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.
Began badly, ended well. We had breakfast and then waited for Francois to turn up and bring us to the volleyball at 1000. No show, no message, nothing. Eventually Tina and Beatta got fed up waiting and headed off at 1130. I had texted Francois earlier and eventually got an answer at 1230 – he had gone shopping with his wife and hadn’t brought his phone. WTH? I had spent the morning reading my Paul Theroux book which is really brilliant so at least it was time well spent but this is supposed to be the guy who trying to persuade us to stay here!
Anyway, had some lunch, Tina and Beatta headed off, I met Andy and Amy in the Matar (Lebanese supermarket and sole provider of hamburgers in Butare) and then went to the Faucon to watch Chelsea go 2-0 up on Aston Villa by half-time (Alfred: don’t forget the mad cheering from the fans when Man City went 2-0 up against Liverpool – does everyone here hate Liverpool or could they actually be Man City fans?). Francois had invited Tina and me to his house Sunday night for his daughter’s birthday party and had said he would collect me at 5:00 which meant leaving at half-time. Would he turn up? Could I be bothered? Well, I had said ‘yes’ so off I went and he did turn up on his moto to collect me and it was fabulous!
My first real Rwandan occasion – his house is very basic by our standards but has a TV and DVD player. There was a big crowd there speaking a wonderful variety of French but I was able to figure out most of it and get involved in a heated discussion about Rwanda’s moving from Francophone to Anglophone and their application to join the British Commonwealth! There were loads of children there, all a little (but only a little) goggle-eyed at me. There was a birthday cake, ‘Happy Birthday’ sung in three languages, food and beer, a beautifully chanted grace before meals by all the children present and I had a really good time. Then Francois indicated it was time to drop me home and I drained my beer and, just as I was to get to my feet, he said I now had to make a speech to the entire assembly of family and friends! A speech? All the children filed in and sat down expectantly – tough room! Anyway, I blathered on about how nice it was to be here and how special birthdays were as family occasions and therefore how honoured I felt to have been invited and goodness knows what else I said because I frankly have no idea whatsoever. Francois also made a speech (this must be a thing here – I had been warned about Rwandans’ fondness for speeches on all occasions) but I can’t really remember what he said other than thanking me for attending. Then he drove me home on his bike in the pitch dark on roads an antelope would have had second thoughts about walking on in broad daylight!
Nice evening, really felt a part of what was going on, which makes the ongoing difficulties all the harder. Much as Tina and I like Francois and much as we know he wants us there, and much as we want to work with him, if these transport problems don’t work out it just isn’t going to happen. Hope he can pull it off.
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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