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Rwanda has been plagued by internal strife virtually since it attained its independence from Belgium in 1959. For years in the 1960s the majority ethnic group known as the Hutus drove some 150,000 Tutsis (the primary minority ethnic group) into exile. In 1990 the descendents of these exiled Tutsis formed a rebel group known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which waged civil war against the ruling Hutus. Between the start of this war in 1990 and its culmination -- which was marked by the horrifying genocide of approximately 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu sympathizers -- Rwanda suffered severe economic destruction as a result of these extreme internal ethnic tensions. Considering the mass exodus of refugees out of Rwanda, the infrastructural damage, and the political implications of this conflict, Rwanda has shown great resiliency in terms of recovering from these past horrors. Poverty levels are still high, not all displaced refugees have returned home, and the Tutsis are seen as the politically dominant party, but presidential and legislative elections were peacefully held in 2003 and with some political stability, the country is making strides towards independence from foreign aid. In this photo members of a recycling program in Kigali, Rwanda, which focuses on cleaning neighborhoods while creating jobs, rest in the shade.
Photo Credit: USAID
Sources: CIA World Fact Book, www.migrationinformation.org
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