Truly the poor and destitute...

 

We have visited a few villages, but this last one was my favorite. First off, the place we visited was on the side of an active volcano! Exciting...and beautiful to say the least... We visited a group of people, talked to them, and listened to their stories. Then we went a visited a group of people they have been reaching out to.

People often think that in Rwanda there are two ethnic groups, hutus and tutsis. Well there is a third group, the batwas, who make up 1% of the population. They are pygmies and are the marginalized in Rwanda. They used to be hunters, and now that the forests are being torn down for crops, or protected as national forests, they are no longer allowed to hunt there. Some have started to learn to farm, but the majority refuse, and choose instead to beg for food and money. They live in small huts made from sticks and old UN tarps. Above is a picture of one. Its really sad. It is so interesting to see how varied the 'quality' of life is here in Rwanda--at least compared to what I am used to. But more on that in a minute. The best part about visiting the Batwas was interacting with the kids.

They knew no English, and has seen very few, if any, white people, so they were pretty cautious. They all hung back, and then a boy and a little girl sat down a few feet away. I started making faces and playing with my glasses, which made them laugh. Then as more came over--still a ways away I said 'goodnight' in Kinyarwanda and "fell asleep." I began to snore, which they found hilarious, and then suddenly I woke up! They screamed and ran a few feet away. I looked at them, laughed, and then fell back asleep. I did this about four times, each time they came closer and closer. Finally I held out my hand and boy touched it. Then another hit it. I went around the circle (about 20+ kids) and then I flipped my hand over. When they hit the top of my hand, it (the hand) went crazy and ran around until I caught it. I repeated this about three times until they caught on and none of them would hit it when it was upside down, only when it was right-side up. Then I would trick them and turn my hand at the last moment, making them scream as the hand went crazy. We played like this for 20 min. or so 'til we had to leave. I said goodbye in Kinyarwanda and then they all came up and starting saying things I couldn't understand, no longer afraid. We walked down the mountain, and when we were halfway down I looked up and could see them all standing there watching. I waved my arms real big and they saw it and let out a whoop. I repeated this every few minutes all the way down the mountain, until they were out of sight. Its so funny how even a short interaction can grip your heart. I hope I can visit them again, and I could see me trying to help the whole tribe, just because of those kids. This was the first time that my heart had really be gripped like it was in Latvia. A video of the kids is here

They were so happy though. Even though by our standards their life wasn't very good, they had a great time (with us) but even just watching them with themselves, they were laughing, running around and generally enjoying life. I found myself wondering what they do all day, not even having books to read, and then I realized that it really is possible to be content where ever you are. True, their chief was crawling next to me asking me for money, but at least for these kids, they were able to have a good time. I really want to visit again, spend the night, and live with them, really seeing what it is like and spending alot of non-verbal time with them. That is probably not a possibility though.