Six Weeks in Rwanda

The telecenter times is using some of the pictures we sent them as stock photos for other stories. As Jutta said in an email she sent me, "our pics are starting to be used as stock photos for the telecentre movement."

This is a strange article, but very typical of Rwandan newspapers.

We rode this road twice while in Rwanda, and it is definitely in need of repair. Apparently, the Chineese built the roads in Rwanda while it was still a Belgian colony. Federal funding has largely ignored the roads since then, so there are many potholes and rough patches.

"'Those who carried out the genocide should be executed in order to forever eradicate the culture of impunity that has always marred Rwanda. The only solution: sentencing them to a grave punishment, which their past actions merit,' said Francois Ngarambe, president of a genocide survivors group, Ibuka (Remember in Kinyarwanda, the national language)."

Rwanda just abolished its death penalty. This is a big step, one that will allow the country to receive many more genocide suspects from abroad. However, this is quite a sacrifice, and many of the citizens disagree with the change. Anyone who orchestrated such a terrible genocide deserves death, not life in prison.

On Thursday we gave a presentation of our trip/project to the Dean. It was fun to see everyone again, and I was surprised to find out how much I miss Rwanda. Sometimes I get nervous when I talk in front of people, but I wasn't at all nervous for this presentation because I knew the material so well and was very excited to tell others about our trip.

In the evening, we meet everyone for dinner at Sakura. Virgil couldn't make it, but Ashley, Jutta, Colleen, Frank, and Jerman were all there. We had fun telling stories and reminiscing together. We gave Frank his shoes and Jerman his funky thermometer. Colleen got some wine from Germany and a small peace basket.