The Big Christmas event

WEEKS 9-12

Well, after spending a week in Kigali, I was going back to my village to prepare the proceedings for the Christmas function and it was also payday.
As I have mentioned previously, any trip back to the village using the public transport is never free of problems and frustrations.. well this time was no different!
But this time it was taking the motorbike from Muganza to my little cottage.. The motorbike gear stick broke, just outside of Muganza so I decided to get off and start to walk. It doesn’t matter where you are in Rwanda, there are always people and they are always walking somewhere.. you can never be lonely in this place! Even in my little cottage, there are constantly people coming in and out.. relatives, friends.. etc..
After another long journey it was nice to be back home again…
It was good to see everyone here and to find out what has been happening since I’ve been away. I bought a pump in Kigali, so I could pump up the rugby balls as I will be teaching the neighbouring school rugby. (I even have a demonstration DVD, which is nice as my rugby knowledge is fairly low!)
Today is payday at the school, which is always a long drawn out affair as there are now 90 people working on site. Every two weeks, there seems to be more and more people that are working.. new ones start, some leave.. I think over the 6 weeks, I have paid nearly 150 different people. Very hard to keep up with it all!
While I was at school, the rains decided to come and it was absolutely torrential, I saw more rain in that 2 hours then I have seen in Australia for a long time. (Relentless rain, but at least it will fill up our two new water tanks)
The progress of the school has been very pleasing with all the walls nearly finished, so soon they can start installing the roof. It will be nice to finish the majority of work before school starts, as it will be a lot more difficult to operate when you have hundreds of children running around.
I support the number of workers, as long as there is good progress of the construction and as I have previously mentioned it creates employment for the local area.
I would also like to have as much done as possible, especially with the Christmas party coming up in 2 weeks. Further to this, I have managed to get contacts for the largest newspaper and radio in Rwanda. I have spoken to two respective journalists (from New Times and Contact FM) who are both keen to come along and cover the event. (If they do its another matter, but at least they believe that the event is newsworthy)
There are some times here that I do get very frustrated, but there are moments like this evening that put a smile on my face from ear to ear. I was walking back from teaching English at the school, and all I could hear was the sound of children singing and a drums banging. When I walked around the corner I saw about 30 odd children who were singing and dancing with one of them using a makeshift drum. They were laughing uncontrollably, and they didn’t have a care in the world. As soon as I joined in the celebrations they were laughing and smiling even more. (Who would have thought that a year ago I would be dancing in a remote part of Rwanda with some kids from a village- the beauty of life, you never know what is around the corner)
The looks on their faces were priceless, and they are the reason I am continually motivated to give them the best quality of life available and the opportunities that I was given.
In other news, we have built our very own home-made gym at our cottage set using wood, a bag of dirt and a pulley. It is another example of how resourceful people are here, and I must admit it works quite well. I had a good workout yesterday, and this morning I woke up a little sore across my chest, so something must have worked.
I am still having troubles with my motorbike; I just can’t believe how easily some people can lie to your face. (Especially those that work in business) I threaten the manager that I want my money back (yes, I had to pay for it upfront before I even had the bike- not exactly the smartest move to make!) and he told me to speak to the owner. So, I got on the phone and threaten him that I want my money back if you don’t give me my motorbike. I also gave him a whole guilt routine, and for one of the few times in my life I was a little angry.. just get really frustrated how they treat me!
In response, he said I can have it in two days now so it went from next week to getting it on Wednesday. This is just an example of how they operate here in the business world, and you have to constantly harass them otherwise you get nowhere! Of course, at the time of writing this, I still haven’t got my bike so time will tell.. apparently, they prioritise the government first and I must come right at the bottom of the list!
