Rwandan Run

Last weekend, I found myself in Kigali once more.  This time I had arranged to meet up with another volunteer to attend the Kigali Hash Harriers run.  I arrived on Friday as I had some business to attend to at the VSO office before it shut for the weekend and then I stayed in the dorm at VSO.  Saturday morning was Umuganda, but I had not arranged to attend an event in advance so was uncertain where to go.  Not being part of an event leaves one with a feeling of being useless and a bit naughty.  The city was silent and there were no cars going up and down the usually busy dual carriage way next to the office.  I decided to spend the time doing a little bit of work.  Once it reached 11am, I could hear a bit of movement outside and decided it may be a good time to see if I could head into town to get a few more jobs done there.  There does not seem to be a specified end time to Umuganda, but things do seem to start up again after 11am, so at 11:30 I wandered out to see what was going on.

I got a moto into town and upon arrival, which was about 12:30, everything was eerily quiet.  Except for the quavering tones of the Muezzin from the mosque floating over the city centre, the usually bustling streets were strangely silent.  Slowly shops began to open one by one and life crept back into the sleeping streets.  I stopped at Cafe Simba for what is (in my opinion) the best latte in Rwanda and then went to the bank and to buy a couple of bits before meeting up with other volunteers for lunch.  After lunch I had to dash back to the dorm in order to get ready for the run.  Judy and I headed off to Nyamirambo for the meeting point and psyched ourselves up for the run.  Kigali – like the rest of Rwanda – is enormously hilly.  The run itself was approx 10km and there were points where the route climbed endlessly uphill at a gradient too steep to manage a run.  The locals looked at us as though we were mad, although a few offered shouts of encouragement.  And of course, if there are uphills, there must be downhills.  These were equally sharp and several of them involved running through rutted drainage ditches with enormous potential for twisting/breaking/destroying ankles if you took a wrong step.  There were several sharp corners, and on one of these there was a recently dug well excavation, which I very nearly ended up in thanks to the strong shove provided from the runner behind me.  There was also a ravine to jump.  Well, I say ravine – it was a stream that had down cut the surrounding area so was over a metre deep and about a metre wide.  I just decided to go for it and see what happened.  I was not overly convinced I would make it to the opposite bank, but my foot managed to land just over the edge of the cliff and I ran on through the banana plantation to the next obstacle (more hills).  The cruellest part was that most of the last km was uphill – I thought it would never end and was looking out for the red signage of the bar the whole time, desperate for it to be over.  I was parched.  Still, it was nice to get back and have a cold fanta and bottle of water before heading off for a shower and a night out in Nyamirambo.  Judy and I were dead chuffed with ourselves for making it round the course in such style.

 Nyamirambo is a suburb of Kigali and has quite a nice vibe to it.  We went for dinner in a Congolese restaurant (similar to Rwandan food).  We had a very long wait, so had a few drinks and a good chat whilst we waited.  After this we moved on up the hill to a club.  It was extremely lively and there was lots of dancing going on, but I’m afraid I was a bit tired by this point after my earlier exertion, so decided just to sit quietly and watch whilst sipping on my water (living on the edge!).  After about an hour we headed out to see what else was happening around Nyamirambo.  There were plenty of spots in which to sample the nightlife, but I decided it was time to say goodnight and head home.

Beyond Kigali

Since my arrival in Rwanda, I have mostly been stayed in the Eastern Province and have not ventured further than Kigali.  So, with a two week break from my own training, I decided it was time to go to see some fellow volunteers.  My first port of call was to see Mary over near Lake Kivu, in the west.  The furniture was being delivered to her Teacher Resource Centre (TRC) so I volunteered to help her get rid of the old stuff and put in the new stuff.  Mary is a 2hr drive from Kigali.  We met up in the capital and travelled out together.  It was a very scenic journey and the town Mary lives in, about 15km from the Lake is lovely with a lively market and several bars which serve delicious brochettes and potatoes.  After much movement of furniture, we retired for a cup of tea and then to the local bar for some food.  I have to say, the brochettes really were delicious and far superior to the ones I can get where I live.  Next day, we visited Kibuye (Karongi) on the shores of Lake Kivu.  The sun was shining brightly when we arrived, so we went for a scenic walk around the town and along by the Lake.  Everything looked lush and green, it really was beautiful.  We stopped off at a Church with a memorial to mark the events of 1994. 

It was a peaceful place to sit for a while and it had the most beautiful stained glass windows. We continued on into the town.  We stopped at a small beach on the edge of the lake and had a drink whilst admiring the view.

Then we continued on to a hotel/conference centre and stopped for lunch.  We had our books with us, so spent a bit of time reading whilst we waited for the food to arrive, and plenty of time looking out over the Lake too.  It felt a bit like being in the Italian Lakes.  The weather was beautiful and the scenery was superb, it is definitely somewhere I want to go back to and I think any visitors to the country would be impressed by it.  Mary and I sauntered back to the bus via the market and purchased some cloth in there. 

Last week, I had arranged to go and shadow Isy, who was running workshops in her district.  We had all heard that she lived in a far off place, but I really had my eyes opened to how lucky I am in my placement.  I set off at 7:30 one morning.  I got a bus at 8am and it took 2hrs to Kigali and then another half hour across town to the main bus park.  I then managed to be incredibly lucky and get straight on a bus bound for Huye (formerly known as Butare).  This journey took nearly 2 and a half hours.  On arrival in Huye, I went to buy my ticket for the next leg of the journey.  I had a long wait and I really was hungry, so I had some lunch and then a wander around town.  I then boarded the next bus.  unfortunately this was a small bus and I had a large bag, so it had to sit on my lap for the journey.  This journey was on dirt roads so it was, to say the least, uncomfortably bumpy.  After 2 and a half hours, the bus arrived in the village of Munini – the end of the route.  I had rung Isy in advance, so she had sent her moto driver to meet me.  It was then a 30min moto journey to Isy’s house.  So, I eventually arrived at 5:30 in the evening.  It was getting dark, but I could see that it really was a very beautiful part of the world that I had arrived in.  Isy has no electricity or running water, but she did make a reviving cup of tea, for which I was very grateful.  We also had a lovely meal which had been cooked earlier in the day – rice, chips and a stew.  It was very tasty.  Before it got very dark, Isy (who had 2 other volunteers visiting at the same time!), Jo, Mark and I set off for the nearest village, which was about a 15min walk away.  We went to a bar for a drink.  We had a lovely chat and eventually walked back with the help of our torches and got ready for bed.

