From Chwen: Our First Day in Rwanda
We spent a full day touring the southern parts of Rwanda. The bus ride was long and arduous; the visits to the various historical sites and museums short but insightful.
Rwanda is a country of green hills peppered with occasional huts/houses. Unlike other developing countries, its capital and country sides are litter free, making for one of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve seen anywhere in the world. Our bus passed everyday people going about their everyday lives. As I watched the people from where I sat, I couldn’t help but wonder what life must have been like for them during the genocide. It’s hard to imagine the men and women who were walking happily along the roads arm in arm or shoulder to shoulder were once victims or inflictors of violence. What are their stories? How can they forgive and not just forgive but live alongside someone who has killed or caused harm to their loved ones? Could/would I forgive if it were to happen to me?
The country of Rwanda is nothing like what I expected. It’s hard to reconcile that these quiet, soft spoken people full of smiles living in “God’s country” once had turned on each other in a killing frenzy. What’s even more unbelieveable is the speed with which the country and its people has recovered from that dark period in its history (I don’t know if recovery is the appropriate word. Does one ever fully recover after such an experience?) From what I hear, the country is economically booming with strong foreign investment presence and strong ambition for the future. Rwanda has come a long way from the depth of darkness to its present situation in a short span of fourteen years. I wonder what the next fourteen years will bring for “God’s country”?