I have just returned from my meeting with the Mayor of the district – Felix. I had to make the long journey to his office (about 1.5 hours) for a meeting to discuss ABANA’s activities and also to invite him to the Xmas function next week. We had a very open and honest meeting, as we discussed the project at Rugerero, the Christmas function and our thoughts on education and health in the district. He also gave me the idea that not only should I give the children clothes and food on the day, I should also present them with one year’s health insurance for 2008. Apparently, for 1000 FRW (90p/$2.00) a child is insured to use the health centres for a whole year at no cost to the parents. This is a small sum of money, and a wise investment for their children and without your health you haven’t got much else in this world. Depending on the fundraising efforts for the day, I would like to pursue this and get the Deputy Mayor to announce it on the day. (Unfortunately, the Mayor is unavailable on the day) Especially, as media will be present it would be a real successful story for ABANA . I also spoke with the Education Director for the area, who will also be attending on the day. I have also been asked to participate in the Joint Action Development Forum (chaired by the Mayor) that will set the 2008 and onwards strategy for the district in key areas including health and education. The key decision-makers of the district will be attending this forum, and I see it is an ideal networking opportunity for ABANA and myself. The Mayor also gave me some possible projects that ABANA could be involved with in the future, focussing on education and health. I left the meeting with him very impressed by his stance on a few issues I have in the area and what his future plans are as Mayor. (He actually has only been in the position for less than 2 months!)
A little back I was given a donation of 2 rugby balls to teach rugby to students in my area, with the end goal to actually have a side in this district. Well, today I took my first rugby class and it ended up to be very successful. I took English class first in Muganza and then all the students from class joined me in their first ever rugby lesson. I had about 40+ students running around madly at the beginning and even though I had someone to translate for me, it was very difficult. I have had no experience in teaching rugby but I do know the basic rules and my goal is to get them playing touch rugby. By the end of the class, I had the students understanding the rules of touch and some of them were naturally gifted at the sport. I am going to give the balls to the local high school as a donation and I will try and take a few classes in the new year. I had the whole village, watching me as I was trying to teach them rugby.. they all seemed to enjoy it and I have promised them that I will take them for another lesson Saturday.
Well, today I attended the Joint Action Development Forum to get an idea of what the mayor has planned for 2008. I didn’t realise that is a new development and firstly we had to elect the committee, I was going to nominate ABANA but I realised in the meeting that language is going to be a barrier. I also made a ‘schoolboy Africa error’, I was told the meeting starts at 10am so me being my punctual self got there at 9.45am. I had a look around Kibeho (made famous for the sighting of the Virgin Mary- people from all around the world come here to pray!) and then I went to the meeting. I was the third person there and was thinking that something was up as it was 10am and the mayor wasn’t there or the other organisers. No, people don’t start turning up until 11am of course and it was just me that was shocked that this meeting was behind time. Of course, we were on ‘African time’ and 10am really means 11am .. I should have known that! I felt really uncomfortable because the Mayor asked if the meeting could be in English but I said no I would prefer Kinyarwanda because its not fair that 1 out of 150 cant speak the language. I was the only muzungo there and I said I could understand through my new translator friend (I met him in the morning- he was also on-time). The idea of the meeting was to form a committee of NGOs, Government and the private sector in the area of development in education and health. It will be a central governing body, that could work in theory but knowing how these organisations work everyone has their own agenda and will look out for their own interests. Time will tell, but at least ABANA was given an opportunity to explain the work we are doing in the district and our future plans. Afterwards, I went to the neighbouring village to support a muzungo friend of mine that was organising an event on HIV education and prevention with workshops, video, prizes etc. They had no problem with pulling a crowd as it was hectic… not used to seeing so many people in the villages of South Rwanda.
Oh yeah, I still haven’t received my motorbike.. and I think the manager has managed to pull out every lie in the book to me and my patience is wearing thin! I will be paying him a visit on Monday, when I get back to Kigali.
The big week of my Christmas event has arrived and I have a million things going on in my head. I arrived in Kigali to buy the last minute Christmas stuff for the children. I have bought a tree, heaps of decorations, colourful ribbon and rope so I can secure the area as I know every man and their dog will be in attendance.
I also have a new shirt for the occasion, a nice little blue number of course so everything is set for the big day on Thursday. Oh yeah, I also have some very big news…wait for it.. yes I finally have my motorbike. It has been sent to the village and I’m still in dis-belief as I actually gave up on it!
Well, I left on Thursday morning from Kigali to head back and ensure everything is progressing for the big day tomorrow. I have called upon every favour from the ‘guy upstairs’ to ensure we have a nice and sunny day as I have no protection for the rain.
It’s late on Thursday evening and I have just arrived at the school, to see the area has been cleared and the food has started to be prepared. (Today I should add is very wet and cold so I’m very nervous about the weather tomorrow)
I went home confident though that everything that is possible to be finished has been done and we were prepared for the big day.
