Most peoples first thoughts of Rwanda must be of the genocide, particularly for Canadians who have listened to General Dallaire’s memories of his time here during the 100 days.  I suppose this is why my first stop today was at the genocide museum.   Situated on the side of a hill (like all buildings in Rwanda), the museum walked us through the history of the divide created between Hutu’s and Tutsi’s.  People formally known for their integration, were actively reruited by foreign government policy and interference to discover that which divided them.  Measurements of noses, and the amount of cattle were the defining differences.  With that, the minority Tutsi were elevated and the remaining 82% Hutu and 1%Twa were relegated to secondary citizenship.

Eventually the majority revolted, a new system of discrimination was instituted to replace the old.  The radio called for the cockroaches to be exterminated – dehumanizing the Tutsi.  Militias were trained, they practiced on smaller groups, killing a few dozen here, a hundred or so there.  Eventually you get good at what you practice, you don’t even need to think about it anymore.  The new 10 commandments of the Hutu were developed and promoted in 1990.  1. No Hutu should marry a Tutsi.  Then nine more of the same. This document seems strange to me, it resonates much more strongly than similar lists.   If I had first seen this list of rules in Auschwitz, I wouldn’t of blinked – the Nazi atrocities are so well known that it is easy to simply consign them to evil in the abstract. I can’t do this as easily with this document, it feels to immediate, too modern – I can’t ignore it as ancient since it was written so recently,

The video showed men, women and so many children brutalized and burnt.  the trace of a bullet across a child’s face, the grainy swarming and hacking death of men by neighbors who carried the machetes.  Yesterday, they had fed one anothers children, today they cut off their fingers.

After walking past the images, we heard the voices of survivors, wondering why they are still here?  Guilty somehow, as only a victim can comprehend.

The footage of the Gacaca, the traditional community court, is so unpretentious.  A man in a pink shirt stands and faces the community.  He recounts his story, of who and where he cut his neighbors daughters with his knife, he tells the names and is asked to slow so the official record-keeper can write everything down.  He speaks so matter-of-factly, listing the others who were with him, the people he collected, what they did.  The community listens, it seems to me impassively, perhaps the horror has been so common, too common.  Perhaps the silence is simply the best response to the unasked questions why?  Maybe they have learned that you cannot ask why, there is no rational reason.  Is evil rational?

The wall of photographs only carries the images of  2000 people, of the more than 1 000 000 who died. It seems a pitiful percentage, and yet their faces fill four walls.  They are similar in their commonality, these are not the mugshots of bureaucracy, not the efficient record of a system recording the inputs of the machinery of death such as Cambodian memorial walls.  Instead these are photo plucked from the albums of everyday life.  Young men standing outside a shop, a crate of bottles in the foreground.  A woman, obviously cropped from her wedding photo, the dislocated arm of her husband encircling her waist.  People smiling, posed and unposed, unaware that they were all soon to be images on a memorial of murder.

I pass through the children’ memorial garden and read their bewildered questions, we head towards the car, and as I am about to walk away, a final small wooden sculpture is revealed, the simple caption, “I did not make myself an orphan”

Mark Crocker

Today I was on the CDC site to check out what vaccines I might need to catch up on.  If you are a traveler, you should know the CDC site is a great resource, in fact i am adding it to my site now.  check it out.

So … how many of the above acronyms were you able to translate?  Send me a reply with your answers, i would love to hear from you. Get them right, and I will send you a dozen more to translate … Get them wrong, and you get the same prize!

Mark Crocker

I took a photo of this sign in India.

S.T.D. Icecream sounds like the worst possible flavour …

Yes I recognize that STD means something else …

… But it is amusing!

Canada looks like a toque, two sizes too small …

Some countries look like they could use a jog around the block, and forego the double-chocolate cake for desserts …

But where did a whole continent go?

