Hannah in Rwanda

Madness

2008-07-26T03:39:00.000-07:00

This has been my general state over the last few months; it has been something of an unstoppable whirlwind sweeping up in its midst a variety of different towns, villages, beds, people, transport and events. All have been rich experiences in their own ways but somewhere in the confusion I have neglected to report back! This has been a terrible omission for which I must apologise. But here I am ready to bore you senseless with ‘Anti AIDS Clubs and other stories’.

We begin with the grand competitions! These were much anticipated events for all of the Anti AIDS Clubs in all four Districts, only that in my District and Samira’s which have already been in the programme for over a year instead of having one big event we took judges to each of the schools to judge their theatre or song in situ. As ever this turned out to be three full days of much crazy driving over rough terrain, getting stuck in schools for two hours because of rain showers, eating in great little restaurants in rural areas and of course much singing and dancing. The schools were each given themes around sexual health and HIV to perform on in the category of either theatre or song, and then the winners in each category were invited to participate in the big event to be held in Ngoma (the new District in the East). The big event was a huge success despite the odd difficulty with buses (as ever) and lots of fun, with the two Nyagatare schools winning again!

No rest for the wicked, however, and it was straight on to planning our next big event which was a Summer School for the two new Districts, and to which the two runners up in my district and Samira’s were invited. The twist in this tale is that Ellie, who was the Coordinator for Ngoma District, left before the event so yours truly found herself on the first day of the Summer School surrounded by over 200 young people packing them into 3 54-seater buses (yup it doesn’t add up!) to take the 6 hour journey across country to Kibeho where the Summer School was held. Despite the seeming chaos everything went according to plan and the young people enjoyed the 4 day Camp with training on HIV, how to work with their communities, how to make their clubs sustainable, and fighting stigma and discrimination. Despite being a logistical nightmare, as the village where we were based had little phone network, no electricity, little running water and situated an hour from the nearest town, it was incredibly fun and a huge success. In fact when it was all over the three Coordinators (Jane, Samira and I) slumped into our chairs, shattered but nonetheless shedding a few tears that it had all come to an end.

Amidst all this there have been the ‘other stories’ with two lots of visitors coming to experience the thousand hills with me. First up was Jon (for the second time), as ever he joined me on many work-related adventures and got stuck into Nyagatare life wish surprising relish! Then my Fantastic Fundraising Friends (Kathryn, Nicole and Georgie) arrived bringing with them all the cash that they had raised back home and we headed straight to Macmillan on their arrival to purchase hundreds of books for our Anti AIDS Clubs. So thank you to everyone who contributed to that massive effort which will be so very appreciated by all the schools involved in our programme.

And so the Rwandan tales are ending, with only 6 weeks to go in this wonderful country I am getting increasingly emotional at everything I am doing for the last time, and having finished the main activities for the project. The wind-down period is turning out to be the hardest with occasions like the last meeting with my team of facilitators and the last party in my lovely house bringing me back to the brink of tears, but I am trying to hold it in until I actually leave, after all six weeks as an emotional wreck will not be good for anyone…

Half Mast

2008-04-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday marked the end of Genocide Memorial Week in Rwanda, fourteen years after almost one million people lost their lives. The week began on Monday 7th April, the official start of one hundred days of mourning for those lost in the war. The mood has been unsurprisingly sombre, and of course for many this has been a very traumatic period with horrifying experiences being relived as memories are revived.

In Nyagatare, and across the country, the first act of commemoration took place on the Monday afternoon as the residents of the area processed through the town in silence ending with a meeting in the centre. Throughout the rest of the week the whole town shut down every afternoon and all the adults attended conferences on the Genocide, where survivors gave testimonies and films were shown. Children were not required to attend these conferences which meant that the whole place was eerily silent except for the sound of children’s voices.

I cant deny that the whole feeling behind this period left me a little uncomfortable, not that I do not believe remembrance is very important, of course it is, but because the revisiting of this horrific time is so thrust upon the population that there is no escape. Every afternoon not only are the conferences happening throughout the country, but televisions are only showing Genocide-related programmes and the radio playing Genocide-related broadcasts. It must be different for every individual and is undoubtedly a matter of personal perspective but one can’t help but wonder what effect this has on individuals.

Meanwhile, all primary and secondary school teachers have just come the end of a three week ‘political camp’ for solidarity training, which took up the whole of their holidays. As a result the President announced at their closing meeting, held (amidst great traffic chaos) at the national stadium, that they would get an extra week off. This will inevitably throw the school term out of whack and is bound to have repercussions for our programme as well as students’ timetables. But this is the way Rwanda works, and so I will work with it.

