First week in Rwanda
My Rwandan adventure- ‘Land of a thousand hills’
WEEK 1
Well, after a stressful few days trying to organise this whole trip I have left London and arrived in Kenya on transit to Rwanda. It does feel a bit surreal to be back in Africa, in some ways it feels like I never left!
I am very excited about the challenge that awaits me in Rwanda, I really don’t know what to expect from the country, the position, the culture…basically I go into this adventure with no real expectations except the fact that it will be a challenge that I have been craving for a long time.
I guess my nerves will subside once I have established where I am and what is totally expected of me... so many questions are going through my head at the moment but one thing is for sure I couldn’t be happier being back in Africa.
I was met at the airport by Christine Murorunkwere, who is a Rwandan Australian that has established Abana (children in Kinyarwandan) and along with her committee they have done a fantastic job of raising enough money to build 8 further classrooms at a remote school in the village. It is at the village where she grew up before leaving to take up a scholarship to study in China when she was 18. She is a very determined and passionate person that is committed to the cause of helping her nation re-build to have the basic services that we in the developed world take for granted.
Kigali, as a capital city in Africa is very pleasant and safe and has a real laid back feel to it. I think this resembles the country, Rwanda, my initial impressions are very positive as the people I have come across as very friendly and welcoming.
This is a far cry from the country that experienced one of the worst genocides in history 13 years ago. I can already tell that this country has come a long way and is now one of the shining lights of East Africa. They have a growing economy for African standards, with tourism taking over as the number one industry assisting in re-building this once shattered nation.
To me it is a country that is slowly mending the wounds after the horrific killings in 1994, a recent report shows that 99% of the population was affected by the genocide, and only now are the wounds starting to heal but will never be forgotten.
Another initial impression of Rwanda is that it lives up to its name of a ‘land of a thousand hills’. Literally, all of Rwanda rests on hills besides the eastern province. I have never seen a country like this and I can already tell that I will get my fair bit of exercise walking up and down each of these hills.
The greatest barrier for me at this earliest stage is going to be language, as Rwanda is a Belgium/French colony. English is becoming more popular and is now one of the official languages (as the President was educated in Uganda and speaks English and no French) but it is still barely spoken. Maybe I should have paid more attention to my French classes in school!!!
I can already tell that the project will be my greatest challenge of my life, but I am also confident in my own ability that I can meet the assignment that has been entrusted in me.
After spending a few days in Kigali (I also got an invite to an Aussie BBQ in November, there are approx. 30 of us living in Kigali and they try and have regular catch-ups!), we left and made the long trek to my ‘home’ for the next three months. It is only 160 kms from Kigali to Rugerero, but the journey takes about 6-8 hours (depending if you drive or take public transport) this is due to the state of the roads as we head right into the mountains after we reach Butare.
Along the way we stopped off to meet the President of Rwanda’s advisor, who is a friend of Christine’s. He has invited me back to his house in the future, and it is an invite that I will certainly take up. He was educated in England and all his family live there now, so he speaks fluent English and is an important person to know while I am working here.
We made another step along the way for me to meet an Australian guy, who is the Principle of a school outside of Kigali. He has an interesting story, as he turned up at Kigali 3 years and asked where he could help and was told he could go and work at a school as a Principal. This is an amazing story, as he is not a qualified teacher but an electrician from NSW but has turned the school around to have one of the most successful schools in the area. He told me they have offered him another 3 year contract, which he is taking up to continue the good work he is doing for the school. Just shows you, if you are passionate about a cause and willing to come over and sacrifice the comforts of home you can make a difference. It is this thought process that drives me to come back here with the knowledge that I can make a little difference. I love to hear stories of people that have come here on a whim, and have become successful and most importantly benefited those around them.
Well, we left there and headed to Butare where we stopped off for a late lunch. Butare, is the second largest city in Rwanda and not as nice as you are surrounded by beggars and homeless people. It will be my nearest city and somewhere that I will be frequenting for anything relative to western living.
We left Butare and headed to Muganzo, which is the nearest ‘big’ town to my little village. The road to Butare was well paved so I didn’t know what Christine was on about in regards to the state of the roads… well, we soon turned off the main road and headed to Muganzo and I soon could see what she meant. It was only 30 kms but it was going to be a long trip up the steep hills of Rwanda in our 4 wheel drive with a very inexperienced driver.
Well, finally made it to Muganzo to stop and greet the nuns.. I must admit I have never really been to a convent or had a conversation with nuns before but they are so much fun- an absolute hoot! They made a huge fuss of me and were really funny!! They said I must learn Kinyarwandan and for me to teach them English. We stayed there for dinner and I told them I will be back all the time, they have invited me over every weekend.. It’s a great offer that I will take up from time to time. I now have a different perspective of nuns and my weekends will be very different to what I am used to!
