Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye to anyone is hard, particularly as I have spent the last 10 months living and working alongside the people of Gahini and sharing in their lives and culture. The hardest part is not knowing if or when I will see many of the friends I have made again.

I've had a few different events to say goodbye to different people.

I had a lovely lunch in Kigali with a group of expat friends who have during my time here, provided me with relief from rural living as well as accommodation in the capital (better than any b&b).

The church choir sang in english on Sunday morning - stage fright got the better of them but they made a good attempt at 'He's got the Whole World in His Hands', then I had to give a speech to the congregation. After the service we had what seemed like hundreds of photos around the place, dressed in an interesting outfit.

On Monday evening the choir threw a farewell party for me with tea and cakes, speeches and singing. I was also given a banana bark picture, a picture of the choir and rwandan pot.

It transpired that my colleagues at the centre also planned an event on Tuesday - but didn't tell me what or when. The first thing I knew about it was when one of the members of staff told me at lunchtime to tell my neighbour to come at 4pm to say goodbye!

I was there at 4pm along with all the patients and mums, but no other staff. Slowly they drifted in. Again we had drinks and food - this time fanta, samosa and mandazi. Then singing and dancing, speeches, photos and gifts. A truely Rwandan party.

I will miss all the friends I have made, the children I have treated and everyone who has touched my life during my time in Rwanda.

I hope you've enjoyed sharing my adventures.

The view from behind the scenes

Today is International Day for People with Disabilities, so we decided to mark the occasion with a party at the centre. The planning started well in advance (at least 2 weeks ago) but yesterday at 5pm noone really knew what the plan for the day was and there wasn't much sign of preparation except the arrival of a cow to be slaughtered.

At 8am this morning the centre was a hive of activity and I got involved. Several mothers were peeling potatoes and preparing the food which was cooked in huge saucepans on wood fires, the men were erecting a gazebo out of tree trunks and tarpaulin and the rest of us got down to cleaning. We cleaned every door and window and other bit of paintwork around the place, then mopped the walkways, arranged the chairs and tables for the guests of honour. We also cleaned hundreds of plates in washing powder and cut and folded serviettes.

The official programme (we discovered) was due to start at 10am but only by 12 noon were the finishing touches finally being put to the gazebo and seating arrangements and the sound system started pumping out music.

The event proceeded with speeches from various people and singing and dancing by the children and mums of the centre. One lad with an amputated leg was hopping around like crazy!

Rather than being a guest of honour, having to sit at the top tables which I normally am as a Mzungu I got to help out and see what was going on behind the scenes.

My jobs included handing out fantas, plating up portions of food on the floor of the orthopaedic workshop, running home for various utensils they suddenly realised were needed (as I live the closest), and distributing the food. At one point I stepped into a large hole which had been dug for a tree trunk but had not been used, almost sending plates of food everywhere. We didn't have enough plates for all the guests (no one know how many people would turn up anyway) so just reused the ones the first people had finished with and people got a toothpick to eat their food with if they were lucky. At one point I thought there wasn't going to be enough food to go around but how wrong I was! As a helper we got to eat in the workshop after all the guests had eaten. I have never seen people eat so much food in one go, and still be thin. There seemed to be endless buckets (yes, buckets) of potatoes, ibitoke (green banana), meat and coleslaw.

The mamouth job afterwards was the washing up - done in cold water with either bars of soap or washing powder. I was on rinsing duty and must have been at it for almost 2 hours. Then dried everything with a pillowcase!

Once the clearing up was done we watched the last half hour of Rwanda v Zanzibar football match. I was about to head home but was told I had to stay for the after party party- apparently when all the people organising the day sit together, talk about the party, thank each other for their work, oh, and eat MORE food!

In praise of Edisa and Gatete

Edisa has been my houseworker since the beginning of April and she is amazing. I will surely miss her. Every day I return from work at lunchtime to a hot meal cooked from raw ingredients – there’s no Dolmio sauce or ready meals or even a microwave here! If I want any particular fruit or veg from the local shops I just leave a list for her in the morning and by the time I get home they are all there. She will even go to the market in the next town for me too. I do have to write the list in Kinyarwanda though. My clothes washing is done by hand and hung on the line to dry and is usually ready in 24hrs – delayed only by the weather!

No matter how hard I try to straighten my bed covers in the morning, she always does it 10 times better for me and keeps the red dust or mud at bay. Oh and her homemade bread and chapati’s are delicious.

I do provide her with entertainment when I try to communicate with her in Kinyarwanda. It gives her a good laugh but she does help and corrects me and we usually understand each other in the end!

Gatete is the gardener but his abilities are extended far beyond tending to the garden. He makes sure the water filters and barrels in the house are full and clears the rain gutters. He even cleaned the inside of the rain harvester out when it was empty in the dry season. He guts and fillets the fish when Edisa buys it from the fishermen who come to the door. He’s repainted the longdrop and kitchen walls, helped fix bicycle pumps and kept me in good supply of eggs and papaya.

In the garden he cuts the grass by hand with a machete, keeps the front yard weed free, clean and swept – very important in Rwandan culture, and looks after the vegetable patch. I bought some seeds for him in April and since then he brings deliveries of the results to the door….green peppers, chilly peppers, lettuce, aubergine, carrots, parsley and papaya.

I think adjusting to independent living in the UK will be a challenge.

Karambo

I was invited to spend the night at a place at the other end of lake Muhazi with some friends on Friday. We set off from Kigali on the tarmac road heading north. After about half an hour we turned off onto the 17km of dirt road to our destination. Except in several places it wasn’t a dirt road, it was a mud pool. Despite being in a 4x4 we skidded and bounced and splashed our way through large sections of deep mud. The car ended up sideways across the road at least 2 if not 3 times!

