EGYPT'S ECONOMY & INFLATION

The US has surely experienced rising costs due to inflation over the past few years. Yet, this is nothing in comparison to what Egyptians have gone through. The country's inflation rate peaked at 38% in September 2023. Since then, it has decreased to about 25% in July 2024 (source: https://tradingeconomics.com/egypt/inflation-cpi). Egypt is deeply in debt. The rate of Government Debt to GDP is nearly 96%.  Housing, food, and transportation are all stretching people' household budget.  While this is true for all Egyptians, it is even more true for refugees living in the country.  Simply to put food onto the table and into one's mouth is difficult for many of them. 

Egypt's economy relies mainly on agriculture, media, petroleum imports, natural gas, and tourism. 

Egypt's main exports consist of natural gas, ready-made clothes, cotton textiles, medical and petrochemical products, citrus fruits, rice and dried onion, and more recently cement, steel, and ceramics. Italy and the USA are the top export markets for Egyptian goods and services..

Warm weather and plentiful water have in the past produced several crops a year. However, since 2009 increasing desertification has become a problem. "Egypt loses an estimated 11,736 hectares of agricultural land every year, making the nation's 3.1 million hectares of agricultural land prone "to total destruction in the foreseeable future",

Cotton, rice, wheat, corn, sugarcane, sugar beets, onions, tobacco, and beans are the principal crops. Land is worked intensively and yields are high. Increasingly, a few modern techniques are applied to producing fruits, vegetables and flowers, in addition to cotton, for export.  The most common traditional farms occupy 0.40 hectares (1 acre) each, typically in a canal-irrigated area along the banks of the Nile. Many small farmers also own cows, water buffalos, and chickens. 

Egypt is the U.S.'s largest market for wheat and corn sales, accounting for US$1 billion annually and about 46% of Egypt's needs from imported wheat. Other sources of imported wheat, include Kazakhstan, Canada, France, Syria, Argentina, and Australia.

The Western Desert accounts for about two-thirds of the country's land area. For the most part, it is a massive sandy plateau

Practically all Egyptian agriculture takes place in some 25,000 square kilometres (6.2 million acres) of fertile soil in the Nile Valley and Delta.

Some desert lands are being developed for agriculture, including the controversial but ambitious Toshka project in Upper Egypt, but some other fertile lands in the Nile Valley and Delta are being lost to urbanization and erosion. 

Egypt's mineral and energy resources include petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, gold and iron ore. Crude oil is found primarily in the Gulf of Suez and in the Western Desert. Natural gas is found mainly in the Nile Delta, off the Mediterranean shore, and in the Western Desert. Oil and gas accounted for approximately 7% of GDP in fiscal year 2000–01.

Egypt is the world's largest producer of dates; the second largest producer of figs; the third largest producer of onions and eggplants; the fourth largest producer of strawberries and buffalo milk as well as the fifth largest producer of tomatoes and watermelon.  Cotton has long been a primary exported cash crop, but it is no longer vital as an export. 

Egypt's inflation rate over the past 10 years

Expat Cairo.  This week, I was also exploring areas of Cairo in which expats tend to live and work -- the Nile island of Zamalek and the leafy Maadi.  I enjoyed strawberry juice, an almond croissant, iced coffee, Lebanese dinner, did some window shopping, people watching, grocery shopping at a truly fancy store (they even sold brie cheese!), and even got to tour the German Protestant High School and sit in on one of their religion classes (thanks to the pastor of the German congregation who also works at the school).  The students attending this high school are 90% percent Egyptian, yet the medium of instruction, the curriculum, and the eventual high school diploma are German. 

German Evangelical School in Cairo

I had the opportunity to tour the German School that is operating under the umbrella of the German Evangelical Congregation in Cairo (pre-K through 12th Grade).  While the land is owned by teh German Embassy, the spacious and well-maintained buildings are owned by the school. I even got to sit in on an 11th-grade religion class jointly taught by the Protestant pastor (Pr. Christian Plitzko, who doubles as the school's Christian religion teacher) and a Muslim female teacher.  All taught in German.  In the end, I even got to buy German bread from a vendor at the school.  How very strange!

Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)

Located a short distance from the Giza Pyramid, this museum is 95% complete.  First conceived in 2002, the museum is said to have been built at a cost of 1 billon USD.  After over 1,500 entries were submitted to a design contest, a winning design was chosen, building contracts were signed, and construction began in 2005.  Eventually, there was a hiatus, but construction eventually resumed - only to be interrupted by the events surrounding the Arab Spring and by the Covid pandemic.  Hopefully, the museum's grand opening ceremony will happen either later this year or early 2025. 

