International Women's Day in Nyagatare 3/8/09

This past Sunday I traveled to the northwest part of Rwanda (about 2.5 hours drive from Kigali) to represent the U.S. Embassy at the International Women's Day Celebration. The gathering was held in a field in this rural part of Rwanda because the rate of gender based violence there is higher. Nyagatare is the largest district in Rwanda, with grassy plains and lower hills. It is close to the border with Uganda allowing a nice view of nearby Ugandan mountain ranges. The region also includes Akagera National Park where there is the largest variety of animals in Rwanda including buffalo, antelope, elephants, etc.

The US Ambassador was invited to this event but couldn't attend so it was offered to our HIV/AIDS team because we fund the gender based violence programs. I was happy to go and also happy that our prevention specialist was going with me, who is Rwandan. I knew that most of this celebration, especially in a rural area, would be conducted in Kinyarwanda.

There were a lot of farms, and cows in these flatter areas as we drove to Nyagatare.

Once we arrived, we exited the car as diplomats and were escorted to seats just next to the guests of honor under tents and near the podium. I don't think the diplomats typically sit with cameras like tourists throughout the event- but I didn't care, I was excited for the photo opportunities! :)

I didn't know there was a National band; they were very enteraining in their performance of the National Anthem in their bright blue band uniforms.
A number of local and national coalitions and associations paraded by with signs and show of support for women's issues.

A few men's groups also showed their support.

One group in the parade was a large partner/ grantee of the U.S. HIV/AIDS programs.

There was a group of women dancing here.

Another group performed a sketch about a family struggling because the man would drink and come home acting abusively and then the neighbors got involved and helped encourage the husband to save money and spend time with his family. I followed along with the story thanks to the translation from my colleauge.

Here a group performed traditional drumming and caused quite an appreciative stir from the audience because a woman was included in the drum line.

I thought the event was very well organized. The local Mayor, Governor, and a Minister from the Government spoke and reinforced messages about reducing and preventing gender based violence as well as strengthening families. There was a testimonial from a couple who had struggled with violent episodes from the husband but were able to reconcile and change behaviors with support from family and the community.

After returning to Kigali, I attended a dinner party at a friend's house. Hosting dinner parties is very popular here (not a lot of places to go out to!) and often the food is straight from the garden or some creative concoction from ingredients available in Rwanda. We took this picture at the end of the night because Jenny, Meredith, and I all rode with our usual taxi driver Bane. We all compete for Bane's time as he is such a great driver and a good guide to the country. We asked the house guard to take this picture for us, but he struggled with using the camera!