The next morning, we were up early to get ready for the training session.  Motos arrived at 8am and the four of us set off in convoy – much to the delight of everyone we passed.  FOUR abazungu!  The school where the training was being carried out was a 30min journey away and a small part of this we had to walk as the road had got wet in the rain and was impassable by moto.  We had a great morning of training – discussing the importance of visual aids and how to use them effectively.  The last part of the session was when teachers got a chance to make their own rice sack visual aids.  In the afternoon, we returned to Isy’s and went for lunch at the local bar.  We had some very tasty brochettes and potatoes.  Then Mark and Jo headed for the bus to return to their respective placements.

Isy and I decided we would go for a walk to explore the valley near her, so we set off down the hillside.  The hills are really endless here and as with much of the country, they are covered in lush green vegetation.  On our way down the steep and very narrow track, we passed many people on their way up with jerry cans of water.  We discovered at the end of the descent, that they had filled them up from a stream that ran along the valley floor.  To reach the stream, you had to cross an area of swampy land that had many pools of stagnant water.  Once over the other side of the valley, we started to look for a way up to Isy’s house.  This was quite fun and we tried out several narrow tracks before finding the right ones.  In some places, we were a bit lost, but we just had to ask any of the children trailing us which way to go and they pointed us in the right direction.  Then it started to rain – we had been watching the rain approach across the hills, so were prepared and donned our raincoats.  Another local child then guided us back towards the road so our walk home would be easier.  However, the rain quickly passed and we continued on our walk, stopping to greet many of the locals and explaining we were walking to look at the hills (we received plenty of laughs after saying this).  Once back at the house, we had a cup of tea and ate the food that had been prepared for dinner.  As darkness arrived, we decided we would make use of the charge on my laptop to watch a film (it is very hard for Isy to charge her laptop and telephone as she does not have electricity and most of the schools she goes to don’t either.  However, electricity pylons were on their way towards her house and she may soon be able to connect to it.  We decided upon a film and settled down to watch it.  Unfortunately 5mins before the end of the film, the battery ran out and we could not see the conclusion to the film.  How frustrating!  So we went to bed instead and read our books for a while.

The next morning we were to go and do another training session.  We started to get ready, but the weather had turned from being a beautiful clear and sunny day the day before, to being very cloudy with quite limited visibility.  The surrounding hills were invisible – in fact it was almost hard to see the latrine at the end of Isy’s garden.  Then the rain began – I had just managed to get a wash in the shed outside before it really started to bucket down.  The rain did not stop until after 11am.  The training was due to start at 9am, but as it was raining, the motos had not come.  They cannot get through on the roads when it rains hard.  We sat around reading and drinking tea and hoping the sky might clear.  Unfortunately it rained for the entire time the training session was meant to last, but we eventually had a short break in the rain and managed to get to Munini in order to get a bus to Huye.  The moto ride to Munini was a bit hairy – the roads were muddy and sticky in places and we had to walk a hill as it was not possible for the moto to get up it.  I was so relieved to be able to get the bus to Huye as I knew what a long journey home it was and I was hoping to break it in Kigali.  By this time, the rain had started up again, so we were very lucky to leave when we did – otherwise I would have been there for at least another day!  Enormous respect to Isy who has been in her placement for a year and has one more left.  Despite the difficulties, she has done an excellent job and really seems to be a part of the community.  I now realise just how lucky I am to have electricity and water (most of the time) and tarmac roads for some of my journeys!

Practicalities

There are many things I had not really thought through before moving to Rwanda and some of the realities have made me think that I will view life quite differently upon return to the UK (we’ll see how long that lasts!).

At the start of each day I have a shower.  Well...I say shower.  I was using the shower as it was for the first few weeks – this meant subjecting my body to an icy chute of water that tumbled full pelt out of the shower head (no spray cap to soften it!).  My asthma soon began to object to this, so for the sake of avoiding illness, I now get up and boil a kettle of water.  I fill a jug three quarters of the way from the shower, top up with hot water and then wash in the shower tray.  I use about four jugs of water max (Mum and Dad - imagine the units I save!).  Nothing like the amount I would have used at home!  If the water is not working (as it wasn’t this morning) I make use of the water I have stored around the house.  I keep two large buckets of water in the bathroom, one in the kitchen, and I also have two jerry cans of water and a huge plastic bin full.  I have to remember to top these up once the water comes back on if I have taken water from them, otherwise I could find myself without water.

This task complete, I get dressed and then wander to the kitchen.  I switch on the hotplate and hope that I have electricity (it quite often goes off if it rains!).  I am normally in luck, so I make some porridge.  A couple of spoons of Quaker oats and either “real” (UHT) milk, or some milk powder and water.  I also chop in a few bananas and maybe some nuts, raisins and honey.  I also make a cup of tea.  This all takes a lot more time than my usual bowl of cereal and glass of juice back home.

At this point I am usually about ready to go to work, so I tend to be out for the whole day.  Upon return, I again hope there will be electricity.  It frequently goes off at about 5:30-6 as I suppose there must be a surge in demand.  If I am home early, I try to cook my dinner before this happens.  Without an oven, dinner is always something cooked on the hotplate – pasta and sauce, chilli, curry or some such delight.  I am becoming quite creative with the cooking though, so do not go hungry.  Once I have cooked my dinner, I fill up two large saucepans with water (unless there is no water, in which case I cannot do this).  I then set the pans of water on the hotplate and wait for it to boil.  It can take about an hour.  The water needs to be at a rolling boil for about three minutes.  I lift the pans off once they are done and set them on the floor.  They will cool by the morning and then I can pour them into my water filter.

The water filter is a huge stainless steel contraption with two sections.  Water is poured into the top half and inside there are 5 chalk “candles” (pillars).  The water filters through these and into the bottom half.  The bottom half has a tap so you can get the water out.  Because the candles filter out all the impurities – seems to be a lot of rust! – they have to be cleaned every so often.  This involves taking the filter apart and carefully unscrewing the candles.  I have to boil a pan of water before I do this.  I then plunge the candles in one at a time and scrub them with a brush reserved for this task.  Soap cannot be used.  Then the whole thing is put back together again.  Usually the first batch of water through the candles has to be discarded as it tastes too chalky.  On the whole I am not bothered by the taste of the water – I drink it quite happily.

