Please note that VSO is in no way connected with or responsible for the content, comments and observations in this blog: these are solely my own in a personal capacity.
Woops, think I put the wrong dates on that last entry, but never mind, I’m sure all you really clever people figured it out. To continue Wednesday’s entry, I did meet up with Mike and his friend Robert Wilkinson, really nice guy. Turns out Robert remembers Kevin Kelly, the present Irish ambassador to Uganda, from when they worked briefly together in Save the Children. We had a really nice Chinese meal in the ... well, the Chinese Restaurant obviously and then watched Chelsea go 2-0 up on Hull City before calling it a night. There is now a 2-hour time difference between Rwanda and England so watching mid-week matches is a bit of an ask.
Woke up early this morning but again wondered if it was worth hauling my ass all the way out to Gisagara, not knowing who or what was there. Texted Francois but got no response. The exams were for three days so he should be back today – anyway, what the hell else was I to do so off I went. Found a moto driver on the main street but he couldn’t seem to understand the way I pronounced ‘Gisagara’: eventually one of the others explained to him (I need to stress the ‘i’ in the first syllable very slightly more, I think) and he dropped me there. Of course there was no Francois – the exams are still on: Monday was preparation day so they end today and he’ll be in the office tomorrow. Alexis had three other people working with him in the office so there was no way I could stay there. I wandered off down the village, had a brief look at my new-house-to-be (which has a particularly stunning view to the rear, hadn’t noticed that before) and then went to the District Office proper where I occasionally give my English classes. I have to confess that I was thinking of grabbing a moto back to Butare as they already have two English teachers for the two classes but I decided to check first what was going on. Long story short: ended up sitting on a bench in the entranceway from 11:00 – 3:00 reading MINEDUC policy documents to improve my French as one teacher was absent and they needed me to take the class and there was nowhere else for me to go.
The class was a bit of a shambles, a real making stuff up as you go along to keep them occupied. Teaching English is really not my thing but I’ll have two weeks in Kigali to source stuff, so I only have tomorrow to get through! They did get a great kick out of the ‘buzz’ game to practise their numbers (thank you, Sukey Chesterton, over there in The Gambia) so I’ll have to do more of that sort of stuff. Chatting to a few afterwards they were really pleased to hear that I was actually moving into Gisagara shortly and looked forward to many many long English conversations in the future! I just hope the other two teachers actually turn up tomorrow so we can plan a proper scheme of work for the next few months.
Back in Butare now, going to meet Jane Keenan and I think some of the other PHARE people for food and drinkies later. I brought the four cans of Guinness that Kevin Kelly gave me back from Gisagara as Jane has both a fridge and a freezer so I think it is time to broach them: otherwise I’ll have to drink them warm (yeuch!). I think I’ll head out to Gisagara a little later tomorrow – I need time to actually prepare a proper class for them! Grabbed a few samosas in the Faucon Supermarket and ate two – first food today and it is 1730 (sorry, had three bsicuits for breakfast) – so much for getting myself into some regular eating habits!! Keeping other three for breakfast tomorrow and will grab something for lunch on my way out to Gisagara.
Thank you very much to all of you who helped me to reach and exceed my fundraising total. I am continuing to fundraise for VSO for the next short while, so if you or anyone else you know feel like contributing , please go to www.mycharity.ie/event/ruairi. Murakoze cyane cyane!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th October: Days Fifty-Two and Fifty-Three in Rwanda
Please note that VSO is in no way connected with or responsible for the content, comments and observations in this blog: these are solely my own in a personal capacity.
The last VSO Newsletter concluded with some of David Brent’s words of advice – these are my five favourite ones, in reverse order:
5. Never do today that which will become someone else’s responsibility tomorrow.
4. If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.
3. Eagles may soar high, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
2. If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation.
1. Know your limitations and be content with them. Too much ambition results in promotion to a job you can't do.
Tuesday & Wednesday
Two very quiet days. As Nyanza was cancelled I figured there was no point heading out to Gisagara and I spent both Tuesday and (more fruitfully) Wednesday doing various bits and pieces with my French and Kinyarwandan (including writing my first long email in French which I sent off to my French-teaching friends with a somewhat nervous feeling!). Spent most of the time in the hotel with visits to cybercafé and the market and going to Matar for my meals. One thing I am trying to do is budget a little more carefully, which is really difficult while you are living in a hotel like this and have to pay for everything. My daily income is RWF5000 (£5, $7): a proper breakfast here is RWF1000 (tea, bread, omelette) and having just tea is RWF500. I can get a reasonable meal in the Matar for RWF2000 and that with breakfast more than does me for the day foodwise. But that is over half the RWF5000 gone already. The cybercafé is RWF100 per ten minutes and usually works out around RWF500 (given the slow speeds it takes a long time to do stuff and all the US political websites are really designed for broadband!). The batteries in my water purifier have finally given out so that’s another RWF500 per day for water. That leaves me with RWF1000 which is the price of one beer! That also doesn’t include the cost of buying phone credit (I spent RWF4000 on credit yesterday but that should last over a week).
Once I am actually living in a house it will get better, once I can prepare my own water and buy stuff in the market to prepare myself. VSO pays for a guard for the house so I will hire a domestique for a few days a week (say RWF15,000 per month) and I will also have to pay RWF20,000 per month for my modem credit, leaving me with RWF115,000 or about RWF25,000 per week plus RWF15,000 put aside for luxuries, emergencies etc or petrol for my generator if that comes through. That should be enough to manage and – let’s face it – there are going to be very few things in Gisagara to spend any extra money on.
As regards planning for the new house, I have been making a list of things that I am going to need that I do not have at the moment (obviously, once I actually move in this is likely to be added to!). So far I have come up with the following, all of which I can get in the market in Butare:
1 wide shallow plastic basin (for standing in while taking a shower)
1 deep plastic bin with lid (for storing water)
1 small vacuum flask
1 large vacuum flask
1 bucket with lid (night-time toilet)
2 large jerrycans (for water)
1 5-compartment tiffin box
Tools (hammer, screwdriver, pliers, nails & screws)
1 sleeping bag (I suspect this will have to be bought in Kigali)
This is in addition to the stuff Tina and I bought in Kigali of which I still have the lion’s share, I think, especially of the kitchen stuff, so we will have to do a redistribution of that once she moves into her new place. I am also preparing lists of things I am going to be asked to be posted out (friends and family be warned). (Alfred: that’s a bit ironic, don’t you think, as Alanis Morisette would say! This is the guy who, for the last twenty years whenever asked what he wanted for his birthday or Christmas would answer with ‘ehhhhhhhhhhhh.....’: now he’s FULL of ideas!!).
What else is going on? No sign of Bezo and my RWF5000 of course but Chelsea are playing Hull tonight so I’m sure he’ll be there: if nothing else I’ll get a chance to use my newly-acquired knowledge of French grammar to say ‘Tu me dois dix milles francs – où est-il?’ or should it be ‘Tu dois dix milles francs à moi’ – hmmm! Maybe I’ll just stick with ‘Où sont mes dix milles francs, Bezo?’.
Actually, yesterday and today I got through a ton of French. I brought this really good book that I got in Hodges Figgis called Barron’s Complete French Grammar Review and it is full of wonderful things and phrases. My favourite today was se faire faire, to have something done for you as in the phrase elle s’est fait faire une robe par une couturière. Nice one. I’m even getting the hang of things like y and en which had always defeated me before (Il y en avait douze and so on). However, I still find the word ainsi defeating me – I’m sure some kind person out there will email me with help!
The Kinyarwandan is a little on the back burner but I also have time for that. Given that the guard on my new house has neither French nor Kinyarwandan, it had better improve quickly! And I’m not sure what my chances of finding a French-speaking domestique in Gisagara are! Once I get my modem and can actually update my website, I intend having a ‘Teach Yourself Kinyarwandan’ section so you can all join in!
The other thing I have got a lot of done while I have been here (no surprise) is reading. So far I have read the following (each with marks out of 10):
Paul Theroux, DARK STAR SAFARI (brilliant piece of work, 9/10)
Umberto Eco, THE NAME OF THE ROSE (third time reading it, still 8/10)
Daniel Coyle, LANCE ARMSTRONG’S WAR (not bad, 6/10)
P.D. James THE LIGHTHOUSE (6/10) and THE MURDER ROOM (5/10) – I had forgotten how formulaic her books are
Jed Rubenfeld, THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER (6/10 – promised much more than it delivered)
Giles Bolton, POOR STORY (6/10 – good if you didn’t know anything about Africa and the aid industry)
At the moment I am reading Frank McCourt’s TEACHER MAN which I had started in Ireland but then lent to Jennifer (who is presumably still reading it) so I borrowed it from a friend here to finish. I have FOUCAULT’S PENDULUM in reserve, borrowed from the Motel Ineza library, in case I run out of stuff to read. I also began a book called NOMAD’S HOTEL by Cees Nooteboom which my goddaughter’s family gave me – travel essays about different hotels and places. A bit weird going but nice to dip into now and again (he has some lovely stuff about Tim Robinson and the Aran Islands). The Resource Room in Kigali has a good library (mostly fiction) and I am expecting my Amazon.com books to turn up any day - a heady mixture of SF, politics and French grammar!
Just got a text from Mike Silvey, the VSO Rwanda Country Director. He is coming down to Butare for the night and would like to meet up for a drink/bite to eat. Company!! That’s great, especially as Joe Walk now has to go directly to Kigali and won’t be staying over with me on Sunday night. And Mike is a soccer fan, so if Chelsea-Hull is on he’ll be dead keen! Must introduce him to Bezo ...........
Sign on the lawn at a drug rehabilitation centre: 'Keep off the Grass.'
Thank you very much to all of you who helped me to reach and exceed my fundraising total. I am continuing to fundraise for VSO for the next short while, so if you or anyone else you know feel like contributing , please go to www.mycharity.ie/event/ruairi. Murakoze cyane cyane!
The last VSO Newsletter concluded with some of David Brent’s words of advice – these are my five favourite ones, in reverse order:
5. Never do today that which will become someone else’s responsibility tomorrow.
4. If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.
3. Eagles may soar high, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
2. If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation.
1. Know your limitations and be content with them. Too much ambition results in promotion to a job you can't do.
Tuesday & Wednesday
Two very quiet days. As Nyanza was cancelled I figured there was no point heading out to Gisagara and I spent both Tuesday and (more fruitfully) Wednesday doing various bits and pieces with my French and Kinyarwandan (including writing my first long email in French which I sent off to my French-teaching friends with a somewhat nervous feeling!). Spent most of the time in the hotel with visits to cybercafé and the market and going to Matar for my meals. One thing I am trying to do is budget a little more carefully, which is really difficult while you are living in a hotel like this and have to pay for everything. My daily income is RWF5000 (£5, $7): a proper breakfast here is RWF1000 (tea, bread, omelette) and having just tea is RWF500. I can get a reasonable meal in the Matar for RWF2000 and that with breakfast more than does me for the day foodwise. But that is over half the RWF5000 gone already. The cybercafé is RWF100 per ten minutes and usually works out around RWF500 (given the slow speeds it takes a long time to do stuff and all the US political websites are really designed for broadband!). The batteries in my water purifier have finally given out so that’s another RWF500 per day for water. That leaves me with RWF1000 which is the price of one beer! That also doesn’t include the cost of buying phone credit (I spent RWF4000 on credit yesterday but that should last over a week).
Once I am actually living in a house it will get better, once I can prepare my own water and buy stuff in the market to prepare myself. VSO pays for a guard for the house so I will hire a domestique for a few days a week (say RWF15,000 per month) and I will also have to pay RWF20,000 per month for my modem credit, leaving me with RWF115,000 or about RWF25,000 per week plus RWF15,000 put aside for luxuries, emergencies etc or petrol for my generator if that comes through. That should be enough to manage and – let’s face it – there are going to be very few things in Gisagara to spend any extra money on.
