Mzungus in the Mist

7 students, 2 wheels, 3 weeks. Rwanda.

A film by Isaac and Jacob Seigel-Boettner

In July of 2008, 7 Santa Barbara Middle School students packed up their bikes and boarded a plane to Kigali, Rwanda. A few had been abroad, but none to the small African country that many can only associate with the horrific genocide that claimed nearly one million lives just over a decade ago. Over the next three weeks, they pedaled across the Land of One Thousand Hills, experiencing Rwanda in a way that few mzungus (white people) ever have…from the bike saddle. They were chased by mobs of children, bargained for bananas on the roadside, taught aspiring young Rwandan cyclists how to fix flat tires, and played soccer with genocide orphans. From the Lion King-like plains of Akagera National Park to the terraced coffee farms of Butare to the bustling streets of Kigali, they saw the Rwanda that does not make the headlines…the Rwanda that is trying its best to move beyond the images on CNN and in Hotel Rwanda. The real Rwanda.

Though they saw reflections of the genocide in the eyes of many of the locals whom they met, the also saw deep reservoirs of strength and hope for the future. The most common word they heard from the mobs who ran along side them on the road was ‘komera!’…’be strong!’ None of them stepped off the tarmac at the Kigali airport the same.