As I walked through the valley in the shallows of mud...

... I take a look at my shoes and realise I'm stuck!


We've had weather that finally lives up to the idea of this being the short rainy-season. It has simply bucketed down for the last couple of days. A few times taking power with it. Today is much better so far but the neighbourhood I have to walk through is all dirt roads which are now swamp like and difficult to get through with out seriously changing the colour of your shoes. I'm not sure what's worse though because when it is dry, dust gets EVERYWHERE. I just spent the morning doing my washing and it took such a long time to get all the dirt off most things. I kind of gave up and did a half pie job. I remember a German dude who wrote a book about the major misconceptions about capitalism giving a lecture at the London School of Economics (you can find it on their podcasts) who said that the most revolutionary thing in the last century was not the computer but the washing machine. I now understand what he means. It takes forever to do it all by hand. And I only had to do my stuff, can't imagine a whole family's stuff and sheets and towels etc. Kudos to the women here who have to do that every other day.


So I said farewell to my fellow volunteer last night and I'm on my own for a couple of nights. I say on my own but I have Amani, and actually another volunteer has finished her placement in another part of Rwanda and is coming here to Kigali for New Years Eve before heading off on a trek through other parts of Africa. The new guy arrives sometime in the next couple of days and it will fall to me to help him find his way around. Quite scary because I was fairly reliant on my former colleague who was super awesome at picking things up and especially deciphering the borderline chaotic bus system. I think we'll be fine but could be a bit more learning by mistakes here and there!


Well you'll all be celebrating the dawning of the New Year as I type. 2012. Yikes. So much to do and so little time. I'm thinking along the lines of this as a great idea. We had a meeting yesterday with Jean-Francois the "owner" (not really the right word but it was his father who founded the organisation) of Gisimba (the orphanage I'm based at). There are huge challenges facing the sustainability of the operations and a huge number of projects that they wish to achieve. We spent sometime thinking about how we could help and this thinking will continue when we return home. I will try and do a post about this sometime in the future but it needs a fair bit more time and thought as to what I think I want to try and do. So as you are busy partying away, as I will be shortly too, I hope you spare a thought for those less fortunate. Jean-Francois said something yesterday that was kind of neat - "it doesn't matter how small the action, anything that helps the life of a child is worth it."


On that note. I'm off to wonder around town and to selfishly buy myself a few things. Hmm. Will chalk it up to helping local economy and employment rah rah rah.


PS: A bit quiet on the comments front. Hint. Hint.

What a cock.

I'm going to think twice before buying a gift for the third world. You know the ones that Oxfam, World Vision etc push and you buy a card as a gift for someone you know but it represents a goat or something given to someone in a developing country. I'm pretty sure our neighbor or someone near us received a hen rooster [hence: cock] for Christmas. It's been our constant and dependable alarm clock at 5am the last few mornings. It gets pretty light pretty early but it's a damn annoying creature. To be fair 5am was around when I was waking up most mornings anyway. But I liked the peace and quiet and the ability to choose when I wanted to get up. Grrr.


Today I tried to go and see a Rwanda Premier League football match but it may have been rained off (it poured down for about an hour before the game was meant to start but stopped). We're not too sure but it should be tomorrow now. I also played a game with a few of the kids this morning but it was three vs one for ages! I held my own ok at 3-2 until I finally convinced another to join in for my side. Exhausting and very very hot!


Last night we went out for dinner to take out the people who look after us over here. It was interesting and although quite a nice place and geared for somewhat of an international clientele, it confirmed our hypothesis and prior experience that service in Rwanda sucks. It took so long! And to top it off the goat kebab most of us ordered may have actually only been beef (I don't know what the difference in taste is meant to be but it sure was a lot like beef to me, the others were quite sure it wasn't goat and they've had it before but because it took so long we didn't bother sending it back).

What else? I've just been shown a new, and so far faster, internet cafe just near the orphanage which is super duper handy. But it's kind of caught me off guard and all those things I was going to write about have left my mind at present. I sometimes think of a bit of a list on the bus or something.

Oh it turns out there is another guy coming over to volunteer on the 31st. Details still a bit sketchy as I think he is the one I was originally told wasn't going to be here for another couple of weeks. So I may or may not have a new friend. Either way I think Amani (our housekeeper/cook/all-round nice guy) and I will be heading to some big party at the stadium for New Years Eve.


Ah I can't think of what else. I started out writing things in a notebook but that lasted all of two days! Useless. Oh well a short one is a good one yeah?


From the Muzungu you know...

One of the most physically tiring Christmases I can remember.

The day began early to bus out to the orphanage by 7.30. We then hung around with a few of teenagers and then went to church with a bunch of the younger kids. It was interesting. The place was packed out and very hot and stuffy. Not only was the language barrier a challenge to understanding proceedings, the fact it was a catholic church service was a new experience for me also. Actually I found myself almost hypnotised by this strange jukebox looking miniature display of the nativity. It was surrounded by flashing coloured lights but apparently was where kids were meant to drop off their offerings. I thought it was rather tacky and strange. The whole incense, chants, and tiny bells thing lost me a bit too. What I enjoyed most was that the kids seemed to really really appreciate having us there and I think we certainly added to their Christmas experience. At least I hope so.

