From Kigali, Rwanda

Rwanda is stable, both economically and politically. In fact, as I entered the city of Kigali I could see organized construction, a strong presence of banks, businesses, and people that were very busy. I am sure many people in the world think of Rwanda as a country that experienced a genocide, but that was in 1994. If one thinks of Europe's holocaust in WWII and Germany in 1961, for that matter all of Europe by 1961, there were drastic changes. The same is true for Rwanda. It is a tightly controled state, but one would expect that from a country that has experienced such deep conflicts in its recent past.

One such example of progressive political movement is the representation of women in parliament. Here in Rwanda, it is mandated that 50% of the representitives are female. This puts western states to shame, particularly the U.S. were there are 17 women of 100 senators and 75 females out of 535 total representatives in congress. That is 17% total female representation. Although the US does not mandate, such as Rwanda, it is not an admirable rate of representation in a country were equality and freedom are the ideals.

I will be visiting several areas of the country and hope to give you more reports of life in Rwanda. If you have any questions feel free to post and I will address these as I have time and quick internet connections.

For more information on the country as a whole I recommend the UN and the CIA world factbook websites.

More later, Tina