Fortunately the road was wide and we were not half way up a steep sided hill like the road the Shyira, although the lake was below us. We arrived on an adrenaline high and the car covered in mud, but the scenery was stunning and very peaceful so we soon relaxed. We spent the evening enjoying the view and quiet, chatting and playing cards and the following morning exploring the area and relaxing. The road had dried out considerably by the time we made our return journey on Saturday so the trip wasn’t half as exciting!

Customer care and communication

I arrived at the airport for my return flight to Rwanda to discover the flight schedule had been changed and I was now due to fly 24 hours later although no one had told me. I was told the change was ‘better for everyone’ and ‘the good news is you will arrive at the same time tomorrow’. Fortunately I returned the relatives I had stayed with and rearranged my plans for the following day.

Hippos and Crocs

After the wedding we had a couple of days in St Lucia on the Elephant Coast in a UNSESCO world heritage site. We were told it was one of the safest places in South Africa and it was fine to walk around the town at night but there was a high possibility of meeting a hippo or leopard wandering the streets too!

We spent one day driving through the game park and being beaten by the waves of the Indian Ocean. We saw a few different animals including buffalo and monkeys but no leopards. Afterwards we went on a boat trip along the estuary where we saw loads of hippos and some crocodiles. The hippos hung around in large groups with the younger ones near the middle. One of the crocs was huge and apparently they can move from water to land at 70kph! A couple of fish eagles were keeping watch over the river and we were treated to an African sunset on our return to the jetty.

Wedding with Warthogs

The wedding took place on a private game reserve about an hour out of the city. While we were there we were taken on a game drive and saw lots of different African animals including zebra, impala, wildebeast, giraffe, kudu, mongoose, ostriches, hippos and rhinos. The rhinos were grazing outside our lodge as we had a picnic lunch.

The setting of the wedding was beautiful. It was held in a small chapel with seating outside with a small lake nearby and amazing views across the countryside and the weather was perfect. As the photos were being taken a couple of warthogs came trotting past and others were hanging around in the background to see what was going on!

We were entertained by a group of Zulu dancers and had a delicious meal and good speeches then we danced the night away.

Clapham Grand

The hen night started at a country club on another residential estate. The bride to be was dressed as Tinkerbell, the bridesmaids as fairies and everyone else had outfits with flowers on and garlands around their necks. It was a relaxed evening of food and drink and getting to know some of the other guests. The party then progressed into the centre of Durban to ‘ The Clapham Grand’! the Londoners amongst us were very confused! During the evening there was a dance competition with some interesting moves, and a very good beatboxer. It was a fun night.

Cockroach Crushing

We stayed at a lovely B&B just north of Durban. When the others checked in they saw a huge cockroach, and I’m talking at least 6cm in length with wings, on the bathroom ceiling but as it was sitting quietly not moving and minding it’s own business they named it Colin and left it.

After collecting me from the airport we took what should have been a short detour to a country club on an exclusive estate to deliver some wine but it took us a while to find the correct entrance and convince the security guard to let us in. Then we returned to the B&B. As we were sitting and chatting we suddenly saw a cockroach scuttling very quickly across the floor and under the bed. The next couple of hours would have been very entertaining for anyone watching us as it was spent checking behind and under every piece of furniture in the room and chasing any cockroaches we found. At first we tried to capture them in a glass but they were too quick and we soon decided if we let them outside they would find their way back in so the only answer was to kill them. It was left to me to give them a good whack with a flipflop then flush them down the toilet. I think we disposed of about 6 in the end.

Later we found out they are commonplace in even the cleanest of places to that part of the world.

Destination South Africa

Last week I went to South Africa for a friend’s wedding. I spent a week with a couple of other friends from university seeing the sights and sounds of Durban and KwaZulu Natal. We had quite a few adventures along the way.

Birthday bash

Lots of you have asked how I celebrated my birthday. Birthdays are not really celebrated here so I kept it quiet from my colleagues and Rwandan friends, but on Friday I took homemade honey cake in for the staff and physio students at the rehab centre. The students were amazed that I knew how to make a cake!! They sang 'happy birthday' to me in French.

On Saturday (my actual birthday) I went into Kigali for the day. It was raining as I was on the taxi but had stopped by the time I arrived. Here they say rain on your wedding day is a blessing, so I think it applies to birthdays too! The rest of the day was warm and sunny - the first time I've been able to wear a summer skirt on my birthday.

My first stop was the post office to collect the post. Sadly there was no post for me, but there was a slip to tell me i had a parcel to collect, exciting, until I discovered you can't collect parcels on Saturdays. boo. I then met up with a group of friends I have made during my time here and had lunch at an Ethiopian restuarant. The food was very nice and they did a buffet of different dishes for us so we could try lots of different things. I spent the afternoon running errands and stocking up at the supermarket before heading home.

I went for a walk just before it got dark and bumped into one of my friends who invited me to his house to greet his family, which in true Rwandan style turned into several glasses of juice and a large plate of food and several hours of chatting. I had to walk home in the dark without a torch, and of course no streetlights, but I made it without falling into the mud pools from the rain!

On Sunday I had a lovely relaxed morning and a long lie in before a delicious lunch with my neighbours. We even had a glass of wine - a real treat!

In the evening we had birthday cake, with candles, and jelly, courtesy of my sister, before our time of fellowship.

I also got some lovely cards, gifts and messages throughout the weekend. A great birthday weekend!