After that I stayed at the orphanage for a few more hours, cracking out the frisbee and playing a bit of football. But wow was it hot. In fact the kids started saying the sun was too much for them too. It was super fun and I got to meet a few more of the kids and bring them into the fold a bit. Today (boxing day) we went back to start out classes again but the staff were not there to let us into the classroom/library (actually fairly empty basic room with a table). So it was more of the same just hanging and mucking around. Oh yeah, after catching a bus back to town and getting some food and checking email I decided to walk home yesterday which took an hour and a half!

Hope you all had a swell time too. I'm really enjoying it over here. No doubt it will be sad to leave in a few weeks time. For now, will make the most of it and I'm off to an art market (perhaps one or two of you lucky readers might be in for a small gift from said market).


Muabeho...

Actually I can't be bothered, sorry.

This was going to be a bit of a long post to kinda fill in some gaps that I've skipped over in previous posts. I thought what with all the extra holiday time y'all have you'd like to hear a tale or two. But actually I'm not in the mood. Sorry.

So it's just about Christmas in NZ as I type and most likely is (or was) by the time you read it. The best thing about being over here is you'd barely know it was Christmas. Sure people care about it but there is none of the decorations and over-the-top hype in town or anywhere. I think I've heard a total of three carols, that's still too many for my liking.

Off for lunch now. I spent most of my time here catching up on a few blogs et al. Bugger about Christchurch huh, poor folks.

Until next time...

"Sports" bags for Christmas?

Will keep this short but we had a bit of a day off as we were invited to a Christmas party for Hope and Homes for Children (http://www.hopeandhomes.org/) who help shift kids out of orphanages and into homes. This involves tracking down family members and working with them to get them to a position, both financially and psychologically, to take care of the child. A truly awesome thing I want to talk about again later on. It was a great day and the women who runs it here is AMAZING. We got to talk to her afterwards and she told a story of how she took in 13 kids from her family who lost their parents in the 1994 genocide. At the time her husband and her had one child of their own and now have five. It sounds like all of the kids are either at or finished or planning to go to university! Talking with her was one of the highlights of the day. She also had great things to say about the Rwandan President Paul Kagame, especially from a women's point of view (she is studying gender politics in her spare time).

Before all that we helped pack bags with things like toothbrushes, soap, books, pens etc. to give to the kids. The party was somewhat of a reunion for kids and families who have been placed in the scheme so far (about 35 as it is still only being piloted). The Mayor was there also to announce he is excited to extend the scheme to other orphanages in the city. It was a great day and nice to meet some very happy and healthy looking kids who all agree that home-life is better than orphanage-life.


Anyway just wanted to write that down before I forgot. I'm not sure when I'll next be online as we have a busy couple of days ahead including another Christmas party, or two! Yay!


Oh yeah the title of this post relates to the crappy cheap bags we packed everything in. The other volunteer and I both felt a little stink giving such useless things away as presents. Indeed we broke two while packing and I saw a kid break theirs just picking it up and opening it. They were obviously a cheap bulk buy from somewhere *ahem* *china* *ahem*. They had a label saying "Sports" but unless the kids play something as docile as chess, and even then in places they don't have to travel for, then there is no way they are going to last the first day of school.

Rat poison anyone?

There was a guy on the bus yesterday who was selling things, a fairly common practice over here. Except this time he had in his hand some anti-fungal creme and some rat poison. I wonder if anyone bought some. Who sits on a bus and thinks "if only I could deal with that rat problem right now"?

I have just finished my third day at the orphanage and I am exhausted. Not so much because of the kids although they are hard work but I'm more or less used to that from teaching. However it is about an hour trip on a couple of different buses each way. Plus a couple of walks at each end. In the heat, it gets pretty tiring getting around the place. At the moment we are holding two little English classes one for ~7-10 year olds and one for ~11-15 year olds. They seem to enjoy it a lot. Then we sometimes stick around and play for a little while.

There were five volunteers here when I first arrived but now we are left with just two as we farewelled the others over the weekend and yesterday. The other remaining volunteer is leaving at the end of the month and I think I am on my own for about two weeks until the next wave arrive. That's a little sad as it is super-good to have English speaking company and the opportunity to make friends. But also a bit exciting as it will be a challange to make it around by myself.

I have started to tutor a student in physics but it's quite advanced and so I've asked to take the textbook home to read tonight. At the moment I'm trying to get my head (back) around ideal gases and thermodynamics. Argh so tough. I was meant to meet another guy to help with chemistry, a much more familiar subject, but he never showed up. I think we just failed to really make a time as things got lost in translation. Tomorrow we will have a science group too.