While the museum's galleries are still closed to the public, its lobby and grand staircase can be toured, in order to do a trial run of facilities and procedures.  The lobby is HUGE - about 33,000 square meters - but small in comparison with the rest of the museum.  The GEM's total display area itself covers an area of 80 (!) football fields, I have been told.  Once completed and open to the public, it will display the entire contents of King Tutankhamun's tomb, as well as 100,000 other artifacts from Egypt's ancient civilization.   

The grand staircase gives a wonderful impression into to future displays.  Equivalent to the hight of a six-story building, it displays over 60 impressive artifacts, well labeled, lit, and grouped into four thematic sections --“Royal Image”, “Divine Houses”, “Kings & Gods”, and “Journey to Eternity."

The museum's tagline is "the word's largest museum dedicated to a single civilization." It speaks of the pride Egyptians take in their glorious past, which often stands in stark contrast to the country's present economic and political and political power.

Sakkara.  A few miles South of Giza, one can find Sakkara, located past canals, farms, and date orchards.  It is difficult to describe the vastness of this ancient necropolis.  For about 2 millennia, this site served as the burial ground for kings, royal family members, and influential members of the kings' administration.  The area is most famous for its oldest buildings, the step pyramids (or stacked "mastabas"). The oldest was built for King Djoser, considered the earliest large-scale cut-stone structure built by humans.  While many of Egypt's  118 pyramids are either inaccessible or require hiking up or down in interior sweltering heat, I finally got to enter a pyramid, the Pyramid of Unas (the 9th ruler of Egypt's 5th dynast, 2345–2315 BC).  Amazing!  Lots of inscriptions of funerary texts inside that were continued in the pyramids of subsequent rulers and  served as the basis for Egypt's later Book of the Dead.  I hope to return to Sakkara with Anna and explore some of the other parts of this humungous burial city.  I also highly recommend the small, but excellent "Museum of Imhotep" at the site.

One of the mysteries of ancient Egypt is how its people were able to cut stone - either large 70-ton building blocks or delicate objects - with such a precision ... without access to modern equipment and access to even iron or steel tools (much or ancient Egypt belongs to the Bronze Age).   The museum features some beautiful and perfectly round, even, and thin-walled stone vessels.

WEEK 4   Cairo

As my week here begins with worship on Friday norming, so does my blog.  After attending worship at St. Andrew's, I visited the beautiful Museum of Islamic Art, had a late lunch of Egyptian beef liver and rice, and then joined the St. Andrew's/StARS community for a 2-hour felucca ride/congregational potluck on the nile. 

Visiting the museum on a Friday turned out to be an excellent choice.  For some time, I was the only visitor and enjoyed learning about the various Muslim periods/dynasties and their art, architecture, and science without being rushed. 

When I left the museum, I caught the end of one portion of the Friday prayers from a nearby mosque and heard the sounds of an imam's sermon via loudspeaker broadcasted to the neighborhood.  All over the neighborhood, people were sitting on their prayer mats and waiting to the sermon and the remainder of the prayers to end.  I also noticed on my Uber ride to the Ma'adi district the prominent presence all around the city of many police vans and police officers.  After all, Friday prayer is one of the few opportunities for people to gather in large groups.  And when people gather in crowds, who knows what they might do if incited by a zealous preacher?  Hence, the police listens in on the sermons and keeps an eye on the worshippers.  How do I feel about that? Not sure.

At the Islamic Museum, I learned that the museum (which is located directly across the street from a state security compound) got badly damaged in a suicide bomb attack that was carried out in January 2014 by sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood.  It took 3 years of renovations before the museum was able to open its doors again. 

After all the sunshine that I caught in the late afternoon sun on the Nile, I spent the next day resting.  On Sunday, I ventured out again, this time, to the tentmakers market.  After browsing through some of the stores, I sat down at a coffeeshop for people watching, i.e., men smoking shisha (check out the video below).

Upon returning to my apartment, I check into my flight to Kigali and finalized packing my luggage.

WEEK 5   Rwanda

THANKS
First up, I could not have done the same journey as part of a larger group – for neither would I have been able to learn as much as I did, nor would the other group members have been able to tolerate my never-ending stream of questions. I am so very grateful to Pr. John Rutsindintwarane, Mr. Ruzinga Emmanuel Masantura, Fr. Rugaragu Innocent, SJ, Pr. Twesige Georges, and Pr. Prince A. Kalisa for their patience and for engaging in wonderful conversations with this mzungu (Swahili for white person/foreigner). I am also deeply indebted to them for their hospitality, generosity, and friendship. 

MY HOST
I stayed for an entire week at John and Robin’s home, located in Kigali's Kanombe neighborhood near Kigali International Airport, along a peaceful cobble-stone paved road. I got to stay in the part of the home originally built for John’s late mother. With us were, at all times (albeit outside), two fierce German shepherd dogs – Kennedy and Bruno – that kept us safe from any intruders.