Mark Crocker

Mark Crocker

Randy either has great taste in books, or he very quickly and accurately evaluated what I would find compelling reading. Here is my review of that book

Christianity Rediscovered by Vincent J. Donovan

Donovans account of his missionary work amongst the tribal Masai of Kenya is a beautiful description of attempting the enculturalization of the Jesus Story in the lives of others. Although it is foremost a first-person reflection of his work in the African context, his ability to separate his faith from his culture speaks loudly to many who would attempt to live the way of Christ in their own culture today. This book is important for any person who desires to find Christ in their own specific cultural context.

I am sure that this book would have been somewhat inflammatory when it was first written as it attempts to dramatically change accepted missionary practice. Donovan describes his belief that Christianity has too often been simplified into; bringing development, bringing God to a godless people, or bringing in a ‘newer better philosophy’. He suggests that the original founders of our faith determined to bring only one thing – Christ – into the culture and philosophy of actual communities. Once they did so (EG Paul) they left. The problem with this simple understanding is that depending on your prior perspective, the phrase ‘bringing Christ’ is to easily reduced into a long held debate – what is the point of the Gospel? Social work or evangelism? Donovan suggests that the question at debate is the fault, both sides are making a gross assumption. Christianity is NOT social work, but neither is it creating versions of its western self in other nations. A true Christianity (the way of grace and shalom as revealed by the man Jesus) will take root within the prayer customs, morality, celebrations, rites and rituals, of any culture it finds itself within… exactly like it did in the western world for us! God is at work in creation in all places at all times.

Although dated in terms of modern politically-correct terms (phrases such as Natives and Pagans abound), I found Donovan’s obvious deep respect for the people he is in contact with, more than make up for any issues one might hold with his choice of language.

The careful Protestant reader will make sure to find Donovan’s perspective on Roman Catholic deficiencies in process very similar in nature to our own … only the specifics of our own Ecclesiological cultural blinders differ.

This is a book in which I will return to again, the simple story, and bright reflection was truly engaging.

In case you are interested, I keep a list of my book reviews on my facebook page, here is the link …

Facebook | Visual Bookshelf

Mark Crocker

People in other countries sometimes go out of their way to communicate with English-speaking tourists. Here are several signs, seen in locations around the world.

Cocktail lounge, Norway:

LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR

At a Budapest zoo:

PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUITABLE FOOD, GIVE IT TO THE GUARD ON DUTY.

Doctor’s Office, Rome:

SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES

Hotel, Acapulco:

THE MANAGER HAS PERSONALLY PASSED ALL THE WATER SERVED HERE.

Information booklet on using a hotel air conditioner, Japan:

COOLES AND HEATES: IF YOU WANT CONDITION OF WARM AIR IN YOUR ROOM, PLEASE CONTROL YOURSELF.

My favourite is next …

Car rental brochure, Tokyo:

WHEN PASSENGER OF FOOT HEAVES IN SIGHT, TOOTLE THE HORN. TRUMPET HIM MELODIOUSLY AT FIRST, BUT IF HE STILL OBSTACLE YOUR PASSAGE THEN TOOTLE HIM WITH VIGOUR.

In a Nairobi restaurant:

CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER

On the grounds of a private school:

NO TRESPASSING WITHOUT PERMISSION

On Athi River Highway:

TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.

On a poster at Kencom:

ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO, WE CAN HELP.

In a city restaurant:

OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, AND WEEKENDS TOO.

On one of the Mathare buildings:

MENTAL HEALTH PREVENTION CENTRE

In a cemetery:

PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES.

Tokyo hotel’s rules and regulations:

GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIORS IN BED.

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:

OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR.

In a Bangkok temple:

IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN EVEN A FOREIGNER IF DRESSED AS A MAN.

Hotel room notice, Chiang-Mai, Thailand:

PLEASE DO NOT BRING SOLICITORS INTO YOUR ROOM.

Hotel brochure, Italy:

THIS HOTEL IS RENOWNED FOR ITS PEACE AND SOLITUDE. IN FACT, CROWDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FLOCK HERE TO ENJOY ITS SOLITUDE.