I must admit I didn’t have the best sleep last night as I had too much going on in my head about tomorrow. I awoke and the first thing I did was pull the curtains open to see the weather. (Well, thankfully at this point the weather gods are smiling at me)
I quickly got dressed and headed to the school to start all the preparations for the big day. On the walk up there, everyone I walked past was smiling and laughing and generally looking forward to the big day. This was probably the ‘biggest’ day the area have experienced in a long time if not ever.. I must admit even on the walk up there, I was getting ‘goose bumps’ just thinking about the day.
I arrived at the school, very happy that everything has been progressing well as we started decorating the area to get into the ‘Christmas’ spirit.
The ‘crowd’ have started arriving very early around the school, with most of them not invited but just coming along with the hope of trying to get in. (This is why I have employed 4 security guards and put a fence around the area)
As the preparations were going along, we were having one issue after another and I had every person coming up to me telling me how I should be organising it. (It goes to show it doesn’t matter where you are in the world- there is always ‘too many chiefs and not enough Indians’)
We were having issues with power (we have to use a little generator) as it wasn’t working and due to this I wasn’t able to show my presentation that I’ve been working on over the last few weeks. I also had issues trying to find the journalists from Kigali, the Deputy Mayor and not having enough seats for the area. I was also told that I needed to change the proceedings for the day, as you need to have lunch last in Rwanda. Everything that was in my control was finished, so I rushed up home to get changed into my new clothes to make my grand entrance on my new motorbike.
Thankfully, the sun was still shining as I left my house with my fingers crossed that it was going to be a successful day.
I arrived at the school to see how everyone was going. (I had about 30+ people assisting me that were busily running around doing last minute preparations for the day)
It was now 2.30pm, so we were running behind schedule but the Deputy Mayor still was not present so we couldn’t start until she turned up. (this was after I asked her to turn up early to discuss the health care that ABANA will now be covering for the children)
Then I heard the car of the Mayor, so we could officially open the day and to bring the parents and children into the formal area. As I mentioned before, many more people came to the school then were actually invited. So, with a team of people we tried to let the invited guests come in and keep everyone out… well this was easier said than done as they all surged forward trying to get in. Nothing comes easy in Rwanda, and I may have put in place some plans to help this but is a poor and desperate area so they were determined to come inside. (This did sadden me as I would have liked to have invited every person in the district to come along to feed them but I have to draw the line somewhere!)
Well, with the help of the great team of people that I have working with me, we managed to get everyone in and seated as the Executive of the area officially opened the proceedings.
Whenever I have been to Rwandan events they love to have many speeches and they tend to be very long and today was no different. The Principal of the school was the MC for the day, and even though I question his accountability as a Principal he does a fantastic job as MC. During the entertainment he was working the crowd, getting them to clap and cheer to get them into the day.
It was now my turn to do my speech in front of 400+ people plus about 1000 around the area watching the proceedings. This would be nerve –racking experience as it was but today I decided that I would do my speech in Kinyarwandan (the local language). Remember that I have only been here for just over 2 months but I thought today was all about the children and they don’t speak English. So for once I wanted to be able to communicate to them in their language and it would create a laugh for everyone. Well, I was more nervous than I thought at the start but once it was rolling I was fine and I was playing off the laughter as everyone clapped every word I said.. (as most of you know I don’t mind the odd bit of attention!)
After I finished I got a raucous applause from everyone as they were seemingly impressed by my Kinyarwandan (I think they were just being nice!) I was so glad that I took the challenge to do it in Kinyarwandan, and the journalists wanted a copy of my speech. Just goes to show, ‘fortune favours the brave’. ( I think I will never have any nerves for any further public speaking I do in the future)
The weather by this stage was looking very ominous, so I was getting very nervous.
We then had my friend Jane, who is volunteering in a village about 1.5 hours away sing a Christmas carol for me. She is among other talents an Opera singer so she sang ‘Silent Night’. The whole crowd was mesmerised by this ‘muzungo’ singing in
English, with this huge voice coming from this petit girl. I myself was suitably impressed by her singing and it definitely got me into the ‘Christmas spirit’. Well, it had come to the part of the day that everyone was here for the giving of the clothes to the children.
In the end we had 156 children, who were chosen due to them coming from very poor families and some have no families at all. I had labelled every single piece of clothing so it should have been a formality in distributing them out to the children.
