was already dark. (I don’t typically walk around by myself after dark. But, I knew that, as I was her visitor, she would walk at least part of the way back with me, so I wasn’t worried.) Both Amélie and her brother walked with me through their neighborhood to the main road, and, as expected, she continued with me almost the entire way back to the hotel. It really was the quintessential visit in every way, and evidence that the random experiences and contact with local culture that Peace Corps Volunteers crave is possible in Kigali.

While Kigali is certainly more developed and more Western than any other part of Rwanda, it was interesting to see, and I think it’s important to recognize, that there is a lot more to the city than the areas where most muzungus spend most of their time.

Religion in Rwanda

Religion in Rwanda, as in many African countries, is a different phenomenon than it is in the U.S.

For one thing, religion is nearly universal in Africa – I would venture to say over 95% of Africans are religious. For another, people are dedicated – the vast majority of those regularly pray and attend services (and these services commonly last between three and five hours). Because religious practice is not concentrated among older people as it is in most Western countries (added to the fact that both life expectancy and the average age in many African countries is very low), many African churches overflow with young people. Further, religious belief is almost assumed in most African countries – common questions are not “Are you religious?” or “What are your religious beliefs?” but rather, “Are you Muslim or Christian?” and “Are you Catholic or Protestant?” There is little room in most African societies for atheism, agnosticism, questioning of religion, or really even thinking critically about it.

Rwanda is no exception, and effectively the entire population participates in some form of organized religion. Like most in the region, Rwanda is a predominantly Christian country (as opposed to the predominantly Muslim countries of North and West Africa), and the religious breakdown here is as follows: 56% Catholic, 26% Protestant, 11% Adventist, 5% Muslim, 2% other. A recent Pew Forum report on religion in Africa stated that 60 percent of Rwandans view religious tension as a problem here. I’m not sure what they mean by religious tension or if their statistic is accurate, but I haven’t seen any obvious signs of tension. I have heard from other Volunteers that Muslims in some parts of Rwanda are really discriminated against, especially Muslim students in schools, but I’ve yet to see this firsthand.

I’ve been attending the Presbyterian Church in Nyagatare, and services here differ significantly from those at First Presbyterian Church in my hometown of Great Falls, Montana. Our services normally last over 2.5 hours (but pass surprisingly quickly!), and over half that time is taken up by worship. Worship here is a lot like it was at the Baptist Church I attended in Senegal, and not at all like anything I’ve ever seen in the U.S. Almost all of the music is very upbeat, and this church has an electric keyboard (and they make full use of all the various sounds it can make!). Further, in addition to clapping, most of the music is accompanied by dancing, which ranges from simple swaying to jumping up and down to marching through the aisles. A fried who was sitting by me one week explained that people dance at church here because it “expresses joy,” and everyone is shocked when I say there is no dancing at church in America.

Most church services in Rwanda, including those at the Presbyterian Church here in Nyagatare, take place entirely in Kinyarwanda. There’s one church in my town with English services, so I’m thinking about alternating, since that would be a little more personally meaningful. I’d also be interested to see who in Nyagatare attends English services, since I’ve only met one person who doesn’t speak much Kinyarwanda (he’s from Kenya).

NGOs Wasting Money...

This post is going to be a rant similar to this one, which I wrote a couple months ago.

To generalize, NGOs waste money. They literally throw it away. I really do not understand how they justify this, who makes these decisions and why, and how/whether it shows up in their financial reports.

As a side note, most of the NGO projects I’ve been exposed to in Rwanda have been funded, in some way or another, by USAID. Maybe these issues are specific to USAID-funded projects. I have no idea.

The first way NGOs waste money – staff trainings. Staff trainings are vital to the success of any project, and are an especially good practice when they transfer skills and knowledge to locals. I fully support trainings and workshops, particularly for host country staff. But, is there any reason staff trainings should not be cost efficient? It really seems like some NGOs are trying to waste money.

