Rwanda 101
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Designed to inform and inspire staff of Aspen Heights. Rwanda 101 describes the history, context and response of the company through Africa New Life - their partner in Rwanda.
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Rwanda 101
- 1. A Step into Rwanda Aspen Heights in Africa
- 2. Our vision
- 4. Land of a thousand hills
- 6. 1884 1918 1935 1959 1962 1990 1994 2000 Photo credit: TKnoxB on Flickr
- 7. About Civil War 20 African civil wars were happening at the same time during the 1990s
- 8. Rwanda Massachusetts 69% in poverty <1% in poverty Source: UNDP 2013
- 9. 57.7 55.7 78.7 18.5 18.7 36.7 Kenya Rwanda United States Life expectancy Average age Shorter lives Younger population Source: UNDP 2011
- 10. $1,541 $1,147 $43,480 Kenya Rwanda United States Gross National Income per capita Lower income Fewer opportunities Source: UNDP 2012
- 11. 7 3.3 13.3 Kenya Rwanda United States Years of schooling Need for education Source: UNDP 2011
- 12. Kagame’s Vision 2020 “Vision 2020 is a reflection of our aspiration and determination as Rwandans to construct a united, democratic and inclusive Rwandan identity”
- 13. Challenges Land
- 17. CREDITS Presentation by Gary Zander gzander@givepro.org GivePro Consulting Group givepro.org Photo credits for external sources are either free of copyright or provided on the respective images according to the copyright stipulations of the author. All other photos are from Aspen Heights staff trips and are used with permission of Aspen Heights.
Editor's Notes
- Speaking notes are provided. Instructions/tips for slides are denoted with [aaa]
- [Share about your personal link with Africa and why you are sharing this presentation] Our vision at Aspen Heights is all about developing people. We work so that others can achieve their greatest potential, fulfill their personal goals and activate their creativity. This is true of our staff, residents on our properties and those we walk with globally
- We currently focus our support for Africa in Kenya and Rwanda. Rwanda is a small land-locked, resource-poor country in East Africa just a few degrees south of the equator. Aspen Heights works through our partner, Africa New Life Ministries in Bugesera, south of the capital, Kigali, in the village of Bugesera
- Known as “the land of a thousand hills,” Rwanda is proud of its green landscapes, breathtaking mountain views, and great animals of the wild that roam free in the vast national parks. Rwanda is one of only two countries that still have mountain gorillas. Agriculture is the backbone of the economy, employing about 90 percent of the population engaged in mainly subsistence farming. Coffee and tea are the primary cash crop exports for the country. But the agricultural sector is very fragile. Rough terrain, erosion and climatic hazards combine with geography and the lack of modern technology to create serious constraints to agricultural development.
- Because Rwanda is so green, it has the appearance of being healthy. But this only disguises the reality that most families live in poverty. For example, the story of Divine Niyonsenga is not usual. Divine is 9 years old in this picture. That’s her on the left. She is the fourth child of six with two brothers and three sisters. They live in this mud brick house with packed dirt for a floor. Inside you will find a typical seating area, stored clothing and dry food as well as a few mats and blankets they take out at night to sleep on. A while back, Divine’s father left the family, remarried and now lives elsewhere. Her eldest sister dropped out of school and got pregnant. Divine’s mother now cares for two 5 year-old children (hers and her daughter’s). That’s them in the middle. So there are 8 people in this household being cared for by one adult. They own the house but they don’t have enough land to expand the house or grow their own food. This means Divine’s mother struggles a lot to care for the family. She cultivates the land of others for money or to receive part of the harvest. Divine is one of the children sponsored by a staff member of Aspen Heights. This brings them all hope that the future will be better than the past.
- The recent past was filled with tragedy. First colonized in 1884 by Germany, Belgium took over Rwanda and Burundi during the first world war In 1935, Belgium introduced identity cards labelling each individual as either Tutsi, Hutu, Twa or Naturalised The Rwandan Revolution of 1959 saw Hutu activists force 100,000 Tutsis to flee to neighboring countries Rwanda was separated from Burundi and gained independence in 1962 In 1990, mainly Tutsi refugees formed the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) and invaded northern Rwanda initiating the Rwandan Civil War 1994 Genocide saw around 1 million Tutsi and Hutu moderates killed by Hutu extremists. The RPF took power after the genocide. 2 million Hutus fled to neighboring countries fearing Tutsi reprisals. In 2000, the head of the RPF, Paul Kagame, became president and has held office ever since.
