RWANDA, AFRICA

Dates:  January 4-16, 2011

Cost:  $3400 - Plus cost of passport (if participant does not have one), immunizations, and spending money for souvenirs

Course:
Students participating in this immersion will be required to take a class during the Fall Semester of 2010 designed specifically to prepare us for our January 2011 experience. The 3-credit course, PO 397: Rwanda in Comparative African Perspective will be taught by Dr. Jen Ziemke from the Department of Political Science. We will closely examine the politics, culture, and history of Rwanda to see whether these trends closely mirror or vastly depart from experiences in other countries in the region. We will begin with general concepts and ideas commonly leveraged to understand "African Politics" and progress to the study of the colonial moment, modern statehood, the factors contributing to the 1994 genocide, post-conflict reconciliation and rapid development.

Immersion Site:
Rwanda is a small country, the size of Maryland, located in the heart of Africa with a population just over 10 million people.   It is bordered by Uganda to the North, Tanzania to the West, Burundi to the South and Democratic Republic of Congo to the East. Also known as “Land of A Thousand Hills”, Rwanda is dominated by volcanoes in the North and bordered by Lake Kivu in the West. The Volcanoes National Park is teeming with wildlife and is world famous for mountain gorillas which are timid and family-oriented giants.

• The official languages of Rwanda are Kinyarwanda, English and French. Kiswahili is sometimes used in commerce.
• Rwanda is especially known for the tragic 1994 Genocide. Over the course of approximately 100 days, at least 500,000 Tutsis and Hutu political moderates were killed.  Some estimates suggest that almost 20% of the population of Rwanda may have been killed during this period, including 300,000 children.  In addition, the genocide created 95,000 orphans. The post-1994 government was left with an immense task of reconstructing and reconciling people of the country. Today, the country is still tackling the challenges of eliminating poverty, caring for AIDS victims and orphans, developing infrastructure, and promoting education.  Led by President Paul Kagame, the country has made remarkable progress under difficult circumstances. Even though Rwanda is still suffering the wounds of 1994, Rwanda is now considered to be a “country on the move” and one of the safest and most secure countries in Africa.
• 57% of the population is Roman Catholic, 37% are other Christian denominations, 4% are Muslim, the rest are other indigenous religions.

Activities:
The Rwandan experience is focused on understanding the impact the genocide has had on the people of Rwanda and analyzing its rise from ashes to a country with great potential in such a short time.  We will learn how the Rwandan government is responding to the perpetrators of the genocide while eliminating the ethnic divisions that caused the killing.  We will visit local organizations that facilitate the rebuilding and reconciliation process.  In addition we will explore the economy, politics and rich culture of the country. Our time will be spent in the capital city Kigali and the more rural Butare.

Other activities may include:

- Visiting the National Unity and Reconciliation Centre, memorial sites and the national museum.
- Participating in cultural events which include dance, art, and music.
- Attending a church service to experience a Rwandan form of worship.
- Experiencing the wildlife of the country, including the gorillas.

Partner Organization:
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and its international partner, Caritas, will be facilitating our trip to Rwanda.  Their mission of CRS is to address the whole spectrum of issues facing the Rwandan people including poverty, education, HIV/AIDS and reconciliation.  They have numerous offices throughout the country and facilitate groups like ours on a regular basis.  They will be coordinating all of our transportation within the country, meals and accommodations.