Anna's Story
Rwanda's
History
Le Repère du Loup
Education
Click on the pins to learn more about Anna's educational experience as a refugee in Tanzania, Kenya and the United States.
In a Nutshell
After independence from Belgium in 1962, Rwanda entered an era of civil war when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), consisting of the Tutsi-minority refugees in Uganda, invaded the country that was then Hutu-led government. The civil war, exacerbated by many factors and stakeholders, eventually, led to the “the fastest and most comprehensive genocide known to mankind” that killed over 800,000 Rwandans—mostly Tutsis. Over the course of the conflict, over 300,000 Tutsis fled to Uganda before independence and over 2 million Hutus fled Rwanda into refugee camps into Democratic Republic of Congo (then, Zaire) and Tanzania.
This is the story of Anna: A Rwandan, a refugee, an immigrant, an advocate for global health, and today, also a mother. This interactive web platform recounts the story of her life through the armed conflict and genocide in Rwanda. Using, on the top of the page, take a walk through her story in different education systems as a refugee, her identity, and finally, her reality during the conflict.
I didn’t understand it. I just knew that there was a problem between the Hutus and Tutsis….I never knew what I was. And I don’t think I read in my Identity Cards to check who I was. I wasn’t concerned to find out what I was. I just wanted to play…I didn’t see what would be the problem…All I knew is, oh, someone doesn’t like a Hutu or doesn’t like a Tutsi. I heard the conversations but didn’t look into it.
Identity
Rwanda
Education
Neither Here Nor There
As a child from a mixed family of both Hutus and Tutsis, for Anna, the differences in ethnic identities was a problem not close to home. Click on the arrow below to learn more about her interaction with identity.
Kenya
United States
Tanzania
Reflection
Post-War Recovery
After victory, RPF established a coalition government reflecting the one agreed upon in the Arusha Accords and the new constitution eliminated any ethnic labels. More than two decades after the 1994 genocide, despite economic growth, ethnic tensions and political suppression remain key challenges. There is much work to be done.
How did it Start?
The conflict stemmed from political and economics inequities between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups that were structured and embedded within Rwanda’s system by German and Belgian colonialists. Ethnic and political differences were solidified by the Germans lifting up Tutsis as superior because of the lightness of skin, length of noses, and economics of the social group. Later, Belgians played a critical role in replacing Tutsi chiefs, setting legislative electoral processes, and moving power to the majority Hutus.
My story is too big, because there are too many layers to me. Because it’s not the genocide, but it’s the fact that both my parents passed away from AIDS around the same time. There are too many things that converged…That’s the other part of the genocide, it wasn’t as traumatic to me as what the other stuff was. Going back to Rwanda was not even a sphere about going to a place that had a genocide. No way []... The fear was where my parents were buried…that was what was more difficult for me.
Neither Here, Nor There
They said it was okay
For me, but not for him
It was shameful, but uriosity won
My rightly-shaped nose
Planted against the car window
A sweaty wet mark that looked
as though...it would last forever.
A rightly-shaped sister
A wrongly-shaped brother
It was a nose
Did it really even matter?
Silence.
Neither here, nor there
But right there on my I.D. card
Clearly placed just before my name.
- Short poem based on Anna's story
The Danger of a Single Story
We often draw a single narrative on the impact of armed conflict on children. The story is often too big to fit into a website, a poem or a video. The truth lies with the individual and only the individual. Anna’s story goes beyond the narrative of a child in armed conflict, a child in an African country, or a child who has leaped through oceans for better educational outcomes. A lot happened in 1994, some of it was the war, but there was so much more.
Anna lost her father to AIDS in early 1994, just around the time the genocide had begun. Soon after they moved to Kenya, Anna's mothered returned to Kigali, where she passed away. Three years ago, Anna returned to Kigali to visit her mother’s grave, right outside her mother’s old house next to her grandparents’ graves.
Reflecting Back
Anna’s family gathers at her aunt’s home every April since they moved to the United States. It has become a tradition, a tradition for “learning and remembering.” They come together to reflect on a tragedy, and honor those who sacrificed themselves for many Rwandans, like Anna, to make their way across the border to Tanzania. She had “never seen someone dead” as a result of the genocide. Until she entered college when she was encouraged to watch Sometimes in April— a historical drama television film on the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Watching this documentary was the first time she faced the reality of the genocide. The reality that looked different for her compared to many others. Many Rwandans had their own stories and journeys. She has finally come to terms with her own.
- Anna
Memories are interesting...[we all have] different stories.
- Anna
United States
Anna’s move to the United States, however, was the most dramatic one for her. She moved to a “predominantly white and small town in New Hampshire” where many of her cousins and family had also moved to back when Anna was still in Tanzania and Kenya. Anna stuck out in her new high school – a Rwandan young lady who lived in Tanzania and Kenya in a school with a predominantly white population. For Anna, her teachers had both a positive and a negative impact on her learning and growth.
