This and That

I rolled into the staff room the other day and was warmly greeted with "ah Evans you look fat!" I would not consider myself self-conscious but this did stop me a little bit. I had thought of myself as being quite svelte but dang, called out. This wasn't a translation error either. I laughed it off a little bit but there is a deeper meaning to the term fat here. Fat is associated with being healthy, having enough food to eat. Not the American you eat too much food because it available and artificially cheap in America. (I'm failing here, I just wanted to write a nice fluff blog but obviously struggling to throw in some barbs)

So speaking of food, I'm now switching to entertainment. Now that world cup is over and there isn't football on TV or really anything for that matter. So at our local hotel (which all hotels in Rwanda count as bars and hubs for entertainment) there are two sides, one has a TV and the other has a projector that plays music videos (music videos are insanely popular here). We usually go to the side with the TV to watch football or I usually can finagle tennis but there was none to be had. So we ended up watching the African version of the TV show Big Brother. I have never seen it in the states but it couldn't be as boring as its African counterpart. As we ate and drank in the hotel, they ate and drank on the screen. The entire time. (Average time to bring out ordered food in Rwanda outside of Kigali is about an hour and a half) So we just watched these random people sit in a room and eat all while we were eating in real life and they just talked about nothing. It was awesome.

If only I could get just one Braves game on TV, that would be awesome (Let me remind you that they're 7 games up in the NL East)

So last night we went to the other side which has a projector that plays music videos. Being the only white people in town we sometimes get the VIP treatment. So they exchanged the horribly cheesy Rwandan and Ugandan music videos and put in their international music mix. It was pretty good, playing Jay-z and Rhianna and this boy band from England called Blue. (Also fyi, I just noticed that the band Blue is mentioned in the movie Love Actually (we don't really have many movies to choose from so gifts from friends are always warmly welcomed even if its Love Actually)

So we were having an ok decent time until this song called Party in the USA comes on. (By Miley Cirus or Hannah Montana, not sure which one) But I tell you what, that song is good. I was surprised by how much I liked it. So I got them to repeat it 2 more times. Then I had a really strange moment. I turned around after replaying it the first time and realized that everyone there knew the words and was kind of singing along except for me.

Chew on it.

Ill be gone for almost three weeks travelling around SA, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. We'll see what happens blog

A Little Self Promotion

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/preventable-disease/blogs/22315-teaching-the-abcs-of-aids-in-rwanda

Iki Bazo = Yeah its a Problem

If I’m going to be honest with myself, I am quite a bit angry right now. Today we had to close down school a week and a half before the term was supposed to end because of water shortages. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when a student fainted walking from class back to the dorm and cracked his skull on a rock. This put the wheels in motion for us to finally say hmm we’re trying here but bottom line is we don’t have enough water. I know it’s not directly related to climate change but I’ll tell you what, climate change sure plays a major factor. I have always been an advocate for preserving the environment but as years have increased, I have really started to see how important climate is and how much it affects God’s children. Rwanda is the most densely populated country in the world and has the highest percentage of farmers in the world. Rwanda can’t afford climate change.

As I have mentioned before, I taught my kids about climate change and a majority got it and a majority are putting the pieces together and trying to do something to stop it. I also told them that it’s not really Rwanda who is putting up a lot of greenhouse gasses causing its countries like mine. These kids’ actions of turning off the lights and telling people not to cut down trees are wonderful but futile compared to the millions of cars and cows emitting tons of greenhouse gasses in America. It sucks that they have to pay for it here. It’s not their fault that the once lush earth around them is now turning to desert.

I’ve said it before but I’m going to say it again. Why can’t we get it in America? My kids get it here. They are changing their actions. Does it have to affect you/us to bring change? I am especially frustrated with Christians. I can’t speak for the rest of the US but I would say a majority of Christians in the south not just don’t care but are opposed to doing something to fix the environment. WHY? I don’t understand, Christians should be at the head of this battle but instead many are standing on the opposite side supporting everything else. Brothers and sisters in Christ, God made the world and said it was GOOD. Your brothers and sisters are hurting over here in Africa partially because the way we live in America. Please, let’s work together to bring heaven on earth and return this once lush land back to the Eden it once was.

(Our school hires a truck to go pick up water a couple kms away and this is what ensues everyday when the truck comes back. A mad rush to get water.)

Getting it Done

Wow. I know protesters and getting arrested for a cause or performing acts of non-violence creates quite a stir and many mixed feeling but bottom line, Guillermo Farinas is getting it done. For many many years Cuba has been stained by an ever increasing list of political prisoners. International pressure has continued to be maintained but Cuba had yet to budge. Then Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a political prisoner started a hunger strike from jail. Unfortunately he died after 85 days as Cuba did not want to change its unjust position of arresting people with differing views. The day Orlando Zapata Tamayo died, Guillermo Farinas started his own hunger strike to keep up pressure on Cuba. After over 130 days Guillermo and the numerous human rights organizations got their wish. Cuba quietly agreed to release 54 prisoners. Many of whom have been held many years.

I know many people criticize actions like this but I really think it’s as the heard of non-violent direct action. You have to fully confront and disrupt the injustices people are facing and sometimes it’s painful and it doesn’t look pretty but sometimes there are victories and these victories of advancing humanity without bloodshed is invaluable.

