SUNDAY to THURSDAY
Off to Kigali and I spent most of the next four days working in VSO on the manual we are trying to develop for Education management Volunteers, so I am not going to do a day-by-day for fear of boring you all (Alfred: BORING? Heaven forefend! What could be more interesting for the general reader than developing the role of PTAs in Rwandan education, statistical analysis of repeat and drop-out rates, budgetary training, developing inspection and assessment forms, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............). It was nice to be working with Mans and Joe and Sonya but Bruce only arrives Thursday which is when I am heading back and I’m not sure when Alain is arriving.The has to be ready for the Education Conference on the 15th-16th January so it’s going to be a bit of a stretch. I said I could come back up Monday if really necessary but I really would prefer to stay in Gisagara for the beginning of the school term.
KIGALI HIGHLIGHTS AND OTHER STORIES
Alfred: Sorry, I INSIST on going first. What has got to be the funniest thing I’ve seen since I got here is the emergency hearse, for want of a better word. We were standing at the crossroads near Chez Lando when we heard a really loud siren coming towards us. Cars pulled over and everyone stared, expecting an ambulance or police car. What appeared was a hearse, complete with coffin and wreaths but with ambulance-type red flashing lights on top as it slowly made its way through the traffic. It sailed along serenely, though it certainly could have gone faster. The complete incongruity ... hmmm, not sure if it is comong across. Maybe I should have let Ruairí write this one: he would have talked about cultural concepts of and attitudes towards death, the clash of technology and tradition – OK, just as well it was me. then!)
PACKAGES!
Got back to Butare on Thursday with a really heavy backpack and thought I would check my post. THREE PACKAGES with LOADS of really great stuff – thanks so much to Jennifer, Anne-Marie and my sister Máirín. I have enough chocolate and cup-a-soup to open a shop, reading material, a natty new hat (Alfred: Hi Anne-Marie! Intermediate Certificate class of 1984, wasn’t it? Whatever happened to Emma Dick, Tamara Caruth, Amelia Madden and the rest of them, eh? And congratulations on the hat you sent – the EXACT shade of Rwandan dust, perfect head wear for here. Luck or intensive research .....?), battery charger, spice mixes, wheeeeeeee!!! Mind you, this meant that I had to leave my mother’s package in Jane’s for the moment and somehow fit all the stuff into my already-full backpack and shop for food in Matar. So I ended up going out to Gisagara on the back of Deo’s moto with an extremely heavy backpack and a stuffed shopping bag hanging from my left hand. Quite tricky going up the steep hills with the backpack dragging you back and only one hand to hold on with!! But thanks again everyone, it is really so cool when people remember you (Alfred: and whoever sent the Lindt Orange Intense – think it was Máirín – well done, though it’s a bugger getting the stains out of my fur!).
REPUBLIKA AND AFTER
I met up with Ivana as well while I was in Kigali – she and Joe Walk and I met up for dinner in Republika where I treated myself to a steak and red wine (Alfred: they do good steaks there but don’t order the Steak Republika: they serve it piled with beans and peas which kind of steam the already-cooked steak and give it a rather stewed texture). Afterwards, Ivana hopped on a moto and Joe and I headed off towards what we thought might be the main road, keeping an eye out for motos as we went. No sign of either main road or motos. Then a car with a man and a woman in it slowed by us and Joe had an inspirational idea – what if this guy would give us a lift, either free or for a reasonable fee!!! He was willing to drop us where we wanted for RWF5000 which was less than the regular taxi fare, so in we got.
OK – maybe it wasn’t such a good idea (Alfred – no, really?) The guy was COMPLETELY pissed, and I mean completely. Mind you this meant that most of the time he drove at about 15kph, but not necessarily on the proper side of the road (Alfred: say ‘the right side’ – it works both ways here in Rwanda!). Then he decided that he didn’t want to drop us home. We wanted to show the distinguished visitors around Kigali, its sights and nightlife, dancing and all that crack. My French wasn’t really up to this so thank God Joe was there to, with the utmost politeness (Alfred: split infinitive alert!) decline for the moment, pleading jet lag and general tiredness. Then he suddenly accelerated, making me think he was annoyed at our refusal. Joe was moving around uneasily – I presumed he was looking for a seat belt (Alfred: Joe latter said he was looking for an ejector seat). However, we managed to get him to come to a halt where I was getting off, near Chez Lando and Joe rather wisely decided to get out with me and get a moto the rest of the way! Sticking to motos and taxis from now on (Alfred: yeah, like all the moto drivers at night are sober!).
