A few notes thus far…
Thanks so much Dan, Jeremy, Mom, Caitlin, Annie, Aunt Kate, and Megan for the comments and support! In order to keep this post a little less long-winded, I’m just going to share a few points that have come up in the past couple of days.
1. The Importance of Language. My oh my oh my, I never fully realized how wrong America has got it. It seems as though everyone in Kigali is at least tri-lingual; most people I’ve asked speak around five languages. The top three are without a doubt Kinyarwanda, French, and English. It is such a humbling position to be in — stumbling around looking down a couple lines for the English translation of everything. Actually, I’m lucky. A lot of the downtown area of Kigali that surrounds St. Paul’s is written in primarily English. But what would we, Americans, do if the rest of the world clung as stubbornly to solely one language as we do to English? Speaking multiple languages allows us not only to share dialogue, but to share cultures. What does it say about the US that we only seem to truly celebrate and respect one language?
Unfortunately I don’t think I can answer that question yet — maybe later in the delegation.
All I can say is that a new appreciation and excitement has sprung up in me; I can’t wait to start Elementary French this fall!
2. Human Rights: 1, 2, 3, 4? As I think I stated before, Monday was the first day that the International and the Rwandese participants met. We discussed the basics first by asking some questions about human rights, like “How would you define human rights?” and “What rights are included under the heading of human rights?” One of the last questions really got me thinking though, so hear me out. The final question asked, “Are human rights organized into a hierarchy? Or, can human rights be ranked in order of importance?” At first I thought I knew the answer to this question. Though I find rights such as the right to healthcare, right to education, right to self-expression to be invaluable, I’ve always thought that these rights were sort of irrelevant if the basic rights — such as right to food, right to shelter, right to clean water — aren’t taken care of. What is the point of being able to go to school if you are one of the one billion people in the world who don’t have access to clean water, therefore severely harming your chances of making it to age 5? I’m not saying that we shouldn’t try and provide the whole world with education starting now, but I am saying that we should look at each community’s needs based on a case-by-case basis. A few others in my group for this discussion shared the same view as me. However, someone brought up that without certain rights (i.e. the right to self-expression, the right to vote, the right to assemble, etc.) how can the change necessary to bring about universal and comprehensive human rights ever take place? Therefore, I started to see our list of rights, not as linear, but as cyclical. This still causes the question to remain: when it comes to human rights, where do we start? I’d love to hear opinions on this.
3. The Arts and Human Rights! On Tuesday we had our first meetings with the grassroots organizations in Kigali that we will be volunteering with in small groups. I am working with ISHYO, which is an organization in Kigali that works on cultural promotion through the arts. Needless to say, I’m so excited to be working with this group. They aren’t explicitly a human rights group, but use the arts (such as theater, dance, and music) to educate and deliver messages of social justice. I will start work with them next week. This is basically what my Interdepartmental major is all about, so being able to actually combine human rights/social justice AND the arts in a fieldwork setting will provide me with some great ideas for where to go and what to do with myself and my ideas when I come back from Rwanda!
4. Just a few more thoughts… Someone I met with the other day presented the idea that human rights can be used as a form of oppression. At first I was very surprised to hear this statement, and felt a little defensive. I’m not sure I have the battery life or the knowledge to break down this idea all the way, but she basically said that Western countries sometimes pressure developing countries into adopting social, economic, civil, or cultural policies that don’t really fit with the culture or the people of the country. While I believe that human rights are universal concept, I found her statement to be very refreshing — and ironic. Sometimes, I think we overlook the rights of a culture or community in order to ensure the rights of the individual — something that is culturally specific in the Western world, but not everywhere! I think the Western world will also put on a face of being concerned for human rights, when really this mask of concern is simply used to exert power or force over another country.
Additionally, on Wednesday we had a discussion about memorials in preparation for our visit to Kigali Memorial Center on Thursday. In our small group discussion for the day, one of the Rwandese participants asked me if the United States had any memorials dedicated to the lives lost during the time when American supported the slave trade. This question really got me thinking. I am by no means an expert on US memorials, but the only places that immediately come to mind when I think of memorials in my home country are those dedicated to WWI, WWII, and Vietnam soldiers—and of course, those structures that are dedicated to our founding fathers. Why is it that America doesn’t have memorials dedicated to lives lost (at least memorials that receive national attention or recognition) that weren’t soldiers or presidents? If memorials are meant to honor the memory of a person or people, then why hasn’t the US recognized the lives lost due to slavery, the genocide of the American Indians, or any other acts of violence at the hands of the US? This makes me wonder why, as Americans, we always choose to remember ourselves as the victims, when we know that just as often we create victims. If we can’t honor the stolen lives of American Indians — if we choose not to remember that these events occurred — it makes me wonder how we choose to define what and who an “American” is?
These really were just supposed to be a few notes, and turned out to be much longer! Any insight or comments are always appreciated. Next post will be about our group’s visit to the Kigali Memorial Center.
If you don’t hear from me for a while it is because I’m at a homestay at the end of this week, and then on Sunday we go to Kibuye, in western Rwanda. Internet access is not guaranteed. Until then stay safe, and thanks for the support!
Cheers,
Marisa
A few of us at dinner last night--Janet, Hillary, Ruxi, and me!