Here, there and everywhere

2008-04-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

This has been me - everywhere - and this is my feeble attempt to explain the lack of blog contact over the last couple of months. So now I will endeavour to sum up what has passed as succinctly as possible...

Performing in Primary

The first highlight was a trip down to a fellow volunteer's home and school in the far south of the Eastern Province with Samira. The two of us were to give a training for Primary and Secondary School teachers on running an Anti AIDS Club at the Primary School where Joe is teaching. Having managed the trip from either side of the country we were both thrilled to be finally having the opportunity to actually run a training ourselves, but a little intimidated by the idea of mixing primary students with teachers and all talking about Puberty, Sex and Contraception. As it turned out we had nothing to worry about somehow the combination of condom demonstrations and the hokey cokey worked a dream particularly as we had the support of Joe's wonderful Headmistress and an incredibly dynamic translator. All in all it was a great day and fantastic to visit another volunteer who is so comfortably part of the community where he is living, with neighbours popping in and out all day and a brilliant relationship with his school.

Happy Travels

And then my parents came! Six months in and I was definitely ready for a bit of TLC, which I got in spades. I was thoroughly treated and looked after for two weeks and had the chance to see a different side of Africa on the other side of the border, in Uganda.

Not only does Uganda seem huge in comparison to Rwanda with travelling distances seeming to stretch almost painfully far, but attitudes are remarkably different too. Starting with care for the roads, to levels of traffic, to corruption, to music and dancing - all are just a little more relaxed than we find here in Rwanda, for better and worse in different respects. The poor roads, lack of respect for the traffic laws and the demands for a little extra cash 'on the side' can be tiring and in contrast to what I have become used to in the highly regulated Rwanda, but the enthusiasm and openness of the people made for a refreshing change and fun times!

Back to Business

After two weeks of adventure, filled with waterfalls and wildlife, it was straight back into work on my return with Joan (the motorbike) and I out and about visiting schools for end of term project evaluations. Despite the fact that school visits remain one of the highlights of my job, filled with singing, dancing and theatre they also remain one of the most daunting as Joan and I face the ever-uneven roads of Nyagatare District. I have recently been pondering the relative danger of cow, goat and chicken, as well as that of mud versus sand. These questions were answered the other day when riding at speed to avoid the impending rain I was faced with the split second decision of cow or solid ground, it appeared to me at the time that if I hit the cow I would face a double danger of cow and ground, so I decided that braking hard on gravel and hitting solid ground was preferable. Indeed I stick by the decision as I managed to escape with only a few bruises and some pulled muscles, but I am not sure Joan would agree with her broken indicator and wonky steering. It has cleared my mind at least that cow and sand are the worst combination! But the important thing is that we got it together and made it to the school club who gave a fantastic performance sharing messages about HIV with the whole school. And so it was with many others, great ideas but not enough resources available to make the most of them; we are hoping to work on that next term.

Green Fingers

Meanwhile on the home front things are going really well. My house has been painted and looks beautiful, and I even have a tap in the kitchen so when the water is working washing up is a dream! Furthermore my lifestyle is becoming increasingly self sustainable, I have hardly needed to go to the market at all in recent months what with the spinach, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, beans, coriander, parsley, broccoli, butternut squash and sweet potatoes growing in my garden. Although I cant claim all the credit as my guard has kept the vegetables going despite is failure to grasp the concept of weeding! Nyagatare, and Rwanda in general seems to be struggling more and more to provide electricity and water with any regularity, not to mention telephone network which has prevented me from accessing the Internet over the last month or so. But thank goodness for the internet café, candles and jerry cans I say!

Birthday Partying

Thank you for everyone who sent me birthday wishes, they made for a very happy day. We had celebrated the weekend before dancing the night away at a near deserted bar on lake Muhazi, followed the next morning by an Easter egg hunt in the rain and the long journey home. Samira stayed with me over my birthday and decorated my house beautifully all of which meant I was one spoilt little birthday girl!

And now as we enter the rainy season and school holidays I am back to desk work but the rest will be good and hopefully set me up for the term to come.

Me and My Moto

2008-04-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

So at last here is the much requested photo of me on my motorbike - go ahead and laugh at my expense! My beautiful Princess of Darkness is called Joan (or Jeanne to her francophone friends) after her fellow crusader Joan of Arc, not so much for her message but more for her resiliance and strength in the face of almost impossible conditions...