BRITISH COUNCIL
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – it’s the only excuse for British Imperialism. One of my jobs while in Kigali was to get a set of the New Cutting Edge textbooks that I had used in Butare for use in teaching English in the district. So Jane Keenan and I headed off to the British Council office which is near the centre. I knew they didn’t actually sell the books in the office but somewhere nearby. When we got there, Rosemary greeted us (Graham and Sarah are still on holiday). She said the books were on sale in KIST (Kigali Institute of Science and Technology). I saw Jane’s face drop – this is miles away. Rosemary said she would show us where it was. She promptly summoned her driver, packed us into the car, drove us half-way across town, found the bookstore was locked and unattended but produced a key, got us the books, wrote out receipts for everything, locked up and drove us back into town where we could get the bus! Then when she heard where we were going, she said to stay in the car because the driver was collecting John Simpson (also British Council) and could then drop us to VSO on the way back (which is exactly what happened, and I got to see John again which was really nice). The driver dropped us at VSO just in time to avoid an absolutely torrential downpour! Yeah, British Council – where else do you get service like that!!!!
EDUCATION CHANGES
Speaking of meeting John Simpson – he is pretty permanently assigned to working with MINEDUC at the moment and I don’t envy the man his job. All the changes that have recently been announced in the education system were just a draft as of November 2008, with no decision to be taken in the immediate future. Now all hell is breaking loose. The changes are actually even more extensive than I realised before. For a start when I was reading the draft (Charlotte kindly printed me off a copy) I did notice that the total hours allocated to subjects added up to one hour more than there is per week. Today I find out that French at secondary level, which had initially been designated as compulsory but not examinable and had been reduced from six hours to two hours a week, has now – presumably because of the accounting error – been reduced to just one hour per week and is optional against Swahili and Agricultural Science (as in you do just one of the three)! Schools are full of French teachers – what are they going to do now?? They have also abolished French at primary level altogether – I thought I had misheard this the last time, but no, both the director and chargé confirmed this to me (Alfred: maybe they were referring to the use of French, rather than the subject, though that would be one hell of a surprise too). I am going to have to be gentle when I start my inspections – if ever there was a time when principals need support and encouragement, it’s now!
ALEXANDRE
My guard is turning out to be a bit of a treasure. I was a bit concerned about his not having French or English and not always being around when I got back from work so I couldn’t get at the generator (Alfred: not that again! Has he forgotten that HE said he would buy a new padlock in Butare with two keys and HE’S the one who keeps on forgetting to do it!!). Anyway, I arrived back today, came in the door and Alexandre greeted me with:’Welcome home, how are you?’, the first English words I have heard from him! He has been learning! I ran in to dump my stuff and get back to the office. All the laundry I had left on the line had been brought in (as I would have expected) but it had all been properly folded and he had found hangers for all the shirts and driven an extra long nail into the wall to hang them on.
I headed for the office and worked through the afternoon. A massive thunderstorm broke out around two and continued all afternoon. At three o’clock this guy (it was Sylvestre)(Alfred: this guy! It’s his office you are camping in, for goodness’ sake, show a bit of respect, not to mention recognition) came into the office with my umbrella. Alexandré had walked up to the District Office with my umbrella because he wouldn’t have known if I had a coat with me or not, presumably getting drowned going home in the meantime. Three cheers for Alexandre!!
DRIVING LICENCE
I collected my driving licence while I was in Kigali (Alfred: Oh, please, please, please, not this again! You have no bloody idea how often this meaningless fact has been casually dropped into the conversation the last few days. I mean, the test was rigged, he actually doesn’t know how to drive a bike properly, is unlikely to be getting one anyway and would positively definitely have a HEART ATTACK if someone turned around and offered him the use of a machine. But this hasn’t stopped him banging on about it, ‘accidentally’ dropping it out of his wallet when he is opening it and ...... oh no, I don’t believe it: he is actually uploading PHOTOS of it! Has the man no shame?) Well I did, so there. The plan is to go to France when I get back, or Belgium, as they recognise Rwandan licences and convert it into a French or Belgian one which can be converted into an Irish one. But – taking Alfred’s point – a few more lessons might be a good idea!
CATS
Was staying in Marion’s house for a few days with Sonya – nice to be around cats again. I didn’t have my camera with me so I didn’t get pictures of Isuheri and Sula (think that’s the right names) – two very striking and extra-ordinarily affectionate cats (Alfred: they’re spoiled that’s what they are! I haven't had that much attention the entire bloody time I’ve been in Rwanda!) You can get more details and pictures of both the cats and Marion’s extra-ordinary house on her website at http://www.heathenblogging.blogspot.com/
PETROL
The national fuel shortage continues and there appears to be a ban on buying petrol in jerrycans to prevent hoarding. This is a pain as my generator is dry - this is going to require some lateral thinking.
GUARDIAN WEEKLY
My first issue finally arrived today. When I subscribed they claimed they didn’t recognise the VSO code for the discount so it cost £100 for one year: now the first issue arrives today dated December 6th!! What gives guys??
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