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.
BIG DAY! Breakfast and then off to Kigali on the 9.00 bus. On the way I decided to try and find some unused land – land not either built upon or cultivated. No way – every inch of this country is being used in one way or another. Also evident was widespread evidence of soil erosion: there were some examples of terracing and planting of bushes etc to try and counter this but they were few and far between. Bananas are the most obvious crop because the trees are so visible but there are crops everywhere – potatoes, rice, cabbages, peppers, tomatoes, whatever. Over 90% of the population live on subsistence agriculture and there is barely enough land for them as it is.
Got to Kigali, did various bank things (even the Head Office of my bank, ECOBANK, can’t change travellers’ cheques!) and then headed for the Program Office. Grabbed a few books from the Resource Room while we waited for Charlotte and Mike who were grabbing some food (I had inconsiderately timed our meeting for 1300, bang on lunchtime) – a book on Lance Armstrong by Daniel Coyle, a PD James and The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld of which I have heard good things.
The meeting went ... well, hard to be sure. We gave our account of all that had happened so far and how we were feeling. It was a good and honest discussion and one of the things that emerged was that this kind of thing is not unusual in districts that have not had experience of working with volunteers before. However, it is critical to establish whether or not the District Administration actually want us there or not: if it is only Francois, the Director of Education and no-one else, the placement is not viable. So Mike and Charlotte are to meet with the mayor of Gisagara tomorrow and try and establish that. If that is OK, the most likely scenario is that I will start work immediately in the office in some form or other and we will sign up for a house in Butare. Tina’s position is a little trickier as she is unlikely to be able to start work in Gisagara before January but has loads of really good and creative ideas for what she might be able to do in the meantime.
The other high points of the day were :
a) supermarket comparisons! I love wandering around supermarkets in other countries. There is no better way of getting an idea of how a country operates than really looking closely at its supermarkets. Mind you, not that the overwhelming (and I mean 96%+) of Rwandans will ever see the inside of a supermarket. We had something to eat in Simba and their supermarket is quite good but the food section is limited (supermarkets here are more like WallMart or Tesco than Dunnes – not just food but loads of other things also). Later I went back to the new Kenyan supermarket Nakumatt and realised that the prices are not as bad as I thought. Things in Butare are actually more expensive because stuff has to be brought from Kigali. So, my purchases in Nakumatt were as follows:
3 packs of UM1 Eveready Batteries at RWF700 each = RWF2100 (£2*)
(these are for Ephraim, the boy who works in the house in Gisagara and who needs batteries for his radio!)
1 pack waterproof plasters RWF550 (50p)
1 bottle antiseptic liquid 100ml RWF780 (70p)
1 pack Colgate toothpaste 100m RWF 1500 (£1.50)
1 200-page school A4 exercise book RWF1120 (£1.10)
*I use sterling because the exchange rate is almost exactly RWF1000 = £1 which makes it really easy.
Note the cost of the school exercise book, even though it is produced locally and not imported.
The other really nice thing was that I glanced into the Bourbon Cafe just to see all the rich expats and who was there but Tina Hewing! (For new readers, Tina is this amazing German girl who was with me and Christine Campbell on both our SKWID course and the Teacher Development training in Birmingham). She has been having a bit of trouble with her back and decided to come to Kigali and get it checked out before it gets any worse. It was so nice to see her, particularly as it was so unexpected!!
Driving back to Butare was my first nighttime driving in Rwanda – less terrifying than I expected though our driver did have a tendency to overtake on blind corners which was a bit unnerving. We met Jane for a drink and now here I am writing my blog.
Day 32 means over a month whichever way you count it. However, I do feel more hopeful today that before. Why? Not sure, just do!
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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