Byumba

Byumba was the final destination on my tour. A larger town north of Kigali. On the way we drove through valleys of tea plantations and saw community buildings and schools built with money from the sale of Fairtraid products. During my time in Byumba I was taken for a long walk around the environs of the town, visited the local market and saw cards being made with banana leaf. After six days away I returned home safely having negotiated the taxi bus service from Kigali by myself and had my first experience of a motor- taxi (a motorbike taxi) in the dark.

Mugongo

The return trip down the hill wasn’t as bad – I was more prepared for what lay ahead, but was still thankful when we reached the tarmac road safely. The next stop was Mugongo, right in the foothills of the volcanoes, to visit an orphanage set up by an American socialite after the Genocide, for her farm workers children. The orphanage is responsible for about 90 children aged between 8 and 23, although some are away at school and university and as the children grow older the staff are faced with the challenges of teenage behaviour. The garden of the couple who now run the orphanage was full of beautiful flowers which they grow to sell at the local markets.

Shyira

The following day started with a couple of hours in the garage for the car to be fixed and a few errands in town before heading to Shyira. The last hour of the journey was the most interesting. The first part of it was along a road which had been prepared for tarmac but never finished, so there were smallish lumps of volcanic lava rock all over and large holes mixed it, meaning for a very shaky ride. You could not go at more than 10kph. The next part was up to the top of the hill. It was a single track road (for 2 way traffic) with huge holes and quite a lot of mud as it had rained during the afternoon, which caused the car to skid a few times. The most hair-raising part was the near vertical drop to the side of the road, which got larger as we climbed higher and the road got muddier! I was very relieved when we made it safely to the top. At the top of the hill is a village with several schools, a hospital and a social care centre. I had chance to look around the hospital and meet the physio. The views were spectacular. The American family we stayed with had two adorable kittens who liked climbing up anything and everything, I think partly to get away from the very large dogs!

Induction to Rwanda

My induction to Rwanda started in Kigali at the Genocide memorial. The displays were informative and evocative. The mass graves in the gardens, the wall of names and display of pictures brought home how many people were killed, often in very savage ways, in such a short space of time. After lunch I was privileged to meet someone who is involved in reconciliation ministry. The workshops they facilitate have brought reconciliation on a personal level to many different people from all backgrounds, including westerners. The day ended with a visit to one of the largest markets in Kigali. It wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be but you could by most things you would want there from clothes, shoes and cloth, to fish, vegetables, beans and flour, live chickens, and hardware.

Gako Farm

We visited Gako farm, an innovative farm just outside of Kigali. The owner has spent many years trying to get the most from his land in a sustainable way and become self sufficient. One of his ideas – the kitchen garden- a mound of soil with a vertical compost heap in the middle, has been taken on by the Government and they are encouraging everyone to build them. He also uses all the waste from his animals to fertilise the soil and irrigates his crops with a bucket system. Other ideas included growing vegetables in old tyres and using old sacks for vertical growbags.

Community Clinic

Yesterday I went to a community clinic with a team from the hospital. A nurse, a physio, a physio assistant, a driver and myself. I was told by one person we would leave at 7am, by another 8am and at 9.10am we eventually left. The clinic was a 2 hour drive away, about half of the journey was on dirt tracks with lots of bumps and the occasional wooden bridge to cross. When we arrived there were lots of people waiting to be seen. The physio and I saw 22 patients of a variety of ages, assessed them (to varying degrees) and then recommended where they should receive treatment. The options were either the local day centre run by sisters in the parish, the local health centre/hospital, or come to the rehabilitation centre. After we had seen everyone (the nurse was checking eyes and the physio assistant was dealing with medicines) we were given a delicious lunch by the sisters of green bananas, rice, beans and pizza followed by yellow bananas and papaya. A real treat! We then made the 2 hour journey back to the centre, with a couple of patients and their mothers. Along the way we gave various other people lifts in the van, often attractive young women!

Surgery

Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch orthopaedic surgery (after my failed attempt 2 weeks ago due to an upset stomach). The surgery was on an 18 year old girl whose legs had been affected by polio at birth. The surgeon planned to do bilateral tendon relseases and distal femoral osteotomies (for those who understand) as her knees were stuck in 90 degrees flexion. She will also need further surgery to correct her club feet. Some things were the same as when I have watched surgery in the UK, some were very different! There was power in the operating theatre thanks to a generator but the only pieces of electrical equipment used were a few lights and the finger sats probe and heart rate monitor. The patient was awake through the whole operation, with a spinal block and drapes so she could not see or feel what was happening but could hear EVERYTHING, including her bones being broken by a hammer and chisel!

Last night I attempted to make bread which turned out ok although didn't rise very much and one of my housemates asked, is it cake or bread? Next week I am going on an ‘induction to Rwanda’ tour for a few days… I’ll let you know what it’s like!

Bonus day off!

I have found myself with an extra day off today for International Women’s day, so have time to update my blog.

On Friday we had a frustrating, long, hot day in Kigali but were able to go to a couple of larger supermarkets and stock up on a few western luxuries including pasta, hard cheese, nice bread and ingredients for baking. I did resist other items such as jar of chocolate spread for over £5, Heinz ketchup for £3 and Kellogg’s cereal for similarly exorbitant prices!

I think weekends will frequently involve time experimenting in the kitchen, (cooking and baking) so if you have any easy, basic recipes that I could try, e mail them to me!

The scenery and nature here is beautiful. The landscape is green with some very colourful plants, flowers and trees. There is also a constant sound of birds and insects. On Friday and Saturday the sunsets over the lake were amazing, both very different.

Flushing toilet 3.3.2010

The water pump was fixed yesterday, so for the first time in 3 weeks I used a toilet with a flush! The electricity is still intermittent so the longdrop will still need to be used too.

Slowing down 28.2.2010

Since arriving here almost 3 weeks ago I am beginning to enjoy the opportunity to slow down. It’s nice to have time to do things I haven’t done for a long time, like spend an afternoon reading a book, writing a letter or doing some baking – my first attempt at flapjack seems to have turned out ok, they are for a birthday tea next week, and catching up on other bits and pieces which I never seemed to have time to do. The days seem to go quite quickly despite the slower pace of life, but everything takes time, like heating water to strip wash in, rather than turning on the hot tap of the shower, and needs a bit of planning, like making sure there is enough water being filtered for drinking.

Rain Rain Rain, 27.2.2010

This week has been a week of rain. The storm on Friday night took the internet down, so don’t know when it will be fixed and I have regular access. Since then it has rained everyday, sometimes just a light shower, sometimes heavy rain and thunder storms. Who said Africa was hot and sunny? We are in the middle of the long wet season at the moment which according to one local will finish on the 15^th May. The ground is quite sodden in places and the earth turns to a russet red mud. The water is put to good use, collected in tanks, buckets, lakes etc and is watering the crops too. We passed one place on the road where there had been a small landslide as the ground is quite soft.

Home alone 22.2.2010

This weekend was my first in my house and as the other students go to Kigali each weekend, I was home alone. I survived but not without incident!

On Friday night there was the most intense thunder storm. I watched it from my bedroom window and saw amazing forks of lightening over the lake. The rain pounded down and on a corrugated metal roof it’s quite loud!! I only found one small leak in the ceiling and our water tank filled up which is great. During the storm the power came and went so I had 2 small candles as my source of light.

On Saturday there was no power at all. Our ‘cash power’ had run out so my two candles were put to good use again, especially as it gets dark at 6.30pm. Fortunately the stove is gas so I could cook and heat water!

The internet connection has been down for a couple of weeks but I have written some posts, so here they are to catch up.