I asked the Mayor to present the clothes to the children, so we could get some good photos for the journalists and I thought she would want to be involved.
We only did a few children as it was getting late and we needed to start lunch. (Plus the rain was looking all the more ominous as the day progressed)
We decided to use one of the classrooms to distribute the clothes to the children and their parents. Well, I have never seen anything like it as some of the helpers tried to read their names out but they kept on surging forward and trying to grab them out of their hands. In the end, we gave out a sample of the clothes and said to come back tomorrow to distribute the rest of them as it was just impossible. (Once again, nothing is easy in this country)
We had finished the formal proceedings and lunch was served to the 400 people, this was a huge job and I can’t thank the many people who assisted on the day to make it possible. The smiles on the faces of the children and the parents made all the hardships leading up to the day and today worth it. They were all very hungry (me included) as we didn’t have lunch until around 5pm. As the adults had finished eating (the children are served last in Rwandese culture) the rain had started so we had to quickly take everything away as it ‘bucketed’ down. Thankfully, the invited guests were leaving anyway. We then feed the children in one of the classrooms as it was raining outside and they were so hungry. Afterwards, I got a section of them to get together to take a photo with all their new clothes and it was probably one of the proudest moments of my life.
I also explained to everyone that thanks to the money raised ABANA will now pay for the health care for the 156 children for 2008. This was received by huge smiles and applause.
I then distributed some sweets I had on me to the children and the formal proceedings had finished. The Deputy Mayor, journalists and invited guests were all very impressed by the day and I think it has left a mark with them and has firmly put ABANA on the map in Rwanda.
The day didn’t exactly go to plan as I imagined it but ultimately we achieved what we wanted to and I couldn’t have done it without the help of my ‘posse’. They worked tirelessly hard throughout the day and I can’t thank them enough.
Afterwards, a few of us stayed around in one of the dark classrooms finishing off the remaining beers and just relaxing and enjoying the moment as the day was officially over.
We left the school that evening with the knowledge that somehow we managed to pull it off and everyone should be very proud of their efforts.
Me personally, well I was very happy with how it all went (considering this was Africa) and I would definitely do it all again.
It’s amazing that my idea that I had at 4 in the morning one day had become reality and it just shows that anything is possible in this world if you put your mind to it.
Of course this event would never have been possible without the generous donations that were sent to me from all around the world. I thank all of you and most of all the children of my ‘village’ thank you.
I am now back in Kigali and waiting anxiously for the paper to arrive to see my article.. very exciting…
It is Christmas eve here, and Rwanda is busily trying to get into the ‘Christmas spirit’. After a busy 3 months, I’m looking forward to having a restful couple of weeks.
I wish everyone a safe and happy Merry Christmas and New Years!
Noheli Nziza!!!
Cheers Troy

Rwanda Week 5-8

Weeks 5-8

Well, I have left the village again heading back to Kigali with the hope that I can buy my motorbike as well as organise the water tanks and cement.
It was nice to be back in Kigali, and I must admit this city does grow on you.. I might get harassed to buy everything under the sun but its all in good humour and not once have I felt threatened.
Well, it is Friday night and I’m very excited as I am hitting the nightlife of Kigali tonight. It has been a whole month for me, which for those of you that know me is a long time for me not to have a dance and a drink or two.
I am going out with a friend I met at the bank, he is a teller there and I spend much of my day lining up to withdraw cash from the account. So, now I have become friends with the teller guy and he speaks fluent English, which these days an important criteria in becoming my friend! He is from Uganda originally, hence he speaks English fluently.
It was a fun night out and I met all his friends, who are also from Uganda and everyone speaks English fluently.. There was some interesting experiences, like the fact that think that some people were trying to be all friendly cause they think they can squeeze a drink out of me.. for those that know, I am the tightest person at the bar and a lightweight so they were really targeting the wrong muzungo.. (but I was the only muzungo male at the club so there weren’t many options for them)
It was a fun out dancing away, and I showed that even muzungos can bust a move or two! The following day, I caught up with some Belgium friends that I met through Silke (another volunteer) and we went to this great restaurant overlooking the city of Kigali….and all the bright lights (all 10 of them! Ha)
On Sunday, I visited the Genocide Memorial in Kigali. I knew it wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience but I wasn’t quite expecting it to be as confronting. It made you ‘sick in the stomach’ as you read and listened to what people endured during these horrific 3 months and listening to people that lost loved ones. It still amazes me that nearly 1 million people were killed in the space of 3 months. It wasn’t just the murder, it was also the rape and pillage that took place. I was reading the known HIV infected males were raping Tutsi women to infect them, to stop the breading of the race. Another interesting aspect of the memorial, was the language they used to describe the events. The rest of the world does need to take some responsibility for what happened as we sat back and watch the slaughter unfold before our eyes without intervening.
