The Flag: The current flag of Rwandawas designed by a local artist, Alphonse Kirimbenecyo. The yellow and green stripes are of equal length while the blue stripe is twice the size of those stripes. The blue stripe is symbolic of happiness and peace. Yellow stands for the country's mineral wealth and economic development. The green stripe represents the natural resources and prosperity of the country. The sun and its rays in the Rwanda flag represent unity, transparency and enlightenment from ignorance.
RWANDA:
The official name of our country is the Republic of Rwanda. When Germany seized the land in 1898, the country was officially formed into Ruanda, or German East Africa. In 1923, Belgium took hold of the reigns of Rwanda. But at this time, the two major tribes, Tutsis and Hutus, began to develop hate for each other. In 1962, the Rwandan peoples gained their independence. Almost 40 years later though, the infamous Rwandan genocide occured, killing over one-million of the Tutsi population. In 1994 more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in less then 100 days! Now, in current times, the Rwandan population speak many languages, from Kinyarwanda (the official language) to French and English. The capital is Kigali. The population stands at around 10,746,311 people in the area size of Maryland, making Rwanda one of the most densly populated areas. The main religions that stand in Rwanda are Christianity and Roman Catholicism, the amount almost 50/50 percent. The enigmatic, endangered mountain gorillas attract tourists to Rwanda. Today, the economy state stands in poor condition, more than 60% in poverty state earning less than $2 dollars a day. The government is based on a multi party system, republic. For other matters, the climate is mostly hot and dry, with some rainy seasons. Surprisingly, only 2.7% of the population lives with AIDS/HIVS! That's a low rate for an African country!
General Information on Rwanda
Official Name: Republic of Rwanda
Country's Former Name: Ruanda, German East Africa
Capital: Kigali (Time: about 8 hours ahead of Boise, ID) Government Type: Republic; Presidential based upon a multi-party system Population: 10,746,311
Census of Population in 2002: 8,162,715 Area: 10,169 square miles; about the size of Maryland Languages:Kinyarwanda (official) universal Bantu vernacular, French (official), English (official), Kiswahili (Swahili) used in commercial centers Literacy: Total Population: [65%] Male: [71%]; Female: [60%] Year of Independence: 1962 Country's Web Site:Orinfor.gov.rw
Area: 26,338 sq km (10,169 sq miles)
Major Languages: Kinyarwanda (official), French (official), English (official), Swahili
Major Religions: Dominated by Christianity, with 65% of the total population being Roman Cathlics and 9% being Protestant, 1% Muslim.
Life Expectancy: 48 years (men), 52 years (women) (UN)
Monetary Unit: 1 Rwandan franc = 100 centimes
Main Exports: Coffee, tea, hides, tin ore
GNI per capita: US $410 (World Bank, 2008)
Internet Domain: .rw
International Dialling Code: +250
Unique Holidays: Eid Al Fitr-Lunar Sighting
(From "The New York Times" information page on Rwanda, link above)
Central Africa, east of Democratic Republic of the Congo, below Uganda, above Burundi, and west of Tanzania
Area Distribuation:
Total: 26,338 sq km, country comparison to the world: 148
Land: 24,668 sq km
Water: 1,670 sq km
(A basic map of Rwanda)
(This is an I Am Poem by Brian B.)
Never Let My Bloodied Hands Go
By Brian B.