Shake it all about

2008-02-08T23:04:00.000-08:00

So, yes, I have experienced my first earthquake and to be honest if was all quite exciting (if a little unnerving) at the time, until later in the day when we realised how many people had been killed or injured in the tremor which had destroyed hundreds of homes in the South of the country close to the border with the DRC. As for me I was staying at Jane’s house in a place called Kibeho (famous for a vision of the Virgin Mary) with Samira and Hannah B. We had all only recently risen from deep slumber and were gradually getting ourselves together when the tin roof began to shake. At first I though it was just a very large crow (we get a lot of their antics – dancing around on the tin roofs) but then the whole house was shaking…

We all stood looking at eachother for a while, gradually realising that it was in fact an earthquake and desperately recalling those geography lessons which talked of door frames and underneath tables as safe places. Eventually we just ran outside and rode the wave! It felt as though it went on for quite a while, although it was probably only a minute or two and was a very strange sensation, leaving me feeling slightly motion-sick. But the house was still standing as were all the others around us, and their contents! So until our return to Kigali in the evening when Hannah’s parents informed us what had happened, we had no idea of the extent of the earthquake we had experienced. All in all my first earthquake was a reasonably understated affair and we must be grateful that the damage all around was minimal.

But what else has been happening? Well we had a fantastic training in Kibungo a couple of weeks ago, managing to coordinate 120 people with reasonable success and no huge nightmares! Best of all was that everyone seemed to enjoy it and there were no major upsets, which makes for a couple of happy coordinators!

And there are some new Muzungus in town, yes we are almost over-run by them now (6 in total including me!). They are with the Salvation Army Emergency Services and are here to coordinate the building of house for returned refugees from Tanzania. They are great neighbours (staying in the guest house next door) and have already visited me for tea and supper, bringing Tesco’s cappuccino sachets, along with oranges and apples (which I haven’t been able to afford since arriving here) so it was most welcome!

The weekend at Jane’s was great; she is one of the most rural placements with no running water, a pit latrine and limited electricity from a generator. However, we amused ourselves with a great deal of eating and creating costumes for ourselves out of teaching aids and household goods. Some may think from the pictures that I have regressed since coming out here, I fear that in fact I never grew up!

Work continues to have its challenges, the current one revolving around unexpected budget constraints that hamper my efforts at every turn but encourage increasing creativity, which can only be a good thing. On the plus side I love the schools and the students so spend a lots of time out and about on the bike which is great.

I thought I would just finish off this entry with a few things that I have learnt from Rwanda and about Rwanda:

From Rwanda…
1) Pineapples grow on the ground
2) Peanuts grow underground
3) You can have a shower with a bucket of water that would fill a toilet sistern (half a sistern if you aren’t washing your hair!)
4) Tea plantations are beautiful
5) When buying a chicken from the market carry it home upside down and then kill it immediately while it is sedated!
6) Gekko poos are long and black with white tips!

About Rwanda…
1) Rwanda is the most expensive country for importing and exporting, as it is landlocked
2) Rwanda is the country with the highest number of female MPs – the law states that there should always be one third female MPs
3) Rwanda has the biggest mountain forest in Africa
4) Rwanda is the source of the Nile?!?!?!?
5) Rwandans love milk and they love goats but goat’s milk – hell no! A wise people indeed!
6) Rwanda has the best chips in the world (Fatty Mc Chip Chip here!)

A Rwandan Life

2008-01-20T07:34:00.000-08:00

I am very aware that up until now my entries have been very much me me me. And much as I am loathed to admit it, it goes without saying that my life and the way that I am living it over here remains quite different to that of the majority of Rwandans. So I thought it was about time that I give you a slightly clearer picture of the bigger picture!

While I struggle out of bed a 6am every morning (well more like 6:15 thanks to the snooze button) others around me have mostly been up for an hour already (don't worry I can hear them - so I know!). My next move is to crawl from bed to yoga to shower and then to a massive bowl of porridge with bananas. Meanwhile most of my Rwandan colleagues will be having a cup of tea if anything at all before either heading to work for around 7am or if they are subsistence farmers living in the villages the work of tidying the house will begin. And here is another point of shame for me - the average Rwandan house is immaculate, however large or small, and is swept and mopped daily (mine is swept weekly and mopped when I can face it, which is rarely!). However, I comfort myself with the fact that most families with a house my size or smaller have some kind of houseboy or help which I do not have - yeah well I have to have some kind of excuse!

Then its out into the fields for the whole family; however small you are there is something that you can do to help. From the early hours you see women bent double hacking away at grass, harvesting crops or hoeing the fields, while children carry bundles of straw twice their size from place to place. By the afternoon bushes are strewn with laundry (the replacement for a washing line) and children returned from school are carry jerry cans of water back to the house. By this point the bars may be full of drunken men sipping on jugs of banana beer around the market, but for most the work never ends...

