Haiti -> Rwanda: The Crows Have White Chests

Yesterday morning we went to the Nyungwe National Rainforest for a quick 2 mile hike. I think it ended up taking 2 hours though. We had to be over 2 miles above sea level. Kigali is already a mile above, and we just kept climbing hills and mountains to get to the rainforest. I have never smelled something so true and clean. I take that back, I have. It's called the Adirondack's, but these smells were smells I've never smelt. Part of the hike had a canopy walk. Sitting here typing this, I got three different heights we were at, which I am having troubles believing all of them. We couldn't have been more than 80-90 feet above the ground. People were told we were 70 meters above the ground, which is around 229 feet. No way. Needless to say, it was a great hike.

After the hike we went to the Murambi Genocide Memorial. The most difficult memorial we have been to. I would much rather talk about what we saw there in person, so come find me.

Today today today. What a day. We started out with the Women Drummers of Butare. It's taboo here for women to drum so this group is pretty special. They performed for about a half hour. I have never felt music like this. Being front row at the Utica Memorial seeing Phish, and watching them bring in the new year at Madison Square Garden has not allowed me to feel music this way. The music coming from the drums was racing through my veins, I felt eat beat physically. I was nearly brought to tears as I watched these women dance, drum, and sing to us. Seeing the joy in their faces alone could suffice for a full blown show.

After they finished playing we got a chance to learn some of their rhythms. They laughed, we laughed, they played, and we played. Unfavorable lighting created a difficult environment to photograph the performance, meaning a lot of the photos did not come out right, especially the dancing and drumming. These women are special and need to be recognized around the world for their talent and what they represent.

Our next stop was the Huye Prison. It took Carl and Drew a few times to get us permission to visit the prison. They had to get papers to present to the guards just to let us in. But once we got in, it was like we weren't even in a prison minus the pink and orange suits that the inmates wear. The pink means they have been sentenced, and the orange means they are waiting their sentence. Something that was interesting is that the guards are not armed while in the prison. There were no guns in the open, and there weren't that many guards either. About 90% of the inmates are in that prison because they had a hand in the genocide.

We went to go get a tour of the female block and were welcomed with dozens of singing inmates welcoming us to the prison. I was not expecting that one bit. We were escorted by the performers to where about 500 female inmates were seated. We were asked to sit in the front, facing them. A few groups of the women have prepared dances and vocal numbers, all traditional Rwandan music.

After they were done, a male inmate told us the history of the genocide, and his role in it. He told us he killed 100 people, 70 men and 30 women. Here was this man, with this on his hands yet he was just like any other Rwandan I have met on this trip. As we left, we were each given a hand made basket from the prisoners. We weren't allowed to have cameras in the prison, so I was not able to capture these moments.

Oh yeah, we were all brought up to dance with the women. I was not going to get up there, until this little old lady picked me up off my feet and threw me in to the middle of the dances. I can't believe she actually lifted my body off the ground and pushed me.

The fact that I wrote this much is quite astounding. If you made it this far, congratulations. Here are some photos.