First, if a significant proportion of the attendants do not learn anything from the training because they do not speak the language in which it is conducted, bringing those participants to the workshop is a waste of money. Second, if the venue chosen for the training is fancier than necessary and more expensive than other options, it is a waste of money. Third, the NGO hosting the training should provide accommodation. But, if they choose to house everybody at the fanciest hotel in town, and to give each person their own room when rooms are designed for 2-4 people, it is a waste of money. Fourth, the NGO should also provide food during the training. But, when participants are fed every three hours, it is a waste of money. Fifth, for meals not provided, the NGO should give participants a per diem. But, when one can easily dine in a decent restaurant for 2,500F (about $4.17), but the NGO gives each participant 5,000F-7,000F per meal (about $8.33-$11.67), it is a waste of money. Sixth, and the last note on meals, when the NGO provides participants with a meal and also gives them a stipend to cover that meal, it is a waste of money. Finally, the NGO should reimburse participants for transportation. But, when the NGO staff know that it costs 5,000F (about $8.33) to travel round-trip from Nyagatare to Kigali, but give participants making that trip 15,000F (about $25) to cover transportation, it is a waste of money. Even worse, when the NGO staff provides transportation stipends to participants who did not even have to travel to the training, it is a waste of money. Not only is this money not providing aid, it’s not even being spent on/given to people who need it – it’s going to Westerners and middle/upper-class locals.

Sadly, such wasteful expenditures are not limited to staff trainings.

The second way NGOs waste money – meetings/trainings in the field. It is crucial for NGO staff to meet with beneficiaries, and, for some projects, it is a good practice to provide trainings for them. I fully support this. But, again, some NGOs are really making a solid effort to waste money.

First, if the beneficiaries incur a cost traveling to a meeting, the NGO should reimburse them. But, in many cases, a meeting is held for residents of a particular village/cell/town, so everybody walks both ways because it’s so close and, in rural areas, there’s no public transportation there anyway. If the NGO gives each participant 2,500F (about $4.17) for transportation anyway, it is a waste of money. Second, a leader of some kind is often present at a meeting. For example, if the meeting is at a church, the pastor of that church might be there; if the meeting is at a health center, the director of that health center might be there. In those cases, attending said meeting is probably part of that person’s job requirements. And, they were obviously already there, working at their church/health center/etc., anyway. If the NGO gives those leaders 5,000F (about $8.33) for transportation, it is a waste of money. When said leaders accept this money, it is really despicable. It seems both parties are aware of this, as this money is sometimes (though not always) literally given under the table.

The third way NGOs waste money – staff per diems in the field. These expenditures apply not only to formal meetings, but also to aid workers/volunteers going about their daily work in the field. First and second, apply all the same expenditures regarding transportation and food. Third, if an NGO employee/volunteer has these expenses covered (and covered in excess), but the employee/volunteer is not actually contributing anything, it is an even bigger waste of money.

I’ve already received 70,000F (about $116.67) in excess reimbursements/per diems.

I’m one person, working at one site, being paid by one NGO, and I’ve only been here for three months. Assuming my case is not unique, and I’m fairly confident it isn’t, let’s estimate how much money is wasted by NGOs worldwide.

I’m making the rest of these numbers up, but let’s assume:

$116.67/person x 4 quarters/year x 10 volunteers/organization x 40 organizations/country x 150 countries receiving aid = $28,000,800 being wasted every year.

$28,000,800 of “aid” money going into the pockets of Westerners – and that doesn’t even include all the other ways NGOs waste money. That’s only looking at reimbursements/per diems for international volunteers, which is one very tiny factor in the operations of any NGO. Imagine what could be done with the total amount of money that is wasted by NGOs every year… The end of poverty? Kidding. But, still.

Okay, I’m done for now. More ranting to come, I’m sure.

Rwanda's Presidential Election

A Presidential election will take place in Rwanda tomorrow. The past few weeks have seen frequent political rallies attended by tens of thousands of people in rural areas and I can’t imagine how many in Kigali. These events consist mainly of speeches from candidates and their supporters, music and dance performances, and groups marching through the streets chanting and drumming. Even remote corners of Rwanda are plastered with RPF (Rwandan Liberation Front) paraphernalia – posters, flags, ribbons, t-shirts, scarves, hats, etc.

Current President Paul Kagame is widely favored to win another seven-year term. Three candidates are running against Kagame – Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies and former Minister of Health Jean Damascène Ntawukuriryayo (Social Democratic Party), Vice-President of the Senate and former Minister of Commerce Prosper Higiro (Liberal Party), and Senator Alvera Mukabaramba (Party for Progress and Concord) – though all are from parties closely aligned with the RPF. All other opposition politicians were barred from participating in the election.

I, like everyone else watching the election, am fairly certain Kagame will win by an overwhelming majority. It’s hard to say what will happen next; I expect there to be some small-scale protesting in Kigali and perhaps other major towns, but nothing to really get out of hand. (But I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed and praying for peace.)

Rwanda’s election and the events that have led up to it have garnered a lot of attention in international media and the blogosphere.