And in the midst of it all most people will have one big meal a day (generally cassava and beans with other carbs depending on availability) and otherwise just tea, milk or water, while I tuck in to my three hefty meals with snacks in-between. The number of times colleagues have spotted my flask of tea at work and wished me 'bon appetit' or 'enjoy your breakfast' before I have time to point out that breakfast was hours ago and I am famished already! By 8pm I am exhausted and crawl back to bed soon afterwards, well aware that others around me will be up for many hours to come, only sleeping if this is deemed truly necessary. But for me the sleep remains of utmost importance and I gladly indulge myself of a good eight hours...

This is just a glimpse of life in Rwanda and I cannot claim to be all-knowledgeable, in fact in six months I may realise that life is nothing like what I have claimed above, but this is how I see it and thought I would share a little of how things are from this perspective. Tomorrow I am off to run another training in Kibungo with Ellie, this time 120 young people and teachers, so think of us trying to keep a track of 80 over-excited teenagers!

The Long and Winding Road

2008-01-08T21:40:00.000-08:00

That leads back to my door. So here I am again at last but it has been an interesting few weeks of festive fun and African adventures which all began with the arrival of my first visitor, Jon. For him it was something of a whirlwind from the start, but one which he seemed to embrace despite the frequent deviations and inevitable mishaps along the way.

The first stop was back home to Nyagatare where we got straight into preparations for my Christmas Party; borrowing a fridge, stocking up on food and drink, making decorations (even a tree from my garden was incorporated) and generally filling the house with the festive spirit that had otherwise been completely lacking. Possibly to the confusion of many readers, despite this being a very Christian country Christmas is a much understated affair, in fact outside of Kigali it would have taken a very cunning observer to notice any difference at all save the odd Christmas ringtone on the bus! But fourteen adventurous VSOs braved the taxi buses to Nyagatare where many silly games and fantastic food was enjoyed by all (Jon even managed to construct a BBQ from a few bricks and so meat was cooked for the first time in this house!). All of which was followed the next morning by some impressive Muzungu football watched by a crowd of slightly confused but clearly enthralled Rwandans who later joined in when some of the party set off for Kigali.

The aftermarth was a welcome week of quiet with me finishing up at work and Jon getting stuck into Nyagatare life with all the laundry and jerry cans that that involves! And then the real fun began… From our simple life up North to the British Embassy Christmas Carols, where many an eager VSO volunteer could be found tucking into the first free red wine and mince pies that they had seen since touchdown! But we were there for the Carols of course! A couple of days later we were back out East to Akagera National Park for my first Rwandan Safari, where we mingled with the hippos, giraffe, zebra and buffalo from the top of our jeep.

But what about Christmas day? Well, I think I can safely say that I will never have another one like it – fantastic but certainly not Christmas as I know it and more just like a great long stream of food and fun. It all kicked off with a cup of tea at Mel’s house where seven of us were staying, then a quick journey on the taxi bus to Joanne and Morley (a wonderful Canadian couple who happen to make great pancakes!) for an enormous breakfast of pastries, pancakes and fruit salad (and you thought I was starving!) and handing out of Secret Santa presents – all of which went down a storm. Then it was back to Mel’s to prepare for the huge banquet that evening, again more food than you can imagine for around 20 people washed down with plenty of beer and a singsong.

No time to recover however we set off the next day for Gikongoro (where Samira lives) for the start of our travels and from there through Nyungwe Forest to Cyangugu on the border with the DRC where we gazed across the calm lake to the lights of the war-torn country and found it hard to imagine it was anything other than the colourful land it looked from where we were standing. A couple of days later I took over Jane’s bike and with Jon on the back set off on the bumpy but incredibly beautiful road to Kibuye – the journey was five hours of incredible pain (many a broken bone was narrowly avoided) but worth every bump as the views gave new meaning to 'breathtaking'. Once at our destination we were understandably reluctant to move and remained there swimming in the lake and relaxing on its shore until New Year which we saw in with the guest house staff (no one else was there) and a few too many rounds of Charades.

But all good things must come to an end and early the next morning we were on the bike (Samira’s this time) back to Kigali where Jon caught his flight back home and I attempted to slowly nurse myself back into work. And now here I sit back in Nyagatare slightly daunted by the prospect of returning to the office and trying to get used to the little trials of life in the sticks once again; so far electricity has cut off, water has cut off, a storm has descended, batteries have run out and my loo smells. But really it’s good to be back, only there is no denying that Christopher Robin was right – it’s much more friendly with two.

Peaks and Troughs

2007-11-26T23:27:00.000-08:00

I knew it would happen and so it did! This week I went from one of my lowest lows to one of the highest highs in the matter of just a few days. Yes it was the week of World AIDS Day and Monday began with my discovery that nothing that had been planned had actually happened, from booking a room to securing additional funding – nothing. Throughout the day it seemed to get worse culminating in my line manager publicly ticking me off (while I struggled to see him through my sunstroke) for not keeping him informed – nothing was happening how can I keep anyone informed of that?! I was pretty much on the verge of breakdown all day.