Taking the Taxis

One of the ways of getting a true ‘african’ experience is by taking one of the local minibus taxis- the longer the journey the better! Over the last few weeks I have taken quite a few so I thought I would share a few stories.

The minibuses are licensed to carry 18 passengers, two in the front cab next to the driver, then 4 on each row of seats in the back, and if you are unlucky you get the ‘seat’ which is the gap between the fixed and fold down seats. It’s quite a squash, particularly if anyone has children or luggage with them, and gets very hot and sweaty.

The mentality of the drivers and conductors is a ‘full taxi means more money’. This means they will stop anywhere to pick people up, wait for people sauntering down the road, or reverse to collect them, squashing a few extra people in, and the conductor will get out to round people up to get on the taxi, who I’m sure had no intention of travelling anywhere! This was taken to the extreme last week when I got on a taxi along with about 6 other people on the edge of a town to go to the next town. A bit further along the road we stopped again and picked up a few more people, but as the taxi was not full the driver decided to turn around and drive back into the centre of the town (about 5 mins away) to see if he could find more passengers. Eventually the taxi filled up and we set off again. I’m not convinced the extra fares would have covered the cost of the petrol to make the detour!

To let the driver know you want to get off, you knock on the roof and pay the conductor. The fare depends on how far you have travelled- how they remember who got on where and how much the fare should be, amazes me.

Another time I got an express taxi from Kigali. It was scheduled to leave at 5pm but was sitting in the garage for at least 20 minutes before and slowly filled up with passengers. It left on time but only got 10m up the road before it pulled into a garage and parked up on a hill. The driver got out, pulled out several tools and proceeded to change one of the tyres with a workman from the garage – whilst all the passengers remained sitting inside. Why they hadn’t done it in the time before it was scheduled to leave when there weren’t any passengers on board, I have no idea.

There are many other stories I could tell you…. The locals always find it intriguing when a mzungu is on the taxi and an opportunity to practice their English. I have met some interesting people, and had some good conversations as well as declarations of love and marriage proposals!

Greeting the Gorillas

The next day of our adventure took us to see the gorillas in the volcano national park. We had an early start (but not as early as for going to see the Chimpanzees) to get to the park headquarters where we were allocated the group of Gorillas we were going to see. We were assigned the Umubano group with 5 other americans. The road to the start of the trek was made from lumps of volcanic rock, so very bumpy.

The start of the walk was through fields being cultivated by the locals. Then we entered the national park by climbing over a dry stone wall. The first part through the forest was on paths but we soon left them and started burrowing through the undergrowth, led by a man with a machete. After a pretty much vertical climb up a slippery slope we met the trackers who had been following the group. They said the gorillas were just around the corner, but it seemed they had already moved on in search of food. We continued walking and a few minutes later came across the Black Back (adolescent male) of the group sitting on the path. He seemed quite ok with our presence and stayed where he was. Our group began to move around him, keeping our distance until he decided to get up and continue walking down the hill towards me – a rather alarming experience. (The protocol is that you should not be closer than 7m to them but the Gorillas are not told this!) We continued down the hill and came across other members of the group – apparently each gorilla has a distinctive nose print which helps with recognition. We saw a mother with a baby on her back munching some leaves, then the Silver Back (the leader of the group). He was sitting in the bushes looking very relaxed, reaching around him and grabbing leaves to eat. After a while he got up and moved on and the rest of the group followed him. The Black Back tended to hang around at the back – behaving a bit like a rebellious teenager and then walking across the ‘path’ we were following, splitting our group up. I had a few close encounters. The guides communicated with the gorillas by grunting at them – apparently this was to tell them we were not a threat. At times it felt they were more of a threat to us although we were assured they weren’t. We got to spend an hour with the gorillas. They made us work for it as they kept getting up and moving on but it was amazing to see them so close up in their natural habitat and their interactions with each other.

Gisenyi

Visits from my sister and friend meant an excuse to see some more of the country. This time the town of Gisenyi was on the agenda. It is situated at the northern end of lake Kivu in the West of the country and very close to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Our first day was spent exploring the town and market then heading to the beach for an afternoon relaxing and swimming. In the evening we were taken to see the border, which appeared to be a bit of plastic tape. The next day we went to a nearby peninsular to some hot springs – random warm pools of bubbling water caused by methane gas from volcanic activity, and for lunch at a restaurant in a beautiful setting (courtesy of my parent's tour guide who happened to be in the same place). The landscape of the area was beautiful, steep sided hills rising from the lake.

Digging ditches

Internet access has not been particularly reliable or fast since I have been here but that may all be about to change. There is a programme to provide internet access to all the schools and public buildings (I think) which means laying new fibre optic cables around the whole country. In the UK this would be done by a few people with a lot of machinery, but here it is done very differently.

Firstly the ground was scored with 2 parallel lines measured by pieces of rope. A few days later a team of men arrived with pick axes, shovels and hoes and began digging a ditch. There was one man every 3 to 5m and within 2 days a ditch about 1.5m deep had been dug from the tarmac road, up the hill and to the hospital. Apparently the men dug through anything they came across including our water pipes and the foundations to the hospital. Next the cables were laid, again by hand. This time the men walked with the cables over their shoulders about 10m apart along the length of the trench they had dug. The following day groups of women arrived and filled the ditch in again with the dirt they had dug out.

The workers all stayed in large camps by the side of the road, in home made tents made from plastic sheeting and cooking of wood fires for the few days they were working in the area, then moved onto the next place.