One of the earliest things I learned about John that he LOVES fresh juice. He buys super-fresh fruit from a vendor outside the city every week that he then runs through a blender without adding water. Sometimes, the result flows easily into one's glass, at other times, one has to eat it with a spoon. Always, always, though, the outcome is delicious! As to the fruit – he typically uses sweet bananas, mangos, papayas, watermelon, red beets, pineapple, and avocados.  Each day, I must have enjoyed 4 glasses of this kind of juice. 

John is super-easy to talk to, he is both funny and sincere, and has formed his views on faith, life, church, community building, over many years of struggling, living, serving, and learning. While I had heard him and his wife Robin Strickler talk at a couple of synod assemblies, I had never talked to either of them before. When I reached out to John to help facilitate meeting the pastor of Advent’s sister congregation, Matimba Parish, John immediately offered me to stay at his home. Next, he sent me a full itinerary for my week in Rwanda. I was blown away. Unfortunately, I did not meet Robin and the couple's son Xavier, as they both returned to the US earlier this Summer for the coming school year.

Born, raised, and educated in Tanzania, John attended seminary in Kenya, before being ordained and serving as assistant to the Lutheran Bishop in Tanzania, responsible for distance theological education. In September 1994, in a big leap of faith, John began repatriating Rwandan refugees . . . to a country that was his home but which he had never seen. That work continued with the help of LWF-Department of World Service (in partnership with Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service). At first, John even spoke Swahili better than Kinyarwanda. Eventually, John continued his studies in the US at Eastern Mennonite University, Pennsylvania, and Wartburg Seminary, Iowa. 

OTHER NEW FRIENDS
Through Pr. Bekah Davis, I got introduced to a Rwandan friend of hers, Masantura. Economist by training, Masantura has worked for many years as senior business reporter for RwandaTV. While he continues working for RwandaTV as a consultant, for the past 2 years, though, Masantura’s main job has been with the Rwanda National Investment Trust, a government institution that promotes small-scale savings accounts, especially among rural Rwandans. Masantura works in sales and marketing, meeting with rural communities to promote the habit of savings among them. 

And finally, through John, I got to meet Fr. Innocent, the rector of the Jesuit Schools in Kigali.  John and Innocent first knew one another in Tanzania, long before either of them was ordained. Each in their own context, both share a passion for community building, peace-making, and conflict resolution. 

RWANDA
Just a little smaller than Massachusetts, Rwanda has twice the population of that US state (currently about 14 million Rwandans), one of the most densely populated countries and territories on the planet (#24 of 249). Driving around, I saw people everywhere, and it was often unclear to me whether we were driving through a village or just populated countryside. Rwanda is the world’s 149th-largest country, and the fourth smallest on the African mainland.

Geography & Climate. Rwanda is located in Central/Eastern Africa, and is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, Uganda to the north, Tanzania to the east, and Burundi to the south. The entire country is at a high altitude (lowest point: 3,117 ft). Mountains dominate central and western Rwanda and the country is sometimes called “Land of a Thousand Hills” (French: pays de mille collines). The watershed between the Congo and Nile drainage basins runs from north to south through Rwanda, with around 80% of the country's area draining into the Nile and 20% into the Congo. Rwanda’s geography is diverse, ranging from tall mountains and volcanoes to dense forests, savannahs, rivers, and lakes. Rwanda has a temperate tropical highland climate; the weather is warm; dry seasons are interrupted be two rainy seasons (Feb-June and Sept-Dec). The annual rainfall amounts to about 46 inches (about twice the amount of annual rain California gets).  Change in global climate has reduced the annual number of rainy days, but also caused an increase in frequency of torrential rains.

Language. The language spoken by all Rwandans, regardless of their ethnic group is and has been Kinyarwanda, which is very different from Swahili (spoken in Tanzania) and belongs to the Bantu family of languages.

Names. One of the things that had been puzzling to me before this trip were people’s names. Which one is Pr. Twesige Georges’ first name, which one is his family name? It turns out, Rwanda has no family names. All parts of a person’s name are picked by the parents. For emigration and passport purposes, people tend to pick one of their names as the surname.

Cleanliness. One of the first things visitors notice is the cleanliness of the country. Coming from Egypt, I was used to seeing trash, littler, dogs, and cats on the street as well as hearing noise. Not so in Rwanda! Yes, people honk, but not as long and loud as in Egypt.  There are trash bins, people also pick up their own litter, and the entire country has outlawed the use of disposable plastic bags. Regardless whether in a National Park, the capital Kigali, country roads, or in villages, there is no litter. On the last Saturday of the month, all Rwandans participate in improving their local community – cleaning, painting, repairing. Wow!

Women.  With utter delight, I heard about the status of women in Rwanda.  Apparently, all property owned by married couples is held jointly (50:50) and 60% of the members of parliament are women.