I am my people’s universe, my face blemished with a thousand hills and my body infested with a million souls
I am the blood-soaked soil, the thick red paste branded into me as my people sweat to chisel the inscribed nightmare of the genocide off of me
I am the country that dreams about peace and prosperity but awakens to the reality of engulfing flames and abundant amounts of blood from malicious peoples and pasts
I am the poor, dead hands of a burdened man, waiting for the cool, metallic coin to reward him
I am the flesh of every animal, the soul of every tree, and the purity of every drop of water, vowing to never let any of them be enveloped in the shrouds of war and obliteration
I am the giver that bestows with a smile and an open heart, but is greedily returned with empty hands
I am the country that hides in the shadows of the valley of death and lurks in the dense overgrowth of my neighbors
I am the bloodied, scraped soul that clings onto the edge of an immense cliff, struggling to claw myself to the surface of Hope
I am one that can distinguish the golden light clearly, but perceives no stairs leading to it
I am the land plagued with dark wandering souls and a corruption that crumbles my foundation
I am the cross that is forcefully shoved into my grounds, demanding all attention and distributing its beliefs like a virus
I am the healthy, unprejudiced adulthood and the sturdy caliber of government, yet the sullied streets and contaminated slums of malnourished children
I am the flame that smothers and burns the German flag, because I am my own country, not theirs
I am the embedded stitches that hold my body to the Earth, slowly fraying yet continuing to twine
I am the body who wretchedly endures the screams and cries of my people and the singing and dancing of their souls
I am one who wonders, but for ever and a day knows there is a golden age ahead
I am the one who pleads to America, graciously, to never let my bloodied hands go
I am not nobody, I AM RWANDA
(This is Brian's Artist Statement on his African Mask Project)
Artist Statement
By Brian Bohme
Rwanda is a place of vile past and vivid futures. This is what I wanted to base my mask off. So I’ll begin by explaining the colors:
The red on the right side of the mask is representation of evil and blood, theoretical for the genocide that happened years ago. The white on the opposing side is representing Hope (white dove is equivalent to hope to, so I chose white as the primary “hope” color) and peace.
These are what the symbols represent:
The coffee beans and tea leaves on the right cheek are representing there exports of the two, which they rely on as a main source of income (important to their country). The blood spot on the left cheek is a symbol of the horrible genocide that occurred, blood being a representation of the violence. The dense, grey bar running across the mask’s mouth is supposed to be showing how they were bound to “silence” by others, and it slowly fraying to represent their independence. The peace symbol is obvious that is on the chin; it means a hope for peace. Adding on to the more apparent symbols, the gold coin in his right eye is a representation of a hope for wealth and prosperity in the future. For the mask’s eyelashes, they are mountains, signifying the title of “land of a thousand hills”. The rain forest trees, that are eyebrows, are a stand for the jungle and wildlife, and how much they value it. Finally, the cross on his forehead in supposed to embody Christianity (for the up rise of the Christian religion).
Rwanda is really a unique place that is neither contented nor poignant. They dwell in the past yet live for the future. All the sole symbolism that is expressed to make up this country shows how much we can learn from them and their diversity.
The mountain gorilla (the largest and rarest of all ape scecies) is one of the world's most endangered species. During the Rwandan genocide in 1994, the gorillas' human security was gone so they were under threat of poachers which reduced them in number because they were 700 according to the 2002 census .Due to lack of peace and freedom, they also weren't having children due to the genocide but according to the census of April 22 2008, the number was 260 mountain gorillas inside Rwanda, and their numbers are increasing. Mountain gorilla population left in the World has enabled the country to receive over 20,000 visitors every year visiting the creatures which share more than 97% genetic material with human beings. Source: http://www.gorillatrekkingrwanda.com/rwanda-mountain-gorillas/
Rwanda experienced Africa's worst genocide in modern times, and the country's recovery was marred by its intervention in the conflict in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The country has been beset by ethnic tension associated with the traditionally unequal relationship between the dominant Tutsi minority and the majority Hutus.
Although after 1959 the ethnic relationship was reversed, when civil war prompted around 200,000 Tutsis to flee to Burundi, lingering resentment led to periodic massacres of Tutsis.
The most notorious of these began in April 1994. The shooting down of the plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana, and his Burundian counterpart, near Kigali triggered what appeared to be a coordinated attempt by Hutus to eliminate the Tutsi population.
AT-A-GLANCE
Politics: Rwanda is trying to shake off its image associated with the 1994 state-sponsored genocide; the government argues the country is now stable
Economy: Growth exceeded 5% in the five years since 2001, driven by coffee and tea exports and expanding tourism; poverty is widespread and Rwanda is highly dependent on aid
Justice: The UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has convicted 27 people for their involvement the 1994 genocide
In response, the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) launched a military campaign to control the country. It achieved this by July, by which time at least 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus had been brutally massacred.