After leaving we finally made our way to Rugerero and my cottage where I am staying for the next three months. Christine warned me beforehand that it’s isolated and I can see why now, it is literally on top of a mountain. 2000 metres above sea level with a 360 degree view of the region. In a word this place is truly ‘magical’, and I recommend anyone to make the effort to come here as you certainly won’t be disappointed.
As we are so isolated, there is no electricity, no running water basically all the comforts of home that we take for granted. We have a generator that runs for about a hour or so a day, as it is run on petrol. The water is fetched at the bottom of the hill and walked all the way up on their head so we can clean and wash the dishes. This is what life is like in these remote villages, everyone does their ‘bit’ to ensure survival.
After having a great nights sleep (listening to the wild) we awoke and went for a walk around the area to help familiarise myself with the area as it all looks the same as the hills go on as far as the eye can see.
Christine’s brother, Toto is looking after me and cooks all my meals and basically look after everything I need and trust me I am greatly appreciative of his help. He is being paid by Christine and is planning on going to university next year and is keen to practise English as all his classes will be taught in English. He cooks just the most amazing local meals, I have been trying everything and some of my favourites so far have been green banana cooked in a peanut sauce and my all time favourite fufu, which is a cassava paste.
The following day, we went to the school where I will be coordinating the building of 8 classrooms. The school can be seen from the cottage as it is on a higher elevation of 2500metres, but it takes about 30 minutes to walk there. We were met on the way by about 50 children as they all knew of our imminent arrival at their school as they were putting on a small performance. I have been fortunate that while I have been here that a couple from Australia who know Christine through the Rotary club and were in Africa during the same time have come for a few days to see the school first hand as they assisted in the fundraising. Gil, has bee very helpful as he is a project manager with experience in property and construction so he has been teaching me about the building process as I am very ‘green’ in the area.
He also has drawn up to scale a map of how the new classrooms could be positioned in accordance to the existing site. I have been picking his brain over the last few days as even though there will be builders on site, it is nice to have a basic understanding and draw upon his experience.
In the afternoon after visiting the school, Christine organised a motorbike so we can drive to visit Adenya (they are coordinating all the raw materials, labour etc. ) This is located 10 kms away on rough terrain and I was trusted with the responsibility of riding the bike with Christine on the back. I have really ridden a bike since growing up on the farm but its not rocket science and I was sooner cruising around the hills of Rwanda. It was so much fun to ride there, going through villages and having people stopped what they were doing to wave at a ‘muzungo’ riding on a motorbike.
By the time, we got there and got back to the owner’s house to drop the bike off it was complete darkness so we had to walk home in the dark. Spending most of my life over the last few years in cities it was a unique experience to see the stars and to have complete darkness was very invigorating and the realisation that I was going to experience something that is foreign to me.
Tonight, as it is our last night here before we visit Kibuye for a couple of days to visit Kivu, which is on the lake bordering Congo. We will stay there before going back to Kigali where I will stay before saying goodbye to Christine and coming back to the village to focus on the job that I have been entrusted to take on.
Anyway, time to sign off as we are having goat tonight. (I just checked out the killing for myself so I can’t say its not fresh meat!!)
Well, I am back in Kigali now after two wonderful days on the lake. It was yet another example of what Rwanda has to offer to the tourist who is after an adventure that will forever live with them.
We spent a day on a boat that can only be described as ‘African cruise liner’ as we explored the lake and the many islands. We had a typical lunch on Peace Island, well it was going to be lunch but it didn’t actually arrive until around 4.30 in the afternoon. This was just another example of the lack of training in the hospitality industry in Rwanda and if they are going to compete with the likes of their neighbours for the tourist dollar they will need to lift their standard.
It was a wonderful day on the lake and was nice to see more of Rwanda, before I settle down with my job.
Today, we drove back to Kigali where I need to finalise a few matters for the school and say goodbye to Christine, Natasha, Gil and Judith.
It is now the end of my first week here in Rwanda, and today I hear the news that Paris Hilton is coming over on a ‘humanitarian visit’ next month, I might have to try and convince her to come to the school.
Tomorrow I am going to a traditional wedding, as we were invited by the President’s advisor and he is going to organise some traditional clothes for us to wear as well.
I am looking forward to getting back to the village and my next report will detail the first couple of weeks on site. Until next time!
posted by Troy Aitken | 7:53 AM
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