Biodiversity. In addition to 670 species of birds, Rwanda is known for its populations of mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, and many other primate species. There also are elephants, lions, leopards, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, zebras, numerous antelope species, buffalos, and crocodiles. Most, if not all, of these animal populations live in Rwanda’s 3 National Parks. While it is possible to watch mountain gorilla families in their natural habitat, permit fees recently have been raised to $1,500 per day. All of Rwanda's lions were killed after the genocide of 1994, as parts of Akagera National Park were turned into camps for displaced people and the remaining animals were poisoned by cattle herders. In 2015, two South African parks donated seven lions to the park. By today, the park’s lion population has increased to 58, and I got to see two male lions hanging out together.

Agriculture & Nutrition. 73% of the entire land of Rwanda is potentially arable, but not all of it is actually cultivated. Agriculture has long served as the backbone of the Rwandan economy (and has driven the economic recovery after the 1994 genocide) and today employs 70% of Rwandans and accounts for 31% of GDP and 90% of domestic consumption. Nearly 80% of the rural population is engaged in subsistence farming, and the average landholding is less than 1.5 acres. Rwanda requires that farmers must hold title documents to their land, which apparently is far from normal in Africa. 

Rwanda’s climate allows year-round cultivation with one harvest per rainy season. The use of artificial irrigation even ensures a third harvest of many crops. Major crops are maize, beans, cassava, banana, and potatoes, plus rice and many kinds of vegetables and fruit.  Rwanda’s high altitudes and hilly landscape are perfectly suited to the cultivation of high-quality tea and coffee.

As the diet of rural Rwandans is heavy on carbohydrates, Rwanda’s government provides each family with 1 cow, but it must be kept in an enclosure and prevented from roaming freely, in order to prevent potential conflict among villagers. Fewer families also own chickens, goats, and a pig. Despite all these efforts, the rate of chronic malnutrition among children under the age of five has decreased but is still among the highest in the world. The World Food Program estimates that 20% of Rwandans are food insecure.

Over the next few decades, the Rwandan government seeks to phase out subsistence farming and encourages the formation of farming cooperatives, all in the name of productivity increase and economic improvement. The government also provides training to farmers, subsidies to purchase high-quality seeds and fertilizers, and helps farmers gain access to financial solutions.  The government plans to attract private investors to provide cold trucks, cold rooms, warehouses, research, and irrigation.

Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change despite being the lowest emitter of greenhouse gases. Food insecurity is a looming worry across Africa as weather patterns change, crops fail, and cities continue to grow at some of the fastest rates in the world.

Administrative Division. Rwanda is divided into 5 provinces (Kigali, Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western). Each province, in turn, is divided into (in descending order) districts, sectors, cells, and villages, with administrative offices in each unit. I have seen parts of Kigali Province and the Eastern Province (in which Matimba is located), and have been able to meet with the head of a sector office (Gatore Sector in Kirehe District). District leaders are neither elected nor political appointees, as I learned.  Instead, they have to qualify via exams and apply for their position.  While in office, they are not permitted to run businesses on the side, in order to prevent potential conflicts of interest and corruption.

Political System. Rwanda has a President, Prime Minister, and a 2-chamber parliamentary system. Rwanda is a de facto one-party state ruled by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) continuously since the end of the genocide in 1994. The country's president, Paul Kagame, has been in office for the past 20 years and seems to be held in high esteem by most Rwandans.  The largest radio and television stations are state-run, and the majority of newspapers are owned by the government.  The political system is best characterized as a "benevolent dictatorship" (as opposed to malevolent dictatorships), that is, a dictatorship that serves the interests of its people.   Since the pandemic, newspapers are published online only.  What might seem strange for Americans, appears to be a system that works for Rwanda. The country has steadily recovered and developed from scratch since the 1994 genocide. Given that Western powers provided no assistance whatsoever in stopping the genocide, who are we to question a system that has raised Rwanda out of deepest poverty and provided stability to the country?

Currency & Economy. About 1,350 Rwandan francs equal $1. Many Rwandans pay for services on their phone (e.g., utilities, restaurant bills, gasoline, parking fees) instead of in cash. Rwanda is a country of few mineral resources (minerals extracted in Rwanda include tantalum, tin ore, tungsten, and gold); it is almost at the bottom of mineral producers in Africa.

As a land-locked nation, Rwanda has to import many products; typically via trucks from the port of Dar-es-Salam in Tanzania. There currently is no railway system in Rwanda or leading from Africa’s coast to Rwanda. In 2022, Rwanda’s nominal per capita GDP was $966.23. In comparison, the gasoline price is $1.22 per liter (or about $4.62 per gallon). 

