May the almighty Allah

“May the almighty Allah bless Saddam Hussein”. So ran the caption on a laminated wall calendar on sale outside the market today. The calendar was covered with photos of Saddam – at prayer against the Americans, at a birthday party, with his troops, at his capture, with the noose around his neck moments before death and finally of his body thrown in the back of a pick-up. There was quite a pile of these calendars available.

This doesn’t mean that Cyangugu has seen an outbreak of radical Islam, although the very idea of having this on the wall completely boggles my mind. In his very limited selection, the vendor also had Manchester United calendars (unofficial, of course). Nevertheless, it gives pause for thought about how others perceive the world.