Choir adventures 19.9.10

Today I went on a trip with the church choir to another parish in the diocese. I was told to be at the church at 7am and to my surprise, when I arrived just after there were other people there already. I was then ‘dressed’ in traditional Rwandan dress and the choir’s smart uniform. The minibus arrived just before 8am and we set off, singing all the way. After we had driven for an hour on the dirt roads it became apparent that no one had been to the parish before and no one quite knew where it was but after asking a few locals and a few short detours we arrived at the church. We were early, so were invited to the pastors house before the service and were greeted by an endless stream of members of his family.

The service started at 10am by which time a large crowd of children and adults had gathered – I think word that a mzungu had arrived had got around. My gardener, who is also in the choir, preached and the whole service lasted for 4 hours. Fortunately I had a translator otherwise I’m sure the low narrow benches would have felt ever harder by the end. Afterwards I was swarmed by children who wanted to touch my skin and hair and practice their English on me. We shared a meal with some of the locals and the Rwandan customs of lots of speeches, introductions and more singing.

We set off on our return journey at about 4.30pm, giving various people lifts to nearby communities and stopping to collect a sack of Cassava roots which was given to the choir as a gift. After about 20 minutes we hit a large dip in the road and there was a loud bang. We stopped and the driver and a few of the men got out to look underneath. After a few minutes of looking and discussion, they decided there wasn’t a problem so piled back into the minibus and we set off again. Immediately it was apparent that the was still a problem as there was a loud rattling from under the back seats, so we stopped again. This time the driver put some overalls on and crawled underneath. He emerged pulling the exhaust with him. He then proceeded to bend it even more so that it would fit under one of the seats. We continued on our journey home, singing again, as if nothing had happened.

Wedding Marathon

I was invited to the wedding of one of my colleagues, Jean Paul. It was a great day and was also 'very rwandan'. The invitation said the introduction and dowry ceremony was at 10am and the church service at 2pm.

Another colleague said he was collecting the landcruiser at 8am, then had to go to the town 15 mins away to pick up the fantas, and he would pick me up on the way back.

At 10.10 he finally called me to say he was on his way. We then picked up various other people before dropping us all off at the grooms parents house. We stood around there for a while, more people arrived then we got into a minibus and drove into the the neighbourhood to pick up more people and had to wait for a motorbike taxi to arrive to deliver a pair of trousers. We left the grooms house at about 11.15am and drove for about 20 mins. The last part was down a track that only looked wide enough to be a footpath. We were then dropped off in the middle of a field by some children looking after cattle grazing. We waited for about 20 mins, while it started to rain, until the car with the groom in arrived. They then stopped to decorate the car. Finally we all walked around the corner to the house of the bride's family - 2 hours late!!!

The introduction and dowry ceremony last for a couple of hours - lots of speeches and exchanging of gifts and discussions about the number of cows to be given! We were sitting outside under homemade gazebos. At one point part of it collapsed in a gust of wind. There was more drinking banana juice from jerry cans too.

Afterward we drove back to the church (where I started off from). There were 15 of us in the landcruiser and 3 large loudspeakers on the roof, tied on with banana leaves! Fortunately I wasn't too squashed and it was too far (about 20 mins) but I was sitting next to another colleague whose outfit was shedding glitter, so I was covered by the time we got there.

The church service finally started at 3.30pm - apparently they have to pay a fine if they arrive late! I think it was like a traditional English wedding - promises, rings, talk, signing register and choirs singing. There were lots of photos outside before the reception, which was only a 5 minute walk away.

The reception was more speeches, the bride and groom giving each other drinks (Orange fanta), then cutting the cake - it had a large flare in the top and they were sprayed with what looked like snow spray as they were cutting it and feeding it to each other, more choirs singing and giving of gifts. I left at 7pm.... having had nothing to eat all day and surviving on 2 bottles of 'fanta'....

Lakes Burero & Ruhondo

The last few days I spent with my parents were at a very nice lodge overlooking lakes Burero (or Bulero depending on who you believe) and Ruhondo. As we drove into the northern province I saw rain for the first time in 3 months. Here when it rains, it rains! We spent the evening sitting around a log fire and chatting with other guests – I almost had to raid mums suitcase for more clothes to wear, but they put hot water bottles in the beds in the evening.

The next morning the cloud had lifted and the views were incredible. In one direction you could see the 2 lakes, and in the other direction, 5 volcanoes. After a leisurely breakfast on the veranda, we walked down to the lake with a guide. We were told it would take 1hr 45 mins to get there and 2 hours to walk back. After less than an hour we arrived at the lake and were asked if we wanted a trip on the lake. There were about 12 local men sitting around. What followed was half an hour of discussion and to-ing and fro-ing across a small stretch of water, about which boat we should take and who should go in it. Everyone had to give their two pennies worth! We were only in the boat for about 20 minutes! We then walked to lake Ruhondo and saw where the electricity for the country is generated. As we walked back several school children were keen to practise their English. We arrived at the lodge less than 3 hours after we left!

We spent the rest of the time watching traditional dancing, enjoying the views, going on other walks, eating delicious food and I took up the offer of a massage. It was quite a shock to return home.

Ditch Adventures

One evening I was walking down the hill with one of my housemates to the local restaurant as we had been invited for dinner by a group from the UK who were staying for the night. It was 7pm so was dark but we were walking by moonlight like the locals. Suddenly there were lights coming up the hill. First was a moto followed by 2 lights of a car. The moto passed without a problem but I thought I ought to move a little further out of the way for the car. Unfortunately the headlights had disturbed my vision and suddenly I found myself at the bottom of the ditch by the side of the road. I apparently chose the deepest, steepest part of the ditch of the whole hill to fall into and had to be helped out. Fortunately I was not injured but was covered head to toe in dust. I was very relieved it wasn’t the rainy season as the ditches are for the rain run off and are often full or water or at least thick mud. The car driver did stop to check that I was ok – I think they were quite alarmed seeing someone suddenly disappear!