A timeline of recent events in Rwanda:

• Feb 20: "Rwandan capital Kigali hit by deadly grenade attacks" - BBC News
• March 5: "Kigali hit by twin grenade attacks" - BBC News
• April 21: “Presidential Candidate Is Arrested in Rwanda” – New York Times
• April 21: “Newspapers suspended; opposition assaulted and threatened” – IFEX
• May 16: “Grenade Attacks Shake Capital of Rwanda” – New York Times
• May 28: “Rwanda arrests US lawyer Erlinder for genocide denial” – BBC News
• June 20: “Former Rwandan army chief shot in South Africa. Was it an assassination attempt?” – Christian Science Monitor
• June 25: “Rwanda ‘assassins’ kill reporter Jean Leonard Rugambage” – BBC News
• July 14: “Rwanda Opposition Leader Found Dead” – New York Times
• July 15: “Tanzania lawyer at Rwanda genocide court shot dead” – BBC News

Some perspectives on the election:

• "President Paul Kagame under scrutiny" - The Economist
• “Four candidates but only one voice as Rwanda prepares for elections” – Daily Nation (Kenya)
• “Rwanda’s elections: what to watch” – Texas in Africa (blog)
• “Rwandan election: We should be more sceptical of Mr Kagame” – The Guardian
• "The real challenge for Kagame" - Congo Siasa (blog)
• “Nerves On Edge as Election Nears” – Los Angeles Times
• “Kagame mania peaks as Rwandan poll nears” – Sydney Morning Herald
• "RPF campaigns end on a high note" - The New Times (Rwanda)

A New Experience

I’ve lived in Africa before, which definitely helped prepare me for my Peace Corps service, but I’ve been realizing lately just how different this experience is from my others in Africa.

I’m living completely on my own. I lived with host families in Senegal and Uganda, which meant that I didn’t have too worry too much about things like buying furniture, shopping for groceries, cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, and disposing of trash. While homestays inevitably bring their share of awkwardness and sometimes even conflict, I’m realizing how easy it was to be taken care of. Now, I have so many more things to figure out and take care of on my own. Living alone is also offering a different sort of insight into the culture – while I have to make a more concerted effort to integrate and to see daily life, I’m also being forced to learn a lot of things I wouldn’t be if I were living with a host family.

There are no other Westerners around. When there are other Westerners around, I think I automatically judge my behavior, at least to some extent, based on what the other Westerners are doing, rather than on what locals are doing. Being the sole muzungu here has made me significantly more aware of local cultural norms and of how people perceive me and my behavior. Further, I think that, when there’s a group of muzungus doing things locals perceive as strange, they just think muzungus do weird things. Here, it’s just me, and if I do something that’s inappropriate, it would reflect on me personally and affect my relationships with people here. And, that’s particularly important because, socially, all I have here are my relationships with locals. (As a side note, my town actually has a few other muzungus – there’s two German girls with the German Development Service who live at the Catholic parish and two American guys who are World Teach volunteers at the secondary school. But, they don’t live near me, and they must not get out much, because I never run into any of them in town and people rarely mention them – which is notable, since, of course, everyone makes sure to tell me if they see another muzungu.)

I’ll be here much longer. Everything changes when you’re going to be some place for an extended period of time, and two years is a long time. I’m learning more, building more relationships, and gaining a deeper understanding of the culture.

I’m trying to be a change agent. A big part of being a Peace Corps Volunteer is working with people in your community and trying to address problems and create change. People don’t want to work with or listen to muzungus they don’t like and respect, so it’s extra important to be aware of your behavior and form solid relationships.

I’m more integrated in the community. Because of all the aforementioned factors, I’m much more integrated here than I have been anywhere else. Being part of a community is a very different feeling than being an visitor. Nyagatare is starting to feel like home, and it feels great.

I’ve realized just how much people here talk about muzungus. As my Kinyarwanda is improving, I’m hearing it for myself more and more. Plus, several of my good friends here say people talk about me and ask them about me constantly. One of them says he always knows where I am because every time someone he knows sees me, they tell him. (Constant updates of, “Jen is walking down the street,” and, “I saw the muzungu buying phone credit at that store” must be fascinating for him.)

Being the only Westerner around and living alone is making me more aware of the culture, helping me build more meaningful relationships with locals, and giving me an experience unlike others I’ve had in Africa. This experience is more personally and socially challenging on a daily basis, but, while I think my heart may always be in Senegal, I’m finding it to be the most rewarding yet.