An example of the feeling of betrayal is when they mention that if the UN peacekeepers that were involved in moving all the ex-pats from the country (4000 of them) were involved in helping then the genocide could have been avoided. (This according to experts is absolutely right).
I do suggest anyone that visits Rwanda, to come and visit the Memorial as it is unfortunately a key part of their history and the ramifications will be felt in this country for generations to come. As many of the signs in the country say, please let us ‘never experience another genocide’.(But of course the world said that after the Holocaust and we have experienced Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda etc.)
At the memorial, I met a Rwandese man who plays cricket in Kigali on Sundays. He was wearing his cricket shirt and I asked him where he plays and he asked me to come down and play. I got the distinct impression that they might think that a decent player due to where I am from… they might be greatly disappointed!!
On Monday, I managed to organise the cement to be picked up from the distributor but it was not without issues. Without wanting to get into too much detail, there is a shortage of cement here due to so much construction taking place in Kigali. So, you have to look hard to find cement at a reasonable price and the distributors know this so they treat you like your business doesn’t really matter. To put it briefly, I was told when I called up in the morning that I have to come now and pick up 100 bags of cement or I would lose it. This is after I have paid for it upfront and did so over a week ago. So, I had to quickly organise transport to come and pick it up to deliver it to the school. This was achieved, so even though I didn’t get my motorbike to me it was a successful day.
During the afternoon, I visited the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) who have a major office in Kigali. I was given a contact from a friend of mine and I arranged a visit to understand more of their operations and what there role is in Rwanda. I told my contact that I am from a logistics/supply chain background so I was keen to meet someone from this area. He put me on to the Operations Manager, who is an Ethiopian man that has worked for the WFP for 15 years all over the world. Unfortunately, he has only been with the Rwandan sector for a short period but was able to give me good rundown of their operations. It was nice to ‘talk shop’ and to understand their operational processes which start from the port in Dar as Salaam (Tanzania) to their distribution warehouses. Their major projects are looking after refugees, HIV people and by far the majority of foodstuff is used in the ‘Feed the Children’ Program. It does surprise me that in a country that is so self-sufficient in subsistence farming with such fertile land (and it never stops raining here!) there is a requirement to bring food into this country. Maybe, I can understand in the suburban areas but I am astonished that they transport food all the way into my school when all I see around me are varying crops being grown by families. The government have set a goal that by 2012 that Rwandan will be a self-sufficient country and no foodstuff will be imported into the country. (This won’t particularly please the American farmers who use WFP to sell their excess produce to the world)
I do wonder if the money involves in distributing and buying this food to areas like this should be given to the local community to buy food on behalf of the schoolchildren. This creates employment and wealth in the community and most of all it will still feed the hungry children at the school. Just a thought that I will follow up..
You also question, children are on holidays at the moment but they are still needing to be fed so where are the families getting the food from then?? It just seems to me that money could be better spent at a local level, instead of it being just handouts from the world’s largest NGO. (But saying that it has always been my dream to work for the WFP)
Yesterday, I came back to the village as it was payday for the 80 employees that I have on site. I had to get their ‘timesheets’ and submit this info into my spreadsheet and then give this to the site manager. Thankfully, everything matched up so it was a straightforward task.
I also started English classes in the late afternoons, so people that are working on site are able to attend. As I have stated before, it is nice to take classes for people that want to come along and learn English. We have so much fun in class, and I think my technique of focusing on the spoken word is going well and the class seems to enjoy it.
Today we are having a BBQ at the school to thank them for finishing the foundation phase of the building. We are killing 3 goats and have an abundance of sorghum beer for all the workers, as well as bananas of course! They are really looking forward to it and the mood on site has been extremely positive.