Monkeying Around

After our early morning chimp adventures we went to find a troupe of black and white Colobus monkeys. We walked for less than 5 minutes before we came across a group of around 18 monkeys. They were swinging in the trees about 5 metres away from us. Some of them were grooming each other, others were chasing around and pulling each other off the branches, others were just chilling out. They were very entertaining to watch and gave us a good display for about 40 minutes.

Chimpanzee trekking

We visited Nyungwe rainforest in the south west of the country. One morning we got up at 4.15am and drove for about an hour to a southern part of the forest where we met a ranger and some trackers in the hope of seeing some chimpanzees. Apparently it was necessary to get up so early so the chimpanzees would still be in their nests in the trees as they move every night and once they wake up and start looking for food they are much harder to find.

We walked through thick undergrowth for about half an hour before the trackers told us to wait and they went on ahead to the nests. We then started climbing the hill again but suddenly heard their calls below us so returned to wait. After a what seemed like quite a while of waiting and hearing noises that people thought were chimps I suddenly saw a mother carrying a baby pass along a path above where we were standing. A few moments later a group of about 9 chimps passed along the path below us towards the trees with some of their favourite fruit on. The group stopped about 30 metres away from us and started to collect their breakfast. They spent about twenty minutes climbing the trees and eating which was fascinating to watch. At one point one of the younger chimpanzees had finished collecting fruit from one tree so wrapped its’ arms and legs around the trunk of the tree and slide down! They were much larger than I expected, weighing up to 65kg. After the chimpanzees had moved on to find more food a mountain monkey came along and started jumping through the tops of the trees giving us a great display. We returned to the vehicles by 9am but it was definitely worth getting up so early.

Elections

Presidential elections were held here at the beginning of August. The last elections were held in 2003.

In the run up to the election political rallies took place all over the country. They were huge, attracting crowds of up to 150 000 people in some places. Throughout the night before the rallies people would go around the local areas telling people about them and providing buses for them to get there.
The whole country was also decorated in political party colours and tree trunks were painted white when the President visited different areas to welcome him.

The election day itself was very quiet. It was treated like a public holiday. The primary school was the local polling station (see picture). There was music playing and banana leaves at the entrance. Apparently there was a different room for each different community in the area to vote. When an electorate went to vote one of their fingers was marked with a permanent mark and once they had voted another finger was marked, rather than polling cards or endless lists of names. There were no queues of people waiting to vote.

The following day was announced as another public holiday for celebration even though the final result had not been announced but in the end it was a landslide predicted.

Clothes Sorting

The rehab centre quietened down in the run up to the elections so one afternoon I was asked to help sort out a donation of several large boxes of adult clothes which had arrived from Europe the previous week. I though we would be grouping the clothes with similar items and re packing the boxes eg, all the trousers in one box, all the womens tops in another etc. But as it turned out I was wrong. The process involved emptying a few of the neatly packed boxes at one time, collecting a few similar items, putting them untidily into another box and labelling the box accordingly then if you found a few items of a different type of clothing you put them into the same box and just adding another label to the box. We ended up with the same number of boxes of random mixtures of clothing (and not equal mixtures or useful combinations) but at least the boxes were labelled and it filled an afternoon!

Guiding Centenary Celebrations

For as long as I have known there is a Guide Association of Rwanda I have been trying to arrange to go to one of the ‘local’ meetings – the nearest is in a town about 2 hours away, but I have not been successful due to a variety of reasons although I was told that the Guides of Rwanda would be celebrating the centenary of Guiding and 30 years of Guiding in Rwanda on the 1^st August. Again I didn’t think I would be able to make it as I was on retreat but it turned out that the friends who were giving me a lift wanted to return on the Saturday. I was a little hesitant as I had done all my communicating in French and wasn’t really certain what was happening, where and whether I could in fact go along (and whether the whole day would be in Kinyarwanda). I finally managed to speak to a Commissioner in English who told me there would be other Guides from France and Germany there and I could stay at the headquarters the night before and would be taken to where we needed to be so I felt reassured.

I was very glad I did go because it was a great day and something really special to be a part of. I was warmly welcomed by everyone I met.

It was an early start (around 6am) following a late night (people were still up at 2am) as we were told the coaches were coming at 7am to take us to the stadium. In the end they didn’t turn up until much later. All the girls were given t shirts to wear. We arrived at the stadium and all the overseas invited guests were given seats on the main floor of the stadium with personal interpreters. I managed to get myself included as an invited guest. There was a lot of singing and chanting whilst waiting for the proceedings to begin. The guest of honour arrived an hour late amidst a lot of security. It was the First Lady of Rwanda. After that amazingly, everything ran to time.

As with any celebration in Rwanda there were a lot of speeches by different people then a display of traditional dancing. The ladies danced with pots balanced on their heads! And more singing and dancing.

Afterwards we (guests and dignitaries) were taken to a hotel for food and finally back to the headquarters just as I was beginning to wonder if I would ever make it home at all.

Apparently I was seen dancing on the Rwandan TV news that evening!!

Kumbya

I enjoyed a relaxing week’s retreat in a place called Kumbya. It is a beautiful setting of an unspoiled peninsular towards the south of lake Kivu with loads of birds and wildlife. I spent the week meeting people in similar situations to me throughout the Great Lakes region and catching up with others I had met previously during my time here.

