Rwanda is a country in eastern Africa where hundreds of thousands of Africans were massacred in one of the most troublesome time in international history. The book, "We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families" by Phillip Gourevitch (1998) tells an all too true account of the atrocities that occurred during this very unstable time in their past. Two opposing ethnic groups, the Tutsis and the Hutus, went head to head in a genocidal combat that eventually killed about one million individuals -- the majority of them innocent citizens -- and left millions more scarred both physically and psychologically. The Hutus believed in the extreme ideology of what was called Hutu Power. Followers of this ideology began to formulate ideas on the evil contribution that the Tutsis were making to their society and went as far as deeming them cockroaches. With the assistance of the media, the Hutus were able to contaminate the minds of millions of people who saw it upon themselves to cleanse society of all individuals who identified themselves as Tutsi. Militias, government officials, clergy, and even ordinary citizens murdered Tutsi women, children, and men without any just cause -- only due to the fear of the Tutsis rebellion against the Hutus. Gourevitch provides a personal, in-depth account of the lives of the survivors of the Rwandan genocide and provides valuable insight into the main causes and effects of this occurrence. As Gourevitch points out, despite the popular belief that these two groups had been at war for decades prior to the genocide that took place in 1994, the truth is that at one point, the Hutus and the Tutsis were ethnically indistinguishable. These two ethnic groups shared the same culture, language, and religion. They were also heavily intermixed, allowing for the small distinguishing factors among them to become even more miniscule. However, due to their historical upbringing, the Tutsis were seen by the Belgium, the previous colonists of Rwanda, as the superior group of the two. Identity...
Since the Tutsi were slightly more slender, taller, and at times lighter, they were given more educational and employment opportunities that the Hutus were denied. John Hanning Speke contributed greatly to this belief with his depiction of the Hamitic hypothesis and his race science by proposing that those who descended from biblical origins would reside in central Africa and would be tall and slender, just as the Tutsis were. As Gourevitch depicts in his recollection of the stories he heard, the resentment from this implemented caste system gave the Hutus plenty of opportunity for resentment toward the Tutsis. However, upon gaining power once Belgium granted the country independence, the Hutus rebelled and took political power of Rwanda. Cast aside to neighboring countries, the Tutsis prepared themselves to once again control the country. Gourevitch gives the readers an epic account of these events through the eyes of individuals who had to actually face these occurrences on a daily basis. Upon the murder of the Hutu Rwandan president, Habyariman, the Hutus put blame on the Tutsis and started the worst genocide in modern times.
Rwanda and Child Soldering There are approximately 300,000 child soldier in the world today and 120,000 of these are present in Africa, Rwanda in one of the places in Africa with a very high ratio of child soldiers. These children are abducted and then brain washed and manipulated in order to make them killer, spies, messengers etc. They are given fire arms at such early age and trained to not feel
Health and Environmental Issues in the Middle East and Third World Countries The World health organization states that "More than three million children under five die each year from environment-related causes and conditions. This makes the environment one of the most critical contributors to the global toll of more than ten million child deaths annually..." (The environment and health for children and their mothers) This report serves to illustrate the fact
Burundi The Republic of Burundi is a small country in central equitorial Africa facing many challenges including a growing population of individuals with AIDS and an ongoing problem with tribal warfare. With an inflation rate of over 12% and the constant upheaval from internal turbulence, Burundi faces many challenges as it attempts trade with the rest of the world. Burundi's population was about 6 million people in 2003 (CIA, 2003), with a
Rwanda Genocide (1994) The Role of Globalization We know that the factors which resulted in the Rwanda genocide taking place were the ethnic hatred, ecological pressures and the civil war. However, what we don't know is why the genocide took place at all. Therefore, here we will be talking about the genocide that took place in 1994 only. Here the obvious features of the globalization as well as the international pressures that
For example, in 2004, bad weather threatened the already strained economic conditions in the area (USAID). In describing Rwanda's current economic situation, Murenzi states that the country cannot "meet food and nutrition needs of the population at large," has "exploit[ed]" the land, does not produce a diverse enough amount of goods, cannot stimulate its own economy because of a lack of wealth, especially among subsistence farmers, and has too
International Affairs Has the UN succeeded, or is it likely to succeed, in maintaining international peace and security in Africa, the most disadvantaged region of the world? In 1945 the United Nations (UN) came into existence as an international organization who replaced the League of Nations which was blamed for being unable to intervene in World War II. The UN was established to promote international security among many other goals that are
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