In the absence of significant mineral resources, Rwanda’s government invests in intellectual development and in building a skilled work force. At its convention center in Kigali, Rwanda hosts a growing number of pan-African events. The country also has developed 5 business areas in which industrial manufacturing and assembly are concentrated. For example, Volkswagen vehicles are assembled in Kigali from imported parts.  The government seeks to cultivate a business-friendly climate, speeding up the process incorporation.  If I wished to register a new business, I apparently could do so vial phone within a day. Rwanda seeks to develop itself into a central African intellectual and technology hub, sort of a central African Silicon Valley. Based on the many banking buildings I have seen in Kigali, the capital appears to be there.

With aid from the United States, European Union, Japan, and others, Rwanda has invested heavily in infrastructure – numerous well-maintained and well-lit paved roads that crisscross the country. The principal private hire vehicle is the motorcycle taxi. Those motorcycles can be called by phone app or hired in location. Motorcycle taxis transport people and well as deliver goods.

Education. Primary-school education is mandatory (and schools are often located within a mile walk or less), but literacy rates are low, nevertheless. Those who can afford it, enroll their children in private schools. Attending public secondary school requires students to pass government exams, but attendance of secondary school and tertiary education is free as well.

Healthcare & Water. Rwanda provides public universal healthcare for all its citizens. More advanced healthcare options (Western-style) require private insurance. Rural communities and villages have public water standpipes or water pumps at one or more locations, but people will have to carry their water containers home – strapped to a bicycle or carried on the head or in hands. I have seen children, men, and women do this. It looks like very hard work. To improve the health of the nation, Rwanda carries out concentrated campaigns – for example to replace thatched roofs with metal sheets, provide subsidized mattresses (instead of sleeping on banana leaves), promote the wearing of shoes and sandals (to reduce parasites on people’s feet.), etc. It seems that these campaigns are received well and are making a difference.

History. One can divide Rwanda’s history into several periods:

• Precolonial
• Colonial (1884-1916: Germany; 1916-1962: Belgium)
• Independence (1962)
• Military Coup (1973)
• Civil War (1990-94)
• Genocide (1994)
• Post-Genocide (August 1994 - present)

Before the German Empire (and later Belgium) took hold of Rwanda, the country was ruled by indigenous kings. People might have populated the country in several waves, with the forest-dwelling Twa being the earliest settlers. Some of the newer inhabitants cultivated the land, others raised cattle. It is debated among scholars whether Hutus arrived in the area long before Tutsis and whether Tutsis migrated from a different region than Hutus.  It appears that questions like these are deeply ideologically frought.  Whatever the origin of Rwanda's different ethnic groups, once they settled the area, they spoke the same language, ate the same food, told the same stories, sang the same songs, and got along.

The colonizers did what colonizers tend to do – they divided the native population and exploited their differences to their own advantage. First the Germans, but especially the Belgians, arbitrarily categorized people into Twa (at the bottom of the hierarchy), Hutus (farming people), and Tutsi (those who own 15 or more cows). At the top of the hierarchy were, of course the colonizers themselves. This racist ideology was then "proven" by pseudo-science in which skulls, foreheads, and noses were measured to identify the alleged physical characteristics of each ethnic group. Eventually, the Belgians issued ID cards to everyone in which they wrote down the person’s ethnic group, thus fixing the otherwise fluid ethnic identity of people (crucial detail enabling Hutu leaders to carry out the genocide). While initially favoring Tutsis, the Belgians eventually changed course and sided with the country’s Hutu majority.  Over time, already under the Belgians, a "Hutu Power" movement formed. 

On July 1, 1962, Rwanda gained its independence from Belgium and the Republic of Rwanda was founded. Prior to independence, though, in 1959, violence against Tutsis had broken out and many Tutsis fled to neighboring countries (Uganda, Burundi, and Tanzania). Later on, after the genocide, the Lutheran Church in Rwanda was formed from among some of these refugees.

Violence against Twa and Tutsis continued after President Juvenal Habyarimana came into power via a military coup in 1973.  Hutu Power groups began to train armed militia (interahamwe). Eventually, plans were made for a “final solution” to the "Tutsi problem." In 1990, Civil War broke out when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RFP), a Tutsi rebel group based in Uganda, invaded Northern Rwanda. The group condemned the Hutu-dominated government for failing to democratize and confront the problems facing these refugees. Neither side was able to gain a decisive advantage in the war, but by 1992 it had weakened Habyarimana's authority; mass demonstrations forced him into a coalition with the domestic opposition and eventually to sign the 1993 Arusha Accords with the RPF.