As regards planning for the new house, I have been making a list of things that I am going to need that I do not have at the moment (obviously, once I actually move in this is likely to be added to!). So far I have come up with the following, all of which I can get in the market in Butare:
1 wide shallow plastic basin (for standing in while taking a shower)
1 deep plastic bin with lid (for storing water)
1 small vacuum flask
1 large vacuum flask
1 bucket with lid (night-time toilet)
2 large jerrycans (for water)
1 5-compartment tiffin box
Tools (hammer, screwdriver, pliers, nails & screws)
1 sleeping bag (I suspect this will have to be bought in Kigali)
This is in addition to the stuff Tina and I bought in Kigali of which I still have the lion’s share, I think, especially of the kitchen stuff, so we will have to do a redistribution of that once she moves into her new place. I am also preparing lists of things I am going to be asked to be posted out (friends and family be warned). (Alfred: that’s a bit ironic, don’t you think, as Alanis Morisette would say! This is the guy who, for the last twenty years whenever asked what he wanted for his birthday or Christmas would answer with ‘ehhhhhhhhhhhh.....’: now he’s FULL of ideas!!).
What else is going on? No sign of Bezo and my RWF5000 of course but Chelsea are playing Hull tonight so I’m sure he’ll be there: if nothing else I’ll get a chance to use my newly-acquired knowledge of French grammar to say ‘Tu me dois dix milles francs – où est-il?’ or should it be ‘Tu dois dix milles francs à moi’ – hmmm! Maybe I’ll just stick with ‘Où sont mes dix milles francs, Bezo?’.
Actually, yesterday and today I got through a ton of French. I brought this really good book that I got in Hodges Figgis called Barron’s Complete French Grammar Review and it is full of wonderful things and phrases. My favourite today was se faire faire, to have something done for you as in the phrase elle s’est fait faire une robe par une couturière. Nice one. I’m even getting the hang of things like y and en which had always defeated me before (Il y en avait douze and so on). However, I still find the word ainsi defeating me – I’m sure some kind person out there will email me with help!
The Kinyarwandan is a little on the back burner but I also have time for that. Given that the guard on my new house has neither French nor Kinyarwandan, it had better improve quickly! And I’m not sure what my chances of finding a French-speaking domestique in Gisagara are! Once I get my modem and can actually update my website, I intend having a ‘Teach Yourself Kinyarwandan’ section so you can all join in!
The other thing I have got a lot of done while I have been here (no surprise) is reading. So far I have read the following (each with marks out of 10):
Paul Theroux, DARK STAR SAFARI (brilliant piece of work, 9/10)
Umberto Eco, THE NAME OF THE ROSE (third time reading it, still 8/10)
Daniel Coyle, LANCE ARMSTRONG’S WAR (not bad, 6/10)
P.D. James THE LIGHTHOUSE (6/10) and THE MURDER ROOM (5/10) – I had forgotten how formulaic her books are
Jed Rubenfeld, THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER (6/10 – promised much more than it delivered)
Giles Bolton, POOR STORY (6/10 – good if you didn’t know anything about Africa and the aid industry)
At the moment I am reading Frank McCourt’s TEACHER MAN which I had started in Ireland but then lent to Jennifer (who is presumably still reading it) so I borrowed it from a friend here to finish. I have FOUCAULT’S PENDULUM in reserve, borrowed from the Motel Ineza library, in case I run out of stuff to read. I also began a book called NOMAD’S HOTEL by Cees Nooteboom which my goddaughter’s family gave me – travel essays about different hotels and places. A bit weird going but nice to dip into now and again (he has some lovely stuff about Tim Robinson and the Aran Islands). The Resource Room in Kigali has a good library (mostly fiction) and I am expecting my Amazon.com books to turn up any day - a heady mixture of SF, politics and French grammar!
Just got a text from Mike Silvey, the VSO Rwanda Country Director. He is coming down to Butare for the night and would like to meet up for a drink/bite to eat. Company!! That’s great, especially as Joe Walk now has to go directly to Kigali and won’t be staying over with me on Sunday night. And Mike is a soccer fan, so if Chelsea-Hull is on he’ll be dead keen! Must introduce him to Bezo ...........
Sign on the lawn at a drug rehabilitation centre: 'Keep off the Grass.'
Thank you very much to all of you who helped me to reach and exceed my fundraising total. I am continuing to fundraise for VSO for the next short while, so if you or anyone else you know feel like contributing , please go to www.mycharity.ie/event/ruairi. Murakoze cyane cyane!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday 26th and Monday 27th October: Days Fifty and Fifty-One in Rwanda
Please note that VSO is in no way connected with or responsible for the content, comments and observations in this blog: these are solely my own in a personal capacity.
JOKE: Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
Sunday
Earlyish breakfast with Beatta: we decided that we would go off to the market together later that afternoon after the Chelsea-Liverpool match and do a little shopping. I told Eli I was heading off but that I would be back around 1700 for the meeting with Pascal’s action group. I headed off to the cybercafé to gather more English teaching materials – bought a book called ‘Compelling Conversations’ from an American guy called Eric Roth which turns out to be a bit advanced for my lot but they may work their way up to it in time. I downloaded it in PDF format (5.5MB) which took ages! He agreed to email me the Word version as well so I can correct the US spellings before giving out photocopies! I also checked the Guardian website to see when the Chelsea-Liverpool match was starting – 12:30 English time which is 1330 here.
As I left the cybercafé, I noticed the market gates were locked – obviously no market on a Sunday. Arrived in the hotel just as the rain started and thunder growled in the distance. They were showing a recording of the Sunderland-Newcastle match from the previous day. I asked about Chelsea-Liverpool and the manager brought me back into a room where all the satellite equipment is kept and began to hunt for the signal, as the match had already started. As we hunted the signals began dropping out because of the thunderstorm and I realised it just wasn’t going to happen. Anyway, he had tried his best for almost fifteen minutes, you can’t ask for more.
Having already ordered a beer I decided to stay and finish it and hope maybe to catch the end of the match. With about (I estimated) fifteen minutes left, my ‘friend’ from previous occasions, Bezo (antiques smuggler, alleged Chelsea fan, general fixer and purveyor of whatever you want) turned up with a friend for the match. I said it was almost over and they were somewhat taken aback, rang a friend or two and said something along the lines of ‘No, I don’t think so’. The barman changed channels and, lo and behold, there was the pre-match discussion. So much for the Guardian website! I looked around for the hotel manager to see if I could apologise for the earlier histrionics but he wasn’t there (and, to be honest, is unlikely to be too worried).
Bezo and his friend went out back to meet some other footballing friends of theirs and I went with them. There was a huge crowd (about sixty) gathered in front of another screen and there was combined hilarity and cheering at the sight of my Chelsea shirt. The crowd seemed to be about one-quarter Chelsea, one quarter Liverpool and the rest hostile to both!
Anyway, the less said about the match the better (Chelsea lost for the uninitiated among you). However, a number of REALLY interesting things did happen. Another guy, Malenge, who had been doing the house-hunting for Tina and me, turned up and said he needed to speak to me urgently. When I joined him, away from the rest of the group, he said that the owner of one of the houses he had shown me, and that I no longer needed, was convinced Malenge was lying to him about what had happened, didn’t believe there was any muzungu at all and was threatening to hand the property over to someone else to let for him. Would I be willing to speak to this person – he is currently one of the country’s three vice-presidents or else was one and is now a government minister, or was a government minister (me and French compound tenses are still in the negotiating phase). So I pick up the phone and, sure enough, that is what it was all about. I explain to this guy (who has excellent English) all that happened, assured him that Malenge was doing a good job and that I would be happy to recommend him to VSO if any more volunteers are coming to Butare. Malenge seemed very pleased at the outcome, which is good because he actually did do a very good job for me and Tina.
Back to the match and chatting with Bezo and his footballing friends. It turns out they have ambitions (wait for it) of going to Ireland and playing in the League of Ireland as a way of getting noticed by English league clubs and thereby making the transition to the big time! I did try and explain (and no offence intended to the League of Ireland here) that the clubs there were not swimming in money and the chance of an anonymous application from Rwanda being greeted with enthusiasm and the swift dispatch of air tickets, visas and expenses was slim to say the least but a starving dog with a bone would not cling more tenaciously than they did to this dream of theirs. What they wanted from me were the names, addresses and contact details of the main League of Ireland clubs that might be interested in hiring them! I said, fine, if they really wanted to do that I could easily get the info (a half an hour on the Internet and they could have done it themselves to be honest). I also began to wonder if this was another of Bezo’s money-making schemes – was he shaking these guys down for a ‘consultancy’ fee in return for introducing them to this Irish ‘expert’ who could ‘guarantee’ them jobs in Ireland.
We arranged that I would be in the Faucon on Monday evening at 19.30 with the info: I said it was important that I met the actual players as well (as I wanted to make it clear exactly what I was and was not able to do) and they said fine.
So the next thing was generators. The other players had drifted away and Bezo and I were left. He said he remembered I had said I might need a generator for my new house and he might have someone who could supply me with one. I said it needed to be not too expensive and cheap to run because I couldn’t afford to spend too much on petrol. He thought this was hysterically funny so I told him how much I was earning a month (RWF150,000). He got even more hysterical with laughter until it began to dawn on him that maybe I was telling the truth and I wasn’t the super-rich muzungu he had presumed I was! This was not according to plan for him.
However, for me, I will need a generator and maybe Bezo is the kind of person who can actually arrange that for me, so I figured I would throw out a carrot. I said that of course it might be VSO who pay for a generator so I was still interested and if he had any details I could pass them on to the office. He said he would bring me some specifications once he got the chance. Also, he would ring me tomorrow with any details he had, or he would if he had any credit on his phone! Ah-ha! So I said I would lend him enough for phone credit but it was a test – he would have to have the money back for me tomorrow or I would know he couldn’t be trusted (I figured it would be a small but possibly worthwhile investment to just see if he is serious before I get into anything else). He headed off and I continued to watch – actually I forget what match was on next, it was Arsenal against someone but it wasn’t very exciting and I decided to head back to the hotel.
As I arrived in it suddenly dawned on me – the meeting with Pascal’s group, I had completely forgotten about it!! I was about two hours late but, being Rwanda, I just muttered something about difficulties and no-one seemed in the least put out. The group seemed to be bogged down in writing a constitution for the group and hadn’t gotten very far even with that and, as more people join the group, the aims and objectives and planned activities seem to be metamorphosing with bewildering rapidity so I am not really sure where this is all going at this stage or whether it will end up going anywhere at all. I made a variety of suggestions without any real sense of conviction to be honest (they had a clause saying the organisation’s main purpose was the promotion of the interests of its members, who are also defined as all those who sign up and pay a subscription – hardly a way to reach out to and encourage the participation of the vulnerable, isolated and victimised people they claim to be trying to help). Part of the problem here is that it is strictly forbidden to set up any kind of group or association without permission: it must be registered with the local authorities and jump through all sorts of official hoops before you can get going. The government is (possibly understandably) nervous of any groups being set up unless it knows exactly what their intention is! So all this focussing on a constitution etc is unfortunately necessary but they do need to get the finger out if they are going to be up and running for their first planned event on December 31st.
Decided to get some dinner but this was the moment where my stomach said it had had enough of the Ineza diet – carbohydrate overload! Got through a few forkfuls and then gave up. I felt really bad – people do NOT waste food here and it is the first time I had left food behind like that but there wasn’t really any choice!! Off to bed knowing that I am at least going to work tomorrow and going up to Nyanza on Wednesday to pick Ken Franklin’s brains!!
Monday
So, today was what I have read about in many other blogs as a typically Rwandan day. Francois had warned me he wouldn’t be around much for the next three days as the state exams are on and he has to check out the schools. I decided to get to the office a bit late as there wouldn’t be anyone there. I did the Internet cafe to see if Eric Roth had sent me the Word version of his book (he had – thanks Eric) and then got a moto out to Gisagara. I found someone to unlock the office and then discovered that the generator was off and there was no electricity, nor would there be for the foreseeable future. I spent a few hours just digging through piles of folders and reports trying to find out exactly what was there and the answer was – everything and nothing! It looks like someone tried to do something in 2006 as there was a lot of material for that year properly sorted but everything else seemed to be in a complete mess (that or I don’t get the filing system). I did find a big pile of MINEDUC documents on School Inspections, Quality Assurance, Educational Planning and suchlike (some in English, some in French) so that was something and I took a few away with me to read. However, my laptop had gone flat at this stage and I hadn’t yet printed out the stuff for my afternoon classes, so I decided to head off to the other section of the District Office (about 1½ km away) where I would be teaching my class anyway.
