The People I've Met in Rwanda

The people I’ve met in Rwanda…..
As it often goes with international travel, I’ve met people from all kinds of places. However, I’ll mention some of the Rwandans I see regularly.

The overall UC Denver project has hired a driver to help transport anyone associated with the project around the city and the country. His name is Fils (pronounced fizz.) This young guy frequently takes Amy and I across town to the public hospital in Kigali called CHUK (pronounced say-osh-ooh-kah…French initials for its name.) He has also taken us to Butare, a city in southern Rwanda where the NUR medical school is.
While traveling around town, Amy and I have gotten to talking with him quite a bit.
Like most Rwandans, Fils is an extremely nice guy. He’s 25 years old. He’s not married, but he’s hoping to be by the time he’s 30. He likes to go to this club called the KBC (Kigali Business Center) by the locals but is actually named the Planet Club.

A lot of folks in Rwanda are barely making it. But, clearly there are folks who’ve got consistent good jobs. Fils has driving responsibilities with our project about 5 days a week or so. I figure this regular employment is what helps him to afford going out to a club.

In general, I’ve heard that it’s not well-liked for foreigners to ask locals about their experience during the genocide unless they know the local Rwandan well. And for good and obvious reasons, too. When I stop to think about it, I realize that anyone over 15 is carrying around deep emotional scars regardless of what side they were on. In the U.S., we sometimes think of slavery as the Great Sin of our country. I suppose the genocide is theirs. They know it and it hurts. They’ve experienced death in ways I could never imagine.

Getting back to Fils….He’s an open guy that is fairly easy to talk to as a person. Sometimes we have a little bit of a language barrier, but his English skills are fairly good. With more time he might be someone I feel comfortable asking about his experience during the genocide. He was only a child. Only 10 years old. Yet, old enough to remember.