Wednesday 25th March 2009: Day 200 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.

So, 200 days gone another 480 (approximately) to go. That means I am 29% through my stay here. The next 71% better be a bit more productive though I will settle for it being as enjoyable from a non-work point of view. The occasion was marked by an earthquake at work - literally, the second one since I arrived here. It was a lot stronger than the one before Christmas when I was in Butare, more like the one I remember in San Francisco in 1999. It was enough anyway to get everyone scampering out of the building for a few minutes until they were sure there weren't going to be any further shocks. I could hear all the kids in the two primary schools down the road laughing and shouting - it's exams week so they were probably hoping they would get cancelled (snow at home, earthquakes here).

Also, after one hundred and ninety-seven days here, I finally got my green card. The final delay was that, if you are divorced or widowed, you have to supply details of your former spouse to go on the card!


Meanwhile here are a few numbers to mark the 200th anniversary :

200 - the number of days spent so far in Rwanda
197 - the number of days I have thought at least once I made the right decision in coming here
191 – the number of days Alfred has been making his own comments on the blog
40 – the number of nights I spent in the Motel Ineza waiting for accommodation to be located in Gisagara
∞ – the number of times I have laughed to myself at this priceless phrase in my VSO placement description of Gisagara: ‘Electricity should not be a problem’!

28 – The amount of pictures and movies (in gigabytes) I have taken/recorded since I arrived
20 – the number of volunteers in my group that arrived in September
20 – the percentage of my original group that have either already left or are leaving early
4 – the actual number of volunteers in my group that have left (Marjoulaine) or are leaving early (Tinks, Suzanne, Ivana)

8 – the number of copies of the New Times I have bought since I came here before I realised every edition is pretty much the same
3 – the number of monkeys I have seen so far
1 – the number of snakes I have seen so far
1.5 – the average speed in kilobytes per second of my MTN internet connection
11 – the estimated number of hours I actually spent on a motorbike before taking my test and getting my licence (Alfred: and therefore deemed fit to drive on Rwandan roads!)
55 – the percentage of seats in the Rwandan parliament occupied by women
880 – the number of Rwandan francs you got for a euro when I arrived here
700 – the number of Rwandan francs you get today for a euro
550 – in Rwandan Francs, the cheapest large bottle of beer I have purchased since I got here (Primus, 72cl, Gisagara village, c. €0.77)

909 – the average size of a primary school in Gisagara District
75 – the average number of pupils per teacher in a primary school in Gisagara
30 – the percentage of students each year who have to repeat their year at primary level
13 – the percentage of primary school students who have lost one or both parents
61 – percentage of primary teachers who are women
48 – percentage of primary principals who are women
65 – the number of primary schools in Gisagara district
49 – the number of primary schools without a single Geography textbook for students (Alfred: of course they have just dropped Geography from the curriculum, so it doesn’t matter!!!!!)
0 – the amount of time now allocated to the study of French at primary level.
25 – the age in years of the oldest male student so far encountered in primary school (Jean Bizimana in Mugowbwa 6th class)
23 – the age in years of the oldest female student so far encountered in primary school (Marie Chantal Nyiramisago in Nyaruhengeri 4th class)

4 – the number of times I checked with VSO before coming to Rwanda that I would not need to ride a motorbike
4 – the number of days after I arrived in Rwanda I was told by VSO I would have to learn to ride a motorbike
10- the average number of days it takes my copy of The Economist to arrive in Rwanda
20 - the average number of days it takes my copy of The Guardian Weekly to arrive in Rwanda
3 – number of times I have written my blog in Irish to discuss ‘sensitive’ topics
6 – number of dogs I have petted since I got here
7 – number of Rwandan amateur footballers I provided with info for applying to League of Ireland football clubs
13 – number of years Déo Gratias, my moto driver, spent in prison after being falsely accused of involvement in the 1994 genocide
210 – average number of pupils per pit latrine in Mugombwa primary school