You can imagine my surprise on Tuesday when suddenly things came together so thoroughly that I was almost twiddling my thumbs by the end of the day, well not quite but… So my emergency meeting bore fruit in the shape of massive funding support from another donor and the assigning of roles and budget for every activity – hoorah. The rest of a week was a jumble of chasing people about, visiting banks and artists (who were painting the banner), putting up posters around the town (I felt like a student again) and calling youth clubs to check they were coming. But we did it!

The event was scheduled to start at 10am, so of course most of the competing youth clubs did not show up until 11am. By this point I was ready to take most things in my stride, as long as some people showed up it was a blessing! But we ended up with a full hall, six youth clubs competing in the areas of theatre and song on the theme of World AIDS Day in Rwanda: ‘The responsibility of the family vis-à-vis children in the fight against AIDS’. There were some particularly brilliant songs and poems, but generally the spirits were high and when the rain trapped us in at the end we just cranked up the music and everyone got dancing! After a speedy lunch it was time for the second half of the day a football match between the Military and the District teams. Standing on the sideline in the drizzle I was taken back to many a football game back in England, if it wasn’t for the state of the pitch (with no lines and almost no grass).

The following day was another kettle of fish entirely! Saturday was the District official event for World AIDS Day, which had been planned to coincide with Umuganda – the day for communal work in Rwanda. So I was picked up bright and early to go tree planting, much to the surprise of assembled Rwandans I relished the opportunity to get stuck in with my hoe and plant the little saplings. The joy was slightly diminished went the rain set in and the sorrow deepened when after three hours of damp planting we were subjected to three hours of speeches outside in the cold and all in Kinyarwanda! I was not a happy (or warm) Hannah by 3pm when we finally returned to Nyagatare, but the gift of a free lunch from the organisers was enough to make this impoverished volunteer perk up and fill her buffet plate as full as it would go!

On Sunday I discovered that if you are looking for a work out then head down to the Anglican Church in Nyagatare, where the enthusiasm of the singing and dancing reached such dizzying heights that the congregation was regularly taken to the level of jogging on the spot! Admittedly I did only stay for 2 of the 6 hours worth of service, so perhaps things calmed down after the intro! The rest of the day was much more subdued, just me and my laundry/housework.

And in other news I am in danger of turning into a banana such is my love for the sweet little ones we get here; my life is an almost endless stream of decanting water from tap to jerry can to saucepan to filter to bottle to mouth; and I have rediscovered the joy of the thermos – copious cups of tea throughout my working day – I could be at home!

Until next time…

Fun and Games

2007-11-17T23:17:00.000-08:00

I have just made a hasty retreat from my Sunday morning walk; I was feeling as though the sun was unusually hot for this time in the morning and as I turned my head I was somehow not surprised to see thick black clouds charging over the hills to my right, so less than 15 mins in I was forced to turn tail and return home prematurely to my breakfast of pineapple, banana and yogurt. This has become my Sunday ritual (not the retreating part!) and is a lovely break from yoga and porridge of weekdays; I go into town on Saturdays and pick up the yogurt (ikiviguto) from any of the restaurants which has it, they decant it from a massive vat into my empty water bottle, the lack of fridge at my house means that it is always a little fizzy by now and tends to explode on opening but it is delicious nonetheless.

It has been a tiring week but overall a successful one I feel. Many a stressful phonecall preceded the events of this week which was a training for young people in peer education and how to be good facilitators, as they will be supporting the schools in the district with the weekly activities in Anti AIDS Clubs. It had not been an easy task hunting down 8 people between 21 and 28 willing to work as a volunteer and with no other work commitments to the extent that at 5am on Tuesday morning I was still tracking people down, but somehow by the end of the first day of the training I did indeed have 8 young people from Nyagatare and Ellie had her 16 for Ngoma District. The training took place in Kibungo, the heart of Ngoma District, so I travelled down on Monday with my facilitators and the two trainers who have worked with us for a year and who were to conduct the training.

Day one we were hit by some slightly worrying pre-test results, which demonstrated relatively low levels of knowledge among some of the participants and over the week we were faced with some interesting ideas, such as the fact that women can lose their virginity by playing sports. These moments lead me into fits of panic (ah these guys are going into schools to inform school children and this is what they think?!) but fortunately they were fleeting as everyone seemed to embrace the training, getting involved in debates and games. Sticking to the agenda was nigh on impossible and in typical European style this brought me out in cold sweats, but somehow most things were covered and despite the constant singing and dancing (which showed total disregard for our warm ups but we did squash HIV with our dancing feet apparently) and the insistence on forming a committee (very popular here) who had lots of reporting duties, we got there in the end. And when it came to the young people running some sessions themselves it was really brilliant to see them following the manual we had provided, enjoying conducting the activities for themselves, and doing some really fantastic and energetic sessions.

