Laws and safety

Rwanda is a law abiding and safe country according to my experience and everyone I’ve talked to. People feel safe walking alone at night and theft is infrequent. Traffic laws are obeyed, although many drivers proceed after the light has turned red.

A month ago while I was photographing the green hills a policeman in civilian clothing asked me what I was doing and why was I here in the town of Byumba. We communicated in broken French and English and he became somewhat belligerent, demanding my passport. My driver’s license was not sufficient, so we walked a block to the ARC house where the guard and a manager talked to the policeman. After seeing my passport he thanked me and left. The next day a different policeman made an inquiry about ARC and me at the ARC office in Byumba. Speculation of my companions as to why he was suspicious include boarder security issues, as we are close to Uganda and threats made toward refugees by various foreign or terrorist groups who took refugee’s photos. Yesterday while walking home through the camp, I was stopped by the president of the refugee organization. He didn’t know me and inquired what I was doing. I explained my role as did a nurse who was nearby. He thanked me and I said I understood that non residents are not allowed in the camp without formal permission. J-walking laws are frequently enforced in cities, but luckily I have not been cited and am being more careful.

Today I’m finishing my work in the Gehimbe camp. Unfortunately I can’t get the projector to work for a presentation about using the internet for finding medical information. There is no active internet connection so all the information is in my computer. Maybe someone will be able to help. If I’m lucky my computer will be compatible with the projector, the correct plug adaptor will be available and the generator will work.
It is now the next day. The power was insufficient to power the projector, so I held up my computer anf moved around the room to give a partial view to the nurses.