Friday 1st May: Labour Day

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.

Labour Day is a BIG deal here, much bigger than I had expected. We gathered at the District Office at 0900 and the events started at 1000 - parades, dancing, presentation of certificates and, of course, interminable speeches. I couldn't take any pictures of me actually parading but EVERYONE paraded - workers' groups, bicycle taxi drivers, manioc and cassava growers, schoolchildren, various community organisations and whoever else felt like it,a s far as I could see. We were seated in a low-ceilinged pavilion which is why I have cropped some of the photos to be wide and narrow!! No particular order to the photos, though they are sort of in reverse chronological order of the day - I just hope the captions stay attached. If you click on a photo, you should get a larger version, especially of the lady knitting, which is my favourite.


General crowd around Rwandan flag; Mayor presents certificate to the head of an agricultural co-operative (I think)


Double-click on this one for (I hope) a larger version.



Our Mayor, Karekezi Léandre; Labour inspector (and good friend) Antoine, organiser of the Labour Day

Kayiranga Muzuka Eugéne, District Executive Secretary; can never be sure of the difference between cassava and manioc, or even if there is any??!

The Imbuto Foundation is Janet Kagame's (President Kagame's wife and a formidable figure in Rwanda) personal charitable foundation

A banana plant is a traditional symbol of celebration: they are erected to mark the entrance to or palce of celebration. My colleagues odette, Joseph and Irene.

Two women attending the celebrations: the woman on the right is an official hostess in appropriate traditional costume (see her in earlier pictures with the Mayor and Executive Secretaryholding an umbrella to keep the sun off them)