Usually I am lucky and have electricity in the evenings, but this is not always so.  I make sure I keep my laptop charged so that if there is no electricity I can at least watch a film.  I also keep my headtorch handy after 6pm (when it goes dark) just in case there is a sudden loss of electricity.  There are no streetlights here anyway, but once all of the surrounding houses are plunged into darkness, it becomes REALLY dark.  If I go out after 6pm, I take my headtorch, although my eyes are becoming quite used to the dark!  If electricity is gone all evening, I make use of my back up – I have a kerosene stove.  This requires filling with kerosene and then I have to light the wicks and put the guard on it before I begin cooking.  It is quite efficient, but the fumes can be a bit over-powering, so I prefer to cook outside if it is not raining, or with the backdoor open if it is raining – although this means the mosquitoes come in.  I also have a charcoal stove, but I am hopeless at lighting this...

As I cook, I separate out my rubbish.  I thought I was quite good at this in the UK – I always sorted everything for recycling.  There is no refuse collection service here – you arrange your own disposal.  I have a collection of buckets with lids in my kitchen and bedroom.  I put food waste in one for the compost.  Things that will burn go in a separate bucket to be burnt by my night guard.  The ash is then put on the compost heap.  Empty tins (I don’t really have many of these as most of my food is fresh from the market), I collect and take to a man on the market (along with glass bottles).  He makes small kerosene lamps out of the cans and glass bottles are sold as rolling pins.  If I buy a bottle of fanta or beer from the shop, I have to return the bottles as they are re-used.  There is a deposit charged for this purpose.  Anything else – plastic, foil etc – I put into a paper bag and save up for a trip to Kigali where I put it in a bin (they collect refuse there).  Some of it I cut up into small strips to make shiny things to scare the birds away from the vegetable patch!

Having to dispose of your own rubbish really makes you think about what you use.  There are no plastic bags in Rwanda, so I do not amass a cupboard of them like at home.  My vegetables do not come in plastic, polystyrene or tin trays.  They are purchased in piles which have been carefully counted out by the market sellers.  I take my own bags to put my produce in...a special bag reserved for the potatoes as they are very dirty...several bags for everything else.  And I buy things in order from the heaviest to lightest so that my tomatoes are not all squashed.  I always reserve the end section of my bag for the pineapple I buy as it is both heavy and awkward!   I always carry a small paper bag so that I can stop at the local shop on my walk back from town to buy some eggs.  And – if I am very lucky – they might have a bar of Cadbury’s chocolate.  No such luck today.

Asthma – as mentioned earlier – is another thing I have to think about.  With the exception of the irritation of the cold shower – I have mostly been well.  I have tried running and it is hard work as I am at altitude, but I am staying in good health on the whole.  The VSO Medical Unit had to agree to me coming out with a medical condition.  I came with a stash of inhalers to keep me going.  I thought I would be able to buy replacements here.  I can’t believe I cannot.  My inhalers have to be sent from the UK.  This is not as easy as putting them in the post.  Because of the containers they are in, they cannot go in the hold so they have to be brought in person.  This means I need to be ultra-organised and make sure I order them well in advance so that any staff travelling back and forth can bring them.  Other medication appears to be readily available and you can buy most things in the local pharmacy.  I came with a good supply of vitamins, so I make sure I take them as my diet, although healthy, is lacking in many things – notably meat and dairy products.

I’m sure there are other quirks and peculiarities that I could tell you about, but these are the ones I can think of for now.

Views from a bus window

Children playing; people cultivating land; children hoeing; women bent over fires; men, women and children carrying loads on their heads; goats chewing plants; cows seeking shelter; people stopping on the street to greet each other; women sweeping yards; goats sitting on logs; babies crawling; men fixing gates; children swinging on poles; women sewing; church groups moved out to the shade of a tree; dimly lit rooms; children hanging from signs; people sitting outside homes talking; children watching; smoke curling; birds swooping; sun shining; rain clouds forming; boys pushing heavily loaded bicycles; people sitting in the shade; children hopping; people sleeping; clothes laid out to dry on bushes, trees and grass; the shadow of a cloud passing across a hill; a congregation spilling out of church; sun glinting off a roof-top; children spinning tyres; men carrying jerry cans of water; rich red earth and lush green vegetation; endless hills and endless valleys.

Holidays = training

As of this week, Primary Schools are on holiday in Rwanda (this is the end of academic year holiday).  In just over one week, Group Scolaire students and Secondary Schools will have joined in, but for now they are busy with National Exams, which students have to sit at the end of each year in order to decide if they can progress to the next school year.

Unlike in England, school holidays here are not necessarily a time for rest and relaxation.  Teachers are expected to be available for training during the break.  Last year much of this training was focused on providing English language training, and it was assumed that this would be delivered again this holiday, but so far we do not think it will.  So that means that there is much time for us to deliver other training sessions that schools in our districts have requested.  Here in Ngoma District, Denis and I attended a Head Teacher meeting two weeks ago to find out what they wanted.  English language came up, as did using visual aids and active methodologies.

Upon further discussion with our DEO (District Education Officer), Denis and I discovered that there may be a mentor scheme launched in schools in the near future.  FWe were keen to seize upon this idea and we decided to develop a training session that targeted potential mentors.  So it was that we found ourselves delivering training this week to at least one teacher from every Primary School and Group Scolaire in the District.  We had booked the Petite Salle at the District Office and had photocopied our resources, procured a blackboard from the local church and were raring to go.  We returned from our meetings at VSO in Kigali on Monday evening to a flurry of text messages and phone calls – did we know that Tuesday was now going to be a holiday?  We did not know this, so tried to discover more, only no-one seemed certain if it would be a holiday or not.  We decided to go ahead and see what happened.  We arrived early to set up on Tuesday and contrary to all my expectations that people may not turn up, or if they did they would arrive very late, there were already two participants waiting in the room.  A whole hour early!  They helped us set up the room and slowly participants began to arrive.  We were expecting 30, but by 9:30 we had 19, which we decided was good all things considered, so we started our training session.  For the session on Wednesday, we had an excellent turn-out of 35 out of 36.

