Rwandan Bonsais

Part of this opacity stems from the variety of names for these camps. Andrea Purdeková of the Oxford Department of International Development has noted that "since their inception soon after the genocide, the three to eight week long camps have been known variously as 'solidarity camps,' 're-education' camps, 'civic education' camps, 'political awareness' camps, 'reorientation' camps, and 'reintegration' courses." According to a Rwandan government official who has lectured at ingando camps in the past, these programs are a way of "creating a national identity" and serve to "help people realize that ethnic identities give us nothing." An employee of the Youth, Sports, and Culture Ministry even claimed that "ingando is the reason we are so peaceful." A high-ranking police officer in Kigali, also speaking on terms of anonymity, agreed with this assessment, attributing the country's stability since 1994 to "a change in the mindset of the people," which he says was facilitated through ingando. A young woman who attended ingando and is currently working at a post-conflict education non-profit mused that "the older generation has been corrupted; they have different ideologies than we do," and suggested that the new ideologies had been learned in the camps. Some Rwandans who recalled their experience at ingando positively report that this program instilled in them "patriotism" and taught them "how to love our country," as well as imparting civic education "about the importance of paying taxes and contributing to development." The mandatory lectures from government officials, they said, "explain why the government has created these policies" and seek to foster support for government programs. One middle-aged NGO coordinator who did not attend ingando was excited for when her children would be old enough to attend, stating that "I don't know how to teach my children about the country, so I am happy that there is a way for them to learn how to love their country."