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INSIDE AFRICA
Rwandan Resurgence; An Olympian's Origin
Aired August 2, 2008 - 12:30:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Isha Sesay. Welcome to INSIDE AFRICA, your weekly window to the continent. In this week's show, boosting economic development by creating skilled workers: 14 years after genocide ripped their country apart, Rwandan women are leading an economic resurgence. Two female artisans on the avant-garde of a small business boom will show us their wares.
Also ahead, a young Olympian shows us his humble origin as he prepares to represent South Africa in Beijing.
We begin in Rwanda, which is not just rising from the ashes of the 1994 genocide, it's springing forth. Most Rwandans regardless of ethnicity seem to have buried the past in favor of a prosperous future. Jim Clancy examines how far the country has come since its darkest hour and where it appears to be headed.
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JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Throughout the Rwandan countryside, silent reminders of a horrific and not-too-distant past. Sites like the Interrama (ph) memorial commemorating the 1994 genocide. More than 800,000 Rwandans killed in just 100 days. And while Rwanda remembers, it continues to rebuild.
ANDREW YOUNG, FORMER U.N. AMBASSADOR After the 1994 genocide, many of those people began coming back, and decided that they were going to rebuild their country without anger and without rancor. They put together good government, and people came back with education, and with their own savings, and invested in their country.
CLANCY: Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young, calls the rebuilding of Rwanda a spiritual miracle. Rwanda is still a poor country, but its gross domestic product, a strong indicator of overall economic growth, it has increased almost 59 percent since 1994, according to the World Bank. Plus, a World Bank study released in March says this growth isn't just a bounce back from the genocide. The country can once again rely on its tourist trade, and it's also made significant strides in the technology sector.
YOUNG: It's unbelievable until you see it. It is sustainable, because the whole world is helping. But still, the majority of the success is coming from Rwandans themselves. They geared the country up for the 21st century, and everybody's got cell phones, computers.
CLANCY: President Paul Kagame's government of national unity says it strives to ensure all regions, ethnic groups and seven political parties are represented. And while Kagame came to power in 2003 amid allegations of flawed elections and human rights violations, he and his policies are getting high marks from most Rwandans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Rwanda is moving faster than ever. It's because of the resiliency of our people, but it's also because of the efforts of our leader, the president himself. It's why we are behind all of this development.
CLANCY: Many Rwandans say they do have confidence in their government. According to one, without this leadership, Rwanda could have easily become a failed state like Somalia.
Jim Clancy, CNN.
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SESAY: When the genocide ended, women made up nearly 70 percent of Rwanda's population. Many of them were widows with no means to provide for themselves or their children.
Master weaver Janet Nkubana and her sister Joy decided to help by turning their ancient art form into a money-making enterprise. Together, they created Gahaya Links weaving collective that produces traditional Rwandan baskets and teaches the craft. Its members come from both the Hutu and Tutsi tribes, and they work together side by side.
Now, with the help of the Macy's department store chain and the Rwanda Path to Peace Project, baskets made by Gahaya Links are widely sold in the United States. Janet Nkubana recently brought her wares to the annual Santa Fe international folk art market in New Mexico. I caught up with her on her way to Santa Fe and asked her how the collective is healing old wounds and turning a profit.
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JANET NKUBANA, RWANDAN ENTREPRENEUR: There was so many people who were helpless, so many people who had lost their families, so many widows. But one thing that drove us to starting this was that these women and some men had the talent of weaving that was practiced hundreds of years ago. And we found -- we thought that we could make these hobby into an income- generating activity, to allow these big numbers of the Rwandans to have an economic opportunity, to get money to sustain their families, and attend to other needs of their families.
SESAY: You have, both of these groups that clashed in such a horrific manner in the Rwandan genocide, you have them working together. Are there any difficulties, any tensions?
NKUBANA: At the beginning, there was a lot of tension because you could find a woman who lost all her family, and they -- the family was killed by her neighbor. And here is the weaver whose husband is in prison charged of killing her family. It was very, very difficult. But as time went on, there was a lot of (inaudible) how to forgive each other, how to look up for their future. And as we kept moving on in terms of selling their products, the tension kind of reduced and they started talking, and it really helped them to rebuild.
SESAY: And tell me about the products. What exactly do they make? What exactly do you make?
NKUBANA: Well, we do make quite a range of products, but mainly we do home goods. If you see around me here, you can see this basket. This is one of the products that you can even find on Macys.com, and we have other, like the Valentine baskets, the red baskets. We have quite a number of red, but are focusing on the home goods.
SESAY: The baskets are weaved by members of your group, and then what happens? Are they being sold in Rwanda? Do the people know the story behind these goods?
