Rwanda Independence (LAST BLOG OMG)

'Evening. So, this, as a matter of fact, is the last blog i will be posting for my Africa project. Crazy right? I know. It blows my mind. Seems like its been so long, time plays tricks on you. Anyways! So tonight i was doing research on Rwandas Independence because it's part of a little side assignment my group and i have in class. We have to make a short powerpoint about the independence of our country. So i found some sites, and some info about our nations independence. Rwanda gained its independence on July 1st, 1962 after holding elections where Hutu representatives were elected by the Hutu majority population. The whole idea of Rwanda being its own country started back when there was growing violence between Hutus and Tutsis, and the Belgians (colonial rulers of Rwanda at the time) decided to step in and try to create some peace. Unfortunately, when they chose to have a Hutu election, they didnt realize- or didnt care- that this would upset the balance of power. Tutsis had been the rulers and chiefs of the people of Rwanda before and during its colonization. When the Hutus gained power, they of course were angry that they had been ruled over by this minority for so long. People believe this is what started the Rwandan Genocide. It's quite interesting how just one person getting killed can cause a spark of making an entire new country, which then leads to a huge genocide and thousands of deaths. Just one person can change the fates of thousands and thousands. Below are the links i used to find out a little more about Rwanda. One of them was in my last post, the Department of State. 

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/514402/Rwanda/274459/Independence-and-the-1960s

Paul Kagame and General info on Rwanda

So today i was looking for some more information to use to perhaps beef up our script for our documentary. I found a good site from the US department of State with lots of basic info, and a more detailed history of rwanda than the earlier CIA fact book link i had. The site also has a list of Rwandas current political figures, which is good because we can learn up about them. I thought it was interesting how two government sites can have different types and amounts of information,.

The other link i found today is a link to basically everything there is to know about Paul Kagame. Kagame is the current President of Rwanda. The site has lots and lots of info on him, and i learned a lot (basically everything) of new info about Kagame. For example, i had no idea that he was a military commander during the Rwandan Civil War and the genocide. The info on him can also help my group and i compare him to Juvenal Habyarimana, who was Rwandas President during the time of the Rwandan Genocide. The two links are below:

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm

http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/paul-kagame/

Pictures for Documentary

Good evening ladies and gents, i apologize for the late post. You see, i think i had a dream about posting one of this weeks blogs, and i thought it was real. So i didnt think i needed to post another blog this week. Then i realized it could have been a dream. Silly Michio. Anyways! As promised, in this blog i have found a few pictures that my group can hopefully use in our documentary. Below are the pictures.

this is (obviously) a map of Rwanda. 

here we have a picture of some skulls. These skulls can help with our "genocide" segment of our film. They have some funky effect on them.

Here is a picture from the Genocide memorial in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

Here is a bullet-riddled wall. Apparently, this was the site where 9 belgian soldiers were killed during the beginning of the genocide.

Child soldiers are all over Africa today. It's a big problem, and many african nations are trying to stop the abduction of children and the training of them my militias and rebel groups.

Above is picture of part of the wall of names of people who died during the Rwanda genocide. It is disputed whether 80,000 or 100,000 people died during the genocide.

Hopefully these pictures can help my group later when we start storyboarding our documentary and actually inserting them into the program Premiere Pro.

Sanams blog Links

For those of you who don't know, Sanam Mostashari is my group mate in the project we are currently doing in humanities class. Here's a link to her blog:

http://sanammostashari.blogspot.com/

Anyways, i was going over her blog, seeing what kind of posts she's made, when i stumbled across her 

most recent post. This post has 4 links to different websites, all of which look like something we could

use to find facts on Rwanda. One link we used as a source for our mini movie documentary which we did earlier.

It contains a brief history of the two major tribes of people that lived in Rwanda before it was colonized by the

Germans. The two tribes were the Hutu and Tutsi, who pop up again in the 1990's during the genocide which

happened in Rwanda. Another link, this one to the history of the Genocide conflict, has some very good statistics

and facts that we can use in our documentary. Anyways, below are the links to the sites. In my next post i will

most likely have some images and information that we can use for our documentary.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/rwanda.htm

http://www.cnn.com/EVENTS/1996/year.in.review/topten/hutu/history.html

http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/rwanda.htm

http://www.religioustolerance.org/genocide4.htm

Interview Reflection

For my groups interview we chose to interview an immigrant from the country of Zimbabwe. The interviewees name is Pablo Collin, and he lived in Zimbabwe for most of his life. The way my group and I came in contact with Pablo was through a series of interviews, and I knew Pablo from earlier because he was my father’s co-worker at an architecture firm. Pablo was born in Suva Fiji as an only child, but moved to Zimbabwe when he was 5 years old, and lived there until 2000, when he was 39. Pablo’s parents were both European, and were raised in a former British colony. When he was growing up he wasn’t very religious, but Pablo married a Jewish woman so they raise their two boys within that religion, and he is now partly religious. Pablo currently lives in Del Mar with his wife, Deborah, and two sons Zak and Eli, 11 and 9, respectively.