Genocide. On April 6, 1994, the plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down (until today, it is unknown who was behind this). The next day, on April 7, the genocide began, with armed militia killing an estimated 700,000-1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus (out of a total population of 7,000,000 Rwandans). Neighbors killed neighbors, people gave up their own relatives, even some church leaders were involved in the killing. People were tortured, mutilated, hacked to death, left to die where they are, sometimes shoved into mass graves, sometimes thrown into rivers and lakes. It did not take advanced weapons to carry out the genocide – clubs, knives, and machetes proved sufficient. The genocide lasted for 100 days and was carried out a speed 3x faster than the holocaust. In the end, RFP soldiers were able to conquer Kigali and put an end to most of the killing.  The fact that Rwandan rebel forces, rather than foreign powers, were able to end the genocide is part of the nation's identity and pride. It is estimated that about 80% of the population were involved in the killings, either directly or indirectly.

By the end of July 1994, some 2,000,000 Rwandans were in exile, living in refugee camps that housed both previous refugees and the perpetrators of the genocidal crimes. The country was in ruins, homes and infrastructure destroyed, HIV infections were spreading among raped women, thousands of children were orphaned. And where were the Western powers and the UN peacekeeping forces? Either withdrawn in July or not sent in time to stop the killing. Why? Because the leaders of Western countries failed to recognize that civil war in Rwanda had turned into a systematically carried out genocide.

Lutherans from Tanzania were among the first to provide aid to the refugees, help bury victims, repatriate refugees, and rebuild the country. They were trusted, because they weren’t implicated in the genocide, unlike other churches.

Unfortunately, the violence did not end in July 1994.  Those Hutu perpetrators who had escaped to Congo launched military expeditions into Rwanda over the next few years.  In. Tanzanian refugee camps, Hutu genocidaires attempted to reorganize.  Domestically, ethnicity-based violent acts against individuals and public institutions/facilities are still being committed, even though Rwanda's constitution makes genocidal ideology and divisionism illegal.  At every major government building, visitors, luggage, and vehicles are thoroughly screened.  I found the most severe measures in place at the airport prior to my departure - with dogs sniffing each piece of my luggage and John's walking stick being temporarily confiscated as a potential weapon.

Between 2007 and 2012, a traditional judicial system, called Gacaca Courts (pronounced ga-cha-cha) processed claims against 850,000 accused perpetrators.  The goal was for them to confess and eventually be reintegrated into society.  It is debated how well this process was carried out and whether it was successful. 

Religion. Rwanda’s population is 40% Roman Catholic, 21 percent Pentecostal, 15% mainline Protestant, 12% Seventh-day Adventist, 4% other Christian, 2% Muslim (mostly Sunni), and 0.7% Jehovah’s Witnesses. Several other small religious groups together number less 3% of the population. Approximately 3% of the population holds no religious beliefs.

Rwanda’s constitution and other laws prohibit religious discrimination and provide for freedom of religion and worship. The government requires religious groups and faith-based organizations (FBOs) to obtain legal status before beginning operations. It requires new organizations to secure land and facilities adequate for their activities before obtaining legal status. It also calls for legal representatives of FBOs and preachers with supervisory responsibilities in those organizations to hold academic degrees. The government requires churches, mosques, and other places of worship to meet certain health and safety standards and abide by noise pollution ordinances.

Together, health, safety, and noise requirements have made it more difficult for smaller, less resourced, independent groups to operate. Religious leaders said they recognized the value in basic infrastructure standards for places of worship but that greater flexibility in applying those standards was merited in different urban and rural contexts.

These requirements concerning the basic infrastructure of religious groups and FBOs were first published in 2018. During the initial enforcement of these requirements, the government closed almost 9,000 places of worship, and more than 6,000 have remained closed until today.

Some groups that closed because they could not meet the infrastructure requirements have consolidated to become larger and better resourced organizations that were better able to meet the standards. For example, some smaller Protestant churches with one or two pastors that had been closed previously merged to form larger churches with six to eight pastors, with congregations three to four times their original size. Some pastors lamented it was more difficult to maintain community cohesiveness with such expanded membership. 

Other religious leaders and members of religious communities, as well as many members of the public, said the government needed to prevent the formation of, or intervene in, organizations that were religious in name only, functioning as de facto schemes for charismatic, individual leaders to extract financial support from poor and sometimes less educated citizens, while providing no substantial social support or faith community.

Lutheran Church of Rwanda.  I plan to report some of my findings and recommendations to the SPS Bishop's Office upon returning from my sabbatical.  For now, here are a few details. The church was founded in 1995 with help from the Lutheran Church of Tanzania and by people who previously lived as refugees in Tanzania.  Initially, the church lacked everything, including Bibles printed in Kinyarwanda, Kinyarwandan hymnals, and meeting places.  In the beginning, pastors were provided bed and board by some of their parishioners.

Until recently, the LCR had 29 parishes.  Because of government requirements, the LCR is consolidating parishes and transferring clergy, so that all its facilities meet minimum government requirements for FBOs and all lead pastors of parishes have college-level theological training. 2 of the LCR pastors are women and they lead parishes, just as their male colleagues.  Not all pastors have graduate or undergraduate degrees. Some do not even have a secondary-school education (i.e., high school).   In addition to pastors, the church is served by (unpaid) evangelists.  Some of those evangelists eventually have been ordained by LCR.