Some two million Hutus fled to Zaire, now the DR Congo. They included some of those responsible for the massacres, and some joined Zairean forces to attack local Tutsis. Rwanda responded by invading refugee camps dominated by Hutu militiamen.
Meanwhile, Laurent Kabila, who seized control of Zaire and renamed it the DR Congo, failed to banish the Hutu extremists, prompting Rwanda to support the rebels trying to overthrow him.
Rwanda withdrew its forces from DR Congo in late 2002 after signing a peace deal with Kinshasa. But tensions simmer, with Rwanda accusing the Congolese army of aiding Hutu rebels in eastern DR Congo.
Rwanda has used traditional "gacaca" community courts to try those suspected of taking part in the 1994 genocide. But key individuals - particularly those accused of orchestrating the slaughter - appear before an International Criminal Tribunal in northern Tanzania.
The country is striving to rebuild its economy, with coffee and tea production being among its main sources of foreign exchange. Nearly two thirds of the population live below the poverty line.
"Yet, only years after the Nazi-era, millions were sent to their death in places such as Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda, and the world once again took to long to act." -Allison Shwarz.
History
1300s- Tutsis migrate into what is now Rwanda, which was already inhabited by the Twa and Hutu peoples.
1600s- Tutsi King Ruganzu Ndori subdues central Rwanda and outlying Hutu areas.
Late 1800s- Tutsi King Kigeri Rwabugiri establishes a unified state with a centralised military structure.
1858- British explorer Hanning Speke is the first European to visit the area.
1890 - Rwanda becomes part of German East Africa.
1916 - Belgian forces occupy Rwanda.
1923- Belgium granted League of Nations mandate to govern Ruanda-Urundi, which it ruled indirectly through Tutsi kings.
1946- Ruanda-Urundi becomes UN trust territory governed by Belgium.
Independence
1957- Hutus issue manifesto calling for a change in Rwanda's power structure to give them a voice commensurate with their numbers; Hutu political parties formed.
1959- Tutsi King Kigeri V, together with tens of thousands of Tutsis, forced into exile in Uganda following inter-ethnic violence.
1961 - Rwanda proclaimed a republic.
1962- Rwanda becomes independent with a Hutu, Gregoire Kayibanda, as president; many Tutsis leave the country.
1963 - Some 20,000 Tutsis killed following an incursion by Tutsi rebels based in Burundi.
1973- President Gregoire Kayibanda ousted in military coup led by Juvenal Habyarimana.
1978- New constitution ratified; Habyarimana elected president.
1988 - Some 50,000 Hutu refugees flee to Rwanda from Burundi following ethnic violence there.
1990- Forces of the rebel, mainly Tutsi, Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invade Rwanda from Uganda.
1991 - New multi-party constitution promulgated.
Genocide
Background Information of Rwandan Genocide: -Rwandan Genocide was a 1994 mass execution of Central African groups called the Hutus and Tutsis -In a period of 100 days between April 6, 1994-mid-July 1994 between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Tutsis and thousands of moderate Hutus were executed. -The mass killings were done by two Hutu extremist groups called the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi. -This conflict dates back centuries over land ownership after the colonization of Africa. -In 1985, Paul Kagame started the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) because he was fed up with the lack of rights the Tutsis had in Rwanda. -On October 1, 1990 the RPF invaded Rwanda and this action was seen as a threat by the Rwandan government. -On April 6, 1994 the President of Rwanda and President of Burundi were killed after there plane was shot down before landing in Kigali, Rwanda -Paul Kagame and the RPF were blamed for this event even though it has never been proved that they actually commited the crime. -In response to the assasination the Rwandan militia and Hutu militia groups began moving around and executing as many Tutsis as possible.
-From Video Description
("Hotel Rwanda" was a film that takes place during the genocide)
1993- President Habyarimana signs a power-sharing agreement with the Tutsis in the Tanzanian town of Arusha, ostensibly signalling the end of civil war; UN mission sent to monitor the peace agreement.