- Although Rwanda endured a horrific conflict, civil war itself is not uncommon. The nations of Europe went through many civil wars throughout the modern era. Some civil wars in Europe such as in Austria and Spain did not end until short before World War 2. The United States had a bloody civil war that lasted 4 years and cost the lives of 600,000 soldiers. In the 1990s, about twenty civil wars were occurring concurrently during an average year. This was a rate about 10 times higher than pre-World War 2 levels, largely due to how fragile new countries were and the struggle after colonial rule.
- 20 years after the war, Rwanda remains in poverty. It may be helpful to explain conditions in terms of what we are familiar with. Rwanda is about the same size as the state of Massachusetts but has nearly double the population. With one of the highest densities of people in Africa, Rwanda has a shortage of land. At today’s subsistence levels, there is not enough land for each family sustain life by farming alone. As a result much of Rwanda is in poverty. When using the same international standards for poverty, Massachusetts has virtually no poverty. [NOTE: Poverty is multi-dimensional but often defined as income less than $2/day]
- The average lifespan of someone in Rwanda is 23 years shorter than in the United States. This is just one of the effects of poverty – poor health, poor nutrition These factors hinder the development of the nation. With a younger average population, it also means that a strong educated workforce is also missing. Rwandan women will on average bear 5 or 6 children compared to 2 in the United States. Part of the reason is a higher mortality (death) rate in Rwanda (around 1 in 10 die in the first year). But subsistence farming also requires more labour. History has shown that when nations invest in their education systems, development improves and birth rates go down even without the use of birth control.
- Poverty is primarily measured by income. At $1,147 per person per year, the average income is around $3 per day. Compare this with the average U.S. citizen with nearly 40 times the income per person. When all a family has is locked into food and housing, they are locked out of opportunities afforded through education.
- Most people in Rwanda have only a very basic education with an average of 3.3 years of schooling. Yet literacy is a priority that the nation is working on. In 2000, the literacy rate was 48%. Today 70% of Rwandans can read and write in either French, English or both. The Rwandan Government provides universal primary education. However parents are required to provide uniforms, school supplies and books. With 69% of families in poverty, many can’t afford to send their children to school.
- In the year 2000 the newly elected president Paul Kagame presented Vision 2020 “Vision 2020 is a reflection of our aspiration and determination as Rwandans, to construct a united, democratic and inclusive Rwandan identity, after so many years of authoritarian and exclusivist dispensation.” He lays out the challenges faced by Rwanda and sets out six interwoven pillars of change to become a middle-income nation. We will look at a few of these challenges.
- The main challenges to the development of Rwanda focus on land. 1. Not enough arable land Agriculture accounts for 90% of the labour force. With a high rural population dependent on subsistence farming, most will not be able to grow their food. The land is largely unproductive and of poor quality. 2. Rwanda is Land-locked Transportation of goods for trade is dependent on neighboring nations with far-away ports 3. Limited exports Coffee and tea production alone cannot meet the needs of the people for jobs. These are the two primary sources of productive.
- The level of education is a major challenge. Kagame acknowledged the low level of human resource development With a lack of professional personnel, poor quality of teachers and education barely above literacy levels, the population is largely uneducated. 5. Other challenges include weak institutions, high foreign debt and the consequences of the genocide.
- Other challenges noted in Vision 2020 include weak institutions, high foreign debt and the consequences of the genocide. Vision 2020 demonstrates the political will and efforts needed to achieve reconciliation. There is probably no other nation that has taken on this task so completely. A National Commission for Unity and Reconciliation was established with a Minister of Reconciliation. Community-level courts called Gacaca were created to address actions of the genocide and reunite the people of Rwanda. An anti-segregation legal framework was setup including the abolishment of ethnicity cards. Today, the tribal distinctions of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa are done away with. All people are now considered Rwandans.
- [Organize audience into groups of 4-5] Let’s take a few minutes to discuss solutions to these challenges. Remember the main challenges are: 1. Not enough arable land 2. Rwanda is Land-locked 3. Limited exports 4. Low level of human resource development and education 5. Weak institutions, high foreign debt and the consequences of the genocide. [After enough discussion time has elapsed, ask each group to provide one solution. Write the answers down as they are presented] [OPTIONAL: Discuss the answers together as a group] [Tell them the next session is about how Aspen Heights is making a difference by focusing on these challenges]
- [CREDIT SLIDE: No need to display during live presentation]