Well, we have had the BBQ and it was one of the most enjoyable afternoons that I’ve had since I arrived in this fascinating country. I arrived at the school during the late afternoon, and I could tell by all the smiles on everyone’s faces that they were looking forward to a drink and kebab of goat. The mood was similar to the last week of school before you break for the Christmas break, it probably wasn’t the most productive of afternoons but today they were excused as they have deserved the break.
My ‘brothers’ had done a wonderful job in organising everything. They set up a classroom with all the tables and of course in this society the head table was kept for the muzungos (I invited Silke and her two friends that were here on holiday) and management of the school. They were each given a cup each, which was duly filled with a cup of sorghum beer and they were given a kebab and some bananas. (It actually felt like it was prison as there were so patient waiting for their drinks and food).
I was asked to make a speech, which was translated to Kinyarwandan and they all clapped and smiled when I finished. Speeches were then made by the head of ADENYA, School Principal and the site manager. It was very enjoyable afternoon that was a success on all accounts. I took the truck back to my house and on the way home everyone in the back was singing and laughing as they really appreciated the sorghum beer. (Some may have had a couple of cups too much!)
Today, I went to site and I was keen to get more involved with the building process and to learn some new skills myself. A couple of the builders took me under their wing and they taught me the trade of bricklaying. There was a lot more to it than I ever imagined, and you have to be very accurate (lets hope the school doesn’t fall down on behalf!) and very patient. While I was doing it I was teaching them English and they all thought it was funny. The issue with me helping out is that it does lead to a lot of attention and distracts them from doing their job. I want to be actively involved in the project, but I have to make sure my enthusiasm doesn’t interrupt the progress of building works.
I took another English class in the afternoon and I had a record 20 people in attendance, and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. I even had one person come up to me at the end and thank me for the class and told me how much he enjoys coming along. (It is comments like this that inspires you to keep going with it and it is unfortunate that my time here is brief as I think I could see real progress after a couple of months) Tonight, we had chicken for dinner and I know that the chicken is fresh because I saw Toto running around outside trying to catch it. Chicken here tastes a lot different to back home, as there are no cages here so they tend to be more like ‘roadrunner’.
Well, the raining season is well and truly with us here in Rwanda. Here I was expecting to escape the cold and wet English weather but it looks like it has followed me here (there goes that great tan I was hoping to get working here!). As we are in a tropical belt, when it rains here it doesn’t let up and then suddenly the sun is out. It is a pity we don’t get this amount of rain in parts of Australia. The rain has made life on site very difficult for the workers and I have been told there is another 6 weeks like this, so I do imagine that it is going to delay the construction to a certain degree.
I am very excited as this weekend, I am going to Nyungwe Rainforest situated on the west side of Rwanda and famous for their varieties of monkeys and chimpanzees and rainfalls. (Some of you may know that I do have quite an infinity for rainfalls..dont ask me why!)
Well, I left on Saturday morning to Muganza to get to Butare early in the morning to meet the Belgium contingent that were going as well. Once again, I experienced taxi trouble, so I was stuck on the side of the road as we waited for a replacement vehicle to be sent to pick us up and take us to Butare. I eventually arrived in Butare and met my fellow muzungos who were waiting patiently. We decided the easiest and fastest way to get to the Forest was to take our private taxi, especially as there were 5 of us.
On the way to Nyungwe Forest we stopped at Gikongoro for the Genocide Memorial. I really didn’t have any expectations of what was in store for me, especially after being to the one in Kigali. Well, it was probably one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. To give you a brief rundown, during the Genocide many people fled to churches and schools as they ‘believed’ it would be a safe sanctuary. Unfortunately, this was far from the truth and many of the worst atrocities occurred inside schools and churches. (Thanks in part to community leaders ‘selling’ out their people)
At this particular site, many people fled to this newly built school that was not yet opened, with the hope they could hide here until help arrived. This help never arrived and 30 000 people were killed in the most inhumane way known to man, with many buried alive and most attacked with machetes, picks, shovels anything that the local militia could lay their hands on. What makes this particular site, more confronting is that the bodies of the victims have been left behind and conserved in lime and their skeletons lay in all of the classrooms. The smell is intense and the eerie nature of this place will live with me forever. What saddens me the most were the amount of children that were killed here.. literally thousands and many too young to even know what the conflict was all about. The skulls of many of these children were cracked and many lay in the foetal position, next to an adult (seemingly their parents). The clothes of the victims also lay in a deserted classroom and you can just smell death in this place. This was a conflict that should never have occurred, as the international community knew for months if not for years of the threats of the local militia and the ethnic tensions that were rife in Rwanda. In part, we are to blame as a force (other than a peacekeeping mandate) of as little as a few thousands could have saved up to a million lives. (As I have mentioned before, if only Rwanda was oil rich) It will go down in history as the greatest failure of the UN, and showed just how inefficient and highly beaucratic this organisation is in reacting to a humanitarian crisis like the Rwandese experienced in 1994. (Although to be fair to the UN, they can only act with the authority of the Security Council and there was no resolution on the conflict- thanks mainly to the US and UK too worried about another Mogadishu)
This also inspires me to do something about helping in only just a little way as people here lost complete faith in the international community (and rightly so).