1994April - Habyarimana and the Burundian president are killed after their plane is shot down over Kigali; RPF launches a major offensive; extremist Hutu militia and elements of the Rwandan military begin the systematic massacre of Tutsis. Within 100 days around 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus are killed; Hutu militias flee to Zaire, taking with them around 2 million Hutu refugees.
1994-96 - Refugee camps in Zaire fall under the control of the Hutu militias responsible for the genocide in Rwanda.
1995- Extremist Hutu militias and Zairean government forces attack local Zairean Banyamulenge Tutsis; Zaire attempts to force refugees back into Rwanda.
1995 - UN-appointed international tribunal begins charging and sentencing a number of people responsible for the Hutu-Tutsi atrocities.
Intervention in DR Congo
1996 - Rwandan troops invade and attack Hutu militia-dominated camps in Zaire in order to drive home the refugees.
1997- Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed rebels depose President Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire; Laurent Kabila becomes president of Zaire, which is renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo.
1998- Rwanda switches allegiance to support rebel forces trying to depose Kabila in the wake of the Congolese president's failure to expel extremist Hutu militias.
2000March - Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu, resigns over differences regarding the composition of a new cabinet and after accusing parliament of targeting Hutu politicians in anti-corruption investigations.
2000April - Ministers and members of parliament elect Vice-President Paul Kagame as Rwanda's new president.
2001 October - Voting to elect members of traditional "gacaca" courts begins. The courts - in which ordinary Rwandans judge their peers - aim to clear the backlog of 1994 genocide cases.
2001 December - A new flag and national anthem are unveiled to try to promote national unity and reconciliation.
2002April - Former president Pasteur Bizimungu is arrested and faces trial on charges of illegal political activity and threats to state security.
2002 July - Rwanda, DR Congo sign peace deal under which Rwanda will pull troops out of DR Congo and DR Congo will help disarm Rwandan Hutu gunmen blamed for killing Tutsi minority in 1994 genocide.
2002October - Rwanda says it has pulled the last of its troops out of DR Congo, four years after they went in to support Congolese rebels against the Kabila government.
2003 May - Voters back a draft constitution which bans the incitement of ethnic hatred.
2003August - Paul Kagame wins the first presidential elections since the 1994 genocide.
2003 October - First multi-party parliamentary elections; President Kagame's Rwandan Patriotic Front wins absolute majority. EU observers say poll was marred by irregularities and fraud.
2003December - Three former media directors found guilty of inciting Hutus to kill Tutsis during 1994 genocide and receive lengthy jail sentences.
2004March - President Kagame rejects French report which says he ordered 1994 attack on president's plane, which sparked genocide.
2004June - Former president, Pasteur Bizimungu, is sentenced to 15 years in jail for embezzlement, inciting violence and associating with criminals.
2005March - Main Hutu rebel group, FDLR, says it is ending its armed struggle. FDLR is one of several groups accused of creating instability in DR Congo; many of its members are accused of taking part in 1994 genocide.
Mass prisoner release
2005 July - Government begins the mass release of 36,000 prisoners. Most of them have confessed to involvement in the 1994 genocide. It is the third phase of releases since 2003 - part of an attempt to ease overcrowding.
2006 January - Rwanda's 12 provinces are replaced by a smaller number of regions with the aim of creating ethnically-diverse administrative areas.
2006November - Rwanda breaks off diplomatic ties with France after a French judge issues an international arrest warrant for President Kagame, alleging he was involved in bringing down Habyarimana's plane.
2006December - Father Athanase Seromba becomes the first Roman Catholic priest to be convicted for involvement in the 1994 genocide. The International Criminal Tribunal sentences him to 15 years in prison.
2007 February - Some 8,000 prisoners accused of genocide are released. Some 60,000 suspects have been freed since 2003 to ease prison overcrowding.
2007April - Former president, Pasteur Bizimungu, is released from jail three years into his 15-year sentence after receiving a presidential pardon.