There is no church-mandated minimum salary for LCR pastors.  Neither does the national church pay them. Theoretically, parishes pay their pastor.  As those parishes are poor, not all pastors get paid, especially not those without a sister-church partner.  LCR leaders are currently contemplating to pool all funds received from SPS congregations and divide them equally between all parishes, which then will be better equipped to pay their pastors.

MY WEEK IN RWANDA
Day 1. Apparently, flights to/from Cairo arrive at odd times in Kigali – in the wee hours of morning. As the airport is small and immigration & customs procedures did not take long, I quickly got to meet Pr. John outside who drove us to his nearby home. After a few hours of sleep, the two of us spent the entire day talking, eating, and drinking juice.  I also got to take a first look at his work (through his Wartburg Seminary Master’s thesis and documents about various “Faith in Action” community organizing projects).

On day 2, I first met Pr. Twesige Georges, then Masantura. From Pr. Georges, I heard about some of the latest developments within the Lutheran Church of Rwanda (LCR) and arranged a meeting with him and the LCR Secretary General, Pr. Prince. A. Kalisa.  The office of Bishop is currently vacant, after the previous bishop, Rev. Evariste Mugabo, took an early retirement. In the evening, I had dinner with both Pr. Georges and Pr. Prince and we were able to work out a way to get Pr. Georges the motorbike for which Advent had sent funds.

Day 3. The next day, we left John’s home at 4am in a sturdy 4-W vehicle. Our destination was Akagera National Park. We left early in the hope to see lions, which we actually did. While we did not see any elephants, we encountered hippos (in and out of the water), gibbons and some other primates, various bird species, giraffes, zebras, crocodiles, and several kinds of antelope-type animals. I have never been shaken around while riding in a vehicle as I was during our car ride in the park!

Day 4. After spending the night at a Catholic Convent (Monastere Notre Dame de Kibungo, a Trappist order), we went further south.  First, we visited the sector office in Gatore. After an informative conversation with the head of that office, we went even further south, to an area where we could see both Burundi and Tanzania in the distance. Our destination was the community of Mumeya and a 38-room rural clinic, the first community organizing project that John helped to get off the ground in Rwanda. 

Sitting in chairs under the shade of trees, I learned from local leaders how the project had begun and how the community has grown through it in self-confidence, courage, and planning and presentation skills. Now, they are able to travel to other parts of Rwanda and teach other communities.

Pr. John was familiar withe the Kirehe district as he had conducted some of the research for his Master's thesis in the area. Basically, the thesis was an investigation into the perceptions of local residents how LCR can improve their lives and better serve their needs, conducted via methodical selection of interview participants, an intentionally designed standard set of quantitative and qualitative questions.  Once John returned to the area, he encountered an injured boy and a group of mourners. When offering to give them a ride to the nearest clinic, he learned that there was none.  When visiting Mumeya, he asked to meet with the community.

At their first meeting, he asked them to identify the most pressing needs of their community.  Eventually, the absence of a health clinic emerged as their top concern.  Over many weekly meeting with the community under a local tree, John revealed that - unlike politicians and NGO representatives - he did not come with money, only with a thinking head and a sincere heart.  The process continued with the community identifying a suitable clinic location, leveling of the land, gathering and crushing of rocks, and lots of training. Eventually meetings with the mayor, with  sector and district leaders, even meetings with a government minister followed. In the process, the community leaders learned to develop meeting agendas, and prove to the government representatives  not only that they were sincere in their desire to have a clinic, but also that they willing to invest time, energy, and labor.  While once committee led the fundraising efforts, a second committee oversaw the construction.

Little by little, the project got on the way.  None of this would have been possible, though without the sturdy vehicle (nicknamed "green boy") and the trailer John owned.  Driving to Mumeya weekly, sometimes even 3 times a week, John transported young trees, cement, metal sheets, rocks, and many other construction materials. Eventually, the clinic building was finished (incl. electricity and running water), trees were planted, and a small community center was added.  From then on, the running and staffing of the clinic was in the hands of the government.

The clinic is not without challenges.  It is reachable only via an unpaved, uneven road.  Due to its remote location, it has difficult to retain sufficient nursing staff.  The ongoing maintenance of the facility seems difficult too.

Despite all these challenges, the population of Mumeya and nearby "cells" now has a local clinic which sees between 2,000 and 2,500 patients per month.  Services offered include prenatal care, delivery of babies, treatment of respiratory and other infections, treatment of diabetes and blood pressure problems, wound care, HIV care, immunizations of infants and children, health and hygiene education, mental health care, and the dispensation of medications. Currently, one isolation ward has been set aside for mpox patients.  Fortunately, no infections have been fund in the district yet. More seriously ill patients are transferred to a new hospital in the area that offers surgical procedures, more advanced diagnostics, and care for premies andf terminally ill patients.