We began with a session on classroom language and polite use of English.  Because of the differences in language, sometimes children can sound quite abrupt, or demand things, so we taught participants some of the preferred phrases and language of request in English – for example saying “may I borrow” rather than “give me”.  We then moved on to a model lesson on the importance of trees (P4 Science curriculum).  In this session, I had to get participants to be my students and we spent about one hour modelling reading, writing, listening and speaking skills and a variety of active methods for the lesson.  Some of these things seemed like small things, but in the feedback at the end it was interesting to hear teachers state which aspects they wanted to take back and ensure they used in their own lessons.  One of these was giving students thinking time.  But, I suppose, as I pointed out, as teachers we are sometimes a little afraid of thinking time...if students do not immediately shout out the answers we are looking for, we get a bit worried we have not taught the content. I explained that what I have seen so far in Rwandan schools, is that some students are so enthusiastic and shout the answers out straight away, so that others never get the chance to think through answers themselves.  So it is good to enforce a minute of silence – or more- in order to allow students to think independently.  We also played a sentence jumble game.  I have seen my students in the UK get enthusiastic about these, but doing this activity with the groups of teachers was hilarious!  The competitive spirit was well and truly alive.  I had people elbowing others out of the way to get to me first, queue jumping to be the first in line to show me a sentence in order to get the next...everyone wanted to win!  So many teachers said in their feedback that they wanted to do this when they returned to their schools.  I hope they do, because if their students enjoy it half as much as they did, there will be lots of happy, active students out there!

Explaining the sentence jumble game

We completed our training session with the use of visual aids.  There are an increasing number of visual aids in classrooms in Rwanda.  Most schools now have sets of textbooks and posters and more, but there is not a great deal of training provided on how best to use these, so they often just end up as something to look at or be presented to students.  In groups, we had teachers come up with a list of suggestions for ways to use the rice sack posters to help students learn.  We encouraged participants to think beyond the obvious and consider a range of subject areas.  They had some great ideas and this was really encouraging.  For example, we had one poster of a home in a compound.  In the compound were a family and each of them were doing a different job – pruning plants, cutting trees, sweeping, cutting grass, clearing manure, burning rubbish.  We had a huge range of suggestions – it could be used in English to teach tenses by describing the actions in the picture in past, present simple, present continuous, future...it could be used in English to do some creative writing by writing a story about one or more of the people in the picture; it could be used in Social Studies to teach about the need for hygienic activities around the home, or the importance for caring for the environment, or about gender equality; the list of ideas went on and it was great to see that these teachers had many ideas and were thinking creatively.  Once we got going, the ideas were just flowing and we came up with long lists of ideas for six posters.  This was another useful thing that teachers felt they could make good use of back in school and that they would try to think more creatively about how to use the visual aids they had.

These teachers are going to help myself and Denis deliver two more weeks of training at the end of November/beginning of December.  They will support us and present sections if they feel confident enough to do so.  The hope is that, once we leave at the end of our placements, we will have left behind a core of people who will continue mentoring and advising teachers in the district so that our work becomes sustainable.  It has been a busy but productive couple of days and I look forward to working with the participants we have met.

Umuganda

Yesterday being the last Saturday of the month meant that it was Umuganda.  Umuganda is when everyone joins in a morning of community service.  Each District (like UK counties) is organised into Sectors.  The Sectors are divided into Cells and the Cells are divided into Umudugudu (great word!).  This is a small community – maybe a few streets - and there is someone who over-sees this area and ensures that Umuganda happens there.  I attended a local umuganda near where I live.  We went off at 8am and there was a crowd already there with spades and hoes and machetes.  I did not bring any of these items with me, but the locals were more than happy to share!

It was a beautiful bright and sunny morning, and I soon had to strip off the extra layers as the hoeing made me warm very quickly.  We were clearing an area of vegetation at the back of one of the houses in order to help someone build a kitchen house.  Apparently my hoeing skills are quite good and I was complimented on my strength.  Once this was done, we were sent down to the track to help clear the vegetation that was growing over the path.  I was handed a machete and asked to start slashing at the plants.  Now, I have seen very small children handle a machete and believe you me, they make it look like it’s really easy and just a case of swinging the blade back and forth.  Not the blade I was given!  I was pathetic and was unable to slash any vegetation.  After much hilarity and a reasonable crowd gathering to give advice on my technique, I was asked if I was sick.  Apparently my strength for this task was no good and I was removed from machete duties and given a spade in order to help dig up and clear the roots.  Unfortunately it was quite a rusty old spade and it had a “v” shape missing in the centre.  So I had to refine my technique, but it was generally agreed that I was doing a very good job and I was told I was a hard worker.  Yep, that’s right – I was described as a hard worker.  I was delighted to have made such an impression!

It had now become very hot and I found myself retreating into the shade for a short rest.  Secretly I wanted to examine my wounds and I thought I could do this without people watching me as I didn’t want them to think I am soft.  Alas – they all saw me examining my hands.  I had 5 blisters.  They were quite sympathetic, but also thought it a bit funny.  After more tree clearance and vegetation removal, and a lot of chatting to the local people in a mixture of English, Kinyarwanda and French, I left in the hope of catching the midday bus to Kigali.  Others were heading off to a meeting, which is what happens after umuganda – local issues are aired at a meeting and any problems are solved.  It is a great way to build a community and the fact that everyone pitches in to help and takes turns is really nice.  It is also a fabulous way to meet your neighbours and it felt like a nice way to spend a Saturday morning.

I made it on to the bus at midday (it was the first bus since the night before – no shops, buses or anything operate during umuganda as everyone is expected to be doing their bit).  I was very excited to arrive in Kigali – it had been a few weeks since I was last in.  I went straight into town and...had a manicure.  Well!  My hands needed the attention as they were wrecked from all that hard work!  I know what you’re thinking – “princess”.  But you can’t slum it all the time and it did only cost the equivalent of £5.  After that I met up with Daryl as I was staying with him and Lynne.  Once back at theirs we shared a beer and then got dressed up for the Halloween party we were attending.  I went as a cat (dressed entirely in black with ears fashioned out of duct tape, a cardboard box and fabric scraps plus a tail made out of fabric scraps).  This meant I had to go to dinner dressed as a cat.  And dinner was great – we went to Sol e Luna for pizza.  It tasted so good!  Then we headed to Sarah’s for the party where everyone was dressed up and there was dancing and apple bobbing and limbo and lots of conversation and laughs.  And I found a Snickers bar in a shop that did not cost a fortune.  A Snickers bar has never tasted so good!

It was the latest I have stayed up since arriving – I didn’t go to bed until after 1am!  (now, now, I’d been up since 7am).  Today I have spent a nice day with friends in town.  We met for coffee this morning and then had a wander around town before going for lunch – which we managed to time well as it coincided with a big rain shower.  I am staying in town for one more night as I have a meeting at VSO tomorrow and then I head back to Kibungo to do some training for the rest of the week with a teacher from every school in the District.  It’s not all manicures and coffees!

