Availability:
Session Closed for 2010, Accepting applications for 2011

Rwanda.  Marked by a tragic past, this land of innate beauty is one of stark ironies.  On our journey through “The Land of a Thousand Hills”, we discover that despite the genocide that made this country known to the world in the early ‘90s, Rwanda is comprised of an easy-going people who are working towards making their motherland into a model of development leading the way for nations throughout the continent.

We begin our journey in Rwanda with an inquisition into the multilayered complexities of modern history; visiting the well-crafted Kigali genocide memorial site, meeting with non-governmental organizations, and hearing Rwandans of various backgrounds speak of their experiences and perspectives.  While in the composed capital of Kigali, we have the opportunity to stay in a center for urban youth in a disadvantaged neighborhood and participate in a workshop addressing approaches to non-violent conflict resolution.  We begin to examine the roots of Rwanda’s conflict and inspect ways to resolve divergences within our own lives as well as within the larger roles of society.

Heading south through farms layering the rolling landscape, we celebrate Rwanda’s rich cultural heritage passing through a traditional Chief’s compound and a renowned pottery center.  We continue on to the university town of Butare where we settle into one-on-one home-stays. Perched at 6,000 feet, this sleepy intellectual center becomes our home for a week, during which, we engage in daily Kinyurwanda language lessons, serve at one of three centers for street children, visit the National Museum, and partake in drumming, dance, and craft lessons.  We sit in on a traditional “Gacaca” court bearing witness to testimonies from the 1994 genocide, hear intellectuals from the university speak, and visit a harrowing memorial.

Voyaging out into the countryside, we then begin our rural home-stays, living with local farmers whose terraced parcels of patch-worked land blanket the hilly landscape.  We learn about local coffee cooperatives and grassroots development, gaining insight into the globalization of a specialty product on the international market while creating bonds with home-stay families and partaking in the simple activities of daily life.

During the trekking component of our journey in Rwanda, we set out on foot hiking from village to village while taking in the soothing scent of burning eucalyptus, the lovely earthen homes hidden behind vibrant green banana trees, and glimmering Lake Burera.  During our trek, we once again have the opportunities to witness rural life first-hand while staying with local families and learning about traditional healing practices and local crafts.

Participating in a “live-in” service project, we stay in an orphanage that is home to children and young adults who have lost their parents during the turmoil of the 1994 genocide.  Teaching English, playing games, hiking in the shadow of two remarkable volcanoes, and sleeping side-by-side with the Rwandan youth, we begin to bridge lives separated by seemingly different life circumstances and diverse cultures.

We conclude our East African journey in an exquisite spot perched above breathtaking Lake Kivu where we reflect upon the perceptions we brought to this tiny nation and how they may have shifted through the intimate relationships we’ve formed with the welcoming local population in this stunning land of a thousand hills.