Hotel elevator, Paris:

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR VALUES AT THE FRONT DESK.

Hotel, Yugoslavia:

THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

Supermarket, Hong Kong:

FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, WE RECOMMEND COURTEOUS, EFFICIENT SELF-SERVICE.

Tourist agency, Czechoslovakia:

TAKE ONE OF OUR HORSE-DRIVEN CITY TOURS. WE GUARANTEE NO MISCARRIAGES.

Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand:

WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS?

The box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong:

GUARANTEED TO WORK THROUGHOUT ITS USEFUL LIFE.

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen:

WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS

Look at the picture above … think about your answer then jump to the rest of the article.

When scientists showed a similar sketch to people from East Africa, nearly all the participants in the experiment said she was balancing a box or metal can on her head. In a culture containing few angular visual cues, the family is seen sitting under a tree. Westerners, on the other hand, are accustomed to the corners and boxlike shapes of architecture. They are more likely to place the family indoors and to interpret the rectangle above the woman’s head as a window through which shrubbery can be seen.

Now of course is the time for cliche’s – ‘the future is wide open’, ‘excited about the possibilities’, ‘looking to the future’ … and strangely enough sometimes cliche’s are true …  i suppose they would have to be, in order to have grown so popular …

anyways I am off to Vancouver Island for a few days, time to smell ocean breezes, always a centering exercise for me

The American/Australian Test of Intelligence

These questions have been taken from a selection of American and Australian intelligence tests.

1. What number comes next in the following sequence:  1 2 5 6 9 10 ___________

2. How many weeks are in a year? ___________

3. Filthy is to disease as clean is to __________

4. Three of the following may classified with pool. What are they?

lagoon swamp lake marsh pond (circle your answers)

5. Which items may be classified with clock?

ruler thermometer rainguage tachometer (circle your answers)

6. If BAD is written 214, how would you write DIG in the same secret writing? ______

7. If Mary’s aunt is my mother, what relation is Mary’s father to my sister? _______

8. Why does the state require people to get a license in order to get married?
___________________________________________________________________

9. What is the thing to do if you find an envelope in the street that is sealed, addressed and has a new stamp?
___________________________________________________________________

10. Why should you keep away from bad company?
________________________________________________________

The Original Australian Test of Intelligence

[Source unknown]

These items relate to the culture of the Edward River Community in Far North Queensland

1. What number comes next in the sequence, one, two, three, __________?

2. How many lunar months are in a year?

3. As wallaby is to animal so cigarette is to __________

4. Three of the following items may be classified with salt-water crocodile. Which are they?

marine turtle brolga frilled lizard black snake (circle your answers)

5. Which items may be classified with sugar?

honey witchetty grub flour water-lillies (circle your answers)

6. We eat food and we __________ water.

7. Sam, Ben and Harry are sitting together. Sam faces Ben and Ben gives him a cigarette. Harry sits quietly with his back to both Ben and Sam and contributes nothing to the animated conversation going on between Sam and Ben. One of the men is Ben’s brother, the other is Ben’s sister’s child. Who is the nephew?

a. Sam b. Harry c. Ben (circle your answer)

8. Suppose your brother in his mid-forties dies unexpectedly. Would you attribute his death to (circle your answer):

a. God b. Fate c. Germs D. No-one e. Someone f. Your brother himself

9. You are out in the bush with your wife and young children and you are all hungry. You have a rifle and bullets. You see three animals all within range – a young emu, a large kangaroo and a small female wallaby. Which should you shoot for food?

a. Young emu b. Large kangaroo c. Small female wallaby (circle your answer)

10. Why should you be careful of your cousins?

Answers are past the jump …

Answers:

The American/Australian Test of Intelligence

Scoring Sheet: Australian/American Test of Intelligence

1. Answer is 13. Add 1 to the first number, then add 3, ,then 1, then 3, etc.

2. Fifty-two

3. Health – If you believe that germs cause illness and if you believe that absences of “filth” signifies the absence of germs.