We had talks and discussions each morning and various forms of entertainment in the evening but afternoons were free to relax, enjoy the peace and quite and swim in the beautiful clear lake.The food was a good mix of Rwandan and western food but the drinking water had a smoky aftertaste as it was boiled over a wood stove!

On the Thursday morning the annual swim to an island 2.5km away took place. We started at 6am and a few of us swam both ways. I was welcomed back shortly after 8am with freshly cooked pancakes and syrup. It was made slightly more interesting by the appearance of a military gunboat on the lake saying we should not be swimming as the President was due to visit a nearby town for a political rally that day. I came back from the week feeling refreshed and with new friends.

Funny Tummy

After 5 months of living in Africa I finally succumbed to an upset stomach. I hoped it would run its course and clear up in 48 hours. I was not so lucky and was still running down the garden path for nearly a week. After 2 days my neighbours diagnosed me, wrote me a prescription and bought my antibiotics from the pharmacy for me. I received treatment from the hospital without having to set foot into the hospital grounds! I paid a grand total of 50p for 2 seven day courses of antibiotics and after several days of eating oatcakes and plain pasta I was back to full health and appetite.

Sorry for the blog silence for the past 2 months. My laptop died so accessing the internet has been more difficult and more sporadic.
I hope I will be able to bring you up to date with my adventures over the next few days - internet speed allowing.

Food, food and more food.

Today I was invited by a colleague to spend the day with him and his family. He collected me on a motorbike in the morning and took me to his home 3.5km away. He lives in a typical Rwandan house with his wife, their three children, three of his brother’s children and a few other children! I was welcomed with a mug of warm milk and traditional pastries. They are like very dense doughnuts but not as sweet. We then went to his local church with 6 of the children. The singing and dancing was much more enthusiastic than the in the cathedral and the sermon much shorter. After church we returned home and had a meal of rice, vegetable sauce and meat followed by pineapple. We then went to my colleagues mother’s house for the afternoon. The family set to work setting up seating outside, then a group of around 20 guests arrived. One of the families was presenting their children to the grandmother. A steady stream of more guests continued to arrive and the children were sent to find more chairs from various locations and neighbours. The afternoon proceeded with various speeches, drinking fanta, food- There were about 50 guests who were all fed with a hot meal served by the children, more speeches and more drinks. A lot of the guests were drinking the local delicacy- fermented banana juice. It is a brownish liquid drunk from a communal straw out of a jerrycan or old cooking oil bottle. After the guests left we walked back the children carrying all of the furniture which had been taken on their heads. I was then taken out for a brochette (kebab) and more fanta, before returning to their house to have some of the left over food from the afternoon before getting a moto home. I had a great day but am about to explode from all the food!

The Earth Shook

On Friday night while we were enjoying an evening relaxing and watching ‘The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy’ the table suddenly started to shake. At first I thought it was a mobile phone vibrating, but it progressed and the whole house was shaking. It only lasted a short time and by the time we realise that it was an earthquake/tremor and remembered what we should do, it had stopped. It was not very violent – I’ve no idea what it would have measured on the Richter Scale, but there was no damage done and we carried on watching the rest of the film without further incident. I did later find out that a friend in South East Uganda also had an earthquake/tremor on the same night.

I have finally managed to upload some pictures for the last few entries. Enjoy!
Feel free to leave comments too.

Wedding bells!

Today I went to a Rwandan ‘pre’ wedding ceremony which was so much fun! I didn’t know either the bride or groom but I was invited by a colleague. An American, my partner in crime for the last two weeks, was also invited but was moving on to another part of Rwanda today for the next 4 weeks so couldn’t go. I decided it was an opportunity not to be missed so put on my prettiest clothes I have with me and off I went for an adventure. There was another colleague going so he helpfully took me along with him. The event was at a house. There were marquees in the garden and chairs in every available space. We arrived about an hour late- by no means the last, and the speeches had begun. There were several more speeches followed by the discussion of the bride price during which the men went out to the choose cows and 2 were brought back into the middle of the ceremony! There was then lots of traditional singing and dancing, then more speeches and finally the arrival of the groom then the bride. There was a short ceremony between the couple then they sat in ‘thrones’ surrounded by their equivalent of bridesmaids and ushers (I think) and various gifts were given to members of each family. The bride looked stunning in a leopard print dress but nearly fell over at one point when she tried to dance! Many of the guests were in traditional dress with beautiful materials. I think the celebrations for the immediate families would continue late into the night after we left.

The world of milk

I’m not a big milk drinker so have survived on powdered milk for cooking and baking but whilst I’ve had other people living with me we’ve had a daily delivery of fresh milk. And I mean fresh – straight from the cow. The first thing that needs to happen is the milk needs to be pasteurised, luckily it is very easy to do in my neighbours’ microwave. Then it needs to be left to cool before the think layer of cream is removed from the top and kept separately – in Africa nothing is wasted, before it is ready to be used or drunk.

I have discovered the variety of other products which can be made from milk, with the help and wisdom of my neighbour.

Yogurt was my first success- with only milk, a teaspoon of yoghurt, some warm water and blankets. And with a teaspoon from that batch you can then continue to make more.

One yoghurt attempt failed and turned into sour milk which I am now planning to use to make banana bread or sour bread. Another attempt didn’t quite work out either, turning into lumpy cottage cheese but it didn’t go to waste as I hung it in an old handkerchief over night and woke up to cream cheese. Yummy!

The cream hasn’t gone to waste either. Some of it has been enjoyed by others with fruit or pancakes but once a good amount has been collected my houseworker painstakingly spends a morning churning it in a little pot to produce butter.

Now I just need to figure out if it is possible to make ice cream!