This post has had several false starts. I tried to post it yesterday from the office of FVA (the volunteer organisers) but got caught in a massive downpour of rain which took out electricity and internet with it just I was about to hit save. And I got soaked walking the couple of blocks back home. Grrr. Electricity, sunshine, internet, and water are all things that cannot be depended on in Rwanda. Right now I am at an internet cafe with computers. I wish someone told me that it could be worthwhile bringing a laptop or something over as there are a few places with wifi and it would be good to hunt around for resources to teach with etc.

Ok well I'm not sure how much of this makes sense anymore but it feels like I've spent forever on it so I'm just going to hit save and catch a moto home.

Rimwe, rabiri, gatatu... (one, two, three...)

I can probably draw a plan of Kigali airport by now.

Not that I think that's a useful skill but it took three trips yesterday to finally be reunited with my luggage so I know the place pretty well. And they know me! Thankfully all the calendars were included too although I will now have to try get them to the other side of Rwanda. hmm. It's good to be in fresh clothes!

Alright will try make this one quick too. I've been left alone at a coffee joint called Bourbon while my friends go change money etc.

Apart from them loosing my luggage (at least I think it was them, but I will of course be trusting of them again) the layover at Nairobi airport also taught me that it takes no more than four Kenyan police men to calm an irritated, shouting, angry Keyan self-proclaimed "diplomat" down. It sounds stressful but everyone was smiling and laughing and I fell in love with the way Africans go about peace keeping. Good times. Also a couple of really neat bookshops in Nairobi airport which I will have to check again on way home.

I've had two days of orientation which included a trip to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. I was kind of ho-hum about going as I read a bit about it before I left and also my guide was heavily pregnant and I felt a bit bad about making her walk around again, but she was very happy to and she shared quite a bit about her own experience which was very touching. There are two quotes that stick in my mind that were in the "child victims" part of the memorial. A 7 year old's last words were "UNAMIR will save us." Chillingly wrong. A (then) 11 year old survivor is also quoted "It's hard to imagine that I wont have my parents around anymore, yet I know who killed them and I know their children still get to have their parents." I could go on and on about the genocide but I would encourage everyone to read about it. I'll be sure to let you know of a couple of good books about it. What is amazing is really how the country has moved on in such a truly unbelievable way. The memorial is very well put together and I spent a couple of hours going around it.

I think part of the success of the country at the moment is down to the phenomenal President Paul Kagame. Apart from a choice first name, he is an inspirational leader. One of the things going on at the moment is the 9th "National Dialogue" where the President gets EVERY elected official in the country to present their vision to the public and take questions. It's been on every TV and radio around and people here are glued to it.

I also got to visit the orphange I will be working at. There are 141 children and 28 staff. Conditions are very low but they make the best of it. I was fortunate to get to meet the very busy manager who was excited to meet me and especially to hear that I teach science. He said there is a boy who is sitting an exam to get into college early next year and he is stressed about physics. Additionally the kids who are at school find science pretty tough and would appreciate a few tutorials too. I'll write more about the place when I start on Monday.

This weekend I'm trying to familiarise myself with buses and "motos" (motorbike taxis) and generally try and stay alive on roads with traffic that reminds me of the Philipines. The roads themselves are a mixed of paved and dirt, all with potholes. It's good fun. Checking out more of the city and a few other things are on the list too including an "African Party" I spotted a sign for not far from where we're staying!

Ok the others have come back so will leave it there. Murabeho.

Apparently you can "never trust a Kenyan"

So I've arrived safe and sound and generally enjoyed the trip. I wont go into stories except for one at the end if I get time.

I'm currently having lunch with a few other volunteers at a pizza place called White Hourse in the centre of Kigali. I'll have to keep this short to avoid being too anit-social.

The title is a quote from a ex-pat Rwandan who was on the same flight as me from Auzzie coming home for Christmas. Our luggage didn't make it with us! we suspect that they are all in Nairobi still. He sounded like this is not the first time that he has been let down by Kenyans. At time of writing (some two nights after I arrived), I still don't have stuff. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to pick it up tonight.

Oh man this has been difficult to do with slow internet and trying to type and eat. It sounds like the others are in a bit of a hurry to go visit a market before heading home so I'll have to cut it short. It's Saturday tomorrow so I'll try find another connection and sort another post then.

Good times. Murakazi.

^ See what I did there?

This is quite last-minute and I should have got on to this much sooner to make it all fancy and stuff, but oh well. Better late than never. Maybe.

I spent a stupidly long time trying to come up with a half-clever name for this thing too. Isn't the best I wanted but I Googled a few other ideas and found they were too similar to others. I at least want to try to be original. Here was the short list:

idiot-in-rwanda
rwhatnow
rwandaful
a-fish-call[s-into-r]wanda

I'd be happy for other suggestions in the comments. Prize for the best could be on offer (typical teacher false promise)!

So yeah usual rah rah first post things... Will try post when I can or as interesting things happen (RSS it for updates) etc. I fly out this evening so next post may be a little while.

Coolies.