The walk was the usual one of scattered cries of ‘muzungu, muzungu’ and small processions of children (obviously not in school) but it is only about 13 minutes so not so bad. When I arrived I was told that all the staff had been in a meeting all day long which was still in progress and no-one knew if there would be a class or not. A really nice guy called Vincent invited me into his office and found me a socket for my laptop, printed off my class notes and generally made me at home (he is in charge of running the co-operatives in the district). The other teacher, Enoch, turned up as well as a third, Charis (?sp) so we were trying to decide who was going to teach which classes, today and long-term. I explained I would be away for two weeks starting Monday 3rd November. Enoch said he would be away that first week as he was supervising exams and Charis had applied to be a supervisor but had not heard yet whether or not he had been accepted. We agreed to talk Friday on exactly how we were going to run these classes between the three of us, at which point we were formally told everyone was too tired and there would be no class today. So I went off back to town!!
Arrived back in town (via a somewhat unsteady moto which I fell off at the end, no harm done but it flustered me so I forgot to get him to sign my receipt book! Memo: only hire the more powerful machines and only when driven by a guy who looks strong enough to control it!)(Alfred: in case you are wondering why he said ‘guy’, only men drive motos here, the only women we have seen with motos are abazungu like us. The sight of Ruairí getting a lift on the back of Jane’s moto was enough to cause amazed looks all round!). One problem for me is that my eating patterns have become completely irregular – long periods of fasting followed by a sudden large meal, not good. So I decided to take advantage of my earlyish return to get a proper early dinner in the Matar. And it was nice: baked potato with cheese and beans filling (RWF600) and an avocado salad with lemon juice dressing (RWF800) (and an enormous pile of grated carrot underneath which I couldn’t finish) and a Fanta citron (RWF400) which has become my drink of choice other than beer. Total cost RWF1800 (£1.80 or €2.50). More on budgeting in my next post.
Earlier today, I had got a message from Bezo saying he had information on the generator for me and would see me later as planned. So I headed home, dropped my stuff and then went off to meet the guy I am beginning to think of as Butare’s answer to The Artful Dodger, or Del Boy or that guy from Minder or whoever! And there he was with the generator manual and the generator owner (a huge guy who looked like Samuel L. Johnson from Pulp Fiction but with his hair trimmed better). The conversation didn’t go too well, as Bezo had obviously told Samuel I was ready to buy then and there! I explained in slow, very careful French to make sure I was clearly understood that: a) VSO already had a generator, in Kibeho b) if it was working OK, I would obviously get that one c) if it wasn’t working it was up to VSO to decide how to provide one d) if, and only if, they wanted to source one locally, then I would pass Bezo and Samuel L. Jackson’s contact details on to Enias in VSO and they could deal directly with him. So, exit one rather disgruntled Samuel, luckily not quoting from Ezekiel whatever it is in the film (Alfred: Ruairí left out their other remarks – the generator costs RWF700,000 which seems a lot and it is extremely powerful! Samuel dropped a number of remarks emphasising how careful you need to be using it – not exactly a recommendation when all you want to run is a few lights and maybe one plug!!)
As Samuel left, the footballers arrived and again it was time for frank talking. I gave them the list of clubs and contact details that I had got off the internet that morning but emphasised that their chances of getting a response was minimal. I said would they not consider England where there were such a large number of clubs, right down to the ... well, whatever they now call the Conference and the other teams lower down. No, no, no, no, no: England for them meant Premiership and they felt (!) that was too big an ask as a first step! Then they started asking me about passports and visas and I said they needed to realise that I knew precisely NOTHING about anything like that, or indeed about football. All I had done was gather information publicly available on the internet. In this case, they were fine with that – they said Bezo had told them I was a teacher and nothing to do with football but that they just thought they would try their luck and send off some CVs and CDs of their footballing skills! It turns out Bezo is actually one of the footballers also and is hoping to be one of those who heads off.
Anyway, they thanked me fulsomely and lavishly and I wished them all the best of good luck and, if through some incredible stroke of luck one of them actually makes it then I might actually start believing in God again! That or the Tooth Fairy. Or Boris Johnson – that’s probably the one that stretches credulity to the maximum.
(Alfred: sorry, I have to break in here again, mostly for those who know anything about the League of Ireland. Do you want to know what teams Ruairí has selected to be the new homes for the pick of Rwanda’s young footballers? Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, St Pat’s, Dundalk, Drogheda, Galway United ..... and Sporting Fingal! Why Sporting Fingal? Because they have a Wikipedia page! I hope he emails John Devine in Fingal, not to mention Paul Doolin in Drogheda and Jeff McKenna in Galway and everyone else to warn them what is going on!!!)
So finally Bezo and I were alone (dah!dah!). Bezo asked me what the average salary for a League of Ireland footballer was – I said I didn’t have a clue! He said he figured it was around €20,000 - €30,000 per week. Now it was my turn to laugh hysterically (see yesterday’s blog). I said you would be lucky to earn double that figure in a year (not that I know but I presume that’s a good guess). Bezo was crestfallen and then I said, since he had brought up the subject of money, where was the money he owed me? Ah ha! No problem, he said, he just had to go and fetch it. I reminded him of what I had said yesterday – this was the test as to whether I could trust him or not. Of course, of course, he said: he would meet me at the Ineza in a few minutes (I had to be back to meet Francois at 2000). Did he appear? Of course not!! (Alfred: which ‘he’ does he mean here? Well, as you probably guessed, both of them!) Anyway, that gives me a good defence if he starts getting too annoying. Pay me and I talk (well worth it for €5). Francois did ring at 2045 – he sounded terrible: I think he had been on the road the entire day visiting school and was absolutely wrecked so I said not to worry.
So an interesting day. Ken rang to defer my visit until later in November as he is up to his ears at the moment, so that kind of gives me a day off tomorrow. If I go out to Gisagara the guy who is taking my class for me won’t get paid (when I say ‘my class’ it really is his class so I’ll let him at it) so a chance to do some French and Kinyarwandan and catch up on emails and the blog (as you can see).
Before going to bed, I sat in the garden with Eli for half-an-hour talking about his plans for the future (Eli is the youngest brother of the hotel manager who was supposed to be going to university to study ICT in January but can’t afford the fees – c.€700 - and was unable to find a sponsor). He wanted advice on how to go about learning English properly (he speaks hardly any and only understands a little more than that). It was a good chat, partly because I became conscious of how much better my French has become! We figured on getting him some dual-language materials (maybe from my sister in Paris – hi Máirín, I’ll be in touch!) and downloading stuff from the Gutenberg website in both French and English, as well as some of their audio material in English. He just needs to practise and as there are almost always English-speaking guests here he should have plenty of opportunity once he acquires enough raw material to get started. And after all he has done to improve my French, it’s the least I can do. Again, as with the English classes, if anyone out there has ideas they would be welcome or indeed you can send me stuff for Eli to my post-box here: BP129, Butare, Rwanda. Murabeho!
JOKE: I wondered why the ball kept on getting bigger. And then it hit me.
Thank you very much to all of you who helped me to reach and exceed my fundraising total. I am continuing to fundraise for VSO for the next short while, so if you or anyone else you know feel like contributing , please go to www.mycharity.ie/event/ruairi. Murakoze cyane cyane!
JOKE: Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
Sunday
Earlyish breakfast with Beatta: we decided that we would go off to the market together later that afternoon after the Chelsea-Liverpool match and do a little shopping. I told Eli I was heading off but that I would be back around 1700 for the meeting with Pascal’s action group. I headed off to the cybercafé to gather more English teaching materials – bought a book called ‘Compelling Conversations’ from an American guy called Eric Roth which turns out to be a bit advanced for my lot but they may work their way up to it in time. I downloaded it in PDF format (5.5MB) which took ages! He agreed to email me the Word version as well so I can correct the US spellings before giving out photocopies! I also checked the Guardian website to see when the Chelsea-Liverpool match was starting – 12:30 English time which is 1330 here.
As I left the cybercafé, I noticed the market gates were locked – obviously no market on a Sunday. Arrived in the hotel just as the rain started and thunder growled in the distance. They were showing a recording of the Sunderland-Newcastle match from the previous day. I asked about Chelsea-Liverpool and the manager brought me back into a room where all the satellite equipment is kept and began to hunt for the signal, as the match had already started. As we hunted the signals began dropping out because of the thunderstorm and I realised it just wasn’t going to happen. Anyway, he had tried his best for almost fifteen minutes, you can’t ask for more.
Having already ordered a beer I decided to stay and finish it and hope maybe to catch the end of the match. With about (I estimated) fifteen minutes left, my ‘friend’ from previous occasions, Bezo (antiques smuggler, alleged Chelsea fan, general fixer and purveyor of whatever you want) turned up with a friend for the match. I said it was almost over and they were somewhat taken aback, rang a friend or two and said something along the lines of ‘No, I don’t think so’. The barman changed channels and, lo and behold, there was the pre-match discussion. So much for the Guardian website! I looked around for the hotel manager to see if I could apologise for the earlier histrionics but he wasn’t there (and, to be honest, is unlikely to be too worried).
Bezo and his friend went out back to meet some other footballing friends of theirs and I went with them. There was a huge crowd (about sixty) gathered in front of another screen and there was combined hilarity and cheering at the sight of my Chelsea shirt. The crowd seemed to be about one-quarter Chelsea, one quarter Liverpool and the rest hostile to both!
Anyway, the less said about the match the better (Chelsea lost for the uninitiated among you). However, a number of REALLY interesting things did happen. Another guy, Malenge, who had been doing the house-hunting for Tina and me, turned up and said he needed to speak to me urgently. When I joined him, away from the rest of the group, he said that the owner of one of the houses he had shown me, and that I no longer needed, was convinced Malenge was lying to him about what had happened, didn’t believe there was any muzungu at all and was threatening to hand the property over to someone else to let for him. Would I be willing to speak to this person – he is currently one of the country’s three vice-presidents or else was one and is now a government minister, or was a government minister (me and French compound tenses are still in the negotiating phase). So I pick up the phone and, sure enough, that is what it was all about. I explain to this guy (who has excellent English) all that happened, assured him that Malenge was doing a good job and that I would be happy to recommend him to VSO if any more volunteers are coming to Butare. Malenge seemed very pleased at the outcome, which is good because he actually did do a very good job for me and Tina.
Back to the match and chatting with Bezo and his footballing friends. It turns out they have ambitions (wait for it) of going to Ireland and playing in the League of Ireland as a way of getting noticed by English league clubs and thereby making the transition to the big time! I did try and explain (and no offence intended to the League of Ireland here) that the clubs there were not swimming in money and the chance of an anonymous application from Rwanda being greeted with enthusiasm and the swift dispatch of air tickets, visas and expenses was slim to say the least but a starving dog with a bone would not cling more tenaciously than they did to this dream of theirs. What they wanted from me were the names, addresses and contact details of the main League of Ireland clubs that might be interested in hiring them! I said, fine, if they really wanted to do that I could easily get the info (a half an hour on the Internet and they could have done it themselves to be honest). I also began to wonder if this was another of Bezo’s money-making schemes – was he shaking these guys down for a ‘consultancy’ fee in return for introducing them to this Irish ‘expert’ who could ‘guarantee’ them jobs in Ireland.
We arranged that I would be in the Faucon on Monday evening at 19.30 with the info: I said it was important that I met the actual players as well (as I wanted to make it clear exactly what I was and was not able to do) and they said fine.
So the next thing was generators. The other players had drifted away and Bezo and I were left. He said he remembered I had said I might need a generator for my new house and he might have someone who could supply me with one. I said it needed to be not too expensive and cheap to run because I couldn’t afford to spend too much on petrol. He thought this was hysterically funny so I told him how much I was earning a month (RWF150,000). He got even more hysterical with laughter until it began to dawn on him that maybe I was telling the truth and I wasn’t the super-rich muzungu he had presumed I was! This was not according to plan for him.