There is a long way to go before I can be totally confident that all of the clubs will be well catered for by committed facilitators who attend regularly, and the follow-up is likely to be an arduous task requiring the utmost from my (limited) organisation skills, but it is great to have a new team of young people equipped to begin informing others. So onto the next challenge, will they be accepted by the schools? And in the immediate future will I be able to pull together an event for World AIDS Day by Friday?!?! It seems unlikely but I will let you know…

Ants in my Pants

2007-11-11T06:29:00.000-08:00

And not only in my pants I can tell you! But let me explain: it has yet again been an eventful few weeks and not only have I been fidgeting about figuratively speaking, I have also been plagued by ants quite literally along the way.

It all began a just over two weeks ago when I headed over to Samira's house in the South again, but this time equipped with a tent and all set for a camping adventure the following day. The first shock came when we attempted a trial tent assembly only to find that Mel's tent was missing the waterproof sheeting - a must in rainy season! Oh well, in our casual way we chose not to be thwarted by this and packed everything ready to go. So the next morning we (Jane, Samira, Mel and I) set off, loaded with pre-prepared sandwiches for lunch and risotto for supper, in her neighbour, South African John's truck for Nyungwe National park - the largest Mountain Forest in Africa no less! And wow is it beautiful, more dramatic hills of course but this time covered in lush green trees rather than rows of crops, very much your ideal jungle-like environment. We drove the long and winding road for quite a while, dodging potholes and oncoming drivers, until we reached the campsite. And here came our second shock, it is quite expensive to visit the park it seems! This we would have known had we prepared better, but fitting with the theme of the trip - we had not! Again, not to be thwarted we decided to get our money's worth and choose the second longest (9km) guided trek and to head home afterwards, thereby avoiding the cost of staying and the inevitable dampness of a waterfilled tent.

And off we set with the rainclouds looming and our questionable fitness straining. But we were in luck, the rain barely touched us and we all managed it without a single injury, up and down the mountains in a tropical dreamland, with monkeys, snakes (it was an Ada as well!), gorgeous waterfalls (perfect for relieving the heat of the walk/climb) and ANTS; lots of evil biting ants which managed to get everywhere before you knew what was happening, sending us all dancing around hitting ourselves in desperate attempts to kill the little mites. But it really was fantastically beautiful and of course incredibly satisfying when we managed it in 4hr30 rather than the estimated 6hrs! As you will see Samira and I were so pleased and so convinced of how sexy we were by the end that we felt called upon to do a special sexy dance in celebration - undeniably hot I am sure you will agree - I am only sorry you cant see that my jeans are tucked into my socks...

After a congratulatory beer we headed home to reheat our risotto and then the next morning I braved the 8hr return journey to Nyagatare - not one I can do every weekend but it had been well worth it. Another busy week at work followed, with the usual cocktail of waiting around, lengthy meetings (through lunch!!!), limited translations and confusions. But it ended well when Ellie came down to plan a training we will be running next week in her town of Kibungo, 3hrs south of here. And then it was off to Kigali for a Halloween party! I managed to throw together a bat outfit (so pleased I brought the wrap-around skirt) and was accompanied by a black cat (Mel), a ghost (Ellie) and the best pumpkin (Hannah B). We did make a scary sight on the dance floor but it was lots of fun despite the confused looks of the Rwandan guests (not sure dressing up is the done thing around here).

The next day we moved into the guest house where we had spent our first week in Rwanda for our second 'in-country training'. It has been a great week of catching up with all of the other volunteers who arrived here at the same time, eating far too much delicious food (just couldn't help myself - I hadn't cooked it or bought it - amazing!) and learning more about the country and how other volunteer placements are going.

And then today I was up early and back to Nyagatare (with all the excitement that comes with 22 people crammed into a 16 seater bus - Mum, Dad, Granny and two kids on my 3 man row!) by 11am almost crawling up the hill to my house under the weight of all the supplies I had brought with me from Kigali. The house was still standing on my return (always good) but then came the ants - it looked as though the bathroom was moving - they were everywhere, very tiny but very busy from the floor to the ceiling. So my afternoon has been spent blasting them with insecticide, sweeping them out and washing the floor. At least now the house is clean and I can head off to the training (in Kibungo) safe in the knowledge that I am ant-less at least for a little while...

