National Day of Protest

Arriving in the city of Gitarama this afternoon, one hours drive from Kigali, the first news we heard as we were walking down the dirt back road to the FHI office, was that tomorrow was declared a holiday.  Upon further discussion, this statement was revised to be that we as foreigners had a day off, because the government of Rwanda had just declared Wednesday, November 19th as a day of Protest.  

On Monday, November 9th, Rwandan President Kagame's chief of protocol Rose Kabuye was arrested on arrival at the Frankfurt airport. Detained for a 2006 international warrant issued by French anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, Kabuye found her self facing charges for alleged involvement in the shooting down of then President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane in April of 1994, the act which officially started the genocide in Rwanda.  In response, Rwanda expelled the country's German Envoy and removed their own Ambassador from Germany on November 11th until the matter is resolved. 

Since that time, numerous protests have been staged in Kigali and throughout the country as a national tensions with France have intensified.  Following the arrest, Germany has also been added to the list of countries falling out of Rwanda's grace.  Yet, with the recent election of Barak Obama, it is actually better to be an American in East Africa than a European.  Who would have thought?!?

So what does all this mean for us? Basically our program is continuing to keep us under house arrest (they call it staying inside) while the demonstrations are going on.  Something about safety and what not, as the majority of people cannot distinguish Americans from Europeans, in one huge generalization, we are all MZUNGU (white people). My sarcastic solution to that is that we all wear American flag shirts and Obama pins to clearly identify our nationality and solidarity with our host nation.