The kindness of strangers

As you may have noticed, I am constantly overwhelmed by how kind people are to each other in Rwanda.  In particular, I feel that local people have been very kind to me and I feel quite protected within the local community.  Last week at the market, the assistant at the potato stall suggested that the potato seller should charge me more for potatoes.  I have limited language – but I understood what he was saying.  She looked at me and we smiled and she shook her head at him and said “Oya!” (no) as if he had made an outrageous suggestion.  All around the market, it is the same – I get charged the right price for goods I buy and no one seems to try it on.  Occasionally there are times when bargaining is appropriate, so when I hear the first price I sometimes laugh very loud and tell the vendor what I am pretty sure the price should be.  They laugh in turn, pat me on the back and sell it to me at the price I have given.

My language teacher, Theo, has been teaching me small bits of Rwandan culture.  This week, Mama Blair came to do my washing.  Upon arrival, she looked around the compound and declared that she would also need a hoe and a brush.  We borrowed a hoe from a neighbour and I gave her the rather sad looking brush I had.  When I returned from my meeting 90 mins later, the washing was all hanging on the line, or clipped to the trees, the compound was swept clean of all the leaves that have blown from the trees, and a verge had been dug all the way around the house.  She was partway through cleaning the front and back porches and had spruced up my brush so it was sparking clean.  Before he had left, I had asked Theo how much extra money I should pay Mama Blair for the work she was proposing to do.  He said this would be an insult and in Rwanda, people help out their neighbours knowing that at some point people will help them in return.  Even so, this woman had done far more than I expected of her and it was such a hot day that I was exhausted just walking down the street – never mind doing all that hard work.  I made her a cup of tea and afterwards offered her some more money.  She was taken aback and refused it.  She explained in Kinyarwanda that we were now friends and this is what friends do. 

In a similar situation, my neighbour – Mbabazi – came into my garden the other day with a friend.  They had many big bits of wood.  He had called out to me on his way in, so I went out to greet him.  He explained that he had come to fix the fence (it had blown down in a storm).  I thanked him and asked him what I could give him for this.  He said a cup of tea, with a big grin on his face.  I got the impression he thought this was a bit of a joke.  However, having been brought up in England and with my Irish roots acknowledging that tea is sacred, I went and made them both a cup of tea.  They were genuinely delighted when I came back with it and I was bestowed with many blessings from God.  People here do really just seem to do things for others just because they can.

So amongst all this kindness, I decided that it was time I set to running again.  I am just below 2000m here, so think I have given myself enough time to a) acclimatise to the altitude and b) get completely out of shape.  With a small amount of fear I set off at 5:45 one morning.  I ran along some of the tracks that go around the town and run along the top of the valley.  The views are stunning and the sun was just completing its ascent into the sky, casting a soft light over the landscape.  It really was beautiful and this distracted me from the ache in my lungs as I forced them on my short run.  I passed a few people on my way.  They all stared, of course.  I greeted all of them and they all greeted me back – many sharing a smile as well.  I planned my second run to be on a Sunday morning.  I decided this was a good time to go out as most people would be in church, so there was less chance of bumping into people.  So, having said a few prayers of my own at home, I set off.  It was only 9:30 but already the sun was high in the sky and blazing down.  I ran the same route and at first I saw no-one.  There are so many churches here that I passed one every minute or two and all of them provided me with a pleasant soundtrack to my run.  Then I got towards the main road and saw many people.  Most of them stared and laughed and greeted me.  Some of them shouted what sounded like words of encouragement.  Unfortunately, I managed to coincide the final part of my run with the end of a church service and there were huge crowds on the main road just outside my house.  I had a 100m stretch to pass between the track I was on and my front gate.  Oh dear – buses were passing with everyone calling out the window to me; children ran alongside me as I wheezed like a broken bellows and people were just staring in astonishment.  Then my neighbour called out to greet me and it felt a little better.  I do feel a bit like I am the local entertainment at times!

A walk in Kibungo

Perhaps because I have been too keen to seek the excitement of the big city and have often “escaped” into Kigali, this weekend was my first full weekend in Kibungo.  I have finally had a chance to explore a bit further and think I may have sussed out a suitable running route that takes me around the top of the valley.

The weekend began early on Friday, when I met Jen and Kate – volunteers in Zaza (about an hour away by moto) for drinks in St Joe’s.  We were soon joined by Stella and Denis and by Lynsey – a VSO volunteer from near Butare , who was visiting for the weekend.  We spent a lovely evening chatting and eating and drinking, and then went back to Denis and Stella’s house to watch a couple of episodes of Modern Family.  Then myself, Kate and Jen came back to my house to get some sleep.

We were up early on Saturday and after a lovely breakfast of freshly baked banana pitta bread (my culinary skills are really progressing!), we set off to fetch Lynsey and head to the lorry park in order to get a bus to Rusumo Falls down at the border with Tanzania.  Since my requirements and face are now familiar down at the lorry park, I was immediately asked where I wanted to go.  I was then immediately shown a big bus, which was going to my destination and about to leave.  So, the four of us piled on.  The views along the way were stunning and it was lovely to sit and just gaze out of the window.  Although I started to feel quite lethargic as everyone else on the bus thought it was too cold to have the windows open.  The four of us did not agree but were not in control of any windows!

After about an hour, we arrived at the border, and at the end of the bus route.  So off we got and wandered towards the border crossing.  After a short conversation with the border police, we arranged to leave our green cards with them and then wandered onto the bridge that is the “no-man’s land” between Tanzania and Rwanda.  The waterfall can be viewed only from here.  Since there has been so much rain lately, it looked quite spectacular!

We returned to collect our green cards and stopped for a fanta before we got back on the bus and travelled back to Kibungo.  We then stopped at the local craft co-op and made some purchases and then continued on to the market for provisions.  Everyone then went their separate directions, and I headed home to see how creative I could get with my newly bought ingredients.  I did well.  I made “chapizza” (cross between chapatti and pizza) and some banana and cinnamon samosas.  Very tasty indeed.  I managed all this during an amazing storm which featured a couple of blackouts.

This morning I was up early again and made breakfast and watched some films in bed.  Then I got a text from Stella inviting me for a walk.  I quickly got ready and went to meet them. It was a beautiful morning, but slightly muggy so I took my rain gear.  We wandered along the local tracks which I had not yet discovered and I think these will make excellent off road running routes.  The beauty of this is that they are nicer to run on than the road and a little quieter, but never deserted – this being the most densely populated country in Africa, you are never far from people!  We passed many people who we stopped to greet and saw lots of children – some of whom invited us to take their pictures (a privilege as many Rwandans do not like to have their picture taken).