I had always appreciated my first amendment rights in America but never really realized how important it is. (Sidenote: Yeah America is not so free on the speech thing with corporations running TV shows and newspapers, the racial profiling in Arizona, those in jail for looking different, those unjustly held for being a little too true but it’s a lot better than many countries and that I’m thankful for) until I moved here and see how hushed opposition is and how important opposition and different views are. (Even if they are incredible stupid and self-centered, but lets please stick to facts though)

I want you to see his Guillermo's picture to make a little bit more real

SHOUTOUT: Bill Mckibben

Bill is an activist, writer, Christian and founder of the non-profit 350.org. There are many reasons I love this man. He has a very sharp but not condemning voice in all of his interviews and books. He does a good job of challenging and calling Christians to do something about climate change, especially in an apocalyptic obsessed culture where many don’t care about the environment because they think the end time is coming. On the other side some people don’t believe there aren’t enough facts to support climate change and he does a good job of clearly presenting his case. The name for his group 350.org is named after the scientific fact that we need to get down to 350 parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere, we are at around 392 right now. I could ramble on about how much I like Bill Mckibben or just show some things that he has done

http://www.350.org/

http://harpers.org/archive/2005/08/0080695

http://www.grist.org/article/mckibben8/

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bill McKibben
www.colbertnation.com
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Gacaca Continued

As I concluded to myself earlier, regardless of how effective Gacaca has been in bringing about justice, I believe that it has done one right. It has instilled a culture of forgiveness in Rwanda. Regardless of what the scenario is, Rwandese deeply value forgiveness and I believe that’s really important for a society and has brought fruit many different ways.

But back to my original dabbling, has Gacaca brought justice? This is a quite delicate issue that if one person starts talking about it, I am sure to have at least two or three others interject their opinion. Although it’s unexpected, I think it’s been good to get vastly different perspectives.

I’m first going to give you the gist according those living and experiencing Gacaca. So those in jail who have committed various crimes from murder to theft had the option to leave jail and go to the Gacaca Courts if they admitted that they took some part in genocide and would agree to apologize. Those who contributed to the planning or higher officials in the army were not given this option.

All in all over 40,000 people chose to confess and forgive handing them down to Gacaca. Everyone in the community came out to Gacaca and several trusted members of the community were judges. In a very formal way, one by one people who witnessed the perpetrator commit a crime came forth and explained what they saw. After several hours, the story was set straight. The information was out. The confession was had. The perpetrator had been accused and confessed to those actions agreed upon by the community judges and himself.

The sentencing usually had to do with retribution to the victims. Agreeing to rebuild a home for them, pay their surviving children’s school fees, help with growing crops or tending to cows.

Many believe that the Gacaca Courts have been an absolute blessing to Rwanda. Instead of holding prisoners in the crumbling jails and the government paying lots of money to keep them there, many believe that the perpetrators of genocide are now helping to rebuild the country and the country’s infrastructure.

On the other hand, apparently there have been many more reprisal killings than the government would lead you to believe. (I find this fact interesting because nobody really disbelieves the government and most wouldn’t say anything bad about it but many will speak out on this issue) Not only have there been reprisal killings, many also fear for the health of the survivors. Even though they have been through the Gacaca Trials, they still have a lot of pain in their heart and see the one that might have killed their family members everyday reminds them and brings back even more pain.

Overall, I think Gacaca was an extremely risky move by a country and in many ways, it has been vastly effective. I have met people on both sides of the aisle. I met a boy my age whose entire family was killed by one man. They went though Gacaca and through time became great friends and now live together. They live together. Can I just tell you how amazing that is? Just think for a second, your entire family is killed, could you live with the man that admitted to doing it? That’s an astounding story of forgiveness.

The other side is different though. A young student in one of my classes has told me on more than one occasion that she hates going home for holiday because she has to see the man that killed her father and brother. Her entire demeanor changes as terms finish up. I can see the pain in her heart and can’t really do much about it.

I want to close with a quote from one of my students describing the effectiveness of Gacaca. She explained to me in simple English, “if we want to truly live, we have to learn to forgive”.

Hyper Community

So I have lived in community and am a big fan of community. I believe living in community and sharing meals and experiences will make everyone stronger and I think the area I live in is great proof of the wonderful power of community. Actually, to be honest, there might be almost too much community here. The living conditions are kind of harsh for the kids but I really think they like it. They have absolutely no privacy having over 50 kids in one open dorm that I would compare to a rundown overcrowded military barracks. Several students even share beds but I really think they are fine with it. If one student does something wrong, nobody I mean nobody will ever narc on another student. Even when other teachers get frustrated and decide to severely punish the whole class, no one says anything. Speaking of teachers, I find it relatively cute/ comical that no teacher will ever walk home alone. They will wait over an hour for another teacher to finish something to walk home with them. We have a communal meal at lunch every day and many of the teachers eat at one restaurant every night together. It’s just one big old community but I think it has impacts on all of our lives that we don’t even realize.

With this sense of community comes help too. I have recently learned that there several people who are either handicapped or genocide survivors that the school takes care of. This means that either students or the school workers (those who take care of our cows, security, cook the food, and landscaping) spend part of their day to make sure that those that the school has taken under their wing are taken care of. I know this doesn’t seem like much but I think it could be life or death for many of them. The school workers have really tough lives being paid very little and having to work very hard and the students are really busy with school but they both take time out of every week to make sure 15 or 20 people in need around our area are taken care of. This means leftover food from school and really heavy jerry cans (I would guess they weigh 30 or 40lbs) are brought to these people homes almost daily. That’s a big task and I think the importance of community here has really instilled the deep caring that I see in action every day.

I think living so close to each other really lets us look each other in the eyes and see the fabric of humanity that each of us carry and that caring and humanness will come out in actions just like it has here. I have learned a lot about community here and hope that those not living here will take the time to be intentional and just be around those who are around you. I think it might take hold of your life in ways you can’t imagine. It certainly has in mine.

(this is me and a friend Olivie. He has no classification as a community leader but he has lived here when it was still part of Akagera National Park and helps a ton of people in the community)