However, for me, I will need a generator and maybe Bezo is the kind of person who can actually arrange that for me, so I figured I would throw out a carrot. I said that of course it might be VSO who pay for a generator so I was still interested and if he had any details I could pass them on to the office. He said he would bring me some specifications once he got the chance. Also, he would ring me tomorrow with any details he had, or he would if he had any credit on his phone! Ah-ha! So I said I would lend him enough for phone credit but it was a test – he would have to have the money back for me tomorrow or I would know he couldn’t be trusted (I figured it would be a small but possibly worthwhile investment to just see if he is serious before I get into anything else). He headed off and I continued to watch – actually I forget what match was on next, it was Arsenal against someone but it wasn’t very exciting and I decided to head back to the hotel.
As I arrived in it suddenly dawned on me – the meeting with Pascal’s group, I had completely forgotten about it!! I was about two hours late but, being Rwanda, I just muttered something about difficulties and no-one seemed in the least put out. The group seemed to be bogged down in writing a constitution for the group and hadn’t gotten very far even with that and, as more people join the group, the aims and objectives and planned activities seem to be metamorphosing with bewildering rapidity so I am not really sure where this is all going at this stage or whether it will end up going anywhere at all. I made a variety of suggestions without any real sense of conviction to be honest (they had a clause saying the organisation’s main purpose was the promotion of the interests of its members, who are also defined as all those who sign up and pay a subscription – hardly a way to reach out to and encourage the participation of the vulnerable, isolated and victimised people they claim to be trying to help). Part of the problem here is that it is strictly forbidden to set up any kind of group or association without permission: it must be registered with the local authorities and jump through all sorts of official hoops before you can get going. The government is (possibly understandably) nervous of any groups being set up unless it knows exactly what their intention is! So all this focussing on a constitution etc is unfortunately necessary but they do need to get the finger out if they are going to be up and running for their first planned event on December 31st.
Decided to get some dinner but this was the moment where my stomach said it had had enough of the Ineza diet – carbohydrate overload! Got through a few forkfuls and then gave up. I felt really bad – people do NOT waste food here and it is the first time I had left food behind like that but there wasn’t really any choice!! Off to bed knowing that I am at least going to work tomorrow and going up to Nyanza on Wednesday to pick Ken Franklin’s brains!!
Monday
So, today was what I have read about in many other blogs as a typically Rwandan day. Francois had warned me he wouldn’t be around much for the next three days as the state exams are on and he has to check out the schools. I decided to get to the office a bit late as there wouldn’t be anyone there. I did the Internet cafe to see if Eric Roth had sent me the Word version of his book (he had – thanks Eric) and then got a moto out to Gisagara. I found someone to unlock the office and then discovered that the generator was off and there was no electricity, nor would there be for the foreseeable future. I spent a few hours just digging through piles of folders and reports trying to find out exactly what was there and the answer was – everything and nothing! It looks like someone tried to do something in 2006 as there was a lot of material for that year properly sorted but everything else seemed to be in a complete mess (that or I don’t get the filing system). I did find a big pile of MINEDUC documents on School Inspections, Quality Assurance, Educational Planning and suchlike (some in English, some in French) so that was something and I took a few away with me to read. However, my laptop had gone flat at this stage and I hadn’t yet printed out the stuff for my afternoon classes, so I decided to head off to the other section of the District Office (about 1½ km away) where I would be teaching my class anyway.
The walk was the usual one of scattered cries of ‘muzungu, muzungu’ and small processions of children (obviously not in school) but it is only about 13 minutes so not so bad. When I arrived I was told that all the staff had been in a meeting all day long which was still in progress and no-one knew if there would be a class or not. A really nice guy called Vincent invited me into his office and found me a socket for my laptop, printed off my class notes and generally made me at home (he is in charge of running the co-operatives in the district). The other teacher, Enoch, turned up as well as a third, Charis (?sp) so we were trying to decide who was going to teach which classes, today and long-term. I explained I would be away for two weeks starting Monday 3rd November. Enoch said he would be away that first week as he was supervising exams and Charis had applied to be a supervisor but had not heard yet whether or not he had been accepted. We agreed to talk Friday on exactly how we were going to run these classes between the three of us, at which point we were formally told everyone was too tired and there would be no class today. So I went off back to town!!
Arrived back in town (via a somewhat unsteady moto which I fell off at the end, no harm done but it flustered me so I forgot to get him to sign my receipt book! Memo: only hire the more powerful machines and only when driven by a guy who looks strong enough to control it!)(Alfred: in case you are wondering why he said ‘guy’, only men drive motos here, the only women we have seen with motos are abazungu like us. The sight of Ruairí getting a lift on the back of Jane’s moto was enough to cause amazed looks all round!). One problem for me is that my eating patterns have become completely irregular – long periods of fasting followed by a sudden large meal, not good. So I decided to take advantage of my earlyish return to get a proper early dinner in the Matar. And it was nice: baked potato with cheese and beans filling (RWF600) and an avocado salad with lemon juice dressing (RWF800) (and an enormous pile of grated carrot underneath which I couldn’t finish) and a Fanta citron (RWF400) which has become my drink of choice other than beer. Total cost RWF1800 (£1.80 or €2.50). More on budgeting in my next post.
Earlier today, I had got a message from Bezo saying he had information on the generator for me and would see me later as planned. So I headed home, dropped my stuff and then went off to meet the guy I am beginning to think of as Butare’s answer to The Artful Dodger, or Del Boy or that guy from Minder or whoever! And there he was with the generator manual and the generator owner (a huge guy who looked like Samuel L. Johnson from Pulp Fiction but with his hair trimmed better). The conversation didn’t go too well, as Bezo had obviously told Samuel I was ready to buy then and there! I explained in slow, very careful French to make sure I was clearly understood that: a) VSO already had a generator, in Kibeho b) if it was working OK, I would obviously get that one c) if it wasn’t working it was up to VSO to decide how to provide one d) if, and only if, they wanted to source one locally, then I would pass Bezo and Samuel L. Jackson’s contact details on to Enias in VSO and they could deal directly with him. So, exit one rather disgruntled Samuel, luckily not quoting from Ezekiel whatever it is in the film (Alfred: Ruairí left out their other remarks – the generator costs RWF700,000 which seems a lot and it is extremely powerful! Samuel dropped a number of remarks emphasising how careful you need to be using it – not exactly a recommendation when all you want to run is a few lights and maybe one plug!!)
As Samuel left, the footballers arrived and again it was time for frank talking. I gave them the list of clubs and contact details that I had got off the internet that morning but emphasised that their chances of getting a response was minimal. I said would they not consider England where there were such a large number of clubs, right down to the ... well, whatever they now call the Conference and the other teams lower down. No, no, no, no, no: England for them meant Premiership and they felt (!) that was too big an ask as a first step! Then they started asking me about passports and visas and I said they needed to realise that I knew precisely NOTHING about anything like that, or indeed about football. All I had done was gather information publicly available on the internet. In this case, they were fine with that – they said Bezo had told them I was a teacher and nothing to do with football but that they just thought they would try their luck and send off some CVs and CDs of their footballing skills! It turns out Bezo is actually one of the footballers also and is hoping to be one of those who heads off.
Anyway, they thanked me fulsomely and lavishly and I wished them all the best of good luck and, if through some incredible stroke of luck one of them actually makes it then I might actually start believing in God again! That or the Tooth Fairy. Or Boris Johnson – that’s probably the one that stretches credulity to the maximum.
(Alfred: sorry, I have to break in here again, mostly for those who know anything about the League of Ireland. Do you want to know what teams Ruairí has selected to be the new homes for the pick of Rwanda’s young footballers? Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, St Pat’s, Dundalk, Drogheda, Galway United ..... and Sporting Fingal! Why Sporting Fingal? Because they have a Wikipedia page! I hope he emails John Devine in Fingal, not to mention Paul Doolin in Drogheda and Jeff McKenna in Galway and everyone else to warn them what is going on!!!)
So finally Bezo and I were alone (dah!dah!). Bezo asked me what the average salary for a League of Ireland footballer was – I said I didn’t have a clue! He said he figured it was around €20,000 - €30,000 per week. Now it was my turn to laugh hysterically (see yesterday’s blog). I said you would be lucky to earn double that figure in a year (not that I know but I presume that’s a good guess). Bezo was crestfallen and then I said, since he had brought up the subject of money, where was the money he owed me? Ah ha! No problem, he said, he just had to go and fetch it. I reminded him of what I had said yesterday – this was the test as to whether I could trust him or not. Of course, of course, he said: he would meet me at the Ineza in a few minutes (I had to be back to meet Francois at 2000). Did he appear? Of course not!! (Alfred: which ‘he’ does he mean here? Well, as you probably guessed, both of them!) Anyway, that gives me a good defence if he starts getting too annoying. Pay me and I talk (well worth it for €5). Francois did ring at 2045 – he sounded terrible: I think he had been on the road the entire day visiting school and was absolutely wrecked so I said not to worry.
So an interesting day. Ken rang to defer my visit until later in November as he is up to his ears at the moment, so that kind of gives me a day off tomorrow. If I go out to Gisagara the guy who is taking my class for me won’t get paid (when I say ‘my class’ it really is his class so I’ll let him at it) so a chance to do some French and Kinyarwandan and catch up on emails and the blog (as you can see).
Before going to bed, I sat in the garden with Eli for half-an-hour talking about his plans for the future (Eli is the youngest brother of the hotel manager who was supposed to be going to university to study ICT in January but can’t afford the fees – c.€700 - and was unable to find a sponsor). He wanted advice on how to go about learning English properly (he speaks hardly any and only understands a little more than that). It was a good chat, partly because I became conscious of how much better my French has become! We figured on getting him some dual-language materials (maybe from my sister in Paris – hi Máirín, I’ll be in touch!) and downloading stuff from the Gutenberg website in both French and English, as well as some of their audio material in English. He just needs to practise and as there are almost always English-speaking guests here he should have plenty of opportunity once he acquires enough raw material to get started. And after all he has done to improve my French, it’s the least I can do. Again, as with the English classes, if anyone out there has ideas they would be welcome or indeed you can send me stuff for Eli to my post-box here: BP129, Butare, Rwanda. Murabeho!
JOKE: I wondered why the ball kept on getting bigger. And then it hit me.
Thank you very much to all of you who helped me to reach and exceed my fundraising total. I am continuing to fundraise for VSO for the next short while, so if you or anyone else you know feel like contributing , please go to www.mycharity.ie/event/ruairi. Murakoze cyane cyane!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Wednesday 22nd to Saturday 25th October: Days Forty-Six to Forty-Nine in Rwanda
Please note that VSO is in no way connected with or responsible for the content, comments and observations in this blog: these are solely my own in a personal capacity.
{Yes, I know I already did one for Wednesday but a lot happened after I got home from the cybercafé so bear with me.}
So, there I am in the cybercafé when my phone rings and Jane tells me she is at the Ineza so I hurry back. Just as I settle down, who appears out of nowhere but ... Francois!! So we retire to my room and I ask – rather pointedly – where he was the previous night when we were supposed to meet! Wrong thing to say – the poor guy has had a really bad few days!! That story of his that I thought was a load of rubbish about his not being able to drive his moto because he didn’t have a licence ... well, his bike got impounded by the police the other day and he had to pay a RWF50,000 fine to get it back (that’s got to be between one and two week’s wages for him). He now has a special dispensation from the mayor to ride his bike until the end of the examination period because he has to be able to visit schools, but once the exams finish, well he’s not sure. He also (and this is also true because I have seen him doing it!) bought a new mobile phone but can’t figure out how to use it which is why he couldn’t call me to explain!! Poor guy!
Anyway, I cheered him up a bit by telling him that a) there was no problem b) the house situation seemed to be progressing c) I was hoping to get a volunteer to replace Tina, possibly by January d) I was ready to start work tomorrow e) I had got loads of stuff and ideas from other Education Management Advisors that would help. So, conscious that Jane was waiting, we said our goodbyes until 0630 tomorrow.
It was really nice to go back to Jane’s – change of surroundings and food always welcome! Had a really good long chat – she had had a really miserable day: got soaked to the skin and then couldn’t make it to a meeting she really wanted to get to because the rain was just too heavy. Anyway, nice evening and got back to bed at around 2300 conscious that I had to be up at 0530!!