View behind my house

Sure enough, it eventually started to rain, so we took shelter under the eaves of a house we were passing as the downpour began. Within minutes, we had been invited inside by the family living there.  This gives you a real insight into how many people live here.  There are many people who live in lovely big homes made of bricks and with glass windows and all the mod cons.  This was a small mud brick house.  It was divided in two by a curtain and we stayed on one side of the curtain only.  Here there was a bare mud floor and a bench for three people.  That was the only furniture.  It is amazing to see how people live.  The family were very friendly and due to Denis’s very good language skills, we had a nice chat and I got to take photos of their baby.

Once the rain had passed, we continued on our way.  We were soon joined by a couple of young men – one of whom was a student of Stella’s.  They walked and talked with us for 10minutes until the road forked and they needed to go in a different direction.  As we travelled on, the heavens opened again and we found another house to shelter by.  This time we got talking to some of the residents in neighbouring houses.  It quickly passed and we moved out, picking some lettuces that were growing wild on the way (this had been the home of a previous volunteer and she had left the lettuces behind!).

After several more conversations on the way, we finally arrived home after a lovely walk.  We said our goodbyes and I came home for a nice hot wash and a cup of tea along with some nice fresh lettuce in my salad!  I also had time to experiment with making chocolate chip cookies.  A huge success!  They may be mis-shapen but they certainly taste good. 

Introducing Kiberinka

This week, I have been busy meeting the staff at schools where the previous volunteer worked.  All of the schools have been incredibly welcoming, but at one of them they went that little bit further... I first met the Headteacher of this school on a bus to Kigali.  It was completely unplanned, but he was delighted to meet me, so I promptly made use of the meeting to arrange a visit to his school.  The day before my visit, I sent a reminder text and received the most welcoming text in response stating how much they were looking forward to greeting me.

After a very difficult 55minute moto ride over some of the bumpiest roads known to human kind, I arrived at the school.  The Headteacher came out to greet me and then took me to the staff room to meet some of the teachers who were there.  As soon as I walked in there was an excited buzz and conversation between the four staff.  Although my language skills were improving, I had no idea what was being discussed, but I recognised the word for “name”.  Then I remembered that Louise had advised me I would most probably be given a special name upon arrival.  I had not realised this would happen so fast, I thought it would take more time – you know...maybe they would get to know me first and then name me.  But Ladislas was laughing and he said to me “We have a name!”  “Oh,” I said “What is it?” “It is Kiberinka!” He was very pleased about this.  “Yego, yego!” said the staff in the room, nodding their heads in agreement.  It was with a certain amount of anxiety that I asked what this name meant.  “It means the one who will fetch a very good bride price.  We could get a good dowry for you.  You would be worth many cows.”  I thought about this, and then decided I should be flattered about the name.  Ladislas proceeded to tell me I was beautiful, so I told him he was my new best friend and I was delighted with my new name.

Special cow dance

I was then taken into every single classroom in the school.  In each one, I was introduced as “A friend – not a visitor” and each class either sang me a welcome song, or clapped for me, or asked me difficult questions.  I was made to feel very welcome.  There followed a 90minute meeting with all of the teachers where we discussed how we could work together and what they would like me to do and then the Headteacher and Deputy ate some mandazi and drank fanta with me.  Before I knew it, it was time to go home.  My moto driver, Mutoni, was told my new name and was very pleased for me.  I later informed my DEO (District Education Officer) of my new name and he agreed it was good and suggested I would probably be able to fetch at least 40 cows if I were to get married.  Not only 40 cows, but my Dad would be allowed to choose the cows so he had the best of the herd.  Maybe it’s time to buy that milk quota back, Dad!

Rwandan break-down adventure

Two posts in one day, eh?  But this is a story that was quite fun, so I thought I would post it before I forgot all about the excitement!  Today I ventured off to Zaza sector to visit the TTC (Teacher Training College) as another volunteer is based there.  I met Jen at midday and we spent an hour and a half doing exam supervision and talking very quietly at the front of the hall.  Once we were released from our duties, we headed to Jen’s for some lunch.  This was a lovely chick-pea curry made with many tasty ingredients from Jen’s garden.  We also bought some Fanta and Jen had some ice in her freezer compartment (I know – a freezer!  It’s probably the only one in Zaza) so it was a real treat.  Once this was over, we got down to some workshop planning for next week and discussed future plans for work I will do in the schools around the TTC so that there is some consistency for students when they go out on their teaching practice.

I had decided to wait with Jen for an evening lift back to Kibungo in order to spare my spine the very jolting 50min moto ride.  Denis and Stella were on their way with a car.  Yes – a car!  They had hired one for a couple of days to take their son to see some sights.  After a couple of extremely heavy downpours, the car arrived and we had soon piled in to it.  We started off down the bumpy road out of Zaza.  Unfortunately we hit a rock or something and we heard a noise that didn’t sound too healthy.  A few metres further up the road and the car sounded even less happy, so we pulled over to check it out.  Almost immediately, we were surrounded by people, even though we were not in a town or village.  It was dark and here was a car of 5 Mazungus.  Everyone joined in looking under the car and we had some interesting conversation about what to do.  Unfortunately no one was offering to call the AA, but one man knew someone in the next village who was a mechanic.  Denis asked if we could call him.  The man said he could call someone who lived near this man and they could tell him to come.  This sounded like it would not be our best option and Liam (who is an engineer) said that he felt it could be temporarily fixed if we had some wire.  The gathering crowd were asked if anyone had some.  There was a ripple of conversation and people were shaking their heads and then one man stepped forward and said he thought he knew someone who had some wire.  We decided to keep looking through our bags for potential wire fixings.  At one point I was ready to sacrifice my under-wiring, only it was deemed to be not enough.  Then a man appeared from the bushes with a length of electrical cable.  Not bad for a place that has no electricity!

What happened next was one of my all time favourite break-down scenarios.  It was reminiscent of that famous Levis add set in a laundrette...Liam decided that in order to carry out the repairs and still have clean jeans for his safari trip early tomorrow morning, he would have to strip down to his boxers.  Jen and I did not complain at all.  So, next thing off comes his shirt, and then his trousers.  The crowd of on-lookers looked bemused and could not seem to understand why the mazungu ladies were giggling.  So, after much rolling around in the mud and torch holding and general excitement (mostly me and Jen taking photos under the car), Liam managed to rig up a temporary fix to the falling exhaust.  It was with huge relief that we all piled back into the car and continued our journey to Kibungo with frequent lightning flashes guiding the way.

