On May 28th we finally began theculmination of our trip, The Peace Building institute facilitated by Never Again Rwanda. One of the main goals of this program is to learn what Rwanda can teach the world. On the first day, two of the student participants, one from Utah and one from here in Rwanda, participated in a very interesting social experiment which helped with the discussion of our first topic. The two participants acted out a culture, that from a western perspective seemed to be very patriarchal. This was not actually the case. The following link provides a description as well as a discussion of this exercises importance. http://conflictingpastcommonfuture.com/cms/images/Portugal/prim_lk10.pdf. As we learned and the link describes the purpose of this experiment was to awaken us to a different lens through which new cultures can be observed. Instead of bringing in our own preconceived notions we must observe new cultures from a fresh perspective, taking in account any and every possibility. It helps to imagine culture as an iceberg; what is outwardly observed is only the tip, only by looking underneath can one observe the truth.
Later on that day we visited Gisozi Genocide Memorial and Museum in Kigali. Kelly will be uploading a description as soon as she is finished writing it.
The next day the Peace Building Institute brought us to one of the organiations that the Rwandan government has constructed in order to rebuild peace within their country. The organization is referred to by the acronym CNLG which stands for the National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide. The main goal of this institution is to prevent and fight against genocide ideology and address Genocides consequences in and out of Rwanda. While at CNLG we spoke with Odette, an official in the research department, who helped us understand the importance of this institute as well as its structure and functions. Please follow this link to their website for more information http://www.cnlg.gov.rw/ . When we returned from CNLG we performed a SWOT analysis of this institution. SWOT stands for; Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Later that day we heard from a speaker named Karengera Ildephonse. This gentleman discussed the history of Rwanda before during and after the Rwandan Genocide Against the Tutsi. Following the lecture by Mr. Ildephonse we viewed a documentary title "Sharing the Past, Shaping the Future"
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