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In 1959, three years before independence from Belgium, the majority
ethnic group, the Hutus, overthrew the ruling Tutsi king. Over the
next several years thousands of Tutsis were killed, and some 150,000
driven into exile in neighboring countries. The children of these
exiles later formed a rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front and
began a civil war in 1990. The war, along with several political and
economic upheavals, exacerbated ethnic tensions culminating in April
1994 in the genocide of roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
The Tutsi rebels defeated the Hutu regime and ended the killing in
July 1994, but approximately 2 million Hutu refugees - many fearing
Tutsi retribution - fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda,
and Zaire. Since then most of the refugees have returned to Rwanda.
Despite substantial international assistance and political reforms
- including Rwanda's first local elections in March 1999 - the country
continues to struggle to boost investment and agricultural output
and to foster reconciliation. A series of massive population displacements,
a nagging Hutu extremist insurgency, and Rwandan involvement in two
wars over the past four years in the neighboring DROC continue to
hinder Rwanda's efforts.
Rwanda is slightly smaller than Maryland. The climate is temperate
with two rainy seasons (February to April, November to January). The
climate is mild in the mountains with frost and snow possible. |
| Rwandan Chicken - Main
Cooking Recipes Ingredients
1 chicken, cut into pieces
3 Tbsp oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 large tomatoes, mashed
2 stalks of celery, cut into thin rounds
1 tsp. salt
1 hot pimento or chilli pepper
Cooking Recipes Directions
Fry the chicken in hot oil until golden. Remove pieces and
cook onions in the same pot. When they, too, are golden brown,
return chicken pieces to the pot and add tomatoes, celery,
salt and hot
pepper. Reduce heat and simmer until chicken is tender.
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