I have a special relationship to Rwanda for some time now. It is one of a few countries in the world that became a little home far from home, a place that is close to my heart, with all it’s struggles, beauty and extremes. So when the first grenade attacks happend earlier this year, newspapers got forbitten till after the elections and opposition leaders got killed, i was more then worried that a situation that in many ways seems to be fragile under the surface might get violent.

Rwanda is fascinating in many ways. Many of us have the horrific pictures of the genocide 15 years ago still in our minds when we think of this little country. A genocide that killed around 800.000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. But at the same time Rwanda made a extraordinary development in the years after, not least because of Paul Kagame and his government. Rwanda is a country that was celebrated internationally for this and when we think of a country that was in it’s ruins not only in it’s outer appearance but also in the minds of the people that lived there, it is extraordinary what happened there after. For instance health insurance. 90% of the Rwandas have a health insurance, made available for small money to make it affordable even for the poor. The agriculture is even exporting, something pretty amazing for a country that is small and very densely populated (with this as one of the biggest problems and also a reason behind the conflict). The school system is also developing well and Kigali, the capital is a capital on the move with construction sites all over the place. One of the policies of the government is that development and wealth is an important factor to fight hate, enviousness and conflicts. The logic is: ‘When everyone is doing good, there is no space for hate and violence.’ And for sure this logic is one that works is an impression you get when you first come into the country.

Under the surface and more out in the countryside things are different. First, the development is pretty much focused on the cities, the people living in the countryside are seldom direct benefit from that. And the structured preset agriculture is not in the interest of many that have side incomes that get destroyed through a governmental organized agriculture. And also in the smaller towns the modernization is not always seen with joy. One of the strongest stories of my students at the ‘With our own eyes’ project was the one that covered the building & modernization process of the houses happening in Butare that more or less will destroy every piece of flavor and history and replace it with a series of same looking buildings.

And even when a lot might be political decisions that have a clear purpose and are made with a hard hand, a even more important factor is under the surface, the old, officially not talked about conflict of Hutu and Tutsi. It is in the society wherever you look, even when it might not be obvious. It is under the surface, a dark monster that is working in many minds, forbitten to come close to heart for most of the year, but it’s having it’s place. As amazing as it is that it is possible today that Hutus and Tutsis can live together, work together, interact together again after such a short period of time, it still is a brutal part of the history of more or less everyone that is hard to really forgive and even forget. There are still murders every year that are related to it, around 200 or more related to the conflict are assumed. There are small things happening, hard to understand in first sight, like people that do not want to sleep in the same house with another person or other stories that show a mistrust, a hard hitting glimpse of the history still working. Just recently a man called in a live radio show, saying: “It’s sad, we did not get done with our business.”

Now, where the elections were no real elections as most real candidates that could fight Kagame were killed or their parties were not allowed to run at the elections, where media is forbitten or suppressed, one face of the rapid development of Rwanda is becoming obvious: First development and wealth, second comes the democracy and freedom of press. Rwanda is ruled with a strong hand and the western world now might react surprised, it is not new, it is only becoming more visible.

Interesting enough something many of my friends down there told me was that they believe that Rwanda needs a strong leader, someone with a clear vision, willing to fight for it. It is hard for our understanding of the ‘right’ political system, but it is not only propaganda that there is a deep believe in what Kagame is doing. He is popular and the result of this is are votes that show that, no matter if because of a lack of alternatives or of a true believe in what he is doing.

Many things that happened before the election are not right in any way and I truely believe in the freedom of speech and press, but I also believe that if we want to get an understanding of the situation we have in some cases first to forget of our understanding of things and learn to understand the situation and believes of the Rwandans.

The interesting question was never if Kagame would be elected again this August. The interesting question is what happens in five years. Then the constitution is not allowing Kagame to be re-elected again. If he is not changing this, in five years will be the moment where things could become more obvious than many think of right now. Where old and new conflicts could erupt, when there is no clear vision or guideline. Right now the clear vision of the Kagame administration (not the administration itself) is also something what unites the people. Even when just yesterday another grenade attack happened in the center of Kigali, leaving at least one dead…

Here is a short video from Time magazine about the elections and the history affects the elections.

