|
Unity and Reconciliation Efforts
After the genocide, the newly-installed Government
of National Unity created three special commissions, each
with the status of a ministry, and tasked each with tackling
particularly sensitive but absolutely critical needs in smoothing
the transition from the genocide to longer-term stability
and development. These were the Human Rights Commission, the
Constitutional Commission, and the Unity and Reconciliation
Commission (URC). Of the three, the URC has been functional
the longest and is the most organized as far as personnel,
administrative, and management structures. In 2000, USAID
supported the URC through three activities funded by the Greater
Horn of Africa Initiative to endorse African ownership, networking
of resources, and conflict mediation. The projects included
organizational capacity building, the creation of a website,
and technical assistance for a "National Summit."
This summit was envisioned in the URC's founding
mandate as the culmination of its first year's work of grassroots
consultations, civic education, and conflict mediation activities.
While these activities engaged a diverse representation of
Rwandan society throughout the year, the summit was designed
to bring the results of these activities to the general public,
both at the national level and with a higher level of prestige
and visibility.
The summit began in July and August, as key
URC Commissioners traveled around the east and central Africa
region to meet with Rwandan refugees who had not repatriated
after the genocide. Other teams of Rwandan Embassy officials
abroad met with their communities. The goal was to encourage
them to present their views, if not in person at the October
summit, then by written or recorded statement. On October
18, 2000 the National Summit opened at Parliament with speeches
by Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Thabo Mbeki of South
Africa. Plenary presentations on the role of poverty, justice,
security, governance, and leadership on reconciliation began
the next day. Members of civil society, minority, and interest
groups, the Rwandan diaspora, and government officials then
actively debated these issues in more detail in smaller groups
of 75 people. The debates were often heated and although the
original intention was to have each group debate a single
issue, this proved impossible given their interplay in the
current Rwandan context, so each group debated each issue.
The last day, each group's conclusions were presented in a
plenary session, followed by a call-in television program.
Rwandans from as far away as Europe called in their responses
and expanded the debate beyond Rwanda into the diaspora.
The results of the National Summit are now
incorporated into district level action plans using participatory
methods to promote on-going discussions of local unity and
reconciliation priorities. The URC staff has now begun a six-month
long, second round of grassroots consultations to continue
bridging opinions of citizens in the field with those of the
leadership in Kigali. Unity and reconciliation will take time,
given the divisions created by the genocide, but the URC is
making sincere and earnest efforts to hasten the process by
promoting tolerance and understanding among all Rwandans.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Lake Kivu Methane Gas Triggers High Hopes
In northwestern Rwanda, nestled among the
mountains bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
lies one of Rwanda's true gems-gorgeous Lake Kivu. The lake
covers about 2,650 km2 of water shared by the two countries.
Apart from its sheer beauty, however, Lake Kivu's waters harbor
billions of cubic liters of unexploited methane gas. The existence
of the methane has been known for over 50 years but aside
from one tiny pilot electricity generating plant that provides
some of the power for a nearby brewery, the potential of the
lake to provide power has gone unrealized. What little power
there is now in the region is very expensive and being generated
primarily by hydroelectricity, much of it imported from the
DRC. Economic growth of the region, Rwanda's breadbasket,
is being seriously constrained by the lack of affordable power.
Interest in exploiting the methane gas in the lake has waxed
and waned, but a World Bank study completed last year injected
new enthusiasm into efforts to tap its potential.
Working with the newly created Rwandan Investment
Promotion Authority (RIPA), USAID asked an expert recommended
by the Global Bureau's Office of Energy to take another look
at state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly alternatives
for exploiting the huge reserves of methane. He corroborated
that the gas is produced by a bacteria that keeps renewing
the reserves. Once it was determined that the gas can be safely
exploited without endangering the environment, the expert
recommended that the most practical and financially viable
method of extracting the gas was to use swimming pool sized
barge mounted floating modules. Each module could extract
12.5 cubic meters of gas and turn it into 2.5 MW of electricity
,which can then be "wheeled" onto the existing power
grid system in the region. A pilot project could be completed
for less than $5 million in two years, and if successful could
be replicated many times over cookie cutter style to generate
enough power for the entire region. This is far less costly
and much quicker than waiting for the large scale World Bank
financed project originally envisioned by the experts. Most
exciting of all was his conclusion that the entire pilot program
could be financed by the Rwandan private sector.
Rwanda's private sector is still in its infancy.
There are a mere handful of manufacturing and service firms
of any appreciable size. Skeptics, many from the government,
said that the idea of the private sector taking on this project
was total fantasy. However, with a little help from USAID,
RIPA (whose director is former USAID Foreign Service National
Bonaventure Nyabizi) pursued the concept, shopped the idea
around and soon found several entrepreneurs willing to take
a risk and put up about $500,000 of completely domestic capital
to get the project going. The investors include the brewery,
a textile plant, an insurance company, and a bank. In February
2001, just six months after the idea was floated, the Gisenyi
Gas and Electric Company was born-the country's first independent
power producer. The public sector had been able to do nothing
in over 30 years!
RIPA Director Bonaventure and his colleagues
at the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources have high
hopes that within two years time, the lake area, gateway to
the world famous mountain gorilla park, will have a wholly
new source of environmentally friendly cheap energy to boost
tourism, industry, and commerce throughout the region.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
Emerithe Can't Wait to Take Up "Surfing"
Emerithe, a senior one student at the Forum
for African Women Educationalists' (FAWE) Girls School in
the Gisozi district of Kigali, is ecstatic. Last January 25th
was a very special day in the young life of her school. On
this day, the American ambassador, the minister of education,
and the USAID mission director inaugurated a fully equipped
computer laboratory at the school. The computer laboratory
was funded by a $75,000 grant provided through the Greater
Horn of Africa Initiative (GHAI) as a part of its special
objective to "increase access to regional analytical
information." This funding was used to purchase 14 computers
and essential related hardware, two external modems to connect
to the Internet, and all of the necessary electrical wiring.