NKUBANA: Well, the baskets actually are made in the rural cooperatives, but the key drive behind them is the passion of Americans, the Rwanda Path to Peace, founded by Willa Shalit and her colleagues have done really a tremendous job in (inaudible) the American society. They took us all the way to Macy's, where the baskets are being sold.
So the drive behind our success and everything is (inaudible) taking on a social responsibility to support Rwandans through the Rwanda Path to Peace.
SESAY: Give us some idea of what conditions are like for women in Rwanda, particularly those widows that you talked about, and those that don't have access to groups like your own which empower them?
NKUBANA: Well (AUDIO GAP) that's telling to them, because they really don't have economic independence as the weavers that we have today. So to most Rwandans, it is now a drive that they really want to join the weaving so that -- because these women have turned out to be the role models of the women who have made it in life.
When you look at the number of the women parliamentarians, we have women in decision making. It is a kind of chain that creates an empowerment to these ones that are, especially in the private sector, because there are some policies that came up favoring the women through the policy makers, like the (inaudible), or they can't (ph) even own property. Those are things that really can -- gives people hope in Rwanda. Everybody, not only the women, even the men say that Rwanda, I think, we have a bright future.
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SESAY: Broadway producer and businesswoman Willa Shalit helped create the Rwanda Path to Peace Project. (AUDIO GAP).
After a short break, we'll meet a participant who runs a textile business and hopes to pass on the knowledge she's gained.
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SESAY: Welcome back to INSIDE AFRICA. It's a number that bears repeating -- nearly 70 percent of all Rwandans are women; such is the lasting legacy of the 1994 genocide.
Left with no income, many Rwandan women saw starting their own businesses as the only way to survive. Now, female entrepreneurs are the driving force behind Rwanda's economic growth.
Gloria Uwizera is part of that resurgence. She runs a textile design company called Glow Creations. She was recently selected by the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women to take part in a business program at Oklahoma Christian University in the United States. I asked her to describe her experience as a small-business owner and as a student in the program.
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GLORIA UWIZERA, RWANDAN BUSINESS OWNER: The kind of business I do, it's new in Rwanda. I would say I'm an artist and designer.
I think it should be something that is a bit African.
I would say, I'm gifted with art, with like designing. And the way I started it, I had first started it in abroad, and I felt that I should come back home and do that business. So the kind of art I do is to like -- to design on a textile by putting drawings and doing the dyeing work.
I would say I wasn't expecting to be part of the women to come to this program. I had applied and I had to go through all the steps for me to be selected, but I would say while I was going through the process, I would see the program very interesting, and it could bring a change in the way I do my business.
Like the way I do my management, like for example the way I do my marketing, I found that it wasn't really good. When I started a business, I was alone, but I made a step like of having employees to help me. So I would say we haven't grown enough, but since we had this opportunity of (inaudible), I believe it is going to grow much and expand well.
I would say the step that women have made after the genocide is that they felt that they should do something different, and that could bring something positive to our country, even to our economy. I would say, OK, we're trying to -- to work together, but as you know, we had to pass through a tragedy where we lost many men, and we have many women left. So I would say it has been difficult for men like to come with us and work together. But now they're accepting, and I would say I'm even thankful for our president, who's really working on that, so that women may bring something different.
The message I would like to give to women -- I want to tell them that we can make a difference in our continent, in our respective countries, and we can make it -- everything is possible. And I just want to tell women, don't think you can't do this. You can go so far beyond. So I just want to invite them to get into entrepreneurship, because it will even bring a change within their lives, and it's even bring a big contribution to their countries.
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SESAY: The Institute for the Economic Empowerment of Women began its Peace Through Business program last year. It also offers business instruction to women from Afghanistan.
SESAY: A young South African is taking the lessons he learned in this poor township to the Beijing Olympics. Up next, fencer Sello Maduna shows us where his Olympic journey began.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Making business news in Africa this week. The Niger Delta's largest oil producer says it won't be able to meet supply obligations for the next three months. The announcement by Royal Dutch Shell comes after militants severely damaged one of its main pipelines in Nigeria. The region's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, says it sabotaged two pipelines on Monday.
Zimbabwe's Central Bank is slashing 10 zeroes from its currency. It's the bank's latest effort to tame hyperinflation. But analysts say this drastic redenomination of currency will do nothing to end Zimbabwe's economic meltdown. Zimbabwe has the world's highest official inflation rate, a whopping 2.2 million percent.
