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News and Upcoming Events for Rwandans in Cleveland


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Out & About - Photos and Event Recaps

2023

African Heritage Day - Cleveland Cultural Gardens World on Stage

The Cleveland Cultural Gardens Federation 2023 World on Stage events in the Gardens are showcasing various heritages. The first 2023 event was African Heritage Day on July 1, 2023.

MC Sia Nyorkor with Ethiopian coffee

MC Sia Nyorkor with Ethiopian coffee

Audience members came from a variety of African countries including Liberia, Ghana, Congo, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Egypt, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia. One attendee from Pretoria, South Africa said, "This is the first time I've felt like home since I came to Cleveland."

There was delicious West African food, an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, drummers, dancers and fun for families.

Main Page and photos and videos of 99 Treasures performance

See photos and videos of the Black Beanz performance

See photos and videos of the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

See photos and videos of the Djapo dancers and drummers performance

It was a great day to celebrate the heritage of the Cleveland People from the 54 countries of Africa.

Djapo Cultural Arts Institute drummers and dancers

Djapo Cultural Arts Institute dancer



Work in Progress - Thanks for your Patience




2021

Fun with Maps - Lesotho

There are only 3 enclaved countries in the world. By enclaved we mean an independent country whose territory is completely surrounded by the territory of one other country. In Lesotho's case, it is within South Africa.

Lesotho is a unique and interesting country and the map really defines it. Did you know that the country of Wakanda in the Marvel superhero movie Black Panther was inspired by Lesotho? There's lots more interesting items about Lesotho. Keep having Fun with Maps.



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Fun with Maps - North Africa

Casablanca, Marrakesh, Algiers, the Barbary Coast, Morocco, the Sahara Desert, Darfur, Benghazi, Tunisia, Tripoli.

You've seen these exotic locales in movies, TV shows and the news but do you know where they are or much about them? In this episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson looks at North Africa.

Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent and contains 54 fully recognized sovereign states (countries). This first episode in a series covering Africa includes Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco (including Western Sahara), Tunisia and Sudan.

After watching you will never listen to Bob Dylan, Crosby Stills and Nash or even the US Marines Hymn the same.



See more episodes of Fun with Maps


2020

Fun with Maps - Madagascar

In this episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson looks at what has been called the 8th continent - Madagascar. The map shows how isolated Madagascar is from the rest of the world and that makes it a hotbed of biodiversity - 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. It has varieties of plants and animals that do not exist anywhere else. You've probably seen lemurs (endemic to Madagascar) but there are thousands of other unique animals and plants such as the fossa, chameleon, the baobab tree and more. Dan also shows a quick look at the Spiny Desert of Madagascar exhibit in the Cleveland Botanical Garden.




Fun with Maps - The Horn of Africa

In this episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson shows the Horn of Africa which consists of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia. He shows how the close proximity to the Arabian Peninsula and the extended coastline of the peninsula have influence the politics, commerce and culture of the region. He also tells a story that connects a popular Beatles song and a famous fossil millions of years old.


Fun with Maps - The Nile River

In this episode of Fun with Maps, host Dan Hanson shows the Nile River, the longest river in the world. The Nile River and Egypt are intertwined but the Nile travels through almost a dozen countries in Africa including Sudan where the White Nile and Blue Nile merge. And, there is a surprising fact about the Nile that makes it unique.

Watch the introductory video of Fun with Maps




Organizations and Resources for Rwandans in Cleveland





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Cleveland Rwandan Feedback and Memories



Rwanda History and Culture

Map of Rwanda

Rwanda - a small and centralized country dominated by rugged hills and fertile volcanic soil - has exerted disproportionate influence over the African Great Lakes region for centuries. A Rwandan kingdom increasingly dominated the region from the mid-18th century onward, with the Tutsi monarchs gradually extending the power of the royal court into peripheral areas and expanding their borders through military conquest.

While the current ethnic labels Hutu and Tutsi predate colonial rule, their flexibility and importance have varied significantly over time. The majority Hutu and minority Tutsi have long shared a common language and culture, and intermarriage was not rare. The Rwandan royal court centered on the Tutsi king (mwami), who relied on an extensive hierarchy of political, cultural, and economic relationships that intertwined Rwanda’s ethnic and social groups. Social categories became more rigid during the reign of RWABUGIRI (1860-1895), who focused on aggressive expansion and solidifying Rwanda’s bureaucratic structures.

German colonial rule began in 1898, but Belgian forces captured Rwanda in 1916 during World War I. Both European nations quickly realized the benefits of ruling through the already centralized Rwandan kingdom. Colonial rule reinforced existing trends toward autocratic and exclusionary rule, leading to the elimination of traditional positions of authority for Hutus and a calcification of ethnic identities. Belgian administrators significantly increased requirements for communal labor and instituted harsh taxes, increasing frustration and inequality. Changing political attitudes in Belgium contributed to colonial and Catholic officials shifting their support from Tutsi to Hutu leaders in the years leading up to independence.

Newly mobilized political parties and simmering resentment of minority rule exploded in 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, when Hutus overthrew the Tutsi king. Thousands of Tutsis were killed over the next several years, and some 150,000 were driven into exile in neighboring countries. Army Chief of Staff Juvenal HABYARIMANA seized power in a coup in 1973 and ruled Rwanda as a single-party state for two decades. HABYARIMANA increasingly discriminated against Tutsi and extremist Hutu factions that gained prominence after multiple parties were introduced in the early 1990s. The children of Tutsi exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and began a civil war in 1990. The civil war exacerbated ethnic tensions and culminated in the shooting down of HABYARIMANA’s private jet in April 1994. The event sparked a state-orchestrated genocide in which Rwandans killed approximately 800,000 of their fellow citizens, including approximately three-quarters of the Tutsi population. The genocide ended later that same year when the predominantly Tutsi RPF, operating out of Uganda and northern Rwanda, defeated the national army and Hutu militias and established an RPF-led government of national unity.

Rwanda held its first local elections in 1999 and its first post-genocide presidential and legislative elections in 2003, formalizing President Paul KAGAME’s de facto role as head of government. KAGAME won reelection in 2010, and again in 2017 after changing the constitution to allow him to run for a third term.

(From the CIA World Factbook)

map of Rwanda in Africa


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