As much as I enjoy relaying my cultural and social experiences in Rwanda, it's good to talk a bit about the work I am doing too.
As a law clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, my duties naturally involve legal research, and drafting bench memoranda. But, given the language barrier (so few cases in French and none in English) I find myself performing a multitude of administrative tasks, and recommending new rules and best practices for the Court to adopt. Also, I find myself supporting the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Justice Strengthening Project in Rwanda.
This month, MCC project brought in one of my professors from law school, Jean-Marie Kamatali, who works as a consultant for the project. It's a great way for me to work with him on some of the trainings and workshops that the MCC project is putting on. Next week, in fact, one day will be spend working with a select group of judges who will train the judiciary on new judgment writing principles for the courts in Rwanda. And, two days will be spend at the Seminar on Legal Education in Rwanda, where we will discuss with employers of law graduate and deans of law faculties how to adjust law curriculum to meet the changing needs of law employers.
These sorts of projects help give me faith in the foreign aid community - with real-world projects and tangible results that I have seen, and will continue to see working at the Court. These are the times when I am very thankful for my post, the reform that is taking place in the judiciary, and that I am fortunate enough to be playing a part.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The First Thing We Do, Let’s Kill All The Lawyers (swearing in, 15 Nov. 2010)
Highlight of the summer (or not)? Taking the Ohio Bar Examination. It was July 27 – July 29, 2010. After three long years of law school, and then two months of intense bar study, I along with my peers sat for what proved to be the most difficult exam I have taken. As if the process to become a licensed attorney in the State of Ohio was not difficult enough, I was then sent away with the emotionally trying task of waiting until October 29, 2010 for my test results.
Promising that I would never return from Africa should I fail, I set off for Rwanda just more than one week after the bar exam, pledging to forget about the miserable experience. In the end, my passing score made the entire experience worthwhile. The only downside was that I was not able to join my classmates and friends in Columbus for the Supreme Court’s swearing in ceremony on November 8. But, there was to be a bright side to this . . .
W. Stuart Symington, the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda, got wind of my success, and my need to take the oath of office for the State Bar, and invited me to the Embassy for a private swearing-in ceremony. So, one week after the grand event in Columbus, I found myself in the office of the Ambassador perched between the flags of the United States and the State of Ohio (yes, he had a flag of the State of Ohio put in his office for the occasion). With the assistance of a consular officer, Ambassador Symington issued my oath and we signed my affidavit making the process official.
Ambassador Symington, without knowing my love of Shakespeare, delivered a much misused quote from Henry VI – “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Dismissing that it was intended to me nothing more than a mere joke of our profession, Ambassador Symington went on to explain the context – that the intent in the play was to eliminate those who might stand in the way of a contemplated revolution, thus underscoring the importance of lawyers and upholding the rule of law in society. “And that’s what happened here in Rwanda,” the Ambassador said, “they killed the lawyers in 1994 and disregard the rule of law.” It was profound, especially since my first job as a licensed attorney is working as a legal advisor to the Supreme Court, and doing my best to propose legal reforms to strengthen the rule of law in Rwanda.
It was certainly a memorable experience – and a wonderful way to mark the occasion of my swearing in albeit far from friends and family.
Promising that I would never return from Africa should I fail, I set off for Rwanda just more than one week after the bar exam, pledging to forget about the miserable experience. In the end, my passing score made the entire experience worthwhile. The only downside was that I was not able to join my classmates and friends in Columbus for the Supreme Court’s swearing in ceremony on November 8. But, there was to be a bright side to this . . .
W. Stuart Symington, the U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda, got wind of my success, and my need to take the oath of office for the State Bar, and invited me to the Embassy for a private swearing-in ceremony. So, one week after the grand event in Columbus, I found myself in the office of the Ambassador perched between the flags of the United States and the State of Ohio (yes, he had a flag of the State of Ohio put in his office for the occasion). With the assistance of a consular officer, Ambassador Symington issued my oath and we signed my affidavit making the process official.
Ambassador Symington, without knowing my love of Shakespeare, delivered a much misused quote from Henry VI – “The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Dismissing that it was intended to me nothing more than a mere joke of our profession, Ambassador Symington went on to explain the context – that the intent in the play was to eliminate those who might stand in the way of a contemplated revolution, thus underscoring the importance of lawyers and upholding the rule of law in society. “And that’s what happened here in Rwanda,” the Ambassador said, “they killed the lawyers in 1994 and disregard the rule of law.” It was profound, especially since my first job as a licensed attorney is working as a legal advisor to the Supreme Court, and doing my best to propose legal reforms to strengthen the rule of law in Rwanda.
It was certainly a memorable experience – and a wonderful way to mark the occasion of my swearing in albeit far from friends and family.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Just for Fun - 'People wear the darndest things' - 11 Nov. 2010
From my first day in Kigali something struck me as odd, that I really didn’t expect (but probably should have). People here sometimes wear the darndest things. Mostly, I’m taking tee shirts.
I get it – individuals (and manufacturers) give to charity unwanted clothing. Some of this clothing inevitably makes its way to Africa. And, some of this clothing makes its way to Rwanda. It can, however, get a bit surreal.
First, I find a category of clothes that makes me think of friends and family back home. The young teenager wearing a red tee reading “Badger Grandpa” and a guy I regularly pass on my way to work with a 2007 NY Giants NFC Football Champion shirt (sorry Packers fans). I even saw a man outside the Supreme Court with a polo shirt with a BP logo, and the words Lima Refinery Plant (a mere 30 km from where we live in Ohio – and not a major city).
Then there’s the more interesting category. The category of “why the hell would you donate that garbage instead of burning it or turning it into household rags." Example 1: walking through a dirt road in a more impoverished area of Kigali, I saw a young boy with a tee shirt donning a confederate flag, and some ‘redneck’ message. He had no clue – no one did. Sadly, it took me so long to gather my wits that I didn’t even think to take a picture. Example 2: Another great one, and something that I saw my first day in Kigali. Picture this: a tall, and extremely thin man at a bus stop. He was wearing a black tee shirt with white letters reading “Man Boobs Are Sexy.” No, seriously, he was.
But, I get it. Clothes are clothes, especially in the developing world. But, this in no way explains the epic ‘short tie’ that is prevalent here amongst professionals!!
I get it – individuals (and manufacturers) give to charity unwanted clothing. Some of this clothing inevitably makes its way to Africa. And, some of this clothing makes its way to Rwanda. It can, however, get a bit surreal.
First, I find a category of clothes that makes me think of friends and family back home. The young teenager wearing a red tee reading “Badger Grandpa” and a guy I regularly pass on my way to work with a 2007 NY Giants NFC Football Champion shirt (sorry Packers fans). I even saw a man outside the Supreme Court with a polo shirt with a BP logo, and the words Lima Refinery Plant (a mere 30 km from where we live in Ohio – and not a major city).
Then there’s the more interesting category. The category of “why the hell would you donate that garbage instead of burning it or turning it into household rags." Example 1: walking through a dirt road in a more impoverished area of Kigali, I saw a young boy with a tee shirt donning a confederate flag, and some ‘redneck’ message. He had no clue – no one did. Sadly, it took me so long to gather my wits that I didn’t even think to take a picture. Example 2: Another great one, and something that I saw my first day in Kigali. Picture this: a tall, and extremely thin man at a bus stop. He was wearing a black tee shirt with white letters reading “Man Boobs Are Sexy.” No, seriously, he was.
But, I get it. Clothes are clothes, especially in the developing world. But, this in no way explains the epic ‘short tie’ that is prevalent here amongst professionals!!
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