Business is strong for Africa's largest coffee producer, but not quite as strong as expected. Ethiopia's coffee export earnings reportedly jumped 24 percent between 2007 and 2008. The trade ministry tells Reuters earnings totaled $525 million. That is just shy of the $540 million that had been forecast. Government officials say Ethiopian coffee prices have improved since the country trademarked three of its finest blends.
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SESAY: You're watching INSIDE AFRICA. Welcome back. A young fencer is getting ready to represent South Africa at the Olympics in Beijing in a few days. As Robyn Curnow reports, he's already sealed his place in history and in the hearts of his hometown fans.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the swashbuckling world of fencing, Sello Maduna is ready for some serious sword play.
SELLO MADUNA, OLYMPIC FENCER: (inaudible), I'm going to get everyone to get to know it (ph).
CURNOW: It's that attitude that helped the 21-year old qualify for the Olympics as the first black fencer on South Africa's team.
GENNADY TYSHLER, SOUTH AFRICAN OLYMPIC COACH: He's a fighter. You can see on epees that he's really a fighter.
CURNOW: His road to Beijing starts here, in Mamelodi, a dusty, poor and crime-ridden township outside of Pretoria. Unemployment is rife. Sello's friends earn what little money they can washing cars. He hangs out here most days, in between morning and evening training sessions, getting emotional support for what he called his homeboys, who have become an unlikely band of sports psychologists.
ELIAS MAGAGUNA, FRIEND: I'm his encouragement, you see. I don't have funds, you see, because he's looking for sponsors. I don't have funds to provide even (inaudible) swords and shoes and staff, you see, but mentally and spiritually, I'm there for him as he's there for me.
CURNOW: Outside his small room at home, Sello proudly shows me his medal collection from national and regional competitions.
(on camera): How did you become a fencer?
MADUNA: I became a fencer by chance. I wasn't (inaudible) for fencing. My friends were already fencing by then. I saw it, I think, once in primary school, but I thought it was just something silly and I didn't understand why they would wear white clothes and have - play around with swords.
CURNOW: While in high school, Sello joined the Mamelodi fencing club, a ragtag group of township amateurs, which is still based in this old school classroom. Three times a week, Sello trains other township kids in his old school hall, giving back to his community and hoping more black Olympic fencers will follow in his footsteps.
Before he left for Beijing, Sello's former schoolmates gave him a hero's sendoff.
MADUNA: I didn't have any special treatment, wherever I come from. I just (inaudible), and I focused on it, and today I'm going to the Olympics.
CURNOW: With the adulation and the autographs, Sello says no matter how he performs in Beijing, he's already a winner back home.
Robyn Curnow, CNN, Mamelodi, South Africa.
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SESAY: We recently asked our viewers to email us with their opinions on the pending indictment of Sudan's president at the International Criminal Court. The responses poured in, and we'll read a few after the break.
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SESAY: Welcome back to INSIDE AFRICA. Now let's take a look at some stories making news around the continent.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe says power-sharing talks between his Zanu-PF Party and the Movement for Democratic Change will continue, despite reports that the two sides have reached an impasse.
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ROBERT MUGABE, ZIMBABWEAN PRESIDENT: There is total commitment on the part of government and Zanu-PF, and I hope there is similar total -- similar commitment on the part of the other parties.
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SESAY: Mr. Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed a memorandum of understanding last month to set the agenda for the talks. South African President Thabo Mbeki says negotiators from both sides are working hard.
Also in South Africa, a former employee at Oprah Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls has pleaded not guilty to abuse charges. Tiny Makopo was arrested in November on charges including indecent assault and harassment. She's accused of victimizing six students.
The U.S. Security Council had voted to extend its peacekeeping mission in Sudan's Darfur region for one year. The future of the mission had been clouded by the pending indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, now being considered by the International Criminal Court. The Arab League and the African Union both say the case threatens to derail the already shaky Darfur peace talks.
Well, a couple of weeks ago, we asked for your e-mails on the pending indictment of Sudan's president. We received a ton of emails. I want to share some of them with you now.
Jay from Costa Rico writes: "If the ICC can try to place charges of genocide and war crimes against Bashir, then why aren't they doing the same thing to Bush and company, who are responsible for more deaths just in Iraq than Sudan, and more displaced people?"
While Dua Tong (ph) writes - 'No amount of law would replace the numerous lives that had been lost in the troubled region of Darfur. Bashir should be arrested and questioned or charged for genocide. Then, African leaders should increase the number of AU forces in Darfur."
Thank you for all your emails. We always want to hear your thoughts about the show and news happening on the continent. Just drop us a line at insideafrica@cnn.com.
Well, there we must leave it. Thank you for watching. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new edition of "INSIDE AFRICA."
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