There is a really good Ed Byrne sketch you can get on YouTube which includes a bit on how you reassess your need for time to do things in the morning as opposed to getting just a little bit more sleep!! Phone rings at 0530, I promptly reset it for 0540, and then 0550 again, at which point I figured I had better actually get up. The bucket of hot water had already arrived so I was able to have a quick ‘shower’ and then stuff a banana and bread down my throat before heading off. Singing ‘Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s Off To Work We Go!’ to the bemusement of the large number of passing Rwandans I walked up to the main street to wait for Francois. He was a little bit late (his wife works as well and they have four small kids so what the hell), which gave time for the entire population of Butare to wander past me and wonder what this muzungu was doing standing there in a rain poncho and holding a motorcycle helmet. Two people I had never met before introduced themselves to me as enthusiastically and warmly as if we were brothers separated at birth (genetically unlikely) – Emmanuel (short, sells phone cards, very little English) and Didier (incredibly tall and thin, better English, tried to do one of those complicated convoluted handshakes with me and then got very confused because I didn’t know it – must get him to teach me it properly; after all, I’m going to be standing there every day for a while (Alfred: wouldn’t bet on that, wait for later!).
Anyway, François arrived and off we went. Francois is not a professional moto driver and, now that I realise he has never passed a test, I suppose I am beginning to notice one or two things about his driving, like he goes TOO BLOODY FAST! There are bits on the road where the professional guys (as in the ones who do it for a living) slow down, but he doesn’t. Also his bike is only 100cc which is a real struggle on these hills, so if I get one I must make sure it is a 125 or 150cc. Of course having me and my rucksack on the back doesn’t exactly help!!
So to work. First I got to sit in the corridor for an hour because Francois was hosting the regular morning meeting in his office (it rotates so it won’t happen every morning). I read my French dictionary, which was actually really good practice and then Francois let me loose on his computer while he went away and did stuff. He said he would be back at 1100 to take me to visit three schools where he was inspecting the examination arrangements. I won’t bore you with all the statistical details (Alfred: Awwwwwwwwww! Pleeeeease!) but they have actually been doing a lot more than I had expected from talking to the other volunteers. At 1200 he offered me some tea and buns which I accepted (sweet milky tea with some sort of spices in it, must arrange to bring my own) and asked me if I had my class prepared for that afternoon. ‘Class?’ I said. He thought it was really funny how I looked so blank until he realised I actually didn’t know what he was talking about. Apparently when Tina and I said to the mayor a fortnight ago that we would be willing to advise the district on English training for the staff, they read a lot more into that than we realised. Apparently, I was to take the 40 or so District Office staff for their first English lesson at 1500 today!! There will be a second teacher and they are looking for a third as they realise that I won’t be able to do it all the time (dead right!)
Anyway, I got on with my statistics while frantically wondering how I was going to do this. Then Francois wandered in very excited and said that Eugene, the District Secretary, said he had found a different and much better house in Gisagara and we were going to see it after the class. Then Francois would drop me back to Butare but only after a long detour to Save to deliver some letters! Wonderful!
Anyway, three o’clock comes around and off we head to the District Office (about a mile away) for English class!! (Just so we are clear on this, I have never taught English in my life, either as a first or second language). This was the very first day: all District staff have been ordered to attend English classes every day from 1500 to 1700!! For the next three months! And by the end of this they are supposed to be able to converse in, read documents in and write their official correspondence and reports in English. Anyway, we started with some speeches (in French and Kinyarwandan: I said some lofty things about l’Anglais c’est l’avenir de Rwanda, which is a bit ironic given that I had to say it in French to make sure I was understood!!) The rest of the time was spent messing around with dividing them into two groups, Beginners and Advanced (I tried to explain the concept of Intermediate rather than scare people off with Advanced but no good). The other English teacher is called Enoch and his English is good, though he had difficulty with my accent which was interesting and a good warning to me.
I suggested they be allowed to choose which class they would be in – no one thought this was a good idea! Instead, everyone was required to stand up and make an impromptu speech about themselves and I was to grade them into Beginners and Advanced accordingly. It was a bit of a shambles. Some people had prepared stuff, some had written stuff out and were not-very-surreptitiously reading it out from notes. Every time someone finished, everyone would start discussing how they had done, so you missed the start of the next person, including their name! And what names – even written down some of them are difficult but when whispered nervously in a hall full of chatting people while the Deputy Mayor is on his mobile sitting next to you – not a hope! Anyway, we got them sorted, told them all that if they felt the class was too hard or too easy they could move and then Enoch gave them a short lecture on the methodology of what he was going to be doing and the educational thinking behind it. I thought ‘Oh Sweet Lord, no’ but they lapped it up and took notes! I’m not sure of what as some of them had virtually no English but they were dying for the chance to write stuff down and be told what to do. I swear they were disappointed that there wasn’t any homework!! (I promised them some tomorrow). When I said at one stage (1615 having started at 1500) that we were running late, they gleefully told me the classes run until 1700 each day! Gleefully! You gotta admire the enthusiasm. Of course there were only 22 there (the enthusiastic ones or the ones so junior they were afraid to skip) so it’ll be utter chaos tomorrow when another 15 turn up and have to be sorted too.
Anyway, a good introduction to how things go here – no advance warning, a room with nothing to write on (no board or flipchart), no textbooks or materials, only one room available whereas by tomorrow we will have two separate classes . they better find another teacher soon!!
Then off to see the house and boy! is it an improvement on the other one. Well, the exterior is anyway – we didn’t have a key so we couldn’t get in, but it is solid and secure and set a little back from the road in a more secluded part of the village. Loads of children living nearby but I figure they will get used to me eventually. Still an outside latrine but a better one and they said they can put in wiring for a generator. The key will be there tomorrow so, with any luck, when I get back from Kigali after training and moto practice, I’ll have a house to move into!!
Oh yes – the moto training! Jane told me more details. We have VSO training from Monday to Friday, Saturday off (though complete beginners may have Saturday training), moto training from Sunday to Wednesday ........ and then our Rwandan Motorcycle Driving Test on Thursday!!! I kid you not – the guy who was never able to roller-skate or ice-skate or ski or do AYTHING that involved a reasonable sense of balance is doing his test after four days of training. I must be mad. Come to think of it, imagine if I pass!!! What will that tell you (Alfred: It will tell you that .... oh, never mind. Fish in a barrel).
Anyway, time to do my homework (Francois gave me a bundle of handwritten statistics to turn into an Excel spreadsheet for tomorrow – ahhh!). Bringing work home with me, feels like putting on your favourite pair of old shoes that fit just right!! Murabeho!
EDUCATION STATISTIC NUMBER ONE: Runinya Primary School in Mukindo sector has 739 students in 1st class; by the time you get to 6th class there are 23.
Friday
THE DAY EVERYTHING (SEEMED AT LEAST) TO BE COMING RIGHT
OK – looks like we are on track, kind of. Short version – up early, lift from Francois, spent most of the morning preparing my English class for this afternoon’s Beginner’s Class. Have now realised that most of the statistics I have found have no dates on them! So there is no way of doing any work with them as it is (at this stage) impossible to tell where or rather when they come from. I did think of checking the file properties to find out when they were created but, given that the computer the files live on thinks it is already 2009, I’m not so sure how accurate the date stamp is!!
Anyway, a long day of computer work and then two hours of English language teaching, the first ever English class I have ever taught in my life. That is really something, given that I have taught most subjects at some stage in my life. We did greetings (I included ‘Safe home’ as a farewell, they need it with these roads) and general conversation, the verb ‘to be’ in various manifestations, numbers and loads of other stuff. Except ... when I turned up, the other teacher (Enoch) said he was taking the Beginner’s and I had the Advanced group (in the broadest sense of the word ‘Advanced’, it has to be said). As my notes and handouts were rather basic, I had to lay great emphasis on pronunciation and stress in sentences. The weird thing was (if weird is the word) .......... well, imagine if you were told (in whatever line of work you are in) that you are required to attend compulsory classes from 3:00 to 5:00 EVERY DAY, including Friday because the government thinks it is a good idea. I presumed that at least SOME of them would be, to put it mildly, reluctant attendees. No way – bubbling with enthusiasm, and keen to learn. The most senior person there, Eugene, the District Secretary (a seriously important person) I figured was just making an appearance for the sake of it. He was inspirational! (He is the guy who, when Enoch gave his speech yesterday on the methodology of teaching English, said afterwards: ‘Hey! Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking! We only have to do four things – how difficult can that be!’ (paraphrasing a little there, admittedly)).
Then off to look at the inside of my new house, and it’s fine. Admittedly a bit smaller on the inside than I expected – one big room is reserved for the owner (who lives in Amsterdam) to store his stuff in. Two medium bedrooms, two small rooms, a sitting-room and another room that could be a makeshift kitchen. Outside latrine and cooking area also and guard comes with the house who costs RWF10,000 (£10) per month. Looks good to me – I just wanted wiring in four rooms and the latrine and nobody felt that was a problem.
Then back to Butare on the back of Francois’ moto and met Tina Payne and Beatta for drinks and food (really good pepper steak in the Ibis – and well earned, I felt). It was a really good day – I did a lot of work, I taught for two hours, I looked at a house I would actually like to live in, I have loads of new ideas about what I might do over the next one-and-three-quarter years .... I thought I would be wrecked this evening, instead I am bouncing around with adrenalin running through my veins. WE HAVE LIFT-OFF!! (I hope). As Alfred said, never presume everything in Rwanda but, hey, one can always hope!
JOKE: I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian (thanks, MT, for this and all following ones).
Saturday
Lazy morning, did all my laundry in the sink in cold water and only afterwards noticed the bucket of hot water had after all been left outside my door! Late breakfast (just tea) with Tina and Beatta. Then these two people came over and introduced themselves – Sebastien who is Belgian and working as a volunteer in the university Biology department and a Kenyan guy called Enoch who turns out to be a returned VSO volunteer! He was recruited in London and did his training in Harbourne Hall just like me and Tina and then did 18 months in Daru in Papua New Guinea! He stayed on for another year there with the WWF and is now working as a conservation and agricultural consultant in Rwanda. I can’t remember where my SKWID buddy Don Herron is exactly in Papua New Guinea – must check if he is anywhere near Daru! Enoch siad there were lots of Irish volunteers there when he was there but they tended to home early from utter frustration at how difficult it was to get anything done. His descriptions of Papua New Guinea do make Rwanda seem like ... Sweden I suppose? Switzerland? Which country would you pick as the model of efficiency and
Enoch offered to show us pictures of Papua New Guinea but the sun was so strong so he said he would copy them onto my flashdrive. Hey presto – my drive (which I had scanned and cleaned only yesterday) had a really nasty virus on it which his anti-virus, luckily, was able to deal with. The computer in Gisagara is riddled with the things – I’m going to try and download AVG or something and install it out there, even if it takes forever to download: otherwise I’m going to be having this happen every day. Sebastian said he brought his computer to be repaired because it was going so slow and it had over a thousand viruses on it!
Anyway, today is umuganda day (compulsory public work) but I am not registered yet so there is no point going out to look for someone to tell me what to do. Once I move to Gisagara I’ll register with my cellule organiser and he’ll tell me what they are doing each month. So it’s cybercafe at 1200 once everything reopens and then nothing too much after that, I suspect. Oh yes, a general appeal. If anyone out there has learning resources etc in electronic form that would be useful for teaching a class of adults English (both beginners and intermediate) I would appreciate a copy! Just email it to me at roheithir@gmail.com! Murakoze cyane (go raibh míle maith agat/agaibh).
JOKE 2: No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery (this one seems particularly appropriate to Rwanda).
Thank you very much to all of you who helped me to reach and exceed my fundraising total. I am continuing to fundraise for VSO for the next short while, so if you or anyone else you know feel like contributing , please go to www.mycharity.ie/event/ruairi. Murakoze cyane cyane!
