Not that I have visited many war-torn countries (there was that one time when I stupidly walked across the border into Eastern DRC--just because), but I have seen enough films about war. And Hollywood depicts reality, right? Just like People magazine is where I turn to to learn about world events, right?
To be fair, Christina never used the term war torn, that’s all People. The location reference made in the People article is confusing. I have a hard time imagining a refugee camp in Kigali--refugee communities, maybe, but a whole camp? If Christina were in a camp, it is most likely that the children she spent time with were Congolese, now Rwandan since about 99% of the refugees in Rwanda are from DRC. Also, the clips in the video were definitely not shot in a refugee camp since UNHCR does not allow permanent housing structures (including iron sheeting for roofs) to be built in their camps since they are meant to be temporary settlements.
From the People article, you would get the impression that Christina Aguilera is so brave going into war-torn Rwanda in 2013. I remember back in 2004 when I returned to my hometown for my 10-year high school reunion, and someone asked me what the situation was like with the genocide in Rwanda. I was like, “I live in Uganda, not Rwanda, and I was in high school with you in Florida when the genocide was going on in Rwanda over ten years ago.” To be fair, Hotel Rwanda had recently been been in the cinema earlier that year and won awards, so to many Americans who get their news from Hollywood, the atrocity in Rwanda had just happened. Now, it is 2013 (What, 20 years later?) and the World Food Programme are keeping their work relevant and their their peeps employed.
I should probably let Elizabeth Leonard’s lazy journalism (is it journalism if it is People magazine?) go, but the readership of People is so large, and it is not fair to a country like Rwanda to continue to be depicted in such a negative light. War-torn? Rwanda? Really? Am I sniffing glue again?
When I visited war-torn Rwanda back in 2011, I was fortunately spared from experiencing the war-torn part. Kigali was clean and organised with the most courteous drivers I had experienced since those of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Lake Kivu was stunning, and like Ms Aguilera, I had an opportunity to sing with children. Our musical selection was a bit more upbeat and current (for the time): Oh na, na! What’s my name? Oh na, na! What’s my name? It was like a call and response song started by the kids standing on their over-turned boat on the lake shore. Our road trip took us to the north of the war-torn Rwanda to the Parc National des Volcans for a hike up to the top of Mt Bisoke. When we reached the spectacular crater lake at the top of the mountain, we had a picnic lunch, walked through no man’s land and unofficially visited Congo (ok, so there was a second time). Dinner that night was al-fresco on the balcony of an Italian restaurant. I guess we were just lucky to have experienced such a peaceful evening in a war-torn country.
Hunger is a problem in many countries in the world. As anyone who reads my blog knows, I am a big fan of Chopped, and one of the episodes I recently watched had people who worked in school cafeterias (from America) competing. Each one of them had heartbreaking stories of children in their schools who received only one meal a day, and that one meal was provided by the schools (sounds like Christina’s comment about some Rwandan children). I am happy that people, like Christina, are taking time to raise awareness about the ugliness of hunger. While watching the WFP video made me feel about as uncomfortable as watching almost any show that is on MTV these days, let’s be fair, Natacha Nsabimana. I would not lump Christina in the Jason Russell category... yet. She never referred to Rwanda as war torn; that was Elizabeth Leonard in People magazine. Neither Christina nor People magazine made reference to feeding ‘starving African children.’ That was you.
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