Day 2
Aug.31- This hotel is perhaps thirty or more years old. It is several stories tall in some areas and three stories tall in others. There is a large addition being built next to the hotel now.
the economy seems to be doing well. many business men are passing through the lobby of this hotel.
Kigali is the capital of Rwanda. It sits at 5,141 feet in the mountains. It is near the center of the country and n the Ruganwa River. Kigali being on the river developed into a trading center after 1895 and the German colonial administration. Dr. Richard Kandt established his home here in 1907 and is credited with it’s founding in 1898. Rwanda gained it’s independence in 1962.
It’s chief export is coffee with many minerals also mined and exported. Coffee makes up 50-80 percent of Rwanda’s exports.
In 1994 the Genocide occurred between Hutu gangs and the Rwandan Army attacking the Tutsi people. But this issue of favoritism and political power held by some and not others had been simmering for many generations.
A million people were killed in just ten days. This was possible due to the previous issues in the country. The Catholic church was also partly responsible for this disaster by backing one side over the other.
Most everyone we talked to in the country lost family members in this awful time. Many women were infected on purpose with the aids virus by rape.
It is a sad commentary on how easily people are led down the path of destruction with ideas that are nonsense.
Herman Goring used similar or the same tactics in WW ll to destroy the jews. Create ideas that separate one group from another to make them nearly inhuman so it is easier for them to be killed.
We read and relaxed by the pool. I’m reading a crime novel at the moment. The weather couldn’t have been better. There is a view off to the right between buildings of a mosque and huge soccer stadium. This is a very hilly country.
Still no contact with our tour leader or fellow travelers.
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