The laboratory is fully equipped and ready to use. GHAI funding
will also train the teachers on the use and management of
the laboratory and will provide a year of equipment maintenance.
This is the first public secondary school in Rwanda to have
an up-to-date networked computer laboratory.
FAWE is an Africa-wide organization dedicated
to improving education for girls throughout the continent.
FAWE is also the U.S.government's implementing partner for
the Ambassador's Girls' Scholarship Program, funded through
the Education and Democracy Initiative (EDDI), another USAID
presidential initiative. During the past year, this program
has donated $50,000 to provide school fees, uniforms, books,
and transport to 67 needy and disadvantaged girls. The scholarship
program also provides girls with mentoring facilities as a
way to build confidence in their abilities, stronger self
esteem, and promote social and academic excellence.
The FAWE Girls School in Gisozi started operations
in the academic year 1999-2000 with a total of 160 students.
The planned capacity of the school is 720 students. Currently
the school has 309 students. Half of the students follow a
French language program and half follow an English program.
Students who have passed the qualifying exam are placed in
the school from all over the country by the Ministry of Education.
Special emphasis is placed on sensitizing the girls, who come
from many different backgrounds, to the value of peace, unity,
and coexistence. Emerithe, who lost her father and a brother
in the in the genocide, saw her world start to come back together
again when she found that she had won an Ambassador's Scholarship
to the FAWE school.
The laboratory will enable the FAWE school
to offer all of its students an up-to-date curriculum in computer
science and greatly strengthen the teaching of math and science.
Studies have shown that in Rwanda, girls are not encouraged
as much as boys to study math, the sciences, and computer
science and as a result are disadvantaged when it comes to
entering university or the job market. It is hoped that the
computer laboratory will enable girls to compete with boys
on a more equal footing for advanced education and employment
opportunities.
The computer laboratory will also give the
school's students access to the Internet, which will enhance
the formal classroom training they receive. The Kigali Institute
of Science and Technology (KIST) has offered to provide the
school with Internet wireless connectivity free of charge
and will offer the school a preferential monthly rate. The
one condition is that the school turns the laboratory into
a "cyber café" after class hours so that
the Gisozi community can take advantage of the new facility.
For the past year, Emerithe, who wants to
pursue studies in science, has been anxious to start surfing
the net; when she saw the new laboratory for the first time,
her dreams were answered. She couldn't wait for the inauguration
ceremonies to finish so she could get at the keyboard.
The ceremonies opened with a rousing welcoming
song sung by all of the girls of the school. After a tour
of the campus led by the headmistress, the invited guests
cut a ribbon to formally open the facility and witnessed a
brief demonstration. Emerithe was in the front row. Several
representatives of the faculty and Emerithe's student friends
expressed their individual hopes that the new computer facility
would revolutionize learning at the school, providing entirely
new avenues for teaching, research, and accessing information.
The students echoed Emerithe's hopes that they would soon
be connected to the world, and that the computer lab would
give them the opportunity they had been waiting for. In response,
the ambassador stressed the importance of providing a quality
education to all qualified students, girls as well as boys.
He told the girls that he hoped to return to Rwanda someday
and find that many of them had achieved personal and professional
success in their lives, and that one of them in the room might
someday be the president of the country. Emerithe skipped
the coffee and cookies after the ceremony to run right off
to the new lab and begin surfing.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
USAID Income-Generating
Projects Produce aMAIZEing Results
Umutara is a region settled largely by Rwandans
who grew up in Ugandan refugee camps and returned to Rwanda
after the 1994 war and genocide. They soon realized, however,
that the semi-arid land of this region was unable to support
the large numbers of livestock they brought with them. An
economic alternative was needed. A number of local farmers’
associations decided to take a risk and began to look towards
growing crops. This was a whole new venture for people who
had known nothing but herding. The associations in Umutara
decided to focus on maize production and approached USAID
for assistance. USAID provided seeds, tools, fertilizer, and
training. The members of the associations contributed the
planting, weeding, and harvesting, as well as places for storage.
The associations coordinate the sale of the maize and deposit
the proceeds in bank accounts that have been opened for each
member.
The results of the first two harvest seasons
were remarkable—land once considered useful only for
moderate grazing now produced up to two metric tons of maize
per season. Many families are earning over $400 per harvest,
in a region where herders are lucky to earn half that amount.
Families put the newfound earnings to good use, paying school
fees, improv-ing housing conditions, and purchasing medicines.
The story of 60-year old Charles Gasana is exemplary. Although
he had no house, he was given fields just like every other
member of the association. Other members did not feel that
he could carry out the work required to produce a successful
harvest and asked that he divide up his land among others.
He refused and worked day and night on his plot. The result:
a 1.4-ton harvest. Everyone began asking him how he would
spend the money. He replied that he would build a two-room
house, one room for his family, the other for the storage
of his future harvests of maize.
When the USAID financing was exhausted, rather
than seek assistance from donors for expanding production,
several of the associations got together and decided to apply
to a commercial bank for a loan, using the expected harvest
as collateral. This was almost unheard of since agricultural
credit is virtually nonexistent in Rwanda. But the bank looked
at the situation, decided that the maize growers of Umutara
were worth the risk, and made the loan. These associations
have now paid back that loan and been given another for planting
costs this season. Now 33 associations have their own bank
accounts and the farmers from Umutara are well on their way
to self-sufficiency.
|
