Fluttering for ninety thousand and eight hundred miles

Author: Ye Wenling / Country:
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-02-01
Features: However, flipping through its history after the 16th century, it seems the word "peaceful" is no longer applicable: The feudal kingdom established by the Tutsis in the 16th century lasted until 1890 before becoming the "German East Africa Protectorate." In 1922, it was entrusted to Belgian rule. This "entrustment" lasted for 40 years until July 1, 1962, when it gained independence and established a republic. The first president of the republic was Kibanda. However, the people's hopes for the republic's "republicanism" did not last long, as internal conflicts broke out. Almost all countries' "internal conflicts" revolve around division—on July 5, 1973, Juvénal Habyarimana launched a military coup, establishing the second republic and appointing himself president. Due to the long-standing rule of the Hutu ethnic group and the Tutsis' lack of power and minority status, many Tutsis fled abroad and became refugees to avoid ethnic violence. In October 1990, the "Rwandan Patriotic Front" (RPF), an exile Tutsi refugee organization based in Uganda, launched an armed attack on the country, triggering a larger-scale civil war. In July of the same year, the RPF seized power, but the frequent "internal conflicts" did not end until the horrific genocide of 1994.
On April 6, 1994, Hutu President Habyarimana was killed when his plane was shot down by missiles, escalating the civil war and leading to large-scale ethnic massacres, resulting in 800,000 to over 1 million deaths and 2 million displaced persons. After coming to power, the RPF announced a policy of ethnic reconciliation, appointing Bizimungu, a Hutu, as president, while Kagame, a Tutsi, served as vice president, holding real power in the party, government, and military, and acting as the behind-the-scenes director. A five-year democratic transition period was implemented, during which other political parties were banned. A political management model dominated by the RPF with multi-party participation was adopted. As a result, the RPF still holds the major power in Rwanda today.
Although I had learned some of this "national condition," the gun and artillery holes on the parliament building constantly reminded me of the cruelty of the internal conflicts the country had once experienced. The Rwandan parliament did not shy away from this and was very willing to openly discuss it to the outside world in all its foreign interactions. Therefore, when we sat down for a "meeting" in the parliament conference room, Speaker Dr. Birute Vanzo immediately brought up the topic. I couldn't help but interject to describe that conference room—this room, which could only be described as a large classroom in a rural middle school, was hard to believe it was a conference room of a national parliament. However, upon entering, the honeycomb-like bullet holes in the windows made it clear why the room was in such a state. In this conference room, where only the main table was covered with a white cloth and the other two rows were bare school desks, we sat facing Rwandan parliament members, and the meeting began.
After mutual introductions, Speaker Vanzo spoke directly about the 1994 civil war and ethnic genocide, which brought Rwanda's already difficult economy to a complete collapse and financial exhaustion. She said that since 1999, the economy had basically recovered to pre-war levels but remained very difficult. Last year, due to prolonged drought in some areas, crop failures, falling prices of major exports like coffee and tea, rising oil prices, and declining industrial exports, they were once again caught in a conflict with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, increasing war expenses and reducing foreign aid, facing extreme economic difficulties.
I watched this "transitional" doctor speaker, who had only been elected in January 1999, in his early 40s. Birute Vanzo, also the chair of the Social Democratic Party, represented the intellectuals and appeared younger and more handsome than his age. Without asking, his appearance clearly identified him as a Tutsi—Tutsis in Rwanda are considered the tallest and most handsome ethnic group in Africa, and the Miss World winner last year was a Tutsi girl.
Vice Chairman Xu's speech brought me back to reality. When Xu, the group leader, sincerely and earnestly expressed our hopes for Rwanda's future development and reviewed the relations between China and Rwanda, Speaker Vanzo immediately expressed deep gratitude for China's aid to Rwanda. The speaker also mentioned his special relationship with China—before 1994, he was a doctor, and due to medical teams from our country being stationed at the basic hospital where he worked and the implementation of an expansion project there, he had a deep understanding of cooperation between the two countries in the health sector. Later, he became the Minister of Health and thus had a close friendship with the early Chinese medical team.
Before the meeting began, the group leader, as usual, introduced the delegation members. My "writer" identity made them feel fresh. When the group leader mentioned that I had participated in the Fourth World Conference on Women, the attending parliament members responded with warm applause. After the meeting, a young and beautiful female parliament member from Rwanda approached me. During her self-introduction, she frankly said that she was a Tutsi who had grown up in a refugee camp since childhood. Tutsi? Refugee camp? I stared at this female parliament member with bright eyes and pearly teeth and immediately developed an interest in learning more about her, but unfortunately, we couldn't communicate directly. During the three-day visit, this female parliament member, Boviza Konneh, was very warm and accompanied me closely, but she clearly avoided some topics. I understood which topics she was willing to discuss and which she was not, especially those related to her past as a "refugee." But she was naturally lucky—Boviza Konneh before her was dressed stylishly, edited a "Women's Forum" with colleagues, had a well-paying husband working in the Ministry of Finance, and three lovely sons. Would she be willing to recall those painful memories for her?
After the meeting, the Rwandan side also took us on a tour of the heavily damaged building. Walking through room after room with windows riddled with bullet holes, I couldn't understand why they could still face this so calmly? Seven years have passed, why hasn't it been repaired yet? Can the voice of their parliament live up to the expectations of the general public? Taking a group photo in front of the building, I felt depressed and heavy-hearted. For us Chinese, who have long been away from the bloodshed and cruelty of war and have exchanged arduous struggles for peace, stability, and prosperity, how much we want to repeatedly tell our friends in Rwanda: "Choose peace, reject civil war!"
In this courtyard, thick with the shadows of war, Comrade Chen Bin of the delegation spotted something on the ground, bent down, and casually picked up a bullet. The bullet showed no rust and could not have been from the gunfight years ago. However, bullets are still easilyable everywhere now—how unsettling! Can this be a peaceful Rwanda? Is this the "parliament" that the people hope will play a decisive role in economic prosperity?
As an idle person, to be honest, I should first write about the cruel scene that has been lingering in our hearts. But for convenience and my current mood, I cannot help but make some "minor adjustments" to the order of narration. Perhaps it was because of our arrival that after lunch, we went to the parliament building again to attend a session they were about to hold. This was, of course, a special arrangement by the host. However, when we all entered on time, we found that the hosts still had their old habits—the scheduled 3 p.m. parliament session had already been delayed by more than ten minutes, and many parliament members only trickled in gradually, with some not arriving for half an hour or more. "Being late is common." I thought of what I had heard before. This was so different from the "national condition" of our NPC or standing committee meetings, which start precisely on time.
We sat in the back row of the meeting room. When the speaker reported that a delegation of Chinese National People's Congress members would be attending and introduced the delegation members one by one, the dozens of parliament members present were filled with surprise and exclaimed one after another, turning to look at us as they applaud warmly. At the parliament chairperson's platform hanging the national flag, the speaker sat in the center, with eight people seated around him—four on the left and three on the right. Since the agenda for the day was about education and the discussion of a bill related to education, the seven people beside the speaker were the Minister of Education and members of the department, who would be questioned and consulted by the parliament members.
When the meeting began, a female parliament member in the audience spoke first, on the topic of gender equality among students. Although their official language is English and French, all the speakers used the local Rwandan language, and even our interpreter couldn't understand. After sitting there symbolically for about an hour, we quietly got up and, as arranged, went to sightsee the city. To be honest, this sightseeing did not improve our impression of Rwanda's so-called "cityscape." The car drove around the city for one and a half hours, and I can't describe the disappointment that filled my heart during those one and a half hours.