On Wednesday morning - our departure day from Rwanda - Bob and Amani went downtown to shop for Rwandan coffee, tea, and must-have souvenirs while Cecile and I went to interview one of Rwandas living legends - Tito Rutaremara.
In my reading on the Rwandan Genocide I had come across Tito Rutaremaras name many times because he was the political founder of the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF). He steered the organization of the Tutsi refugees in Uganda and throughout the Diaspora into a cohesive unit and helped define their goal of one Rwanda for all Rwandans. He was inspirational in giving the soldiers of the RPF an understanding of what it was they were fighting for. Tito Rutaremara is presently the Ombudsman for the Republic of Rwanda and so we got the taxi to drop us off at his government office, which is across the street from Village Urugwiro where President Kagame has his office, and where wed attended the reception on Liberation Day. We
went upstairs and down the hall to his office and after introductions from Cecile, who has visited Tito before, we sat with him in his comfortable meeting room. I told Tito, who is so relaxing to be around that you cant help but address him by his first name, that I had read about him eight years ago in Paul Gourevitchs book WE WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT TOMORROW WE WILL BE KILLED WITH OUR FAMILIES and a few months ago in Colin Waughs book PAUL KAGAME AND RWANDA and just that past week in Linda Melverns book A PEOPLE BETRAYED, which I had bought in the lobby of the Kigali Genocide Memorial the day after our arrival in Rwanda. He was familiar with the first two books but hadnt yet read the latter. I told him that in A PEOPLE BETRAYED Melvern said that he, Tito, was in Kigali the day the genocide started and that he had warned Colonel Bogosora that if the slaughter of civilians did not stop then the RPF would attack. Tito nodded his head in agreement and said And we
DID attack. Tito described how hed been with the 600 RPF soldiers in the Kigali RPF Headquarters, the CND building (the vacated parliament building of the previous regime), when the Civil War resumed. He described mortars hitting the building, the damage of which Id witnessed myself in a visit to the building (which is still in use but no photos allowed). We talked a bit about General Dallaire, he being a Canadian and myself being a Canadian. Tito had nothing against General Dallaire but believed he and his forces could have done more to protect the victims of the slaughter. He told me he had read the Rwanda writings on my Orwell Today website and so I gave him a T-shirt and asked him if hed like to see the book Id compiled of those writings: After sitting back down on the couch beside Cecile, I told Tito how impressed I was with the heroic role his Rwandese Patriotic Front had played in the recent history of Rwanda, and how without the RPF soldiers Rwanda
would not be the country it is today, because the genocide would have been successful and those who had committed the genocide would be the ones in power. Tito said the credit for stopping the genocide belonged in large part to Paul Kagame, the military brains behind the maneuvers. Then Tito said that what had happened in Rwanda could happen anywhere in the world where corrupt governments exist. Thats when I started to cry a little bit because I was thinking to myself that if my country, Canada, was ever attacked by an enemy, there would be no army to come to our defense. Tito and Cecile wondered what was wrong and soon I got control of my emotions and stopped crying. Then I told them what I had been thinking. I explained that in our vast country of Canada, into which would fit literally thousands of Rwandas, we had a meagre population of only thirty-two million people and that our small army was stretched beyond its limit fighting never-ending United Nations
wars in places like Afghanistan. Meanwhile, we were being destroyed from within by foreign take-over of our resources and manufacturing industries and immigration from Communist China. I explained that our government is handing us over on a silver platter to enemies of democracy. In other words, Canada is being colonized, just as Rwanda had been colonized way back in its history. Rwanda was going forward into independence while Canada was going backward into slavery. I hadnt meant to unburden myself about my worries for the future of Canada onto Titos shoulders but I couldnt help it. Hes such a good listener and so kind-mannered that I found it hard not to seek his understanding, and I think he did understand. Then it was time to go because I would be flying out of Rwanda in a couple of hours and we had to get back in time to finish packing and check-out of the hotel. Tito walked us down to the end of the hall and I asked him to pose with me for a picture, which
he obligingly did. Then before leaving the lobby downstairs, I posed for a picture under the official photo of President Kagame, which is, I think, a good picture to end the Rwandan trip on.
Out of Rwanda It was with a bit of sadness that we buckled ourselves into our airplane seats to leave Rwanda, but also a bit of happiness for the wonderful time wed experienced there. A couple of hours later we touched down in Nairobi, Kenya and then a few hours after that in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where we would be spending two nights and one full day. We couldnt believe it when we got to our hotel in Addis and were given the key to our room: What could be more appropriate for an Orwell scholar specializing in 1984 than the infamous Room 101 where Winston came face to face (literally) with his greatest fear. But we didnt take it as a bad omen, more of as an inside joke from the spirit of Orwell. The next morning, after a leisurely breakfast in the
exotic dining room, we took a taxi into the city centre and hired the driver for the day to take us around. The first place we went to was the Ethiopian National Museum to see the skeleton of Lucy. Id remembered how excited my mother had been back in 1974 when Lucy had been discovered. The study of humankinds origins was a subject that fascinated her and we used to get into long conversations about it. It was in remembrance of my mother, RIP, that we went to visit Lucy, as I knew she would want me to do that, and was with us in spirit as we did. Lucy was discovered thirty-two years ago in Ethiopia and was the oldest human skeleton ever to be found. She is thought to be 3.2 million years old. After leaving the museum we drove all over Addis, shopping in the markets and absorbing the atmosphere of this ancient city, before returning to our hotel for dinner and an early night. When we woke up in the morning the news was all about the Israeli attack on
the Lebanese airport and we were glad we werent flying out of Beruit. The eight or ten hour flight on Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to London, England was the best Ive ever experienced, not only for the excellent meals and service, but for the joy of flight. The plane was nowhere near full and so we all had window seats. And for some reason the pilot flew very low over the ground and we could see the Sahara Desert stretching below us for hours. Then for awhile the plane flew high above the clouds, at which time I went and stretched out across four middle seats and had a nap. When I woke up we were close to leaving Africa, showed we were near the city of Benghazi, Libya which is where land met the Mediterranean Sea. Jackie Jura is an independent researcher monitoring local, national and international events website: www.orwelltoday.com & email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Les messages publiés sur DHR n'engagent que la responsabilité de leurs auteurs.
CONSIDERATION, TOLERANCE, PATIENCE AND MUTUAL RESPECT towards the reinforcement of GOOD GOVERNANCE,DEMOCRACY and HUMAN RIGHTS in our states.
Liability and Responsibility: You are legally responsible, and solely responsible, for any content that you post to DHR. You may only post materials that you have the right or permission to distribute electronically. The owner of DHR cannot and does not guarantee the accuracy of any statements made in or materials posted to the group by participants.
" BE NICE TO PEOPLE ON YOUR WAY UP, BECAUSE YOU MIGHT MEET THEM ON YOUR WAY DOWN." Jimmy DURANTE.
COMBATTONS la haine SANS complaisance, PARTOUT et avec Toute ENERGIE!!!!!!
Let's rather prefer Peace, Love , Hope and Life, and get together as one!!! Inno TWAGIRA
The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
---------------------------------------