{Yes, I know I already did one for Wednesday but a lot happened after I got home from the cybercafé so bear with me.}
So, there I am in the cybercafé when my phone rings and Jane tells me she is at the Ineza so I hurry back. Just as I settle down, who appears out of nowhere but ... Francois!! So we retire to my room and I ask – rather pointedly – where he was the previous night when we were supposed to meet! Wrong thing to say – the poor guy has had a really bad few days!! That story of his that I thought was a load of rubbish about his not being able to drive his moto because he didn’t have a licence ... well, his bike got impounded by the police the other day and he had to pay a RWF50,000 fine to get it back (that’s got to be between one and two week’s wages for him). He now has a special dispensation from the mayor to ride his bike until the end of the examination period because he has to be able to visit schools, but once the exams finish, well he’s not sure. He also (and this is also true because I have seen him doing it!) bought a new mobile phone but can’t figure out how to use it which is why he couldn’t call me to explain!! Poor guy!
Anyway, I cheered him up a bit by telling him that a) there was no problem b) the house situation seemed to be progressing c) I was hoping to get a volunteer to replace Tina, possibly by January d) I was ready to start work tomorrow e) I had got loads of stuff and ideas from other Education Management Advisors that would help. So, conscious that Jane was waiting, we said our goodbyes until 0630 tomorrow.
It was really nice to go back to Jane’s – change of surroundings and food always welcome! Had a really good long chat – she had had a really miserable day: got soaked to the skin and then couldn’t make it to a meeting she really wanted to get to because the rain was just too heavy. Anyway, nice evening and got back to bed at around 2300 conscious that I had to be up at 0530!!
There is a really good Ed Byrne sketch you can get on YouTube which includes a bit on how you reassess your need for time to do things in the morning as opposed to getting just a little bit more sleep!! Phone rings at 0530, I promptly reset it for 0540, and then 0550 again, at which point I figured I had better actually get up. The bucket of hot water had already arrived so I was able to have a quick ‘shower’ and then stuff a banana and bread down my throat before heading off. Singing ‘Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s Off To Work We Go!’ to the bemusement of the large number of passing Rwandans I walked up to the main street to wait for Francois. He was a little bit late (his wife works as well and they have four small kids so what the hell), which gave time for the entire population of Butare to wander past me and wonder what this muzungu was doing standing there in a rain poncho and holding a motorcycle helmet. Two people I had never met before introduced themselves to me as enthusiastically and warmly as if we were brothers separated at birth (genetically unlikely) – Emmanuel (short, sells phone cards, very little English) and Didier (incredibly tall and thin, better English, tried to do one of those complicated convoluted handshakes with me and then got very confused because I didn’t know it – must get him to teach me it properly; after all, I’m going to be standing there every day for a while (Alfred: wouldn’t bet on that, wait for later!).
Anyway, François arrived and off we went. Francois is not a professional moto driver and, now that I realise he has never passed a test, I suppose I am beginning to notice one or two things about his driving, like he goes TOO BLOODY FAST! There are bits on the road where the professional guys (as in the ones who do it for a living) slow down, but he doesn’t. Also his bike is only 100cc which is a real struggle on these hills, so if I get one I must make sure it is a 125 or 150cc. Of course having me and my rucksack on the back doesn’t exactly help!!
So to work. First I got to sit in the corridor for an hour because Francois was hosting the regular morning meeting in his office (it rotates so it won’t happen every morning). I read my French dictionary, which was actually really good practice and then Francois let me loose on his computer while he went away and did stuff. He said he would be back at 1100 to take me to visit three schools where he was inspecting the examination arrangements. I won’t bore you with all the statistical details (Alfred: Awwwwwwwwww! Pleeeeease!) but they have actually been doing a lot more than I had expected from talking to the other volunteers. At 1200 he offered me some tea and buns which I accepted (sweet milky tea with some sort of spices in it, must arrange to bring my own) and asked me if I had my class prepared for that afternoon. ‘Class?’ I said. He thought it was really funny how I looked so blank until he realised I actually didn’t know what he was talking about. Apparently when Tina and I said to the mayor a fortnight ago that we would be willing to advise the district on English training for the staff, they read a lot more into that than we realised. Apparently, I was to take the 40 or so District Office staff for their first English lesson at 1500 today!! There will be a second teacher and they are looking for a third as they realise that I won’t be able to do it all the time (dead right!)
Anyway, I got on with my statistics while frantically wondering how I was going to do this. Then Francois wandered in very excited and said that Eugene, the District Secretary, said he had found a different and much better house in Gisagara and we were going to see it after the class. Then Francois would drop me back to Butare but only after a long detour to Save to deliver some letters! Wonderful!
Anyway, three o’clock comes around and off we head to the District Office (about a mile away) for English class!! (Just so we are clear on this, I have never taught English in my life, either as a first or second language). This was the very first day: all District staff have been ordered to attend English classes every day from 1500 to 1700!! For the next three months! And by the end of this they are supposed to be able to converse in, read documents in and write their official correspondence and reports in English. Anyway, we started with some speeches (in French and Kinyarwandan: I said some lofty things about l’Anglais c’est l’avenir de Rwanda, which is a bit ironic given that I had to say it in French to make sure I was understood!!) The rest of the time was spent messing around with dividing them into two groups, Beginners and Advanced (I tried to explain the concept of Intermediate rather than scare people off with Advanced but no good). The other English teacher is called Enoch and his English is good, though he had difficulty with my accent which was interesting and a good warning to me.
I suggested they be allowed to choose which class they would be in – no one thought this was a good idea! Instead, everyone was required to stand up and make an impromptu speech about themselves and I was to grade them into Beginners and Advanced accordingly. It was a bit of a shambles. Some people had prepared stuff, some had written stuff out and were not-very-surreptitiously reading it out from notes. Every time someone finished, everyone would start discussing how they had done, so you missed the start of the next person, including their name! And what names – even written down some of them are difficult but when whispered nervously in a hall full of chatting people while the Deputy Mayor is on his mobile sitting next to you – not a hope! Anyway, we got them sorted, told them all that if they felt the class was too hard or too easy they could move and then Enoch gave them a short lecture on the methodology of what he was going to be doing and the educational thinking behind it. I thought ‘Oh Sweet Lord, no’ but they lapped it up and took notes! I’m not sure of what as some of them had virtually no English but they were dying for the chance to write stuff down and be told what to do. I swear they were disappointed that there wasn’t any homework!! (I promised them some tomorrow). When I said at one stage (1615 having started at 1500) that we were running late, they gleefully told me the classes run until 1700 each day! Gleefully! You gotta admire the enthusiasm. Of course there were only 22 there (the enthusiastic ones or the ones so junior they were afraid to skip) so it’ll be utter chaos tomorrow when another 15 turn up and have to be sorted too.
Anyway, a good introduction to how things go here – no advance warning, a room with nothing to write on (no board or flipchart), no textbooks or materials, only one room available whereas by tomorrow we will have two separate classes . they better find another teacher soon!!
Then off to see the house and boy! is it an improvement on the other one. Well, the exterior is anyway – we didn’t have a key so we couldn’t get in, but it is solid and secure and set a little back from the road in a more secluded part of the village. Loads of children living nearby but I figure they will get used to me eventually. Still an outside latrine but a better one and they said they can put in wiring for a generator. The key will be there tomorrow so, with any luck, when I get back from Kigali after training and moto practice, I’ll have a house to move into!!
Oh yes – the moto training! Jane told me more details. We have VSO training from Monday to Friday, Saturday off (though complete beginners may have Saturday training), moto training from Sunday to Wednesday ........ and then our Rwandan Motorcycle Driving Test on Thursday!!! I kid you not – the guy who was never able to roller-skate or ice-skate or ski or do AYTHING that involved a reasonable sense of balance is doing his test after four days of training. I must be mad. Come to think of it, imagine if I pass!!! What will that tell you (Alfred: It will tell you that .... oh, never mind. Fish in a barrel).
Anyway, time to do my homework (Francois gave me a bundle of handwritten statistics to turn into an Excel spreadsheet for tomorrow – ahhh!). Bringing work home with me, feels like putting on your favourite pair of old shoes that fit just right!! Murabeho!
EDUCATION STATISTIC NUMBER ONE: Runinya Primary School in Mukindo sector has 739 students in 1st class; by the time you get to 6th class there are 23.
Friday
THE DAY EVERYTHING (SEEMED AT LEAST) TO BE COMING RIGHT
OK – looks like we are on track, kind of. Short version – up early, lift from Francois, spent most of the morning preparing my English class for this afternoon’s Beginner’s Class. Have now realised that most of the statistics I have found have no dates on them! So there is no way of doing any work with them as it is (at this stage) impossible to tell where or rather when they come from. I did think of checking the file properties to find out when they were created but, given that the computer the files live on thinks it is already 2009, I’m not so sure how accurate the date stamp is!!
Anyway, a long day of computer work and then two hours of English language teaching, the first ever English class I have ever taught in my life. That is really something, given that I have taught most subjects at some stage in my life. We did greetings (I included ‘Safe home’ as a farewell, they need it with these roads) and general conversation, the verb ‘to be’ in various manifestations, numbers and loads of other stuff. Except ... when I turned up, the other teacher (Enoch) said he was taking the Beginner’s and I had the Advanced group (in the broadest sense of the word ‘Advanced’, it has to be said). As my notes and handouts were rather basic, I had to lay great emphasis on pronunciation and stress in sentences. The weird thing was (if weird is the word) .......... well, imagine if you were told (in whatever line of work you are in) that you are required to attend compulsory classes from 3:00 to 5:00 EVERY DAY, including Friday because the government thinks it is a good idea. I presumed that at least SOME of them would be, to put it mildly, reluctant attendees. No way – bubbling with enthusiasm, and keen to learn. The most senior person there, Eugene, the District Secretary (a seriously important person) I figured was just making an appearance for the sake of it. He was inspirational! (He is the guy who, when Enoch gave his speech yesterday on the methodology of teaching English, said afterwards: ‘Hey! Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking! We only have to do four things – how difficult can that be!’ (paraphrasing a little there, admittedly)).
Then off to look at the inside of my new house, and it’s fine. Admittedly a bit smaller on the inside than I expected – one big room is reserved for the owner (who lives in Amsterdam) to store his stuff in. Two medium bedrooms, two small rooms, a sitting-room and another room that could be a makeshift kitchen. Outside latrine and cooking area also and guard comes with the house who costs RWF10,000 (£10) per month. Looks good to me – I just wanted wiring in four rooms and the latrine and nobody felt that was a problem.
Then back to Butare on the back of Francois’ moto and met Tina Payne and Beatta for drinks and food (really good pepper steak in the Ibis – and well earned, I felt). It was a really good day – I did a lot of work, I taught for two hours, I looked at a house I would actually like to live in, I have loads of new ideas about what I might do over the next one-and-three-quarter years .... I thought I would be wrecked this evening, instead I am bouncing around with adrenalin running through my veins. WE HAVE LIFT-OFF!! (I hope). As Alfred said, never presume everything in Rwanda but, hey, one can always hope!
JOKE: I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian (thanks, MT, for this and all following ones).
Saturday
Lazy morning, did all my laundry in the sink in cold water and only afterwards noticed the bucket of hot water had after all been left outside my door! Late breakfast (just tea) with Tina and Beatta. Then these two people came over and introduced themselves – Sebastien who is Belgian and working as a volunteer in the university Biology department and a Kenyan guy called Enoch who turns out to be a returned VSO volunteer! He was recruited in London and did his training in Harbourne Hall just like me and Tina and then did 18 months in Daru in Papua New Guinea! He stayed on for another year there with the WWF and is now working as a conservation and agricultural consultant in Rwanda. I can’t remember where my SKWID buddy Don Herron is exactly in Papua New Guinea – must check if he is anywhere near Daru! Enoch siad there were lots of Irish volunteers there when he was there but they tended to home early from utter frustration at how difficult it was to get anything done. His descriptions of Papua New Guinea do make Rwanda seem like ... Sweden I suppose? Switzerland? Which country would you pick as the model of efficiency and
Enoch offered to show us pictures of Papua New Guinea but the sun was so strong so he said he would copy them onto my flashdrive. Hey presto – my drive (which I had scanned and cleaned only yesterday) had a really nasty virus on it which his anti-virus, luckily, was able to deal with. The computer in Gisagara is riddled with the things – I’m going to try and download AVG or something and install it out there, even if it takes forever to download: otherwise I’m going to be having this happen every day. Sebastian said he brought his computer to be repaired because it was going so slow and it had over a thousand viruses on it!
