debeers - a diamond is forever

from today's new times:

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consumers of mutzig are going to have to start digging deeper into their pockets as factory prices of beer brands have significantly been increased, on average by frw100 (20 cents US).

rwanda breweries and soft drink manufacturer (bralirwa) says it has been forced to increase prices in part due to the soaring prices of raw materials, some of which are imported. a statement from bralirwa says prices of malt grain, the major ingredient for brewing beer, has increased significantly on the world market. however, by press time bralirwa could not disclose the current prices and volumes of the malt it imports. the company also says high costs of petrol and transport have increased thereby pushing up operating costs.

according to the statement, costs of other raw materials like sugar and hops – used primarily as a flavoring and stabilizing agent in beer – are also high. in addition, high prices for maize and other cereals in combination with limited supplies have contributed to the increase of beer prices.

however, prices of primus, heineken and soft drinks have not changed – something bralirwa says, ‘is for the affordability and accessibility for the rwandan consumers’.
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i object!

as you, my dear compatriots, are well aware, mutzig beer is at the top of my food pyramid when i am in rwanda! how could they? how dare they! now i have empathy for the current market conditions which are forcing the hand of bralirwa ... the crisis in kenya, high oil prices, etc. - but please don't touch my mutzig!

how elitist, by the way, that mutzig prices are going up, while it's sister brew, primus, remains unchanged. an interesting turn of events ... in kigali, primus is widely advertised as the ale of the people, and is in fact being distributed in smaller bottles to promote affordability (why do i know all this stuff? uggghhhhh!). so only us foreigners are affected.

and speaking of kenya, it is now confirmed that all imports coming into landlocked rwanda (including all of the supplies for the project i'm working on) will now have to flow through the port of dar-es-salaam in tanzania. incentives have been promised, tax breaks have been negotiated, and mombasa's port in kenya may never be the same if uganda and congo follow suit.

think i'll switch to wine ...

h

jia-da

in light of recent events on the home front, our family will forego a planned trip to hong kong and tokyo next week - waahhhhh! alas, we must take care of things here, and we promise to reschedule - c'est la vie.

although quite frankly, i am a bit sad not to be occupying the penthouse suite we had booked at the jia hong kong. the first phillipe starck designed boutique hotel in this city of very chic and buttoned up bolt-holes, it is something of an anomaly in an otherwise business class city. not that hong kong doesn't have an edge - it does - but between reverting back to chinese rule and shifting economic sands (asian tigers lose their roar too), it seems as if it's trying to hold onto that corporate identity.

so, the seemingly lovely jia, in causeway bay - a bastion of slick finishes and oh-so-cool styling. yes, a bit of a cliché in this era of uber-designed hotels, but hey, i want my mtv. and hong kong - is a bit of nyc on the other side of the planet ... the obsession with money and conspicuous consumption, the hyper slick skyline, with a good dose of drama ... the haves and have-nots, the cheap eats and fine dining, the street life and markets, all under the umbrella of establishment.

it's been almost 20 years since the last visit, time to go back soon ...

congo line

i ended my recent trip to rwanda with a visit to the border town of gisenyi, on beautiful lake kivu. a bit like being in lugano, this verdant region of western rwanda lies at the doorstep of the democratic republic of congo (drc), or simply, 'congo'. the town of gisenyi literally ends at the border post, and on the other side is the city of goma. currently at the center of conflict, it is a veritable hotbed of violence that has bubbled over like the nearby volcano that almost destroyed this town some years ago. not one to be easily frightened, this was one place that made me feel incredibly vulnerable, and for once, i had no desire to cross the border to get another stamp in my passport.

i was intrigued by a front page article in yesterday's new york times, which outlines the current civil war which continues to take shape in this place. more than the geopolitical discussion, i was intrigued by the differences in rwanda and congolese culture which is in part a point of the article. the following is an excerpt:

the fighting is also rekindling the kind of ethnic hatred that previously dragged this region into the most deadly conflict since world war II. it began with the rwandan genocide, in which hutu extremists killed 800,000 tutsi and moderate hutu in 1994. many of the genocide’s perpetrators fled into congo, igniting regional conflicts, lasted for nearly a decade and killed, by some estimates, as many as four million people through violence, disease and hunger.

the current battle is in many ways a throwback to the earliest and most difficult questions at the heart of the congo war, and also a reflection of longstanding hostilities toward tutsi, who are widely viewed here as being more rwandan than congolese, and as foreign interlopers with outsize economic and political influence.