Riders of the storm

I have learnt many things since arriving in Rwanda; never go out to a restaurant without eating first, always ask “how much?” before getting on a moto, never take the first price...but this week I have learnt a couple of new and very important things.  1) It is never a good idea to get on a moto when the sky is very black.  2) Or when you need a loo stop.  On Monday I was hit with a double whammy...I left school when the sky looked threatening for the 40min journey home.  10mins later, it began to rain very heavily.  I was covered in waterproof clothing, but my driver was not so we stopped for shelter in a shop in a tiny village along the way.  I had been in need of a loo stop for some time, but the toilets at schools are something I generally avoid, so I had not made use of the facilities before departing.  Big mistake!  The very bumpy road and the extra long journey due to the two rain stops we made, meant I was in a world of pain by the time I arrived home.

That aside, I had an interesting day.  I observed a great P6 lesson about how to write an informal letter.  I happened to ask the students if they had ever received a letter.  None of them had, but they are excited as they are going to write some letters to their partner school in the UK and are looking forward to some replies.  Next, I went to a P3 Social Studies lesson.  In this lesson, students were learning about development and what it means.  When they were shown a picture of a television they did not know what it was.  Most of them had never seen a tarmac road before either.  But they really loved their lesson and were very enthusiastic and happy throughout.  After lunch I saw a P2 English lesson.  These students were gorgeous.  As we approached the classroom block we could hear the students getting excited that the mazungu visitors were approaching, and when we walked in they squealed with delight and began clapping and greeting us “Good afternoon visitors.  How are you?”  They were jumping out of their seats and were begging the teacher to let them answer the questions “Me teacher! Me teacher!” – I was a bit over-whelmed by their excitement.  When the teacher did a bit of role play they were in hysterics – it seemed like one of the funniest things they had ever seen to watch their teacher pretend to be one of them.  And then they all had a go at role play and they loved it so much, even though the heavy rain meant they could not do the bit outside that had been planned.  The downpour was gushing in the windows as there was no glass or shutters. The roof was leaking, but rather than complain, the students quietly moved seats without fuss and squashed into the benches even more tightly than they had before.

A day later, and the weather was still doing its best to be a menace.  We managed to make the 45 min journey to school without rain, but there was an almighty downpour as soon as we arrived.  The 45mins back were equally dry, but this time it was my spine which was compromised.  After two years I will be a mess!  Sitting on a moto is already uncomfortable and I just can’t get my posture right – suggestions on a postcard please!  I have also found out why we apparently get so much lightening up here (thanks to the immigration staff member at the District Office who was telling me all about it as I was getting my Green Card).  Apparently the local hills are full of coltan and this attracts the lightening when it is looking for somewhere to earth.  This has meant that in the last year, the house has been struck twice – once it blew up a computer and the second time it scorched the fingertips of a volunteer.  It also knocked down a tree outside the house.  I shall be very careful every time there is a storm.

Capital Excitement

This Saturday I had arranged to meet a few friends in Kigali for lunch and evening drinks whilst watching the sun set.  This seemed like a most exciting prospect – especially the thought of eating lots of tasty food, so I set off at 9:30 in search of a bus.  Upon arrival at the Onatracom ticket sales office, I managed to establish that there were no tickets for the 10am bus, only 12 midday, so I walked down to the bus park to take my chances...  As I approached, several ticket sellers saw me and ran towards me waving their ticket books.  One of them was shouting “Aliceeee!  Aliceeeee!”, which was nice.  We all greeted each other and one of them proudly pointed to a big bus in the middle of the bus park so I asked him (my now well practised Kinyarwanda phrase) was the big bus going to Kigali?  Soon?  I was in luck and herded onto the bus which left straight away.

After a nice journey, which included much singing (other passengers, not me), we arrived two hours later in Kigali.  I decided to head to the MTN centre to see if I could get my old UK phone unlocked.  I was advised this was not possible, but was told where to go to find some experts who may be able to help.  So, after a lovely lunch with friends in La Gallette, I went to search out some experts.  I approached a mobile phone accessory shop and asked there and they said they could not do it but would find someone to help.  They called a guy off the street.  He then looked at my phone and told me it would cost 15 000 FRW.  I said this was not possible and I would not pay more than 5 000.  We eventually settled on this amount and I was asked to follow him...we walked down a few streets and turned into an alley where there was a row of mobile phone and computer repair centres.  It would not be somewhere I would have wandered into myself!  At the repair kiosk we had to haggle again, and they agreed on the same price.  I was quite proud of how much of this I had managed to achieve in Kinyarwanda and it definitely seemed to please the locals that I was trying.  Whilst waiting, a lady came asking for money.  I explained in Kinyarwanda that I had had to hand all my money over to the shop so I could not give her any.  She thought this was hilarious, so shook my hand and hugged me and wandered off laughing.

Eventually, sometime later, my phone was ready for use and I was delighted to be able to have a familiar handset (my African bought one is not so good).  So I headed off to meet Ste, who I was staying with.  Only I could not remember the instructions for how to get to where he lived and I could not get hold of him on the phone.  So I asked a security guard directions.  He could not help me, but hailed someone else on the street who very kindly walked me to the bus stop despite the fact that his bus was leaving from the opposite end of town.  We had a nice chat and then I negotiated my way onto the bus.  On arrival in Nyamirambo I had still not heard from Ste, so I purchased a fanta at a shop and sat down to drink it.  I was immediately surrounded by local people and handed a baby to look after.  She was a lovely baby and we all had a nice chat for 20mins, when Ste got in touch and we established I had the wrong contact number all along.

I went back to his lovely house and we had some coffee before heading out to the local bar for sunset and dinner and drinks.  We had a lovely evening watching the sun set over Kigali and it was lovely to catch up with people.  The chicken kebab I ordered, which turned out to be an entire roast chicken and not a kebab, was also delicious.  As were the jacket potatoes.  We returned for more conversation and snacks at Ste’s before a very late night for me (11pm – well, I’d been up since 5am!).  I had a great sleep and slept in until 6am on Sunday morning as there are no prisoners banging and singing here at 5am!  A very lovely time indeed.  And it got better.  Ste needed to practise his Thai massage skills, so I very kindly allowed him to practise on me.  Eventually I headed back to town to meet Lesley and Steve, who were coming to stay with us.  We had a lovely salad for lunch and then did a quick shop in Nakumatt before heading off to get the bus.  Which was another adventure in itself really, but it all turned out fine and we got on another big bus and made it safely back to Kibungo.