United States
Anna’s move to the United States, however, was the most dramatic one for her. She moved to a “predominantly white and small town in New Hampshire” where many of her cousins and family had also moved to back when Anna was still in Tanzania and Kenya. Anna stuck out in her new high school – a Rwandan young lady who lived in Tanzania and Kenya in a school with a predominantly white population. For Anna, her teachers had both a positive and a negative impact on her learning and growth.
Caption: Rwanda Identity Card
Anna’s biggest “stressor” of moving to the United States stemmed from the ignorance of her teachers. From Anna’s perspective, teachers were trying to be supportive, but would make general comments about the genocide in an effort to create awareness of the current issue and integrate Anna into classrooms. However, teachers often spoke to the narrative of the genocide they were most exposed to through media sources. Teachers made assumptions about Anna’s experience in the genocide without asking Anna of her true experiences or to let Anna express her feelings.
Click here for Anna’s perspective on the genocide: The Danger of a Single Story
Anna found her support in her English as a Second Language (ESL) class. It was a "comfortable place," but more importantly, Anna had a “great ESL teacher” who grounded her learning and growth in the chaos of transitioning into a new environment. Although her teacher was American, she was married to a Haitian, and had lived in Latin America and in the South. She was exposed to different cultures and awareness of how to best support Anna. Anna and her ESL teacher remain in touch. She attended Anna's wedding.
Kenya
When they moved to Kenya in 1995, Anna joined 8th grade [Form 1] at a Masaai Girls School (a secondary school). The schools in Kenya had no entrance exams and the medium of instruction was English. By the time they moved, they had mastered both Kiswahili and English. She suggested that the English lessons from the lady helped prepare them. By the time, they moved to the United States, Anna had completed 9th grade [Form 2]. In response to her learning, however, she said that it was all “memorization.” Teachers would “write everything on the board” and ask students to copy everything down.
Tanzania
Anna had barely completed 8th grade (first year of secondary school) in Rwanda when she moved to Tanzania towards the end of the genocide in 1994. Anna’s family moved to Dar-Es-Salaam and like many refugees during the genocide, aimed to integrate into the national education system there. Anna would have to repeat 8th grade [Form 1] at St. Joseph Secondary School in Mikocheni, but took the entrance examination for the school anyway. Unfortunately, the entrance exam was in Kiswahili. She explained the frustration of not understanding the exam even though they had picked up some Kiswahili on the streets. She remembers circling as many answers as she could and leaving blank the longer, written answers. As a result, they did not pass the examination and could not go to school for the entire year they were in Tanzania. Anna’s mother was “concerned” about their education, however, and wanted to make sure they were learning. So, they took English lessons from a lady that year.
Caption: A survivor looking at pictures of Rwandans who were killed in the 1994 genocide hanging at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center.
Caption: Five facts about the Rwanda Genocide by Thompson Reuters Foundation.
Perpetuating Conflict
Although the signing of the Arusha Accords treaty by the Rwandan government and the RPF in 1992 was a huge step towards peacebuilding efforts to create a transition government, it also angered many extremists Hutus against the government. The tipping point of mobilization among extremist Hutus occurred when Rwanda and Burundi Presidents were assassinated in a plane crash in April 1994, despite uncertainty around the responsibility of the assassinations to date. Many hardline anti-Tutsi figures organized and advanced an anti-Tutsi agenda, known as Hutu Power, to mobilize and arm many civilians, especially young militants, to conduct mass-localized killings of Tutsi.
References
Collier, P., & Hoeffler, A. (1998). On economic causes of civil war. Oxford economic papers, 50(4), 563-573.
Hintjens, H. M. (1999). Explaining the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 37(02), 241-286.
King, E. (2014). From classrooms to conflict in Rwanda. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 20-35.
Kirk, J. (2007). Education and fragile states. Globalization, Societies and Education, 5(2), 181-200.
Provost, C. (2014). Rwanda: a puzzling tale of growth and political repression – get the data. The Guardian. Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/datablog/2014/apr/03/rwanda-genocide-growth-political-repression-data
Rothbart, D. & Bartlett, T. (2008). Discursive production of conflict in Rwanda. In Global conflict resolution through positioning analysis (pp. 207-226). Springer New York.
Slocum-Bradley, N. R. (2008). Discursive production of conflict in Rwanda. In Global conflict resolution through positioning analysis (pp. 207-226). Springer New York.
The Identity of a Child
The civil war and the genocide in Rwanda stemmed from ethnic divisions. However, growing up, Anna's identity was not important to her because all she wanted to do was "play." She was also from a family of both Hutus and Tutsis.
- Anna
Anna's Real
Experience
Identity
The Real Story
UNHCR Report: The Rwandan genocide and its aftermath
This report by UNHCR provides an overarching overview of the conflict in Rwanda and its aftermath. The report traces the mass exodus of Rwandans across Central Africa.
