Rwanda
by Ella, Siena, and Suri
Population:The small country of Rwanda has a quite a lot of inhabitants. Being one of the smallest countries in the world, it suffers from overcrowding. The population of 12,661,733 includes various people.
3 Most Practiced Languages:Rwanda is riddled with a variety of languages. The most prominent language is Kinyarwanda, which 99.4% of the population speaks. The next major language is French, which 0.1% of the population speaks. Surprisingly, English is spoken by the same amount of people as French is. Following English and French, the next major language is Swahili, spoken by 0.02% of the population. The remaining 0.38% of people living in Rwanda speak other unspecified languages. Here is a link to translations of common words and phrases from English to Kinyarwanda.
Major Religions:Rwanda has three major religions and some unspecified ones. 49.5% of Rwanda's people are Roman Catholic. 39.4% are Protestant, and other Christian religions take up 4.5% of the population. The last 6.6% of the population are other, unspecified religions.
|
General Geography & Environment:Rwanda is located in central Africa. Its climate is temperate, but does have two rainy seasons. One occurring from February to April, and the other occurring from November to January. Its terrain consists of grassy hills and some mountains in the west, which occasionally have frost snow located on them.
Major Ethnicities:In Rwanda, culture and ethnicities vary. Specifically, 84% of people are Hutu, also known as Bantu, and 15% are Tutsi, which is also known Hamitic. The last 1% are Twa, also known as Pygmy. For many years, the Hutu and Tutsi people have fought over government, land, and more.
Popular Music:Some of the popular music in Rwanda culture from around the world are American Rock, Caribbean Reggae, and Kenyan Pop Music. A lot of the popular traditional Kinyarwanda music is based on drum beats. Normally, the drum groups are in groups of nine, (smallest to biggest) a soprano, a tenor, two baritones, two bass, and two double bass.
Click Here to Listen to a Traditional Rwandan Drum Circle. As for dance, one of the oldest Rwandan dance groups is the Intore Dance Troupe (named after "Chosen One"). Their spiritual, rhythmic choreography is accompanied by drums as well. They were founded over centuries ago and performed in front of many kings and queens of Rwanda. To see a video of traditional INTORE dance, click here. |
Rwanda & Water:
Unfortunately, only 50-74% of the Rwandan population has access to fresh, clean water. Therefore, 26-50% of the Rwandan population does not have access to clean water. Furthermore, almost 40% live without sanitation everyday. Getting water is also a struggle because Rwanda is the most crowded country in Africa, and it is extremely poor. Because of the mouths to feed, and the lack of money, it is very difficult to build water systems to get water for everyone.
The lack of access to clean water in Rwanda has also lead to various societal issues. Despite its poverty, it manages to profit from agriculture. With the scarcity of water and overpopulation, problems arise. Namely, the Hutu and Tutsi people have fought over land for years in attempt to live closer to a water source. In addition, the unavailable clean water is leaving many children uneducated. First of all, because their water is often unsanitary, children acquire waterborne diseases, which can cause them to miss school for months. Some girls spend their day fetching water, which leaves them no time to attend school. Also, when girls begin menstruating, they often cannot not attend school for days because they have no sanitary pads. Often, this forces them to drop out of school. Not only does the lack
of access to clean water prevent education, but it also ends lives. According to The Water Project, one fifth of the deaths of children under five years of age are due to diseases from unsanitary water.
Today, people living in Rwanda and volunteers from various philanthropic organizations around the world are making an effort to relieve their water crisis in many ways. People living there have built and are currently building tanks and gutters to move the clean rainwater to different areas to be used. There are also wells being made by drilling into the ground until aquifers are found. Water from mountains of higher elevation have been transferred to a lower elevation implementing pipes and gravity. People have used springs' water by catching it with a storage system. Pipes are also used to transfer water to and from tap stands. These have been built all over Rwanda. In one town called Ruhango, there are over twenty working ways to get water. Clearly, Rwanda is making an effort to rid of diseases and protect their country.
The lack of access to clean water in Rwanda has also lead to various societal issues. Despite its poverty, it manages to profit from agriculture. With the scarcity of water and overpopulation, problems arise. Namely, the Hutu and Tutsi people have fought over land for years in attempt to live closer to a water source. In addition, the unavailable clean water is leaving many children uneducated. First of all, because their water is often unsanitary, children acquire waterborne diseases, which can cause them to miss school for months. Some girls spend their day fetching water, which leaves them no time to attend school. Also, when girls begin menstruating, they often cannot not attend school for days because they have no sanitary pads. Often, this forces them to drop out of school. Not only does the lack
of access to clean water prevent education, but it also ends lives. According to The Water Project, one fifth of the deaths of children under five years of age are due to diseases from unsanitary water.
Today, people living in Rwanda and volunteers from various philanthropic organizations around the world are making an effort to relieve their water crisis in many ways. People living there have built and are currently building tanks and gutters to move the clean rainwater to different areas to be used. There are also wells being made by drilling into the ground until aquifers are found. Water from mountains of higher elevation have been transferred to a lower elevation implementing pipes and gravity. People have used springs' water by catching it with a storage system. Pipes are also used to transfer water to and from tap stands. These have been built all over Rwanda. In one town called Ruhango, there are over twenty working ways to get water. Clearly, Rwanda is making an effort to rid of diseases and protect their country.
Image Bibliography:
http://www.catholicsun.org/2014/04/08/diplomacy-peacebuilding-head-off-violence-before-mass-atrocities-arise/ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/OLPC_classroom_teaching.JPG https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/RwandaVolcanoAndLake_cropped2.jpg
http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-Syria/Rwandans.html
http://www.our-africa.org/rwanda/people-culture https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda
http://www.sweetdreamsrwanda.com/film/
http://rwandan_children_at_volcans_national_park.jpg/
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Batwa_women_in_Burundi.jpg
Bibliography:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html
http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-Syria/Rwandans.html
http://worldbookonline.com/student/media?id=sr598005
http://thewaterproject.org/
http://www.our-africa.org/rwanda/people-culture
http://www.catholicsun.org/2014/04/08/diplomacy-peacebuilding-head-off-violence-before-mass-atrocities-arise/ https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/OLPC_classroom_teaching.JPG https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/RwandaVolcanoAndLake_cropped2.jpg
http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-Syria/Rwandans.html
http://www.our-africa.org/rwanda/people-culture https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda
http://www.sweetdreamsrwanda.com/film/
http://rwandan_children_at_volcans_national_park.jpg/
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Batwa_women_in_Burundi.jpg
Bibliography:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html
http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Rwanda-to-Syria/Rwandans.html
http://worldbookonline.com/student/media?id=sr598005
http://thewaterproject.org/
http://www.our-africa.org/rwanda/people-culture