2007 October - Inquiry launched into 1994 presidential plane crash that sparked genocide.
2007November - Rwanda signs peace agreement with Democratic Republic of Congo. Under the deal DRC will hand over those suspected of involvement in the 1994 genocide to Kigali and to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Arrests abroad
2008January - French police arrest former Rwandan army officer Marcel Bivugabagabo who is on list of war criminals wanted for trial by the Rwandan government.
2008 February - A Spanish judge issues arrest warrants for 40 Rwandan army officers, accusing them of genocide, terrorism and crimes against humanity.
2008April - President Paul Kagame says the Spanish judge who issued arrest warrants for Rwandan army officers can "go to hell".
2008May - A former cabinet minister, Callixte Kalimanzira, goes on trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, charged with taking part in the 1994 genocide.
2008 August - Rwanda accuses France of having played an active role in the genocide of 1994, and issues a report naming more than 30 senior French officials. France says the claims are unacceptable.
2008September - President Paul Kagame's Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) wins large majority in parliamentary elections.
2008September - Former deputy prosecutor Simeon Nshamihigo is sentenced to life imprisonment for role in genocide by the UN tribunal. He was working as a defence investigator at the tribunal under an assumed name when arrested in 2001.
2008 October - Rwanda decides all education will be taught in English instead of French, officially as a result of joining the English-speaking East African Community.
2008November - Rwanda expels German ambassador and recalls own ambassador in row over detention in Germany of presidential aide Rose Kabuye in connection with the shooting down of President Habyarimana's plane.
Genocide trials
2008December - One of Rwanda's most famous singers, Simon Bikindi, is sentenced to 15 years in prison for inciting violence during the genocide.
UN report accuses Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo of directly helping Tutsi rebels fighting in eastern DR Congo. Rwanda denies supplying aid and child soldiers.
2008: Transperency International ranked Rwanda as the joint 102nd most corrupt out of the 180 countries in the world, and 20th out of the 53 countries in Africa.
Theoneste Bagosora sentenced to life imprisonment at UN tribunal for masterminding genocide.
2009January - Former Justice Minister Agnes Ntamabyariro is jailed for life by a Kigali court for conspiracy to plan the genocide and speeches inciting people to take part.
2009 February - Rwandan troops leave the Democratic Republic of Congo five weeks after entering to attack Hutu rebels.
UN war crimes court finds former army chaplain Emmanuel Rukundo guilty of genocide, sexual assault and kidnapping during genocide, sentences him to 25 years in jail.
2009March - Rwandan MP and member of Tutsi-led governing party Beatrice Nirere found guilty of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment in Rwandan gacaca traditional community court.
Dutch court finds Rwandan Hutu Joseph Mpambara guilty of torture during the genocide but not of war crimes.
2009 November - Rwanda is admitted to the Commonwealth, as only the second country after Mozambique to become a member without a British colonial past or constitutional ties to the UK.
France and Rwanda restore diplomatic relations, three years after they were severed over a row about responsibility for the 1990s genocide.
2009 December - Rwanda declared free of landmines - the first country to achieve this status.
2010 February - French President Nicolas Sarkozy pays official visit to mark reconciliation after years of accusations over the genocide. Rwanda said France armed Hutu extremists, and a French judge accused President Kagame of involvement in the death of President Habyarimana.
2010 April - Opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, who planned to run against President Kagame in the August elections, is arrested. Her lawyer is later detained.
Two senior officers are arrested within days of a reshuffle of the military leadership.
2010 June - Ex-army chief of staff Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, a former ally turned critic of President Kagame, is wounded in a shooting while in exile in South Africa.