The interview took place over email, so as to better record the information in it. Since it was over email, it wasn’t possible to ask follow up questions on the spot, so my group and I had to come up with open ended questions which Pablo could hopefully answer extensively. Some of the content was surprising to me, and I learned a lot about Pablo that I didn’t know before. It surprised me how recently Pablo had moved to the US, I had no idea of when before the interview. I thought that Pablo had moved to the US earlier, maybe when or even before his first son was born. Being only an acquaintance to Pablo before, I now know a lot more about him and his childhood and life. It must have been strange moving to the US, knowing that if he didn’t there may not have been a good future for his kids. It’s interesting because I can’t compare myself at all to that situation, since I’ve never really thought about actually moving from the US. Besides his sons' education and future, he was also pushed from Zimbabwe because “The government in Zimbabwe was starting to fight for its life, as there was the first civic movement that formed a powerful opposition in 1999. They cracked down on civil liberties and had started to close all avenues for freedom of expression years earlier, so the people had been made powerless almost without noticing it, until it was too late.”

Two major things influenced his move from Zimbabwe, his children, and also the political situation that Zimbabwe was in. I feel that I walked away from this interview learning more not just about Pablo Collin, but also about Zimbabwe, and feel that I am ready to write my imaginary memoir taking place during the time of Pablo’s move.

More Links

Hello again, so today i was doing more research on Rwanda, but mostly about more modern times, most notably the Genocide which happened in Rwanda during 1994. These links are credible, and talk about primary source recounts and how other countries like the US were inactive in helping to stop the genocide. The primary source account from CBS news i thought was particularly interesting, because it talks the about the first hand knowledge and experiences of a Rwandan woman who survived the genocide. Some of the feelings expressed in the article are very raw, and the account is very real and has no bias or anything attached to it, just the feelings the Rwandan woman Immaculee felt. Heres the link to the CBS article below, and below that the article about US's involvement or lack thereof in the Genocide.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/30/60minutes/main2218371.shtml

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB53/

Link

Heyyyy guys. So today i was doing some researching about Rwanda at home, and i found a good general info link. It's also from a credible source, the Central Intelligence Agency. Anyways, the link has got lots of general information like Rwandas coordinates, climate and terrain. Basically it's got some good info if you ever need to check a fact about Rwanda and need a credible source. It's interesting how in the brief background section of the page it's mostly talking about just the genocide, since that is the main thing Rwanda is known for in modern society. Heres the link below:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html

Hopefully this'll help my group and I when we need to look for certain facts about Rwanda.

Also! Just a note, we've got our interview done and i posted the interview questions and answered posted up here. I think we might have to ask some follow up questions soon.

Interview with Pablo

group, here's the interview:

What is your full name?

Pablo Sahag Collin

Where were you born (City, Country)? Were you also raised in this country?

Suva, Fiji.

We left there when I was about 5 years old.

If you have a religion, what is it?

I was exposed to some Catholic instruction early on, but my family was never rigorous about religion. I married a Jewish girl, and we are raising our children within those parameters, so they have a sense of belonging to the Jewish community.

Did your religion play a big part in your childhood and upbringing?

No. Usually I would have said I was "non-denominational".

What did your family structure consist of? (Number of siblings, parents job occupations, place in family [ex. Youngest of 4 brothers])

Father was an architect, and an artist.

Mother a translator (French/ Spanish/ English).

What were some special cultural moments (such as traditions or events) that happened in your life?

With both parents being from Europe, and being raised in a former British colony, the celebrations of Easter and Christmas was different to those of my school friends. That was all part of being generally different to everyone around me, so these moments seemed special.

What was a pivotal point in your life?

Getting married!

Were there any main social changes or events happening in Zimbabwe around the time you moved?

The government in Zimbabwe was starting to fight for its life, as there was the first civic movement that formed a powerful opposition in 1999. They cracked down on civil liberties and had started to close all avenues for freedom of expression years earlier, so the people had been made powerless almost without noticing it, until it was too late.

What was one of your most emotional or challenging memories of while you were living in Zimbabwe ?

