“There are no old scars from Imperialism in Africa, only deep wounds that continue to bleed year by year.”

Zimbabwe

Imperialism Zimbabwe was taken over by Britain in the year 1888 that was led by Cecil Rhodes and the British South Africa Company. Great Britain took control of Zimbabwe for their gold mines. Tobacco was an important crop to the British that was grown in Zimbabwe as well. On April 18, 1980 Britain granted Zimbabwe’s independence.

Zimbabwe now has a parliamentary democracy. Zimbabwe has many economic problems one of those many problems is the 80% unemployment rate. Poor mining practices have left Zimbabwe with high levels of air and water pollution. Zimbabwe has also been left with deforestation and soil erosion from poor land practices. Post Colonialism

Future It is sad to see Zimbabwe in such bad conditions because it once had one of the most powerful economies in Africa. It seems that Zimbabwe is on a downward slope that will be almost impossible to recover from.

President Roger Mugabe Zimbabwe children sifting through trash to find food

Diseases such as cholera are rampant in Zimbabwe due to poor living conditions. AID/HIV deaths 140,000 (2007 est.) 15.3% (2007 est.) that’s 1.3 million people Life Expectancy: total population: years male: years female: years (2009 est.)

Rwanda

History of Rwanda At the end of World War I, the United Nations mandated Rwanda and its southern neighbor, Burundi, to Belgium as the territory of Ruanda-Urindi Belgians used Rwanda for agricultural, forced to grow large amounts of coffee, kept the profits for themselves Revolution in 1959, Tutsis exiled into foreign lands or stripped of political power, Hutu take control On July 1, 1962 the Belgians declared that Rwanda was independent, Hutus given full control

Post Colonialism Three years before they gained independence, the majority ethnic group – the Hutus, overthrew the Tutsi king In the following decades, thousands of Tutsis were killed and around 150,000 were exiled into neighboring countries The children of these exiles formed a rebel army the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and started a civil war in 1990 This war led to the genocide in April of 1994 which killed approximately 8000 Tutsis and even moderate Hutus The RPF defeated the Hutu regime in July 1994 which caused 2 million Hutus to take refuge in neighboring countries, in fear of Tutsi retribution The Hutus never struck back, and most refugees returned Although the country has moved on politically since the genocide, with an established president, cultural reconciliation is complicated due to the extremely deep tensions

Future Outlook It will be very difficult for Rwanda’s two main ethnic groups, the Tutsis and the Hutus, to reconcile and live in peace once again. Recently freed from its genocide, Rwanda will most likely continue to be ruled by the Tutsis, with the Hutus having little say in government, economy, or society.

Refugee Camp in Zaire 1994