Gandering in Uganda Part 3

On Thursday afternoon I returned to the madness of Kampala and found my hotel without being hassled too often. I enjoyed the luxury of a TV (my first encounter since I arrived) and a hot shower – I had 4 in 48 hours!

Kampala is a very busy, dirty and scruffy city. The streets are packed with minibus taxis not going anywhere fast, boda bodas – the Ugandan equivalent of motos, although they don’t wear helmets, people cooking and selling food, market stalls and people walking as they’d decided it would be quicker than going by taxi!

The next day I decided to escape the craziness for a short time and visited Entebbe on the shore of lake Victoria but the rain curtailed my visit. Back in Kampala I met up with some friends and headed for the very western shopping mall and craft market.

Early on Saturday morning I made my way to the bus terminal to start the 8-9 hour coach journey back to Kigali. It was a little more spacious and comfortable than my journey from Rwanda but less than an hour out of Kampala we were held up for over an hour and a half as a tanker had over turned and set on fire across the road. Fortunately (we were told) there were no casualties. I finally arrived in Kigali at 7pm, 11 hours after setting off, exhausted.

Gandering in Uganda Part 2

The following day was another long day of travelling. I got on a bus to leave Mbarara at 8am but sat for an hour as it slowly filled up with people and their (live) chickens before setting off to Kampala. At one point along the way we stopped and what seemed like hundreds of people, all in white coats, swarmed the bus selling food and drinks at the coach windows including cooked bananas, sweet potatoes chapattis and chicken kebabs. At 2pm we made it to Kampala. I managed to negotiate the bustling streets to the ‘new’ taxi park which is a sea of white minibuses as far as you can see and found a minibus taxi to Luwero – part of the way to where I was hoping to get to. In Luwero I changed minibus taxis to the most dilapidated taxi I have been in so far! The whole vehicle smelt of fish – I’m not sure if all the sacks pilled up in the back had fish in or whether it was a lingering smell, I sat next to 3 crates full of beer that rattled the whole was as the journey was on dirt roads. The fold down seat had to propped on a sack to keep in upright, the drivers seat kept tipping forwards and all the doors needed at least 2 attempts to shut properly. When it was full and ready to set of we needed a push start! But I did survive the 30 minute journey to Kiwoko hospital.

Again I spent a day at the hospital with the physios. It had a different feel from the previous one – smaller and more of a community feel.

Gandering in Uganda Part 1

Last week I spent the week on a ‘tour of hospitals in Uganda’. It started with a very early departure but the bus did pick me up from the bottom of the hill. I had a five hour journey to Mbarara in Uganda – including an hour to cross the border which was an interesting experience. There were no signs or people anywhere explaining where to go and what to do and it felt more by luck than judgement that all the passengers were back on the bus before it left. I arrived in Mbarara and discovered my phone wasn’t working so had no way of contacting the person I was staying with. Finally a Ugandan offered me their phone, for which I paid him in Rwandan Francs!

I experienced the culinary highlights of Mbarara, first going to a newly opened ice cream parlour and in the evening going to an American couple’s house for dinner where the menu was pop corn, pizza, watermelon and homemade ice cream and chocolate sauce. Definitely too many treats in one day – I was overwhelmed.

I spent Monday at Mbarara university hospital in the physiotherapy department. It was a really interesting day and saw some not so pleasant things. In the evening we went out for a meal of Pork kebabs and chips.

A walk up a big hill

I spent last weekend in Kigali with some friends. I was told beforehand that they were planning a walk up a big hill with a group of their friends and would I be up for it? I though it sounded fun so agreed and packed my hiking clothes and boots.

17 of us, ranging in age from 5 to over 50, and 2 small dogs met up and set of with a picnic lunch to enjoy at the top. Immediately we were swarmed by a group of between 50 and 100 Rwandan children. They joined us all the way to the top in their flipflops or barefeet with boundless energy.

The paths were mud tracks and were quite slippery as it had rained the day before and overnight. I think almost all of us hit the deck at some point but without serious injury. The route we took (or were taken on) was pretty much straight up. At times it was steep and narrow. As we approached the top we ended up walking in the cloud. Fortunately it cleared as we ate our picnic and the views were amazing. We reached an altitude of 2642m having climbed over 1000m. The return journey down took as long as the climb up and felt quite treacherous in places trying not to slide all the way down on the mud. At times the youngest member was carried by one of the Rwandans who walked down with any problems!

It was a good day of 6 hours walking, company and some aching muscles the next day.

I think I was little misled by a ‘walk up a big hill’! It was, we decided by the end a hike up a mountain!

The road less travelled..... (8.5.10)

Today we visited Akagera national park. 6 of us piled into a vehicle one of the guys had arranged for us along with a driver and off we went, having waited around for the obligatory hour at 6am! We completed the necessary paperwork and payments at the park gate and collected our guide for the day, James. We agreed on a route which took us by some of the lakes then onto the hilltops to enjoy the panoramic views. James told us the roads were in bad condition but our vehicle should be able to give it a go!

The first sightings of the day were some giraffe and zebra. We then found some buffalo taking shelter under a tree. Next on the agenda was to see if we could find a herd of elephants. They had made their way across the boundary of the park and for the last couple of weeks had been sighted in an area inaccessible by car. We saw lots of signs of their recent presence on our journey – trees which had been pulled down, fresh dung, and we also came across some locals whose crops had been destroyed by the elephants earlier this morning. Despite bumping along tracks which barely seemed to exist through thick bush we didn’t manage to get a glimpse of the elusive giants. We stopped at midday by a lake for ‘breakfast’ as we got lower in altitude and closer to the water, we were plagued by horseflies inside the vehicle but were provided with entertainment as people tried (unsuccessfully) to swat them. At the next lake we saw hippos in the water and James spotted two elephants across on the opposite shore – we still don’t quite know how he did with his naked eye. With the help of a pair of binoculars we all just managed to make them out!