4. Lagoon, lake, pond

5. All of these. They are all measuring devices.

6. 497. Solution of this problem requires ability to count and sort some of concept of codes.

7. Uncle. Assumes conceptualization of European/Western familial relationships.

8. For social control? To see that people do not commit bigamy? To see that closely related kinsfolk do not marry? For statistical purposes? To ensure that people who are under age do not marry?

9. Mail it. However, a more practical line of action would be: open it to see if it contains anything of value, carefully remove the stamp for your own use and at least be 18c richer. But in a highly acquisitive society principles of “honesty” (i.e. respect for unprotected property) have to be supported or society could easily break down (to the disadvantage of property owners). Note the question asks “What is the thing to do….” not “What would you do….” Again, the “correct” answer has a moral basis.

10. Because they may influence your own behavior and get you into trouble. However, this only correct if you believe that bad people influence good people and not vice versa, that people who behave badly should be isolated in the community. Again, the “correct” answer has a moral basis.

Scoring Sheet: Original Australian Test of Intelligence

1. One, two, three, many….the kuuk thaayorre system of counting only goes to three…thana, kuthir, pinalam, mong, mong, mong, etc. The word mong is best translated as “many” since it can mean any number between 4 and 9 or 10 after which yuur mong (many figures) would be more appropriate.

2. Those who say thirteen are right in European terms but irrelevant in
Edward River terms. The speakers of kuuk thaayorre clearly recognise lunar menstruation and possess a notion of the lunar month as calculated as the time between one phase of the moon and the next appearance of that particular phase. However, apart from having no specific word to designate thirteen and thirteen only – yurr mong or “very many”, is the right answer – the annual cycle is crouched in terms of environmental rhythms rather than in terms of fixed, invariant divisions of time. The “year” then is the time between the onset of one wet season and the onset of the next wet season – and wet seasons may be early or late, so who can be precise?

3. The right answer is “tree”. This stems from the kuuk thaayorre speakers early experience with tobacco which was “stick” tobacco, hence it is classified with tree.

4. Crocodiles, turtles, birds and frill necked lizards are all classified as minh (which broadly might be translated as animals). Snakes along with eels are classified as yak which may be broadly translated as snake-like creatures.

5. All the items are classified with sugar as belong to the class of objects known as may. Broadly translated, may means vegetable food. Even witchetty grubs that are found in the roots of trees fall under this rubric – so does honey which is also associated with trees and hence fruit. The kuuk thaayorre language had no problem fitting flour into the may category since it obviously resembled some of their own processed vegetable foods (e.g., yams like Dioscoria sativa elongata). The word may can also mean sweet and hence sugar, which of course does not resemble anything in their traditional culinary.

6. “Eat” is the right word – well sort of, anyway. Where we make a distinction between “eating” and “drinking”, kuuk thaayorre does not and they use the same verb to describe both functions and why not?

7. The clues are easy for kuuk thaayorre. An avoidance taboo operates between mother’s brother and sister’s son and politeness requires that sister’s son should never directly face mother’s brother nor talk to him directly in company. Sam and Ben are obviously brothers because of their unrestrained interaction while Harry, with his back turned to both his uncles is obviously the respectful nephew.

8. Among the kuuk thaayorre God has been equated with a mythological character and he is definitely non-malevolent. Both fate and germs are concepts foreign to the kuuk thaayorre belief system. No-one dies without reason and suicide is unknown to them, so the right answer is SOMEONE – which is the case in this sorcery riddled society.

9. The small female wallaby is the right answer. Emu is a food that may be consumed only by very old people. Kangaroos (especially large ones) may not be eaten by parents or their children. The children will get sick otherwise. Everyone knows that….don’t they?

10. Because some of them have to be avoided like the plague. For example, a male must avoid his father’s sister’s daughter, or anyone classified with her. Such relations are called poison cousins in Aboriginal English.