The decision to leave Zimbabwe was taken after fighting against it for two or three years, so when I did take that step it was a huge shift in my thinking.

What was a moment in which you learned an important life lesson?

We all deal with having to do things we don't want to do, yet find ourselves doing them. A big lesson for me was when we decided to leave Zimbabwe, I realised how people can just carry on like that, trying to live a "normal" life in crazy situations. You understand how entire countries remain in these bizarre situations for decades (eg North Korea, Germany before and during World War II, South Africa under apartheid, etc. etc. etc....). Then I crossed that line, and didn't find our circumstances acceptable any more. I could have done it much earlier on.

When did you move from your country? How old were you and for what reasons did you move?

We moved in September 2000. I was 39, my sons 3 (Zak) and almost 1 (Eli).

Do you think there was more of a push or pull factor for your idea of moving?

I was pushed! I resisted mightily until that chnge of mind, on April 29, 2000. That was Zakary's 3rd birthday party, and looking at him and all the other kids made me realise there was no future for them in Zimbabwe. Not at that time, but maybe later. At least it can be a choice we or they can make later on.

What were your means of transportation for moving?

Flying.

Did you experience any troubles while moving?

Upon leaving Zimbabwe, we did not officially emigrate. At the back of our minds, we still believed that we would go back within a few years, and that hope was always there until about five years later. The idea that you can go back "home" is powerful, and is conflicting when you are actually building a new life, in a new home. At a practical level, we were not able to bring much in the way of assets, since it was illegal, and there was no access to foreign currency. We came with our suitcases and very little money. We still have our house in Harare.

What were some of your hobbies/ things you liked to do at the time of your move?

I am the kind of architect who does not have hobbies - my work is my passion and my pleasure. Apart from interesting old cars, of which I had a few over there.

Did you know you were going to miss some things when you moved? If so, what?

My friends, our mothers, our entire community. There are only parts of that which remain there, since many have had to move as well, all over the world.

What kind of differences in life style are there in the US compared to Zimbabwe ?

Much less flexibility and leisure over here. Also a much more conservative environment in the US.

Would you consider the move a good thing?

Yes, because it was better than not doing it.

Do you think you would have been better off if you stayed? If so, why?

Staying was just not an option. To survive there I would have had to deal with more and more corruption, shortages, repression, desperation.

What are your thoughts on the current state of Zimbabwe ?

Zimbabwe is in a state of total collapse, and the wonder of it all is how long a place and a people can continue to endure and survive. It is beyond our understanding. I feel despondent and incredulous - any time there has been a glimmer of hope for a resolution it has been extinguished by Mugabe's brilliant ability to outmanouvre the opposition and the world at large. It appears that some deal is being agreed upon in Harare, for powersharing with the opposition, because it seems that the country is really on its last legs.

What do you think is the most important thing people should understand about Zimbabwe ?

The country is magnificent, the people are wonderful, and yet it can all go wrong because the ruling clique takes over and looks after itself only, at the expense of the majority. The concept of democracy is new to humans, and keeps getting hijacked by ruthless individuals. Zimbabwe did not see it coming, and the big lesson would be that we must be vigilant and hold our leaders accountable when they are in positions of power. It is a lesson that I share with my American friends, because even though there is a system here that helps to safeguard their individual rights and liberties, its not foolproof either. The Cheneys and George Ws would happily head down that road to control everything, for their own benefit and at the expense of everyone who does not agree with them. Hopefully their excesses will be curtailed, but there is no guarantee of that happening, it is a constant fight that good people (who tend to be in the majority everywhere) must not give up.

Any other comments or memories, etc.?

Let me know if you want to follow up on anything in particular. I will be happy to make myself available.

That's all for now.

Friday

sooooooo today our interviews were due. My group and I are interviewing a person who immigrated from Zimbabwe several years back, and we're one of the few groups, if not the only one, that has our interview scheduled. So thats good. We've also started making our mini movies, and we finished our script today. It measures in at 29.9 seconds, so we're almost perfect.

In Chemistry we've started talking about our prototypes, and our group pretty much has decided what we're going to do. We're thinking of using a filtration technique, with some natural materials involved in our design.

Yeah thats pretty much it, I'll post another some time soon.

Interviewee

Hey guys, whats up. So it's the first real week of our Africa project i suppose, and I'm finding our interviewee. pretty sure I've got a good person, the only problem is that he's overseas right now so the interview will have to be over the phone or email. The interviewee's from Zimbabwe, and immigrated here several years back. He left because of political problems occurring in Zimbabwe, so it's good that my group and I have a primary source to interview.