Hey guys,
On the last post relating to this issue, I established the foundation for the "Africa is not a country" campaign. Thanks for reading it, hope you enjoyed it and got inspired to learn more about the beautiful continent of Africa. If you haven't read it, please do so and check out the other posts. Today we are going to be looking at the culture of a small but mighty country in East Africa named Rwanda. I use the expression small but mighty because although it is one of the smallest countries in Africa, it has shown tremendous strength in the way it built itself after facing great adversity.
Rwanda like any other African country has its ethnic groups. The major ethnic groups are Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. The official language of Rwanda is Kinyarwanda which is spoken by all the ethnic groups, other language spoken in Rwanda are English, French, Swahili. Today the ethnic groups live peacefully among each other, but it wasn't always like this. Rwanda is known for the genocide which occurred in 1994; this was the killing of the Tutsi by the Hutu. The genocide depopulated the nation from the loss of 1 million Rwandans including Hutus, Tutsis, and Twas and it destroyed the nation's economy.
Rwanda is a very fertile land and is known for their agricultural produces especially coffee and tea, this has helped the nation experience outstanding economic growth after the genocide. A large number of Rwandans are subsistence farmers or cattle rearers, so farm life is a vital part of Rwandan culture. It has a variety of wildlife habiting in the Akagera National Park and several volcanoes in the Volcano National Park which are major attractions for tourist; this has also been a factor in the economic boom. There is an uneven distribution of wealth in the nation like any other nation struggling with corruption. However, the Rwandan government provides free housing for beggars, so they don't end up on the streets.
Well, we can't talk about culture without bringing up music and dance which is an essential part of their ceremonies and festivals. The traditional dance routine includes the Intore, a celebratory dance performed by men, the Umushagiriro, a ballet dance performed by women, and drumming performed by men on drums called Ngoma.
Facts about Rwanda
- In the 15th century, Rwanda was a kingdom under the Bunyoro-Kitara Empire. Germany and Belgium colonized Rwanda.
- Kigali, the capital Rwanda is the cleanest city in Africa because of the Umuganda, a community cleaning day where the citizens come together to clean the city, and the ban on plastic bags by the government.
- Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills because a majority of the land contains hills.
- After the genocide Rwandans have come to identify no longer has Hutu, Tutsi or Twas but has just Rwandans.
- To commemorate the victims of the genocide, April 7 was made a memorial day it is a public holiday. There is also a museum called the Kigali Genocide Memorial center where over 250,000 victims lie.
- Famous Rwandan cuisine include Umutsima (a porridge-like paste made from cassava or maize and water), Isombe (mashed cassava leaves with dried fish), Brochettes (barbecued meat on a skewer)
- The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund works in Rwanda where they protect the endangered mountain gorillas. It attracts tourists to Rwanda and helps improve the quality of living in local communities through health, education, and livelihood efforts.
Researching about Rwanda for this article was fun, I learned a ton of new information which is the purpose of this campaign. I hope I was able to enlighten someone on Rwanda and its culture. Please share this post to spread awareness about the campaign and if any Rwandans are reading this, comment below other aspects of your culture not included. Thanks for reading.
Dasola
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