We then drove home with a few stops along the way - in Kibungo, we ate a yummy goat-stew-lunch; in Rwamagana, we drove past Rwamagana Leaders School, and outside Rwamagana, we stopped at a produce market to purchase lot of fruit.

Day 5. After two very long and very busy days, both John and I needed to rest, and I used the day to write down some of my memories. I also read John’s excellent 2005 Master’s thesis cover-to-cover. The day ended with a sumptuous dinner at the Jesuit Community that operates the Jesuit Schools in Kigali. Great food and great conversations! I even got to sing in Hebrew with a Jesuit former Old Testament professor (hineh ma-tov u-mana'im...)

Day 6. The next day, we attended the English worship service at the Lutheran Church near John’s home. Sadly, we missed out on communion, which is not celebrated every Sunday.  After worship, I got to present the motorbike, 2 helmets, the key, and the insurance and registration papers to a very happy Pr. Georges. Later that day, Pr. Prince sent me photos of the Matimba Parish church and school. The day ended with a delicious meal at a Thai restaurant.

Day 7. On my last day in Rwanda, John and I talked some more and then talked via a WhatsApp video call with Pr. Georges and his beautiful wife. His 5-year old daughter, Patience, was at school, but Pr. Georges later sent me a photo of her in her uniform.

Eventually, John drove me to the Genocide Memorial where I got to string together into a more cohesive narrative the bits and pieces I had heard and read about the genocide, the events that lead to it, and its aftermath.  The memorial is incredibly well-designed.  In addition to the informative educational displays, visitors can watch recorded testimonies of survivors, an exhibit about children killed in the genocide, see photos and belongings of victims.  As this is the place where the remains of 250,000 victims have been given a dignified burial, this is the place to which many survivors come to feel close to their murdered loved ones and to honor their memory.

The day ended with food … an amazing dinner at a wonderfully authentic Indian restaurant. After a few hours of sleep, we left for the airport. Mine was the only flight scheduled for this hour of the night. After a 90 minute delay, the plane took of for a stop in Entebbe, Uganda, before heading to Cairo. 

In Aswan, we spent 2 nights in a Nubian guesthouse in the village of Siou (part of Elephantine Island).  Each day, we would take the commuter ferry to get off the Island and back.  We had a half-day on our own and one day with our tour guide Ebtesam (Basma) before flying back to Cairo via NileAir. 

On our own, we explored the village of Siou, visited Aswan's excellent Nubia Museum and watched the sun set from our apartment's balcony.  As two days are way too short to see everything that Aswan has to offer, we visited neither the temple of Abu Simbel, nor Kitchener Island (Botanical Garden), the ancient ruins on Elephantine (which once housed a Jewish military colony and temple around 600 BC), or the famous unfinished obelisk.

Aswan truly is an assault on one's senses. The fragrant lush air, the delicious Nubian-influenced food, the tasty fruit juices, coupled with tens of thousands of years of human history in the area.  One of the latest additions to that history is Bob Marley's contribution to the musical tastes of the area. 

With the help of our guide, we visited four sites -- the Isis Temple on the island of Philae (including its famous cats), the ancient Coptic monastery of St. Simeon, the local market, and a spice shop.  The Philae temple is famous for being moved to a higher island by UNESCO members during the building of the Nasser dam. The St. Simeon monastery impresses with both its location far away from the Nile or wells, and by the beauty of its two-story buildings.  Visitors get to see the remains of the sanctuary, the abode of an earlier saintly hermit, the living quarters of the monks, as well as kitchen, dining, and storage facilities.  Due to its vulnerability to attacks from desert tribes, the monastery was surrounded by a fortified wall.  We learned that the monks offered respite to Muslim pilgrims on their way from North Africa to Mecca (as evidenced by ancient Arabic inscriptions).  One the local market, we focussed on the food section, seeing pigeons, ducks, chickens, turkeys, and rabbits waiting in or on top of cages to be slaughtered later that day.  Cats and dogs were eagerly waiting to be fed some of the waste. 

The Nubia Museum, in particular, sheds light on the history of the ancient colonization of Nubia by the Northern population of Egypt.  We encountered the same strategies of cultural imperialism that we find much later in the treatment of Native populations in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Australia.  The sons of leading families were taken to away to be educated by the colonizers before returning them to their homelands, now as agents of the supposed superior culture of the colonizers.  Same old story, just with an ancient-Egyptian twist!

At the end of the day, Ebtesam treated us to dinner at King Jamaica Restaurant (lamb & camel tagine). The next day, we hired a boat that took us through the first Nile cataract before dropping us off for breakfast.  What a wonderful way of ending our visit to Upper Egypt!