The tracks we drove along were apparently the old tracks which were no longer used… in places there were large pot holes, huge patches of mud which we skidded through, trees across the tracks requiring either James to jump out and remove them or take a diversion through the grass/mud/rocks to go around them, ditches which caused the vehicle to tip to what felt like a 45 degree angle and was bumpy all the time. At times the track seemed to just disappear in front of our eyes and at one point we found ourselves driving through grass as tall as the vehicle! The lads sat on top of the vehicle for most of the day so will suffer the effects of sunburn, sore bottoms and thorn scratches tomorrow!

As we drove through the day and climbed the hills to enjoy panoramic views from the top we saw different animals including impala, elands, reedbucks, warthogs, more buffalo and zebra, oribi, roan antelope, topi and a wide variety of birds. We stopped at 4pm for a picnic lunch at the top of the highest hill but could not hang around for long as we needed to exit the park before dark and we still had 1 ½ hours to go! As we continued suddenly James asked the driver to stop. He had seen some baboons across the nearest valley. Again I don’t know how he did it – the blended into the background so well. We finally returned home at 7.30pm – tired but having had a good day.

Football

Saturday was a busy day! After our trip to the market we were invited to join the hospital staff for a game of football. Thinking it would be a friendly kick around we went along. As we approached we realised that it was just a friendly kick around… it was serious business! It was a match between the hospital staff and the teachers of the local secondary school and pride was at stake. Each team had official strips and many of the players had football boots. The pitch itself was more interesting – part of it was covered in grass of different lengths, part of it was bare earth and all of it was very uneven. I was given a hospital shirt which I duly but on and joined in with the warm up, team photos etc but when I realised how serious the match was left most of the playing to the guys. I did however make an appearance on the pitch in the second half. The final score was a 2 all draw and only a couple of injuries sustained.

To market to market

Saturday was Labour Day, a public holiday but they don’t roll them forward to weekdays here. We went to one of local markets on the taxi bus. Two ladies were kind enough to show us the way to the market once we got off the bus. En route we were stopped by police asking us to identify ourselves- fairly common when you’re travelling in a car/taxi etc but less common on foot but we all had id with us so were allowed to continue. There was a large group of people sitting by the side of the road who we assume didn’t.

The market was bustling. It was an open air market covering several streets. The traders were arranged into sections according to what they were selling. Fruit and veg in one section, random hardware in another, clothing in another, meat in another and so on! We were a tourist attraction for the locals, particularly the children and ended up with a large crowd of kids following us. At one point when we were in the clothing section it started to rain. I have never seen so many people move with such determination so quickly to pack up their goods. The rain never really materialised and they were back trading very quickly. We managed to negotiate buying a few bananas between us but were very glad we didn’t have to rely on our Kinyarwanda and bartering skills to do the weekly shop!

Marathon Day

Today I went to another community clinic in Rushaki, in the north of the country. I had been told it was a long journey so we would leave at 4am! Based on my previous experiences of waiting around for a couple of hours after the stated departure time for anything to happen, I was not convinced we would leave on time.

The events of the day unfolded as follows:-

4am – alarm went off, got dressed and went back to bed!

4.50am – phone call from the physio to say everyone was ready to leave so I walked up to the centre to find about 10 people all hoping to get a lift to Kigali or another destination along our route.

5.10am – vehicle loaded, including the team of 5 of us running the clinic and 5 passengers and 2 large boxes of equipment in the back, we set off in the dark and thick mist. At times you could only see the next white line in the middle of the road.

6.30am – arrived in Kigali having been swung around blind corners at high speed along the way and dropped various people off at the bus station before continuing on our journey.

8.30am – arrived in Rushaki. The last 30 minutes of the journey was through tea plantations on dirt roads and stunning scenery. Greeted very enthusiastically by one of the (Spanish) sisters who helps run the day centre and had tea and biscuits for breakfast – I drank my first cup of Rwandan tea!

9am – started seeing patients. As the morning progressed the room seemed to be getting fuller rather than emptier. We saw a mixture of children and adults, some who’d had treatment before and had been going to the day centre for a long time, some new patients, so quite disabled children and some who were absolutely fine.

2.30pm – finally finished assessing, giving exercise and activity suggestions and deciding on a treatment plan for 46 patients, all in French. Was shown the local health centre and was found by another mother who wanted her child to be seen. Found the driver changing the wheel of the van because we had a puncture!

3.15pm – finally had lunch, rice, beans, potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, meat and fresh fruit.

4pm – the ophalmology nurse and physio assistant finished seeing the 48 patients who had come to see them and had their lunch. Some of the patients travelled over 20km to be seen at the clinic.

4.45pm – left Rushaki, with one patient joining us – an elderly lady with a broken prosthetic limb which had broken and needed repair by the orthopaedic technician.

6.30pm – arrived in Kigali in rush hour just as it was getting dark–saw some crazy driving!

7pm – stopped in a small village outside Kigali for 15 minutes to buy a sack of potatoes!

8pm – stopped by a police check point to be asked where we were going and if we could give 2 people a lift to the next town. They piled into the back of the vehicle and off we went!

8.30pm – finally arrived safely at the rehab centre having narrowly avoided a few head on collisions on the road with cars overtaking on bends in the dark, unloaded the truck, walked home and collapsed in exhaustion!