July 4th

July 4th is not just American Independence Day. In Rwanda, it marks the day the RPF recaptured Kigali and signifies the end of the 100 days of the genocide (although in the French-managed west of the country, killings continued until the RPF gained full control of Rwanda). It is alternatively referred to as Hero’s Day or Liberation Day. Rwanda’s Independence Day (from the Belgians) passed with much less notice on July 1st.

Sorry the picture isn’t that interesting – I’m always wary of fussing with my camera in urban areas, and this was taken in Kigali.

Butare national museum

The national museum houses some amazing artifacts from Rwanda’s history: an intricate traditional woven hut that is just too cool to describe, ingenious hunting traps, an amazing array of crafts, as well as photo exhibitions on the making things like of banana beer and pottery.

The pottery comes out perfectly round without the aid of a wheel, and fired in the ground by building a fire underneath the pots and covering them in burning leaves. Perhaps even more impressive are the baskets, ranging from small enough to store an item of jewelry to taller than me for backyard grain storage, most with intricately woven patterns. These are still used today. Curved woven panels with beautiful patterns were also made to divide rooms inside huts.

I ran out of time, so didn’t get to see the exhibits on musical instruments, sports, or religion. I’ll definitely be coming back with anybody who visits me, though!