PS For those who were looking for my address I have now added it to the bottom of the page x

Up Hill and Down Dale

2007-11-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

The wind has suddenly swept up, throwing birds off their course and laundry off fences promising an imminent rain shower. And so I am briefly trapped inside, giving me the opportunity to finally get around to writing my blog. I am so sorry to have neglected you for so long, but more has got going around here than just the weather and I have been rushing about like a made person trying to keep up with all the work that needs to be done.

So what, I hear you ask, is that work then? Well, mostly I have been harnessing myself to my moto and jetting off around the district (jetting might be optimistic as its hard to get up a speed on dirt tracks riddles with craters but you know what I mean) to visit the 14 Secondary Schools here, all of which have Anti AIDS Clubs which the project has been supporting for the last year. Amidst many a bumpy ride, rocky road, sudden rain shower and of course ridicule of bemused Rwandan I have had the chance to see how all of these clubs are getting on. And with the odd exception this has mostly been great fun and incredibly encouraging with huge clubs squeezing into tiny classrooms with no electricity performing fantastic songs, dances, theatre and poems carrying messages about HIV and AIDS. Sadly at times I was roped into giving a little shimmy myself - yes, yes, highly entertaining for everyone but not a pretty sight to be sure, the Rwandan cow dance is not something I am yet able to do justice to as you will see below!

But this was not just a show for me to enjoy (although clearing my ear to ear grin gave away the fact that I was thoroughly entertained!), it gave me the chance to find out how the clubs were doing, what difficulties they face in meeting their goals and to think about how we might solve them. Of course we wont be able to solve everything but hopefully between their enthusiasm and my tiny pot of money (with a giant thinking cap and lots of brilliant colleagues) we might be able to comes up with something...

But it hasn't been all work! Two weeks ago one of the youth volunteers had a birthday so this was a great excuse for a group gathering and off I trekked to the Southern Province and a town called Gikongoro where Samira (birthday girl) works. There I met up with the other 6 youth volunteers for a weekend of creative culinary activity (it comes from loving to eat!) and walking in the stunning hills of Southern Rwanda, where we were never alone for long (see Mel below sharing her photos with some of our excited companions!).

All of this did remind me how lucky I am to be working in such a beautiful country where just wandering in the countryside is breathtaking.

And what now? Well we are working towards the events in Nyagatare for World AIDS Day then I am off to Kigali for training in a couple of weeks then down to Kibungo to train new facilitators who will support the Anti AIDS Clubs. So it doesn't stop and time is flying by. And of course I have gone on for far too long again without telling you about my friends the geckos, my race against the rivers of water entering my house every time it rains, my guard turning my garden into a small subsistence farm and the road of cuddles (where children dive out of anonymous doorways to hug the approaching Mzungu!). But this is enough for now...

Apologies that the above was written over a week before posting due technical difficulties (eek no time for posting and poor connection - sorry!)

Buhoro, buhoro - slowly, slowly

2007-10-06T05:06:00.000-07:00

So they say, and so it goes… Since I last wrote I have had a couple of weeks in my new office and getting into the new job, or at least trying! Well, there I was all bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to get cracking, but as with everything here it takes longer than you would like for things to start happening. So my first few weeks have been tainted with characteristic hitches, such as all the people who I am supposed to be reporting to being in Kigali on my first full week in Nyagatare, and not meeting my line manager until one week in when she happened to come in to my office looking for someone else!

But the office itself is great; I am squeezed into a corner sharing a desk with piles of documents I don’t understand! It is actually the office of CDLS (District AIDS Control Commission) who coordinate all of the work in the district on HIV&AIDS. The Director and his assistant are both great, but we struggle slightly as they are both francophone and my French is a lot more rusty than I would have liked to admit and certainly not up to complicated policy discussion! They have both shown me around and I meet so many people as the office is something of a hub for anyone working on HIV&AIDS and related issues (youth, gender, you have to come through our office to get to the gender office), or anyone who needs the internet or photocopier as we have the only ones in the area it seems!

I should probably explain what it is that I actually do here at this point. So I coordinate the PHARE (prevention of HIV&AIDS in Rwanda through Education) project in Secondary Schools in Nyagatare District (15 in total), which is a VSO project funded by Irish Aid. Each school has an Anti-AIDS Club, we support these clubs by providing training and resources. I have a team of 5 facilitators who go to each of the schools once a week and facilitate sessions which are conducted by the 2 students and one teacher in each club who have already been trained, with the aid of a manual produced by the project. Then we look at other activities and areas of improvement.

