Moving Worlds and Moving House

Sadly, I have been home to Cheshire for my father’s funeral. From the onset of his brief illness to my returning to Rwanda, it has not been the time to write a blog. Me and my thoughts have been elsewhere.

It is not easy moving between the two lives and for now I still have a foot in very different worlds. 
I hope that after a week or so of being back in Africa, I’ll be able to settle down to where I was before I had to leave.


The day after flying back here, my fellow volunteer, Hetty, and I moved into our new house. During one of the two trips from Muhanga to Musambira with our furniture and luggage, a tropical storm blew up . It almost flattened our VSO truck when a huge advertising hoarding crashed to the side of the road right next to us. How none of the passing school children, market goers or moto drivers were underneath was an absolute miracle.



With part of a corrugated iron roof hanging like untidy laundry from the electricity line, here in Musambira, it meant that we had no power at our new home. It was a race against time to unpack essentials and set up our beds before darkness fell at 6pm, as it does here like a black curtain. It was the weekly market, so earlier we had set forth to buy vegetables and to meet the local people in our village. We are the only ‘muzungos’ living here so are very much a novelty and objects of interest. I hope that it wears off eventually and with better Kinyarwanda,  I can make conversation other than just basic greetings.

 

 

 Just as Hetty and I were contemplating opening a tin of tuna to have with bread and tomatoes for our evening meal, the power was restored. Boiling water to set up our water filter was the priority, followed by omelettes and our first cup of tea of the day. With lights, we could also continue unpacking for a while, but soon realised enough was enough and I fell into an exhausted sleep in my own new bed.

The next day I caught up with laundry and finished unpacking. We also attempted to light our newly purchased charcoal stove. But without expertise or firelighters, we need to work it out. It will be vital for cooking when the power is off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



At last I feel I've unpacked properly. This weekend will for arranging furniture, meeting neighbours, creating a kitchen and buying items we need to make life relatively comfortable and efficient.

 

Now is the real beginning of my life and work in Rwanda.

Post script

 

 

A few weeks before, I'd seen house moving, Rwandan style. Everything, including the chickens, were carried across town by willing volunteers and family members. It's another world.