We journeyed into Arusha on Friday to visit the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where trials for the Rwandan genocide are underway. The genocide took place in 1994. The trials (of the officials largely responsible for the 800,000 killings) began soon after the killings and should finish up this year.
Hearing about the genocide and the center was extremely interesting and put a lot of African history in perspective. So many African countries have experienced similar tragedies. Kenya was the site of horrendous post-election violence in 2008; trials are currently underway at the Hague.
Our next stop in Arusha was at a mental health clinic. We learned a lot from the staff here; mental health doesn’t receive much attention among the many health problems that plague Kenya and Tanzania alike.
We went shopping at a market in Arusha, but a torrential downpour put a damper (pun intended) on our afternoon. It turned out to be yet another hilarious, uniquely African experience. A small group of us ran through the flooded streets and waded over full gutters in order to find souvenirs in the small amount of time we had in the city.
Unfortunately, I took no pictures that day...I always feel strange carrying a camera in cities.
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