I come into this journey anticipating that my experience as an American educator will be different from that of Rwandan educators. As a teacher in the Bronx, I have had my share of students who were living in poverty and the high crime communities that too often coexist with poverty in America. Part of my job as a teacher was to create a safe haven and to aid in the formation of identity students were experiencing. So, I taught them about the Black legends of the Harlem Renaissance, the bravery of civil rights leaders and their roots in the motherland of Africa. All things I believed would aid in uplifting my students’ sense of pride as African Americans.

Teaching this content was already controversial, as it is not usually a direct part of the curriculum but added in by dedicated teachers. My African American students were naturally quite curious about how their ancestors descended from Africa and how they shared any similarities with modern continental Africans. I was fortunate enough to be able to share my personal experience on the continent as I had visited Kenya and Ghana previously. I shared with them that when the plane landed, the locals said, “Welcome home.” How I wish I could have had the opportunity to take them on a plane to see for themselves the gloriousness that existed there. They would notice that the images that the media often portrays about Africa are often fallacious. Then they can experience pride in their own identity and the experience of their ancestors.

As for myself, I am always excited for an opportunity to connect with Africa. Just as it provides a sense of identity for my students, it does the same for me as an adult educator. In Rwanda, an important historical event has occurred that has significantly changed the direction of the country. In 1994, a genocide occurred that killed approximately 800,000 people in 100 days. However, the nation has taken intentional steps to create a country of peace and harmony. I want to see how the people of Rwanda are coping with the past. Have they truly forgiven and moved beyond the divisiveness? Do people still live in fear that events of the past could reemerge? What exactly are the concerns of modern Rwandans? Forgiving and living in unity despite the transgressions that occurred in that period is an incredible feat.

As an African American, I am most looking forward to the connections to Africa. Have the experiences here for Black Americans and that of Rwandans overlapped in terms of tragedy? Could the systems in place for recovery in Rwanda be adopted for Black Americans as well? Lastly, what resources are teachers using to aid in the generational trauma experienced by Rwandan children? This journey to Rwanda is an attempt to find answers to these questions. It is a quest where I am not just a teacher but also a learner.

So, Rwanda, to you I say, “Muraho Bite.”