Christmas

 

Just a few days left in this truly beautiful country. I have had the opportunity, through M, to get to know and understand this country’s culture and people in a deeper way than I could have by just being a tourist. To see the efforts of Rwandans to build a better country, after the atrocities of 1994, have truly to be admired.

My only worries while I have been here have been travelling in the crazy mini buses that can pack 20 or more people into a 15 seater, the motor bike taxis which, although very efficient at getting you from A to B, give me cause for concern. And one particular memory - the look of the Silverback male leader of the gorilla family when his young offspring were inquisitive while we photographed their antics. With 250 kg of muscle, I wouldn’t fancy having to try self-defence.

 

Chris’s arrival into Rwanda was delayed by 10 hours – not because of snow and ice in the UK, but by fog in Kigali! After being diverted to Uganda’s Entebbe airport he did get to watch the sunrise over Lake Victoria and a complementary omelette. Meanwhile, I had set the alarm for 1am to get to the airport to meet him. At 3am I went back to my Kigali hotel empty handed. We eventually met up in time for a leisurely lunch at our rather luxurious hotel (having a bath and hot shower being the most important aspect for me). For three days we relaxed in the gardens and by the pool as well as exploring Rwanda’s capital city. The squash of people in Toyota taxi buses and freedom of motor bike taxis were experienced when going shopping, eating out and visiting places of interest, one of which included the informative and thoughtfully designed Kigali genocide memorial. We met some of my colleagues when we visited the VSO office and at different venues throughout Kigali. It was a whirlwind of new acquaintances and cultural experiences for him.

Life in M’s home village of Musambira is certainly different to Bolly life. As the only Muzungus in the village, you certainly attract attention. But it also has its similarities. Being friendly, talking to the shopkeepers, children and older people pays dividends and I was quickly accepted. In fact I introduced M to some villagers she hadn’t met herself.

 

 

 

Hers and Hetty’s home is posh compared with the adobe mud brick village houses (they have running water and electricity) with their supportive 33 year old landlord living next door. With a night guard and cleaner (umucoze), M has few domestic chores around the house to worry about. Shopping for food is the biggest challenge, although the weekly village market has a huge variety of very fresh fruit and vegetables, in fact, everything needed for sustainable living. But for those of us who are carnivores, finding meat other than live chickens is challenging. Milk and eggs are also highly valued and are as expensive as in the UK.

 

One unique experience we had was to spend a day with subsistence farming family arranged by the charitable organisation, Azizi Life www.azizilife.com/get-involved/experiences.

 

 

 

 We went to work and eat with the village women – cultivating, hoeing, using machetes to cut grass for their 2 cows, fetching water from the spring and preparing the lunch of cassava and vegetables. In the afternoon we learned how to prepare and weave sisal fibres into jewellery and baskets. It is all so vastly different to our lives in the western world, but so sustainable in Rwanda.

 

 

For three days, Chris came to work with me beginning with 30 minute motor bike taxi journeys along rough sandy roads to two of my sectors – Nyamiyaga and Nyarubaka. I had meetings arranged with the Sector Education Officers and their head teachers. Whilst I held my meetings about training in the schools for next term, Chris amused himself by watching building projects, meeting S Koreans who are working in Rwanda and generally being an item of amusement for the locals. He has begun to pick up a few Kinyarwanda words. Afterwards, we went on to my Kamonyi District education office for lunch in the canteen.

 

Our travels have taken us south to the university town of Butare, where we stayed overnight and met some of M’s other fellow volunteers for Primus beers and meal, followed by a very worthwhile morning at the country’s new national museum. The reconstructed traditional tribal house left us feeling that we could happily stay in one as a summerhouse in our garden. They would make excellent upmarket campsite accommodation, being made and furnished with wood and natural woven fibres.

Our next adventure was to travel by express bus two hours NW into the Virunga Volcano tropical area on the Congo border to see the mountain gorillas – an awesome experience which was the subject of my previous blog.

Before we left home for our final week away, we had a Christmas Day at my house, starting by decorating a 'tree', then opening presents.

 Afterwards Chris cooked our christmas dinner of samosas, potato curry and local vegetables, all washed down with red wine. During the evening we invited my landlord to share our christmas cake which had been made by my mother. it was a really special day, even though 6 days early.

Finally, we are now having chill out time over Christmas, at Lake Kivu. Another two hour express bus journey westwards, through the most beautiful and scenic mountain countryside, brought us to Kabuye.

 

 Lake Kivi is Africa’s fourth largest lake and could be a financial saviour for Rwanda, who, although one of the fastest developing African nations, still relies on some western aid. The lake bed has significant reserves of methane, some of which has already been extracted to produce electricity. But the potential is enormous with sufficient to export to neighbouring countries. The main Rwanda brewery also extracts it to produce their excellent Primus beer, which goes down rather well in this fantastic climate. Talking of climate, it is this which enables Rwanda to be pretty much self-sufficient in food needs as they grow crops on every square metre in the country known as ‘The land of a thousand hills’. Tea and coffee are the main exports. With people working by hand on their plots of land from dawn till dusk, the intensive cultivation on terraced slopes has to be seen to be believed. Everywhere in Rwanda is covered in vibrant green foliage of banana trees, pineapples, cassava, potatoes, beans of all types and other crops too numerous to mention.

 

 

We are staying in a blissfully quiet hotel with bungalow rooms at the lake’s edge. As I write, sitting with an early morning cup of tea on our little terrace, the water is lapping the shore and a myriad of song birds are flitting by. Chris is watching the fishing boats and assessing the potential for future water sport development. We are anticipating our breakfast of fresh mango and pineapple, omelettes and the excellent Rwandan coffee. Today we took a boat over the lake to Amahoro Island, also known as Peace Island, for even more tranquillity. There is a tiny bar which serves the local goat brochettes, but not much else.

 

Christmas here will be very different but very memorable for many reasons. I do not miss the hype and materialistic way of celebrating in the western world. In Rwanda I’ve seen a few Christmas trees, there will be a 2 day national holiday and a big emphasis on the Christian celebration on the eve of 24^th. Of course I will miss family and friends this year, but there will be other Christmases to be with you all. Chris will be home on 28^thand I'll see you all again in 2013.

Chris and I would like to wish everyone a very happy Christmas time and we send you all our very best wishes for a prosperous and healthy New Year.