Anyway, it was worth the visit but I left just so frustrated that human life can be viewed so worthless sometimes. These people never had a chance to survive, especially the young children and women.
We arrived in Nyungwe in the afternoon and decided to go for a walk to the local tea plantations and I came across my first monkeys in the forest. This place really is a rainforest, as it never stops raining!
The next day, we did our waterfalls walk, which I was really looking forward to and in the morning the day looked like it was going to be sunny. So, a perfect day for a walk in the forest…. Well, as I should have guessed the weather here turns so quickly and before I knew it the rain came down with great force and I was soon drenched from head to toe. We trekked for about 2 hours before we finally reached the waterfall and it was amazing, absolutely loved it! Unfortunately, due to the rain and the spray from the waterfall I wasn’t able to get any decent photos. It was a great natural wonder and was definitely worth it, even though I was ‘cold to the bone’ due to the heavy rain. The shower back at the guesthouse never felt so good, as I literally burnt my skin to get feeling back into my body. We had a tasty bowl of soup and a toasted cheese sandwich- just what the doctor ordered. The weekend was all going to plan, until the taxi we were taking had broken down and he needed a spare part from neighbouring town. Well, we then had to wait for 4 hours for him to come back with the part for us to continue. This meant we didn’t arrive in Butare until the evening and therefore missing the taxi service to Kigali. He offered to drive us to Kigali (at a price of course) but by this stage I just wanted to get back.
I am pleased to report that I have finally managed to buy my motorbike, but it is now coming a week later as I decided to go with someone else. So, in just one week I will be the proud owner of a motorbike and I’m literally counting down the days until I have it… very exciting! (Although this is Africa, so a week could mean a month!)
The following day, I went back to my cottage but I missed the connecting service in Butare to Muganza so I had to catch the local government bus..well never again will I let myself experience that!!! It was another nightmare trip, as this time I was standing for nearly 4 hours wedged with fellow passengers on windy dirt roads. It was the longest afternoon of my life!! .Never again will I take that service.. I would rather walk! But it got worse, because of the torrential rain and the driver refused to go to Muganza and drop me off at a neighbouring village about 5 kms away. I wasn’t a happy camper and I soon had the whole neighbourhood around, staring at me. Thankfully, someone came and fetched me on their motorbike and by this time it was dark and still raining and the roads were in very poor condition. I was also annoyed as I had my first English class in the neighbouring village and 20 people came along for it, so I felt very guilty that I let them down.
Finally, I reached the nuns and they had a hot bowl of soup ready for me… they do spoil me!
My transport home wasn’t the only concern, the two water tanks that I bought were stuck in Muganza as the driver refused to take them to my cottage (about 8kms away). So he just unloaded them and went back to Kigali.. do you think I was wild! As, I have come to experience here many times, nothing is easy in this place especially in trying to get anything to my cottage. Sometimes they just love to make life difficult here for me, but it does keep you on your toes and you have to constantly think of solutions ‘out of the box’. We have managed to get them here, with a great deal of fuss and a few phone calls later. I have learnt very quickly that you need to be stern and blunt.
Today, I finally had my first class in Muganza (neighbouring village) teaching English. Compared to my class in my village this one is predominately made up of school children. I had 20 in my first class but the co-ordinator believes that I will definitely have more in the future as word spreads among the village. I had a teacher in my class and he was asking what textbook I was following in teaching them English. That is a very good question!
