WIVP in Rwanda: Rebuilding After a Tragedy
Karen Wong and Chris Adams, WG'06
Issue date: 10/24/05 Section: Insider
Rwanda is truly a land of contrasts. Staggeringly beautiful, the countryside is dotted with thousands of green rolling hills covered with banana trees, forests and tea plantations, providing endless picturesque vistas. Squeezed between the Congo, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania, it is one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in Africa, and home to hospitable and kind people.
Yet this beautiful country has also endured unimaginable tragedy in recent years. Another classic case of botched European colonialism, following independence in the 1960's, long simmering tribal hatred sparked numerous outbreaks of violence and killings. These events, guided by an extremist government, snowballed into the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, in which an estimated 1,000,000 Tutsis were killed in three months in an attempt to rid Rwanda of the Tutsi tribe forever.
What is staggering about the prolonged massacre is not only its scale and speed, but also the method: most of the killing was carried out by ordinary civilians using machetes and clubs. Stories abound of brutal killings of neighbors by neighbors, and even family members of different tribes killing each other. It is impossible to understand the hatred that drove such atrocities.
Genocide and civil war decimated the country and destroyed food production, infrastructure and the economy. Fortunately, a new democratic government has brought stability to the country and international aid has poured in. Rwanda is rebuilding again, but the problems facing the country are monumental.
It is against this backdrop that we came to Rwanda in June with the Wharton International Volunteer Program (WIVP). The country is rebuilding on many fronts, including health, education, agriculture, among others. However, the government recognizes that to prevent future turmoil, jobs must be created for the enormous number of the unemployed and uneducated poor. One of the catalysts for the 1994 genocide was the extremist government's ability to inflame the largely illiterate and unemployed population with hate propaganda. Creating jobs and financial independence will help prevent this happening again.
Yet this beautiful country has also endured unimaginable tragedy in recent years. Another classic case of botched European colonialism, following independence in the 1960's, long simmering tribal hatred sparked numerous outbreaks of violence and killings. These events, guided by an extremist government, snowballed into the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, in which an estimated 1,000,000 Tutsis were killed in three months in an attempt to rid Rwanda of the Tutsi tribe forever.
What is staggering about the prolonged massacre is not only its scale and speed, but also the method: most of the killing was carried out by ordinary civilians using machetes and clubs. Stories abound of brutal killings of neighbors by neighbors, and even family members of different tribes killing each other. It is impossible to understand the hatred that drove such atrocities.
Genocide and civil war decimated the country and destroyed food production, infrastructure and the economy. Fortunately, a new democratic government has brought stability to the country and international aid has poured in. Rwanda is rebuilding again, but the problems facing the country are monumental.
It is against this backdrop that we came to Rwanda in June with the Wharton International Volunteer Program (WIVP). The country is rebuilding on many fronts, including health, education, agriculture, among others. However, the government recognizes that to prevent future turmoil, jobs must be created for the enormous number of the unemployed and uneducated poor. One of the catalysts for the 1994 genocide was the extremist government's ability to inflame the largely illiterate and unemployed population with hate propaganda. Creating jobs and financial independence will help prevent this happening again.