Speaking of the Fourth of July

One thing I love about New England is all the history. I remember being in California and seeing "old" towns that were established in the 1800s, thinking that's so young compared to where I grew up. The house I grew up in was older than many states. I've been thinking a lot lately about making sure the baby knows his or her roots, because my own family geneology is part of New England history.

My dad has traced his mother's ancestors back to Plymouth Plantation. At Plymouth they have a replica of the original settlement with actors playing the parts of the settlers and one summer we spent a day there, meeting our ancestor. (He supposedly was eventually asked to leave the settlement due to some shady business deals and being too friendly with Roger Williams, who was the founder of Rhode Island. Even though there's no evidence my ancestor resettled in Rhode Island, I still like to think I'm descended from one of the original Rhode Islanders.) My dad has found the graves of ancestors who fought in King Philip's War and the Revolutionary War.

And it's the Revolutionary War that I'm thinking of today. A couple weeks ago we braved the poison ivy and ticks to visit our war ancestors in the cemetery.

John Gould and Nicholas Gould (click photos for bigger)

We aren't the only country celebrating our independence from colonialism this week. Rwanda and Burundi are too. And July 1 through 3 is also the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. It's a busy week, history-wise.

Etainerie y’ihuye – The Tinsmith of Butare

A recent article for our community newsletter:



The tinsmith workshop in Butare, Rwanda, is just over the border along RN 1. It was established many years ago by a Benedictine monk. It closed in 1994 but became operational again in 2003. The shop is completely run and managed by Rwandans. They create serving dishes, goblets, candlesticks, vases, and a variety of whimsical animal figurines.

The workshop uses pewter, which is an alloy made of 99% tin. Pewter is soft and can easily be molded.

You can take a tour of the tinsmith shop to see for yourself how these silvery creations are made. The first stop is the molding room, where molds are made from clay and liquid metal is poured in to them to create the desired shapes. It only takes a few moments for the metal to harden and cool. Then the shapes are removed from the clay mold.

Different pieces are created, such as two halves of an elephant body and its trunk, and then welded together in another part of the workshop. Before being welded the edges are smoothed down.

After welding, the objects are polished and cleaned. Then they are brought to the shops. When you decide what you want to buy (and it can be a hard decision!) your pieces are brought back to the workshop for a final polishing before you can take them home.

Items are also often available for sale in boutiques in Kigali at the Hotel Novotel and Hotel Mille des Collines.

The workshop grounds are a nice spot for a picnic lunch and if you leave from Bujumbura early enough in the morning, you can make this round-trip in one day. There are some hotels in Butare and an overnight trip with a leisurely drive back the next day with shopping stops along the road would make for a nice weekend excursion. Butare is also home to the National Museum of Rwanda, a must see for anyone traveling through the region.

The shop is open every day except Wednesday and Sunday. Tel: +250-08640923; email: abmabuye@yahoo.fr

Written with information from Magic Safaris.com and wikipedia.