Rwanda

I had been dreading the long flight to Rwanda, especially because it departed from Newark after midnight. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad. Thanks to zolpidem, I was able to sleep on the plane, despite a whole lotta shakin’ going on.

I would have given myself the “seasoned traveler” award for anticipating that my luggage would be left behind in Istanbul. Upon landing in Kigali, I checked my AirTag and learned my luggage was 2,975 miles from me. So, I wasted no time watching other people’s bags pop out of the chute. Nope. I immediately took myself to the lost luggage desk to complete the necessary paperwork.

My backpack contained one change of clothes, my Jammie’s, chargers and toiletries, plus my credit card, cash and camera. Everything I needed for a couple of days.

Did you notice I said I WOULD have given myself the award? That’s because it got snatched away when I made the rookie mistake of putting a tube of toothpaste (big enough to last the entire trip) in my backpack. The toothpaste, plus my seasoned traveler award, got tossed in a trash bin at Newark Airport.

That AirTag was worth every penny I paid for it. I was able to watch my luggage travel to Lebanon, then Ethiopia, till it eventually showed up in Kigali a day later. Although airport staff had my phone number, email and hotel info, no one ever contacted me. Thanks to my AirTag, I didn’t waste time on the phone making international calls, trying to find someone who could give me information about my bag.

As they say in OAT world, this was a learning and discovery experience. I learned that the airline would not deliver my bag to the hotel. Instead, I had to drag my sorry ass to the airport, and then discover how very tight Rwandan security is. We had to get out of our vehicle, which was thoroughly inspected by people plus a sniffing dog, then once I got to the terminal, I had to go thru security AGAIN and visit 3 different places before my bag and I were joyously reunited. Fortunately, Fred( my hero and our driver) guided me thru the entire process.

The best thing about travel is it gives you perspective. After visiting the Kigali Genocide Memorial, delayed luggage becomes a teeny, tiny, minor irritant.

30 years ago, over the course of 100 days, more than a million Rwandans were murdered. The victims were mostly Tutsi, but Hutus who refused to go along with the killing were also massacred.

Believing that churches were safe havens, many Tutsi sought shelter in the Nyamata Catholic Church. Shamefully, the Catholic priest did nothing to stop the slaughter. The perpetrators threw grenades inside the packed church, then attempted to finish off anyone still alive, with machetes and guns.

Nayamata Churcb is now a UNESCO site and burial place for thousands of victims. Particularly heartbreaking are the coffins for infants and children.

Luckily the attempt to slaughter everyone inside the church was not successful. The stories of those who survived are displayed outside the church to bear witness to what had happened. Here’s a short sample:

As terrible as the massacre was, Rwanda’s story is one of hope for the future.

We visited one of the “reconciliation villages” where perpetrators and survivors now live side by side in harmony. Naturally, it took a considerable amount of time for everyone to heal and to learn to trust one another. The perpetrators had to confess to what they had done, serve their time in prison and ask the survivors for forgiveness.

At the village, both a survivor and a perpetrator told their stories. We learned that those who committed the atrocities had been fed a steady stream of propaganda and misinformation. Agitators whipped up hatred for people who had previously been friends and neighbors.

We have so much to learn from Rwandans, who exhort us to practice ubumuntu.

Perhaps Africans have a huge capacity for forgiveness? I recall Nelson Mandela didn’t seek revenge against his white captors, but urged the nation toward reconciliation.

America is now going thru a very divisive time. Maybe we can learn to speak to each other, listen carefully and exhibit “greatness of heart”.