Cameron’s Thoughts

I enjoy bringing back and learning old words and explaining to my friends and family what they mean. The word I adopted is another example of my researches. I am trying to save the word Graviloquence, which means a grave speech, and bring it back to use in our country today. This word began being used in the early 1900′s by a pastor who started speeking at funeral memorials in honor of the family of the dead member. It was shown out of respect and honor on behalf of the life of the person who passed. This is now commonly used, but the word itself is not used hardly ever anymore, and hopefully with this post I will have each and every one of you viewing it, using this word in no time. I am bringing back this word in honor of each person who passed and received a graviloquence.

Learning about Rwanda has been a memorable adventure for me. I surveyed the chart in which Rwanda differs from the U.S and the World. I watched a movie regarding the genocide incidents that occurred there. I created a public service announcement pleaing citizens of America to help the Rwandans out. I also created a Google earth tour of Rwanda’s attractions and history that was buried there. Finally the stop ends here with my follow up on the great country itself.
The importance of students learning about third world countries is unexplainable. Students should know what goes on in other countries and realize how lucky they are to live in the greatest country in the world, America. I think if these students acknowledged what was happening around the world, they would be more interested in history and the government itself.
These third worlds can’t depend on any other countries to help them, therefore I think that the United States has the responsibility to protect each country the best that it can. This would resolve any problem between them and us, and it would also gain the United States respect in each country’s eyes. These struggling countries could be helped in many ways from famine and war to diseases and other issues.
This is the end for me in my high school career and I enjoyed every minute of this class, from creating a blog to Townsend press. That being said learning and studying every aspect of my third world country was by far my favorite activity in this class. Every project was a new journey for me in learning about Rwanda it is an amazing country and I wish we could’ve helped them through every struggle they had during the genocide days. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to learn and study such an amazing place.

This is my PSA of Rwanda.

Click here to view my tour.

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This is my video on Rwanda.

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Answer the following questions by selecting the best possible choices below.

This is my Glog of the Country of Rwanda

There is no doubt in my mind that this movie was emotionally moving. The characters understood the feeling and really did an amazing job of expressing the emotions throughout this movie. Three time Oscar Award Winner director, Terry George, characterized the genocide that occurred in Rwanda at an earlier time. It was a true life story of Paul Rusesabagina ( Don Cheadle ), a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda. Called to help the refugees, Colonel Oliver ( Nick Nolte ) and the United Nation Army protected the gates of the hotel and watched for Hutu attacks, while trying to transport the Tutsi refugees into a safer place away from Rwanda. Paul (Don Cheadle) was a Hutu and wouldn’t tell the Hutu militia beacase his wife Tatiana ( Sophie Okenedo ) was a Tutsi. Paul struggled to protect the refugees but managed to do so by providing the Hutu’s with money from the hotel, and money of all the richer Tutsi refugees. The Hutu’s were eventually fled out of Rwanda by the Rebel army and the attack on the Tutsi’s was over. I think that this movie showed me the way to protect others and the importance and impact genocide had in the past, and I really enjoyed this movie and look forward to watching another movie like this in the future.

Do you ever want to know what it’s like in another country around the world? What their people do or even how they act. Let’s take a look at Rwanda. This Middle East, African, Country is known as the “land of a thousand hills” because of it’s highland plateus and wide range of mountains. More than two-thirds of Rwandans belong to christian churches. The children of Rwanda like to fashion soccer balls out of plastic bags bundled together with twine. Rwanda’s 9.9 million inhabitants live in an area smaller than Maryland. The high population density is due partly to a tradition of large families, and partly to Rwanda’s highland location as a place of refuge for people fleeing the colonial-era slave trade. The population is growing at an annual rate of 2.8 percent. Many Rwandans begin their day with sorghum porridge or bread and tea. Most eat their main meal in the evening. Lunch may consist of bananas or leftovers from the night before. Some also drink a form of sour milk, similar to buttermilk. It is impolite to remain silent or to leave before everyone has finished eating. Although office workers and wealthy people have tea breaks, the high cost of sugar and milk make tea a luxury for many Rwandans. Body language, gestures, and facial expressions convey meaning, respect, or emphasis. One avoids eye contact with a superior or elder. The distance between people when they converse indicates their relationship: friends require little or no distance, while superiors must have more. Friends of the same sex often hold hands while walking or talking, but such public contact between members of the opposite sex is not appropriate. Rwandan women must show respect to their husbands, who have final authority over all family matters. Women typically raise the children, care for the household, and do the daily farming. Men assist with the construction of homes and the labor-intensive plowing and harvesting, and they carry out business dealings in the village and town centers. Visitors of Rwanda at the end of the social gathering, are accompanied by the hosts to the end of the road or fence. Social mobility and other factors kept race from becoming much of an issue before the 20th century, though class and clan affiliations did create divisions. Otherwise, Rwandans shared a common culture and language. The flag of Rwanda, adopted on 25 October 2001, features three horizontal stripes: blue, yellow, and green. A golden sun, symbolizing knowledge that will guide all people, is in the top right corner. Blue symbolizes happiness and peace. Yellow symbolizes economic development. Green symbolizes prosperity.  Rwanda doesn’t have it like we do here in America, therefore visiting here would be a much different experience than visiting another U.S state. Rwanda is a very peaceful country, and that’s how it’s going to stay for years to come. I think Rwanda needs to clean up a bit and maintain a healthy background for the people that live there.

Rwanda is different in many ways to the U.S and even the World. Rwanda contains almost 46% arable land compared to the 18% for the U.S and 11% for the World. Rwanda’s population in 2008 was 10,473,282, about a tenth of the U.S which was 307,212,123 and a speck of the World’s population which was at 6,706,993,152. The average life expectancy for Rwanda is 50.52 while the U.S  is at 78.11 and the World is at 66.26. Although low numbers around every other subject Rwanda is almost doubled the fertality rate for women in the U.S and the World with average of 5.25 children born per year. The U.S is 2.05 and the World is 2.61 respectively. Malaria is spread around Rwanda while the U.S and World have cures for that, but suffer from HIV/AIDS. The literacy rate in Rwanda is 70.4% opposed to the U.S at 99% and the World at 82%. There are only 23,000 telephone lines in Rwanda compared to the 100′s of millions and billions for the U.S and the World. All contain an age limit of 18 years to join the military which is one of the only common acquaintances of the three countries. In regard to these statistics you can see that Rwanda is low in every category compared to the U.S and the World, therefore it is a 3rd World Country and will always be. A healthy environment and strong government could raise Rwanda to a new level. Rwanda was an interesting country to learn about and I enjoyed discussing the differences between it and the World. This is why Rwanda is a 3rd World Country.

To see our chart on the countries go to Google Docs.