…… about prostitution …….. the private life of ancille: video I words ……. the private life of clotide: video I words ……. spac

(click on the links to get to the individual films)....

This is the third part of a series about prostitution in Rwanda. The second part can be seen here, part one and four will be online soon.

Clotide is waiting for us down at the main road, waving as soon as she can see us coming. With her jeans jacket and pant and a big smile all over her face she is not looking like someone who was living a very different life than nowadays. She invites us into her house, brings in some chairs and we sit down to talk.

Clotide is a former prostitude and stopped in 2008. For 18 years, since her 20th birthday, she worked as a prostitude for soldiers, students and other people. She got HIV beside other disaeses in the first year of doing it, got pregnant three times from men who never became part of the family. She got beaten and pushed out by her family that had adoped her as a child. Her voice is low while she is talking about all this and her eyes look sad and painful. It was never the life she chose to live but it felt like the only option. With living in a very poor family that never accepted her as their real child. With the hope for a bit more than what she was living in. It were hard years, raising up her childs without a father, she says. But then there is this glimmer in her eyes, this happiness to now have the chance for a different life.

She stopped prostitution after 18 years, moved to another area, another house, started to work in a brig factory five days a week. She became part of the Medsar project SPAC (Stop Prostitution Around Campus) and helped develop it. They founded a association for the women and she became the president. They now produce baskets and plant a field beside their normal work. When she is talking about it, she is smiling, reliefed and happy. “My situation is not bad”, she says. Her children can go to school, she finds support in the community and she gets no longer stigmatized. She has some goats and rabbits now. When the situation got better, she adopted another child, a older boy. But he stole all the rabbits beside one and went away. Shortly after she adopted Ignace, another boy, who is now part of the family.

Clotide is waving again with a big smile as we leave her again. She seems confident and happy with her life, proud on what she has achieved. And she is telling us a little lesson in what is possible when you do not stop believing in yourself.

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]]> http://www.simonsticker.com/2010/03/04/the-private-life-of-clotide/feed/ 0 http://www.simonsticker.com/2010/02/01/some-updates/ http://www.simonsticker.com/2010/02/01/some-updates/#comments Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:05:33 +0000 Simon Sticker http://www.simonsticker.com/?p=1767

Once again, it is a busy time with a lot of work. But i’m happy to see that my multmedia stories from Rwanda got attention through some websites in the last time without even really doing something for that. Multimedia is getting more and more important right now and i’m pretty excited how devices like the new iPad will change the way we consum media. I really think it is a great time for new ways to produce stories and bring them to a big audience.

I’m especially happy that our project ‘One Question‘ got some attention as it leaves some beaten tracks. I was really moved by some nice mails i got in reply and the kind words. We started the project to get away from the picture that is most of the time shaped from Rwanda, to show something new beside the pictures of the genocide many people have in mind when they think of Rwanda and it seems as if it worked for the people who watched it. The Rights Exposure Project featured it with kind words plus Kigaliwire, a newsmag from Kigali, did the same. They also interviewed me after my last trip to Rwanda about my work and the ‘With our own eyes‘ project.

Duckrabbit, multimedia thinkers and producers from the UK, also gave me a little feature on their blog with the story of Ancille, one part of a series about prostitution in Rwanda. The project ‘A developing story‘, where i’ll also contribute to in the future, featured the story as well. I hope to find some time next week to do the final edits on the multimedia project about prostitution in Rwanda, where this story is a part of.

Last but not least i would like to direct you to the website for the Gahanga Orphanage. As it looks right now there seem to be ways to save and improve it and give the 70 children a chance to stay there and not to end on the streets again. The pictures got a lot of attention and helped to raise some awareness and money to save the orphanage, where i’m quite happy about.

So that’s for today. Enjoy your day!

///What makes you happy?/// .. ///What would you wish to happen at the end of the day?/// .. ///Where would you like to wake up?/// ///About///

(click on the links to get to the individual films)

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