Packing My Curiosity

As part of my preparations to work and live in Kigali, Rwanda for three months I thought it was a good idea to research the country I was going to call home. I watched movies, read books, online news stories, etc. Many of them focused on the Genocide... how it happened, the violence, the recovery, the history and the incredible drama. In the weeks leading up to my departure I have to wonder, "How similar is day-to-day life in Rwanda compared to life in New Orleans?"

Before moving to NOLA I heard so many stories about what a violent city it was, how broken it was since the storm, how desperate things are. It turns out New Orleans is much more complex and beautiful than the apocalyptic images that are held by some outsiders. There are certainly problems and New Orleans will never be the same since the Storm, but people move on and change. Much of the external focus regarding Rwanda has been on the Genocide. I wonder to what degree the people of Rwanda have moved on. In New Orleans there is always the Storm. It is part of the people of New Orleans. It seems to have significantly changed the life most anyone that was a part of it. But at the same time, people are infinitely more complex than how the one event impacts them... even if it was such an incredibly destructive event.

I am bringing with me curiosity of what is beneath the Genocide in Rwanda. I do not presume to understand how it has impacted the people I will live with. I bring questions about the similarities (and differences) of the people of NOLA and the people of Kigali.

One of the joys for me in world travel is seeing the myriad of ways that people choose to love despite inevitable suffering.