Anyway, today is umuganda day (compulsory public work) but I am not registered yet so there is no point going out to look for someone to tell me what to do. Once I move to Gisagara I’ll register with my cellule organiser and he’ll tell me what they are doing each month. So it’s cybercafe at 1200 once everything reopens and then nothing too much after that, I suspect. Oh yes, a general appeal. If anyone out there has learning resources etc in electronic form that would be useful for teaching a class of adults English (both beginners and intermediate) I would appreciate a copy! Just email it to me at roheithir@gmail.com! Murakoze cyane (go raibh míle maith agat/agaibh).
JOKE 2: No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery (this one seems particularly appropriate to Rwanda).
Thank you very much to all of you who helped me to reach and exceed my fundraising total. I am continuing to fundraise for VSO for the next short while, so if you or anyone else you know feel like contributing , please go to www.mycharity.ie/event/ruairi. Murakoze cyane cyane!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday 21st to Wednesday 22nd October: Days Forty-Five and Forty-Six in Rwanda
Please note that VSO is in no way connected with or responsible for the content, comments and observations in this blog: these are solely my own in a personal capacity.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! Fundraising target reached and exceeded!! Huge thanks to everyone involved but especially to Muireann ní Mhóráin who raised over €2,000 for me at her 50th birthday party – maith thú a Mhuireann agus buíochas ó chroí chugat féin is do chairde ar fad!
I will keep the fund open for a few more weeks as some people told me they were doing stuff also but I will bring it to a close soon, so if anyone out there wants to contribute) or knows anyone else whose arm they can twist!) go for it!!
Meanwhile, I have been working away in the cell-like recess of my hotel room. Yesterday I had texted my boss to say could he pick me up on Wednesday morning so we could go out to the office together and have a proper planning discussion. He texted back immediately saying it was really important he see me Tuesday evening and it couldn’t wait until Wednesday. We fixed 1730 and ... guess what? No show, no text, nothing. I texted him again saying I would be there in the morning to be collected – again nothing! Aggghhhhhhhhhhhh! I spent yesterday ploughing through the statistical stuff and other things Mans gave me (including reading through about seven different MINEDUC policy documents but I’m afraid that today I actually played Civilization most of the day (until the hotel power went out – AGAIN!) and I was forced to move to the Internet cafe! I think tomorrow I am just going to get a moto out to his office and sit outside it all day if that is what it takes.
Having said that. the stuff Mans gave me is so good, I am actually able to start getting stuff ready even before meeting Francois so it isn’t a total loss, but that hotel room is beginning to seem awfully small!!
Jane is back down from Kigali tonight so I am calling over to her for dinner – be nice to see another face for a change!! Also VSO rang to confirm my name is down for motorcycle training starting Saturday 8th November – wish me luck!!
These are a few photos of my hotel room (12’ x 9’ or 4m x 3m, roughly) and me looking startled in my new Obama shirt!
This is a typical meal (this is what I have for either lunch or dinner each day in the hotel – I never eat both) – kidney beans on rice, boiled potatoes, spaghetti with a little sauce, green beans and carrots, cabbage, spinach lookalike and some chips buried underneath the whole lot! The kidney beans are my favourite!! You can also have stewed sweet potatoes, mini-aubergines and fried plantain if you really want them! Stewed goat or beef are RWF200 per piece extra, boiled eggs RWF100!
Thank you VERY VERY VERYmuch to all those who have supported my ongoing fundraising effort. I will be continuing my fundraising for VSO for little while longer so, if you would like to contribute, please go to www.mycharity.ie/event/ruairi.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!! Fundraising target reached and exceeded!! Huge thanks to everyone involved but especially to Muireann ní Mhóráin who raised over €2,000 for me at her 50th birthday party – maith thú a Mhuireann agus buíochas ó chroí chugat féin is do chairde ar fad!
I will keep the fund open for a few more weeks as some people told me they were doing stuff also but I will bring it to a close soon, so if anyone out there wants to contribute) or knows anyone else whose arm they can twist!) go for it!!
Meanwhile, I have been working away in the cell-like recess of my hotel room. Yesterday I had texted my boss to say could he pick me up on Wednesday morning so we could go out to the office together and have a proper planning discussion. He texted back immediately saying it was really important he see me Tuesday evening and it couldn’t wait until Wednesday. We fixed 1730 and ... guess what? No show, no text, nothing. I texted him again saying I would be there in the morning to be collected – again nothing! Aggghhhhhhhhhhhh! I spent yesterday ploughing through the statistical stuff and other things Mans gave me (including reading through about seven different MINEDUC policy documents but I’m afraid that today I actually played Civilization most of the day (until the hotel power went out – AGAIN!) and I was forced to move to the Internet cafe! I think tomorrow I am just going to get a moto out to his office and sit outside it all day if that is what it takes.
Having said that. the stuff Mans gave me is so good, I am actually able to start getting stuff ready even before meeting Francois so it isn’t a total loss, but that hotel room is beginning to seem awfully small!!
Jane is back down from Kigali tonight so I am calling over to her for dinner – be nice to see another face for a change!! Also VSO rang to confirm my name is down for motorcycle training starting Saturday 8th November – wish me luck!!
These are a few photos of my hotel room (12’ x 9’ or 4m x 3m, roughly) and me looking startled in my new Obama shirt!
This is a typical meal (this is what I have for either lunch or dinner each day in the hotel – I never eat both) – kidney beans on rice, boiled potatoes, spaghetti with a little sauce, green beans and carrots, cabbage, spinach lookalike and some chips buried underneath the whole lot! The kidney beans are my favourite!! You can also have stewed sweet potatoes, mini-aubergines and fried plantain if you really want them! Stewed goat or beef are RWF200 per piece extra, boiled eggs RWF100!
Thank you VERY VERY VERYmuch to all those who have supported my ongoing fundraising effort. I will be continuing my fundraising for VSO for little while longer so, if you would like to contribute, please go to www.mycharity.ie/event/ruairi.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Thursday 16th to Monday 20th October: Days Forty to Forty-Four in Rwanda
Please note that VSO is in no way connected with or responsible for the content, comments and observations in this blog: these are solely my own in a personal capacity.
NEW POSTING POLICY: I was entering each day separately up to now but it is a real pain so from now on each entry will cover all the days since my last posting. Hope that is clear!! Also, I am still having trouble getting photos and labels to align, don’t know why yet!
Thursday
Flashback to yesterday – Tina met Mike and Charlotte and basically they agreed to her plan to relocate to Shogywe. She is going to go and live in Gitarama with Hayley and Soraya until the end of November when the house in Shogywe will be free (Alfred: ha, ha! – not only does Tina now have a Man Utd umbrella, she is going to be living with a puppy!!! You gotta love the way the universe messes us around!). This means I will be on my own in my placement until at least September – which is fine (I suppose) as I had originally figured I would be placed on my own anyway and I doubt a combination of a working me and an increasingly frustrated non-working Tina would be very good for either of us (Alfred: on second thoughts, she is better off weth the puppy!). Charlotte rang me to update me and also to check that I was OK with being on my own in Gisagara – I said fine but they should think of a placement there for September 2009 or even earlier if someone were to become available.
She also asked me had I sent her any details on what needed to be done about the house – I had promised to do this and forgot! So I quickly drafted up a list of points, wishing I had been a little more observant when I was there and maybe even taken some pictures. It was quite a list and I hope to hear back soon whether or not VSO are happy with what I have put in it.
Today morning (Thursday), Joe Walk arrived down from his session with Mans and brought me the missing files. It was really great to see him again – we shared a room in Kigali for 17 days but hadn’t seen each other since. He is extremely isolated over in Nyamasheke on the shores of Lake Kivu and is in an incredibly small 2-roomed house – he can’t cook or do laundry so the nearby nuns are feeding him and doing the laundry (at an outrageous price, I might add). He is looking into alternative accommodation arrangements or else they will have to move him. Again, interesting parallels between our two situations: accommodation that was obviously not checked out beforehand and is inadequate, enormous delays between informing the Program Office and hearing back from the Program Manager (10 days in both our cases). However, he has made great progress with his work, including organising a twinning between his school in England and a local secondary school in Nyamasheke.
We had a great day in Butare – explored all the shops so Joe knows what is available here (Namasheke has nothing and Cyangugu, the nearest town about 90 minutes away, has very little). We also had a few beers and a meal in the Chinese restaurant where the manageress refused to allow us to order as much food as we wanted to as she said it would be far too much – and she was right! Good for her – wish all restaurants were as obliging!
Friday
Friday was a busy day! Christine – a friend of Paula Rolston’s in Gahini – is leaving Rwanda after some years working here and Paula is throwing a big party for her so I said I would go. Gahini is in the east, about two hours away from Kigali and I haven’t been to that side of the country yet. Also, T. – the German volunteer I am particularly friendly with and who has not been feeling too well recently – is now in hospital in Kigali and awaiting the results of tests on her kidneys, so I figured I would go up Friday, see her and head on to the party Saturday. I packed my laptop because I figured I would get a wireless modem in Kigali and, because I have Windows Vista, they need to actually install it for you because of compatibility issues! Also, all my Irish music is on the laptop and Paula had suggested I start teaching people the Irish dances we are hoping to have on St Patrick’s Day next year (figure on starting with Ballaí Luimní, The Siege of Ennis and Baint an Fhéir for those of you who remember them!).
Anyway, ran into Nidhe, Heloise and others in Kigali Centre, went out to the Program Office to check for mail etc (none) and to lodge expenses; had a brief chat with Mike but said I would meet him on the bus to Gahini at 1630 Friday, and then headed back to the city centre to meet the others. I had missed T. at the program office and she texted me to say she had arrived in the hotel VSO were putting her in following her discharge from the Clinic and wasn’t feeling up to visitors so I said I would visit her the following day. A big gang of us then met up for a drink, including Thom, Chris, Els, sunburned Andy, Nidhe and Tiga (not spelled with an ‘a’ in it, sorry about that). Tiga wasn’t in good form as she had just heard her application to stay on in her placement had been turned down as the place had already been offered to a new volunteer, so I floated the suggestion that she might consider the now-vacant Gisagara placement. They headed off and I met Ivana for a drink, food and then back to her house where I was staying over. She has a really nice place in an area whose name I now forget and we chatted late about our various experiences to date!
OBSERVATION
Had a really nice email from one of my students in Rathdown, Wilmé Verwoerd who is doing her Leaving Certificate (A-level/section) exams this year. She and another student, Seoin, were selected as two of the four Irish delegates to the Global Forum on AIDS in Dublin recently and seem to have had an amazing experience. Well done girls! In about a week the next batch of Model United Nations delegates will be heading off to London with Catherine and Noëlle so best of luck to all of them – I look forward to hearing the stories!!
Saturday
After a very long and chatty breakfast with Ivana, I headed off to find the Hotel Bloom where T. is staying. It is quite a long way out – bus all the way to the Kimironko market and then headed off on foot. I have got over my disinclination to ask for directions and stopped every five minutes to make sure I was going in the right direction. Everyone said it was ‘thataway’ and only about another 200m. I was praying they were right because I had a heavy backpack (because of the laptop) and was carrying 3 litres of water, chocolate, crisps and cookies for T. and it was VERY HOT! Thankfully, the directions were right and the hotel is only about a 10-15 minute walk from the bus terminus. {NOTE: it is a really nice, modern hotel, only RWF25.000 per night – which is good for Kigali I’m told; potential visitors take note).
T. was sitting out on the balcony and looked fairly well but is still far from being 100%. I gave her a good talking-to about not even thinking of going back to work too soon (no idea if it had any effect but she reads this blog so I’m sure I’ll be hearing from her!). I also gave her stuff that Thom had brought up from Kibungo (clothes and drugs).