in many ways, congo’s tutsi are a people apart, an unusual minority with influence but also problems beyond its size. these differences are reflected in a unique way of life. when the congolese army routed rebel forces in one of the strategic towns they occupied in a recent, ultimately failed push, the army celebrated with stiff pulls of rotgut whiskey. but when the rebels routed the army with a much smaller force a few days later, they toasted their victory with cups of milk from the most prized of tutsi possessions, dairy cows.

this reputation for sobriety and determination helps explain why tutsi have been so successful in business, according to tutsi community leaders in goma, the regional capital. “when we were investing and working, the congolese were listening to music and playing football,” said modeste makabuza ngoga, a tutsi who is one of goma’s richest men, with investments in transportation, telecommunications, tin ore and the gasoline trade, among other things. “are we to be blamed for that?”.

some of goma’s wealthy tutsi feel so unsafe that they sleep in gisenyi, a town just inside the rwandan border, a fact that reinforces the common perception that congolese tutsi are more rwandan than congolese.

rwanda’s history is a powerful touchstone for congo’s tutsi. similar disparities — a small group controlling considerable wealth and influence, amid a powerful sense of grievance from the majority — helped create the conditions that led to the genocide in rwanda in 1994. until the rwandan genocide, congolese hutu and tutsi coexisted relatively peacefully and in many ways faced the same kinds of persecution from other ethnic groups that considered them outsiders. but when the hutu perpetrators of the rwandan genocide flooded into congo, tensions rose between congolese hutu and tutsi as well.

joseph dunia ruyenzi, a human rights activist in goma, said that despite this history, tutsi must put their trust in the fledgling democracy of congo. “all congolese must see themselves as congolese first, and as having a stake in peace and prosperity,” he said. “our only option is to be in this together.”

goodbye hkg, hello mia

for the first time in memory, we are cancelling a previously planned trip.

since we constantly feel as if we need to 'cram it in' with the kids - that is, travel with them while they still want to travel with us, it's painful! but jane is undergoing chemotherapy treatments through march, and that is mutually exclusive with touring during this time frame. so hong kong and tokyo will have to wait, which is a shame as we had great non-stop flights, amazing hotels, and superb restaurants booked for the splash out!

living in america, 'going' seems to be our highest priority ... not to rest, or relax, but to SEE. we feel compelled to expose the kids to new foods, foreign tongues, otherworldly vistas, and different cultures. the myopic view that characterizes their upbringing in this culture frightens us, and this is our way of counterbalancing that anxiety.

not to mention that we love to travel! and we do relax as a result of moving ... funky hotels, amazing languid meals, lots of coffee breaks, wine, and strolling through gardens. and more critically than all of this, we get family time together where we feel minimally glamorous - no dishpan hands, beds to make, groceries to shlepp, or work to attend to. we give it our all - looking smart and clean, rather polished actually!

so for our family to void a voyage is something new, unfamiliar, and most unwelcome! fear not, another booking lies just around the corner!

black clouds

political and ethnic loyalties have long intertwined in kenya, and the violence that erupted after president mwai kibaki claimed re-election shows how volatile the mix can be. as in previous ballots, candidates campaigned using a mix of direct and indirect ethnic appeals. phrases like "it is our time to eat" were understood by voters who know that whoever controls the presidency has power to allocate money, jobs, and other benefits to his own group.

barely one week ago, i pass through nairobi on my way to bruxelles. fantasies of frolicking zebras, statuesque giraffes, and nightlife of mombassa dance like sugar-plum fairies in my head. yes, an impending election, scheduled for two days after my brief interlude, roots my fantasies, but that is just a passing thought.

here we are, one week on, and kenya has erupted in complete and utter violent chaos! oh me, oh my. feeling a bit like the kiss of death! hope my presence on this east african nation's soil didn't spark this civil unrest! i keep thinking that i was attempting to maneuver a day or two in the capital on my way back, at the serena with a visit to the national park - that would not have worked out so well, given the current circumstances!

tragic, really, that a country as prosperous and stable as kenya has descended into what will hopefully be a short-lived spree of killing and looting. having met many kenyans recently, i can attest that they are warm, cultured, and extremely civil - so the images flashing across the tv screen seem incongruous with my own developed experiences.

it is jarring and frightening, nonetheless, to see people wielding bloody machetes in the slummed streets of nairobi, and in other parts of the land. the root of most of this, beyond the alleged fraudulent election results, seems to be ethnic tension which manifests itself along political lines (what else is new?!). having spent a good deal of time in rwanda this year, which suffered horribly as a result of the genocide, and whose own violence was in good measure carried out with said machetes, i am personally horrified at any repetition of this brutality in africa (whatever the circumstances).

as a new year begins, my thoughts are with those who are, sadly, ringing in a new era under the pessimistic shadow of internal strife and violence.

h