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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
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
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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