Food and Drink

Some of you may be keen to hear about the food I am eating here in Kibungo (some of you may not, so sorry – just skip this one).  This entry may be of particular interest/fun to those of you who know what a very fussy eater I normally am.  Not any more.  The things which are easiest to get hold of are tomatoes, potatoes (known as Irish potatoes in order to identify from sweet potatoes), green peppers, avocadoes, onions, garlic, parsley, plantain, cassava, pineapple and passionfruit.  There really is only so much you can do with this range of ingredients, but myself and Cathy have been quite adventurous and occasionally supplement our diet with other goodies we come across (e.g. I managed to get hold of paneer cheese in Kigali and we have recently found aubergine in the market!).

Most mornings for breakfast I have actually had toast, although in Kigali last week I purchased some oats.  I am not entirely sure what to do with these – maybe mix up with water and honey (no milk as no fridge!) and add some fruit.  On days when we have not had bread, I have had a banana for breakfast. Update: have managed to source UHT milk, which I would not normally touch at home, but works well in my porridge and tea here!

At lunchtime it is usually a case of a piece of bread either with butter or chocolate spread, and hopefully an apple – if they had them on our previous trip to the market.  At weekends, or on a day when we happen to be near the house, we have made more interesting lunches – quite often this features guacamole to spread on bread or crackers or toast.  Last Saturday we had some olives and cheese as I had been to Kigali.  This was incredibly exciting and exotic!!

Dinner is the most exciting meal!  So far we have made vegetable curry, pasta sauce, soup, stew... and supplemented it with rice or pasta or mashed potato.  One night I even made up some chapattis.  Last night I amazed our guests by making a sweet and sour sauce from scratch to go with our Chinese stir-fry.  I did not think that I relied on my oven too much at home, but now that I am without an oven or grill, I notice that I really miss it – I can’t bake cakes, or make a lasagne, or shepherds pie or cook a pizza – it makes ones diet seem quite limited.  One project for last weekend was to attempt to create a stove top oven using a charcoal stove.  Unfortunately the rainy season is determined for this not to happen and it has been bucketing down all day – I shall let you know how this project goes if we ever manage to do it!

Meat is a thing of the past.  Unless we want to buy a live animal and butcher it, we cannot get meat for home.  This is OK, it just means we save meat eating for times when we do eat out.  Although, this in itself is not ideal as food can take a couple of hours to arrive in a Rwandan restaurant so you can end up extremely hungry and fractious on such occasions.

My taste buds are already quite bored and want to try new things, but we are also restricted by the fact that we do not have a fridge so food does not keep and the market is only on twice a week.  By the time I got to Kigali last week I was quite desperate for meat so I had a burger and chips and it tasted so good!  I also managed to find a latte in a coffee shop.  And I returned from Kigali with a bag of coffee, which we made up at breakfast at the weekend and it was good!

That aside, you can get hold of lots of stuff here – it’s just being creative about cooking it.  You can even buy Dairy Milk in Kibungo and I have a huge addiction to it, which I did not have in the UK.  Beer is also very nice, although I do not often have it (no point keeping it at home as I have no fridge).  People here tend to have things like beer and fanta warm, so you have to specify that you would like it cold when you order it.  At home we keep a bottle of Waraji (Ugandan gin) and mix it with passionfruit syrup and water from the filter – no ice and tonic, although we did get two cold bottles of tonic in the local store last week and were so excited to have cold tonic and a slice of lime from the market that day in our drinks!

I hope I will be grateful for the exciting and varied diet when I return home.  I already really miss milk – on cereal or just to drink – but it is interesting to see how most people in the world live.  Those of us in developed countries in Europe are a minority and many people live in far more difficult circumstances. I am enjoying the challenge to a certain extent and am trying to be very creative. 

My life as a (very minor) “celebrity”

Since arriving in Rwanda, but more particularly in Kibungo, I have begun to gain an insight into the hard time that celebrities have being “spotted” all the time.  I am so exotic in town, that it is perfectly normal for me to hear the cries of “Mazungu!” at least 50 times a day.  This happens as I walk down the street, go into a shop, board a bus, or whiz past on a moto.  It is quite strange to hear someone shout to you to alert you that they have seen you and you are something of a shock, but for them to not use your name – I can almost imagine how the stars of Eastenders and Corrie must feel when people shout out their screen name.

It is also quite common for people to crane to get a good look at me.  Several people have tripped up as they have been so busy looking at me, they have not paid attention to the path in front of them.  I am not entirely sure how best to respond to this, and have so far just tried to say good morning/afternoon and ask after their health in Kinyarwanda.  This usually so surprises/delights them that the awkward feel is removed from the situation.  I still can’t hold much of a conversation though.

At one school this week, almost the entire school surrounded myself and Cathy as we left the staff room to walk to a classroom.  There was a crowd of children 8 or 9 deep all the way around us.  Some of them were touching my skin.  A large number of them continued to watch with curiosity through the classroom window as we taught even though they were sent away by the class teacher and should have been in their own lesson.

This evening, my minor celebrity status made my journey home slightly easier and less daunting than I expected.  I made my first round trip to Kigali (about 2hrs away by bus).  The journey there was fine, but on the way home I could not get a direct bus.  At the ticket desk, several people assisted me in buying my ticket and getting me on the correct bus.  This was great, and once I said good evening to everyone on the bus, we got on with the journey.  At Kayonza I had to change buses.  The bus station is basically a huge bus park with buses going in all directions.  There are many different companies and types of service – I was quite uncertain how I was going to find the bus going in the right direction with my very limited Kinyarwanda....I needn’t have worried.  The mazungu descended the bus and was immediately approached by several ticket sellers.  I told them where I wanted to go to, and they checked all of the buses for me.  They were so helpful, that I just sat down at the side of the bus park and let the Friday rush hour continue around me.  When a bus going my way did turn up, they immediately came to find me and got me to the bus.  Once on the bus, I could hear people talking about me, so I greeted them in Kinyarwanda and maintained a short conversation about my name and their name and where I was going and what job I did and then there was much hilarity when it was realised I could not say anymore or understand any more questions.  We then discovered a man on the same bus who could speak some English and he did a little bit of translating for a while before we all let the motion of the bus lull us into quiet.  I never have chats like that on the bus at home.  And, at the end of my journey, all my new friends helped me get my bags off the bus and wished me well on my way.  Rwandans might be incredibly curious but they are certainly very friendly and helpful at all times, for which I am very grateful!