Have you switched off?! Sorry, I thought that I ought to explain myself briefly. So this week has bee a lot of planning, interspersed with lots of waiting around (why say 8am when you mean to show up at 10am?). But of course I am adapting to the new pace of life, and beginning to understand that in a county where power (the sudden loss of), politics (the sudden change of) and weather (the sudden raining of) are unpredictable, one has to learn to be flexible and therefore any arrangements should be taken loosely to say the least (ie always bring a book or some work to get on with).

Ah as ever there is so much more to share, such as the bright lights of Kigali where I spent last weekend, the bus driver who spent the whole 3 hour return journey relating every detail of a Nigerian film he had just seen to the passengers, and the great PHARE team, my fellow volunteers with whom I have spent much time planning and learning about excel! But this will all have to wait for another instalment as I am sure that you have had quite enough for one visit!

Oh and I am currently accepting suggestions for my new hobby which should be both cheap and productive – I have a free weekend! Comments in the box below – many thanks!

Pictures: My office with my bike in the foreground (mine is in the far corner); and the PHARE team, each doing the same things in different districts in the East and South of Rwanda.

A Saturday in the Life of...

2007-09-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

I am currently sitting here with the stench of kerosene on my hands - I will run you through how I got here! So woke up this morning as with every morning at six to the sound of Francois the guard-come-gardener sweeping the yard and hacking at various things. Fortunately, I managed to drift in and out of sleep until almost eight when I arose to Francois calling me for a chat. With lots of pointing franglaisrwanda and misunderstanding I got to the fact that he needed more money for a hoe and seeds etc, well I was a bit difficult and said the seeds could wait until December which is apparently planting season as we have carrots coming through at the moment anyway.

Quick bucket shower - ah how I love the combination of bucket and cold water! Then dressed and had my first cup of tea in this house (ah the joy) with a couple of bananas and we (Francois and I) set off for the market. There I haggled in broken Kinyarwanda (with constant, and very unslick reference to my vocab book and dictionary!) unsuccessfully for a massive bag of coal which should last me the year for £4.80. Then it was time for laundry, three buckets for washing and rinsing - well that look a good few hours, but was very satisfying and everything dried in a flash with the blazing sun, that is until the rains came this afternoon so the last few things don’t stand much chance now!

Then I munched another banana and a few spoonfuls of peanut butter (its delicious here and no need for the bread!) and set off for the shops, along the way I was greeted with the usual 'hello, how are you?'s to which I stubbornly reply 'fine, amakuru (how are you in Kinyarwanda)' to which I recieve giggles (from boys and girls alike) and the response 'ni meza'. This may get boring at some point but at the moment it isn’t a problem at all, after all I am a bizarre site around these parts, especially when sporting my sunhat like today. So I successfully bought eggs, pasta and bonus received a 'cadeau' of a pineapple! Hoorah. So home just in time to miss the downpour and bring in the laundry.

I then received some surprise visitors, very little ones ranging between the ages of 12 and 4, sporting cheeky grins and nicking my oranges (which are distinctly green so not one bit edible!). We had a chat then I let them scuttle off and leave me to my coal stove. This was a massive challenge until I remembered the tip of putting a little kerosene on to get things started and bam! what do you know it is coming along nicely!

So here I am writing this as the sun is setting, contemplating supper and the application of insect repellent. I had better go and get on with all of that.

So Here I Am!

2007-09-23T06:38:00.001-07:00

Laden with sunblock, mosquito repellent and much anticipation our transfer from Nairobi swept in over Kigali. The dramatic 90 degree angle offered a spectacular, if a little nerve-wracking, view of many of the thousand hills this country is famous for. Lush green interspersed with red tracks and houses dotted about the landscape, was a view like nothing else I have ever seen – this definitely ranks as one of my favourite landing spots so far!

And joy of joys we were greeted off the plane by a wave of beautifully warm air, a relief after the sleepless night on the freezing floor of Nairobi Airport – not cozy! We grabbed our bags that were ready and waiting for us, put them through the sixth but thankfully the last x-ray and were received on the other side by surprisingly large welcome party bearing roses for each of us. Bleary eyed from not having slept for over 24 hours I do not feel that we quite matched the welcome!

Ten days of training have passed in a flash of Kinyarwanda and suddenly I find myself safely installed in my house in Nyagatare, feeling very fortunate to have electricity and running water, but a little overwhelmed by the three bedroom house that I have been given. The first challenge on arrival was the demolition of numerous hornet nests which had grown up around the house. This was followed by rigorous cleaning of the house which had been left to go to ruin for the last month. With the help of Daniel – the fortunate passer-by we had it done by lunchtime and I have now spread my limited baggage about the place to make it feel full!

So I sit here a little lonely and sunburnt, but excited by the challenge that tomorrow holds, starting with the motorbike! Eek! Think of me rattling down these dusty roads without a clue in the world what I am doing…