Back to town (it’s amazing how much shorter the same walk can be when you know where you are going!), and then looked for a moto to bring me to the Polyclinique to drop off some medical stuff for T. (it’s only a short walk but time was short and I didn’t know where the Polyclinique was). Well, the moto driver said he did know – and I believed him. Unfortunately, there are a lot of clinics and polycliniques in Kigali and we visited quite a few of them. Eventually I just got off at one, paid the driver and then went in to ask directions! Directions secured I found another moto and, as I was getting on, the clinic director came running out and gave the driver very specific directions to the place I wanted – nice guy!
Dropped docs, back to UTC building to get modem (I had three hours before the bus) and – guess what? It either doesn’t open on Saturday or only opens in the morning!! So I killed a few hours in the Blues Cafe with water and a minced beef baguette sandwich (not really recommended) before heading off for the 1630 bus to Kayonza/Gahini.
This is where the day got really fun! Mike Silvey (VSO Rwanda Country Director – remember this because he comes up a lot and I am not typing that out every time) was supposed to be getting the same bus but when he turned up they said there was a 1600 bus and stuck him on it. I had bought an advance ticket for the 1630 so I had to stick around. By 1630 no sign of a Kayonza bus and I figured (as the painted timetable on the gate said) that buses were actually at 1600 and 1700.
Anyway I kind of hung around not sure what to do and at 1640 this guy appeared from nowhere, asked if I was going to Kayonza and had me escorted to where the 1630 bus was waiting with all its passengers (no sign on the window, that’s what had fooled me). As far as I could figure out, the bus had been about to leave when someone on board remembered a muzungu had bought a ticket and someone was sent off to find me! Of course everyone spent the entire journey cracking jokes about me (at least I think that is what they were doing) but at least they didn’t just leave me there!
It was a long trip – I don’t ever remember anyone here ever complaining about a driver going too slowly but this guy was really slow so it was pitch dark by the time we got to Kayonza and the bus stopped there instead of going on to Gahini. Eventually I found a moto - Paula had told me it was RWF1000 and I found one guy who said that was fine but the other moto drivers said that a) I wasn’t allowed to go with him b) it was RWF1500 at that time of night and c) - not sure what c) was but there was definitely a third reason in there somewhere. Anyway, at this stage I was far too tired to care so I said fine and jumped on. Then I found out I couldn’t get the moto helmet on (I do have an unusually large head) (Alfred: don’t laugh, it’s actually true): the answer was for me to take off my glasses, another guy rammed the helmet on from behind and then they threaded the glasses back onto my head from the front of the helmet!! This was hard because the tips of my ears had folded downwards with the helmet but eventually they got the ends stuck in somehow and the driver insisted I put the visor down to make sure the glasses stayed in!!
Once we set off I realised that reason a) was justified – that first driver’s little moto would never have brought me that distance and certainly not up the final extremely steep hill. So finally I arrived at Paula’s and it was party-time! And it was fantastic! Met loads of people I either hadn’t met before or had only met briefly: George Pinto, Tiga, Els, Paula, and so many others. Sonya was also there (Sonya Fay from Cavan was on SKWID when I was on Teacher Development and we travelled over from Ireland together). She has been having a difficult time down in the extreme south-east, especially with her accommodation and a few other things but she seems to have coped with it all extremely well indeed!! I also met Eric O’Flynn from Limerick again and we have decided to only speak in Irish from now on when it is feasible (Eric maintains his Irish is not great which is crap, he is remarkably fluent, especially for someone who hasn’t used it in ages: it was SOOOOOO nice to be able to speak Irish again even for a short while).
Eventually we headed off down the hill to the restaurant (me with my backpack and laptop in case we needed the Irish dance music later and a half-bottle of Waragi gin I bought in Kigali in case of emergencies!) for fish and salad and brochettes (very tasty and only RWF 3600 a head – see pictures) and then it was more drinking and dancing (also see pictures though – as usual – my batteries gave out because of having to use the flash all the time). By 1 a.m. some began to bow out and by around 0300 there were only five muzungus left (Alfred: the proper plural is abazungu but I presume Ruairí thought you guys couldn’t cope with that level of grammatical sophistication) – all Irish! In fact – in a real stereotypical way – all the Irish were still drinking and dancing as were pretty much all the Rwandans and everyone else had bowed out (Alfred: strictly speaking Christine is not Irish but she is part Australian which as everyone knows is pretty much the same thing). We had pretty much stopped drinking at this stage –we couldn’t get the top off my bottle of gin no matter how hard we tried – just as well I suppose.
So off we headed home around 0330 but when I put my backpack on, I noticed a funny smell: the bag had tipped over on the floor and the bottle of gin, after all our attempts to open it, had completely drained into my bag! Panic! Through some miracle neither the laptop nor the Palm Pilot had been soaked, only my clothes, a book and my passport (the latter not too badly). We headed off home then, up a really steep hill, in various stages of semi-inebriation. Eric was adamant that you can’t walk home from a pub without singing songs so the eight of us walked home to a combination of Spancel Hill, the Dubliners greatest hits and Rwandan gospel music. Every time we had a go at Whiskey in the Jar or The Girl from the County Down or whatever, our Rwandan companions would sing a kind of harmony, really well – who said Rwanda doesn’t have a musical tradition!
By now it was about 0400 so I said there was no way I would be able to get into the guesthouse at this hour and decided to look for a corner in Christine’s house (which is actually the Bishop’s house). there was a sofa which I collapsed onto (Chris gave me his blanket in return for the use of my mosquito repellent!) and off I went to sleep, pausing only to go into the bathroom and wash the gin out of my precious Chelsea shirt! Great night!
Sunday
Unbelievably, I woke up at seven and, since I was in the sitting-room, figured I might as well get up before others began wandering in – as if!! The first callers were two women going to church around eight who needed a giant pestle and mortar for use in mass (don’t even ask). Eventually a few other people struggled to life and we had a really nice long-drawn-out breakfast. It’s a real pity I am only getting to meet Christine just as she is about to leave but at least I did get the opportunity!
Soraya, Mike, Tiga, Andy and I then headed off to get the bus (Els and the others had to stay for a meeting Eric had called – on a Sunday! What kind of a workaholic is he? And what is the Irish for ‘workaholic’? Answers by email or use the comment thing at the bottom of the blog entry). The first bus was packed full but the next one was going all the way to Kigali so we decided to stay on it rather than get off at Kayonza and look for a bigger bus. It wasn’t a bad trip at all considering it was a one of the small little buses and I got a chance to have a long chat with Mike about how each of us had ended up in this particular situation (.i. Rwanda, as opposed to the bus).
So, Kigali, lunch at Simba’s where Tiga and Andy and I met quite a few others (Heloise – still wearing her cool boots, Thom, Amy, Nidhe, Catherine Devine) to grab something to eat before heading to Butare. The food was OK but – unlike the last time – the service was really terrible so we ended up having to leave money for what we thought we would be charged for (lots of stuff we ordered never turned up so we presumed we would not be charged for it) and Tiga and Amy and I headed for the bus (Alfred: ‘presumed’ is not a word you should ever use in Rwanda). We had a great trip, actually, especially once Tiga went up and ordered the driver to either turn the music off or lower the volume! Both Amy and Tiga were talking about the various degrees and postgraduate courses available in Development Studies and it really got me thinking of doing something along the lines of an OU degree or diploma course while I am out here! Really interesting conversation, definitely going to have consequences. Also, Tiga is wondering about the Butare Diocese placement I mentioned in a previous blog so she may well be staying around for a while, at least until September anyway, and there may be another volunteer interested in the Gisagara placement, so lots happening all of a sudden!
Then back ‘home’ (it’s a bit pathetic really but getting back to the little hotel room really did feel like coming home – that is not a good sign!), dinner and bed – lots of sleeping to catch up on.
OBSERVATION: FRIENDS
Maybe it is because the same kinds of people tend to apply for jobs like this but it is amazing how really nice everyone is that I am meeting out here (volunteers I mean). Not that everyone is perfect (Alfred: someone get this guy a mirror, quick!) but people do seem to get on really well together! I remember Noëlle telling me back in Ireland how her friends who did VSO (or similar things) said they made really long-lasting and strong friendships and I can see that already beginning to happen (Alfred: cue alarm and panic among all Rwanda VSO volunteers who are reading this!).
OBSERVATION: POETRY AND SONG
One of my plans was to try and writing some poetry while I was here but I haven’t really been in the mood. However, in an attempt to get the logjam broken, here is a tribute partly inspired by Paula and Christine’s party. It should be sung to the air of that well-known Dublin ballad ‘Whiskey on a Sunday’. If you don’t know the ballad, tough! Some of the words in the third line of each chorus are a bit of a stretch – please do not hesitate to suggest alternatives (use the comment feature below so everyone can see!). And yes, I do have too much time on my hands..........
Mützig on a Sunday
We sit in the gloom of a kerosene lamp
Eating our rice and our beans.
We count our allowance and hope it will stretch
Until the next pay day is seen.
Chorus
Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah – come day, go day
Wishing my heart it was Sunday
Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah, filtered wa-ater all the week,
Mützig on a Sunday.
We queue in the bank for three hours and a half
But find we filled out the wrong form.
We stood in the wrong line but nobody thought
The dumb muzungu to inform!
Chorus
Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah – come day, go day
Wishing my heart it was Sunday
Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah, eating melange all the week,
Pizza on a Sunday.
We pack into buses with five to a seat
And pray that the babies don’t pee.
And sometimes we sit there and close our eyes
‘Cos sometimes it’s best not to see!
Chorus
Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah – come day, go day
Wishing my heart it was Sunday
Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah, Atraco death-traps all the week,
Sotra on a Sunday.
“I’m just being friendly, don’t take it up wrong,
With me you would have a great life!
Can I have your number? Can I just call round?
I think you would make a fine wife.”
Chorus
Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah – come day, go day
Wishing my heart it was Sunday
Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah, unwanted visitors all the week
Lie-in on a Sunday.
PS: If you liked this one, VSO volunteers can check out my ‘Are You Going to Harbourne Hall?’ on my website, http://www.ruairioheithir.ie/ but apologies for how out-of-date my section on the US Elections is – I can’t update from Rwanda.
And, of course, no party is complete without photos!!!
1 Christine, in honour of whose leaving this party was held!
2.Chris, Scary Soraya, Els, Tiga and an obscured Andy.
3. A very untypical moment for Tiga!
4. Awwww – a group photo in which EVERYONE looks cute: Julie, Els, Tiga, Eric, Mike and Andy.
5. Never did catch his name but that is one stunning hat!
6 Sonya, sweetly smiling, unaware that behind her Paula is about to finish off the gin!
7 WHO'S GOT RHYTHM? Julie's got rhythm!
8 Mike, out of the goodness of his heart, decides to offer Chris the most tempting morsel of all.
9 Eric shares with Sonya his researches into the ancient art of Rwandan seated dancing.
10 Paula is shocked when Els informs her she is wearing a Remembrance Day poppy as an earring and it is still only October!
Monday
Meant to get up early but ..., what for? Eventually did get up around 7:30 (which is really late here), had breakfast – the usual coffee and omelette and as a bonus half a huge ripe avocado (Alfred: notice the word ‘coffee’ there – that’s the third day in a row now; bet the nails won’t last long either). I then did a huge cleanup of my room, more to try and figure where everything had gone to rather than its being especially messy. It’s amazing how hard it is to find stuff even in a very small room like this. Then Eli came to the door of my room saying a friend of his was selling Barack Obama shirts and baseball caps and did I want to buy one? At RWF20.000 (€25) they are bloody expensive but, as I had tried and failed to buy one before over the Internet at a higher price I figured what the hell. At least I am properly dressed for the election night special on Tuesday fortnight, now that Colin Powell seems to have hammered the final nail .......... (Alfred: Shut up! Don’t tempt fate!! Remember Neil Kinnock!) .... hmmm, maybe Alfred has a point. OK – off to the Cybercafe! Remember to keep those emails and messages coming – it’s always nice to hear from people. Murabeho! Umukiza wacu ni Yesu (that’s a really useful phrase here but not one that I ever expected to learn!).
Thank you very much to all those who have supported my ongoing fundraising effort. I will be continuing my fundraising for VSO for a few more months so, if you would like to contribute, please go to www.mycharity.ie/event/ruairi.
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