2010 August - President Kagame wins new term in elections.
(Recognition for this timeline goes out to BBC News "Rwanda Key Timeline", link below)
Current Crisis's:
Healthcare
In 1995, an estimated 500,000–800,000 Rwandan refugees fled to neighboring Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Almost 50,000 died during the first month after the exodus, many of diarrheal diseases. In normal times, malnutrition is the greatest health problem in Rwanda. Animal proteins and fats are scarce. Kwashiorkor, a protein-calorie deficiency, is common, contributing to the death of many children and to liver trouble in older individuals; it also increases the severity of other prevalent diseases, among them pneumonia, tuberculosis, measles, whooping cough, and dysentery. Malaria and trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) are endemic. In a 1987 study, Kigali was reported to have one of the world's highest rates of infection with the AIDS virus; Rwandan Red Cross figures showed that between 10% and 15% of blood collected was contaminated with the virus. There were 10,706 AIDS cases reported in Rwanda during 1996. At the end of 2001, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 500,000 (including 9% of the adult population), and deaths from AIDS that year were estimated at 49,000. HIV prevalence in 1999 was 11.2 per 100 adults.
Poor sanitation measures and water pollution also cause serious health problems; in 2000, 41% of the population had access to safe drinking water and only 8% had adequate sanitation. In 1999, there were about 381 cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 people. Immunization rates for 1997 for children up to one year of age included diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 77% and measles, 66%. There were 5,999 cases of measles in 1994.
As of 1999, it was estimated that there were fewer than 0.05 physicians and 1.7 hospital beds per 1,000 people. As of 1999, total health care expenditure was estimated at 4.1% of GDP. The World Health Organization, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and UNICEF provide aid in public health services. Since the late 1960s, the UN, Belgium, France, and the United States have been assisting Rwanda in specific health-related projects.
As of 2002, the crude birth rate and overall mortality rate were estimated at, respectively, 33.3 and 21.4 per 1,000 people. Average life expectancy in 2000 was 40 years with the infant mortality rate estimated at 123 per 1,000 live births. Maternal mortality was 210 per 100,000 live births in 1991–93. These rates do not include about 2,000 war-related deaths between 1991 and 1992 (Tutsi and Hutu conflict) and over 500,000 deaths in 1994 (mostly of Tutsi civilians by Hutu militias).
It is necessary that we take action, and use our recources to help the healthcare issue in Rwanda. Rehabilitation and rebuilding of the rural Bisate clinic in Rwanda began in 2006, in partnership with Rwanda’s Ministry of Health. The clinic provides basic health care to 20,000 people who live near the mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park. It was in dire need of improvement, due to unsanitary conditions, lack of electricity and clean water, and demoralized staff. Extensive rebuilding, staff training, and supplements to staff salaries have greatly improved conditions. Solar panels now supply electricity, and a rainwater collection system provides clean water. There is a renovated delivery room, a computer, new beds and other basic equipment and supplies, sanitation staff, and a motivated medical staff supplemented by "community health animators." Read more: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Rwanda-HEALTH.html#ixzz10ClQxJ4z
Education:
Education is free and compulsory for all children aged 7 to 13, but the law is not widely enforced. Primary school is for seven years, followed by six years of secondary education. Most primary and secondary schools are under the direction of religious missions, but many receive state subsidies. Though going to school is a privilege for most children because there isn't a lot of access to a decent education. The genocide in 1994 destroyed homes, families, resources, but most of all schools. Money for rebuilding schools after the genocide is not currently available. Only 46% of teachers in Rwanda are qualified, and if children are not taught how to lead the community in the future, then who will?
This is an excellent site that shows basic information and also has a large variety of stories and coverages of the Rwandan country and relating topics.
Comments (8)
Julia said
at 1:50 pm on Sep 21, 2010
JENNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jenny L said
at 4:24 pm on Sep 21, 2010
Hi Julia(:
Jenny L said
at 6:22 pm on Sep 21, 2010
Right now I am editing this and it looks a bit choppy, sorry.
Brian B said
at 9:28 am on Sep 30, 2010
jenny you changed everything! hyahahaha
Jenny L said
at 10:39 am on Sep 30, 2010
I didn't change anything I added stuff but i will change some stuff back!
Jenny L said
at 9:12 pm on Nov 4, 2010
Wait that doesn't make sense..but sorry about that(:
Tess Joy said
at 6:29 pm on Sep 30, 2010
Your guys have an awesome flag.
alyssar said
at 4:16 pm on Oct 3, 2010
WHOA!!!!! You guys have added a lot!!!! We dont have to much on ours.
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