WhennI think of the tiny African nation of Rwanda, I don’t think ofndemocracy—I think of genocide.
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nThat’snbecause in the early 1990s Rwanda had a grisly civil war between twondifferent ethnic groups, and in 1994 there was a horrific massacre.nThe word genocide means the deliberate killing of a particularngroup of people—and when Hutu extremists killed about a millionnTutsi (and moderate Hutu)—well, that qualifies as genocide.
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nButnRwanda is trying to put that horrific past behind it and tell the world about thengood things about the nation. Here are some of the “best of”nRwanda:
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Itn is one of only two countries in which mountain gorillas cann be seen, and gorilla tracking has helped tourism grow. Chimps,n golden monkeys, and other primates live safely in Nyngwen Forest, another popular attraction.n
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n Traditionaln arts include imigongo, which is cow dung art. (You read thatn right—it’s made with cow poop!)n
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n Rwandan was the first country to be ruled by a parliament in which womenn outnumber the men (after the 2008 elections).
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- Rwandan is attempting to become the Switzerland or Singapore of Africa.n Like Switzerland and Singapore, it is a small nation that isn positioning itself as very business-friendly. (And like Switzerland,n Rwanda is landlocked and very mountainous. It is sometimes calledn the Land of 1000 Hills, and the entire nation lies at highn latitudes.) Rwandan President Kagame is trying hard to make sure then cities and towns are clean and orderly, he has personally started an trade relationship in which CostCo and Starbucks buy Rwandan coffee,n and he has succeeded in luring some tech companies, such as Google,n to invest in his nation.
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nCheck out photos of Rwanda here and also over here.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nNational Kazoo Day
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nAnniversarynof first ski tow in the U.S.
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nAnniversarynof the coining of the word serendipity
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