Visiting Rwanda's museums

Rwanda is a beautiful country with a fascinating culture and history.  Unfortunately, much of her history was passed down as an oral tradition which was been part lost during the colonial years.  Some of that oral tradition did get written down, however, and some of the more recent history has been preserved in photos, artifacts and reconstructions which one can experience in Rwanda’s museums.  A few weekends past Anne and I went to visit the museum of the Palace of the King (Mwami) in the town of Nyanza.  There we saw traditional grass homes like those which most Rwandans lived in before Europeans came.  The Mwami’s palace was a very large version of the same sort of round, thatched hut which any other person might have.  He also had many other buildings in his compound, including a house for his milkmaids (yes, they had to be virgin to handle the royal milk) and his chief brew-taster (a man who also had to be virgin).  There is a specific breed of cows which was also reserved for the Mwami, and which was included in certain royal presentations and ceremonies.  They are large, placid, a rich brown in color, and have huge, hollow horns.  (I would love to try using one of their horn as a wind instrument, like a shofar.)  The last Mwami had a more conventional building for a palace, with rectangular floors, walls, and ceilings forming rectangular rooms with rectangular doors and windows.  Instead of an indoor hall connecting the rooms, though, most of them opened to an outside portico (kind of like the rooms at a Motel 6.)  The interior decoration was of interesting Rwandan-style geometric patterns, so the place was not quite European in flavor.  Interestingly, the queen-mother (mother of the Mwami) had significant power in the realm, despite the patriarchal trappings of the culture.

After leaving the Mwami’s Palace, we went to the Ethnographic Museum.  Well, we went there after a break for lunch and soft-serve ice cream at Inzozi Inziza (Nice Dream) which is the only place I know of in Rwanda which is famous for ice cream.  We enjoyed both the lunch and the ice cream, and neither were too expensive.   We arrived at the museum at 1:30pm, which didn’t leave us enough time to tour the whole place, so we will have to go back soon.  Perhaps next time we will being another person or two. 

During the drive out and back, I was admiring the scenery with the eye of a photographer.  A few times, I had Anne stop the car so that I could photograph a particularly nice piece of scenery.  I also took some photos outside at the museums: of the special cattle, of buildings and of Anne, etc. I had to pay a few dollars to use a camera in the museum area, and was also told that photos in the rooms of the more modern mansion were not allowed.  The only camera I had available was the one on my phone: a dual SIM, unlocked, BLU Advance 4.0 smartphone with Android version 4.22 that I got from Amazon for less than $100.  The image quality is OK, but I have no zoom, which I really want. The Olympus camera with 24x zoom that I bought used during the summer has developed a problem which makes it impossible to charge the battery by plugging in the camera.  I look forward to getting an external charger and spare battery so that I can take some photos of the countryside, and of people as well.  Perhaps I can figure out a way to insert photos, or a link to photos, into this blog. 

Finally, a word about Baha’i activities:  A few weeks ago all of the Baha’i pioneers in Rwanda were invited to meet together at the Baha’i center in Nyamirambo – a sector within the city of Kigali.  At that meeting, I was inspired to launch a Junior Youth Empowerment program in Muhanga, where we live.  The planning and execution of that project are moving forward, so I will have more to say next time.  Until then, “Umunsi mwiza!” (“Have a nice day!”)