Well, the preparations for our Christmas party are coming along really well. Thanks to the help of my ‘brothers’ we have complied a list of 150 names of poor children and their parents. The children and parents are very excited about the day, and all I need to do now is raise enough money to give these children a Christmas. (This is where my friends, family and anyone else can help!) I have already decided to give my Christmas and birthday money from my parents to the day as compared to these children I have everything material I need in this world. I am in a privileged position to give 150 children and their parents a Christmas, and I am determined to ensure the day proceeds even if I have to sell my body on the street!. 
Well, I had my second class of English in Muganza and I had an amazing 40 students who attended. It was great to have so many students in attendance, but it does make it difficult for me to teach especially as I am focussing on English conversation.
This weekend, I am leaving my cottage again and this time I am heading to Nyabimata to visit my muzungo friends who are volunteering with ADENYA and to have a meeting with the co-ordinator. (another NGO).
The progress of the school building is progressing ahead of schedule. We have finished the foundation of the two sites and now have finished the brick laying on the site with 5 classrooms. The progress has been helped with the amount of people that we have on site, currently we have 89 workers who I am employing. They all tend to work well together, and this construction has given these people much needed employment for the area. Although, after next month there will have to be a scaled down workforce as the construction budget can’t continue to allow us to pay 89 people every 2 weeks.
I am now back in Kigali as I needed to buy some cement and was hoping to have my hands on my motorbike. I did manage to buy 400 bags of cement but I wasn’t as successful with my motorbike, they tell me it is going to be another week now!
Well today I am a little tired as I went to the biggest ‘club’ in Kigali to experience the nightlife. It was a fun night out and quite strange as some of the local women that are there are prostitutes so as a muzungo they are constantly coming up to me and trying to get my attention. The place itself was very European, and I was surprised how many people I knew in there.. Rwanda sure is a small place sometimes..
I have another ‘Africanism’ for you, the other day when I was walking through Kigali I was wearing my thongs (flip flops) and everyone was staring at me… well more than usual anyway. I just couldn’t work it out.. well apparently it is banned (or not favoured) for males to wear these type of footwear around the city of Kigali. (because of hygiene and safety reasons) Bizarre.. I don’t think that law would pass in Australia!!

I am very pleased that we now have rainwater tanks at my cottage and Christine’s father’s house. We have been installing them over the last couple of weeks. So, we now have our own access to water and it saves the poor helper from walking up and down the hill to fetch water from the community source. It is very rare for a house to have access to a rainwater tank in my village, actually come to think of it I don’t think there is anyone that does..
Today, my ‘adopted Rwandan Mum’ went to the second-hand clothes market for all the clothes I need for my Christmas function. It was a big job for her to go and buy clothes for 150 children. (as I have previously mentioned I would do it myself but I would get charged a muzungo rate). The invitations are all finished and will be distributed as of tomorrow and I want to contact the print media about the day to get some more coverage for the southern province of Rwanda. I am also working on a presentation for the day and I will organise some local dancers to perform on the day. (fingers crossed everything goes to my plan..but of course Murphy’s law might have a strong influence on the day  haha)
Oh yeah, I have another ‘Africanism’ for you, apparently I have been told that if a woman drinks orange fanta she is a virgin. I’ve heard this through a friend of mine but just something to be mindful of if any of my female friends are thinking of coming to Rwanda!
Today, I have just come back from celebrating the International Volunteer Day in Kigali. There were street stalls from various organisations that have volunteers in Rwanda (namely UN Volunteers and VSO), so it was nice to meet some fellow volunteers and to find out more information on what NGOs operate in Rwanda. One of my self-imposed tasks while I’m here is to promote the work that ABANA are doing in Rwanda and to find out what other NGOs are doing in the southern region. It is important to form some links and networks with the major players in the industry, so ABANA are fully aware of the latest developments in the industry. (Also, if there are future ABANA volunteers it is nice to have links for them- because all of us have similar tales to tell!)
Well, I have now been here for nearly 2 months and it saddens me to think that in a couple of months I will be leaving this wonderful country. There is just so much that can be achieved here and everyone is very appreciative of your efforts.
Anyway, I hope everyone is well and wish me luck with my Christmas function on the 21st December. It will be a very busy next couple of weeks.
Have a Merry and safe Christmas everyone!
Cheers Troy