A photo is worth a thousand words / Lazyman's blog entry

Watching music videos with the school kids in the office

In the playground

In the classroom (the kids just love sunglasses!)

Dancing to "Bella"

Bustin' some serious moves!

Banana Leaf Cards masterclass! 

With Jean Marie's wife, son and friend

These kids live along my route to school, they greet me EVERY morning and EVERY evening!

Outside the office

Mutzig - Rwandan beer, great slogan!

Colouring pictures in DIZA's newly furnished library (consignment of English books en route)

Modelling one of the options for the new school jumper (the red colour is actually much nicer  in reality)

Jumper option 2

A monkey wandering around town

Things have been ticking away nicely here in Rwamagana......

In terms of work, it certainly feels as though progress has been made: books and records are up to date; Quickbooks is up and running capturing income and expenditure; the school staff have signed their contracts; payroll with the operation of taxes is good to go for the next year; we have set up a calendar for daily/weekly/monthly tasks related to accounting and child sponsor communications; and along with the school principal, we have introduced a system to monitor school fees income to ensure that that all important cash keeps on comin’!

The overwhelming friendliness of the people of Rwanda remains my favourite thing about the country, though the brochettes and chapati (like a moist version of Indian naan bread) run a close second! Last Saturday I took the 5.40am bus to Kigali to watch Wales beat Ireland in the Rugby World Cup quarter final. I decided to go all-out and not use a designated bus stop but to do as the locals do and knock on the roof when I wanted to get off. This is easier however when you know where you’re going and can recognise your destination!! To my surprise there were actually other passengers on the bus at this ungodly hour (even more surprising was the group of over 100 police out for a jog that we passed when leaving Rwamagana) and they couldn’t have been nicer in firstly trying to decipher my mispronunciation of the area I was looking for, then discussing it among themselves before actually doing the knocking for me.

After the match I went into the city centre and by 11.30am felt I had achieved enough for the day so decided to return “home” for a rest. The city centre bus station, where I always caught the bus back to Rwamagana was not its usual bustling self which confused/concerned me until I remembered somebody mention that all buses had been moved to a different station as of the previous week. I stood there struggling to recollect the name of this station. I knew I had been to Nyarutarama for the rugby and that the word that escaped me now was somewhat similar but I just couldn’t get it. All this must have been clear from my facial expression because after a few seconds a moto driver approached me asking “Stella bus, Nyabugogo???” …..BINGO! (Yes, I do understand that the driver wasn't motivated by pure kindness, I’m sure I paid above the odds for the taxi to Nyabugogo but he was friendly and helpful nonetheless.)

This new station was a whole other kettle of fish from the one I knew and loved – a maze of rows of shops stretching in different directions, what seemed like millions of buses all over the place, and teaming with people. Cue puzzled expression and low and behold a guy approached me and brought me straight to the Stella office. Here I was greeted with a beaming smile by the ticket lady who had worked at the city centre office saying “Ay! Sista, you here….in Nyabugogo!!!” Just lovely.

As John Travolta said on returning from Europe in “Pulp Fiction” ....

  .... “it’s the little differences”… “Examples?”.....

• Most people in Rwanda speak at least two languages- Kinyarwanda plus Kiswahili, French or English- some even speak all four. French was the official language of education up to 2009 when it was changed to English-it is amazing how quickly people have adapted. The attitude to acquiring a new language is totally different from home where many, myself included, don’t pursue learning beyond what is required to pass exams / order in a restaurant on holidays. Despite their own linguistic abilities people somehow get a kick out of it when I use my few words of Kinyrwanda.

TAXI RANK, RWAMAGANA MARKET

• Motos (motorbike taxis), as opposed to car taxis, are the way to get around here- lots of fun in the “Land of a Thousand Hills”! You also find pushbike taxis which have a padded seat behind the saddle. A lot of the 4 year olds attending DIZA’s school take these to and from school. Ladies wearing skirts ride side saddle.

• When born, people are given two names- a Kinyarwanda name and another, often French (e.g. Claire, Jean Paul etc.). In general, they do not have family/surnames.

• Just like home, when you visit someone's home, you are offered a cup of tea- here it is drunk black and laced with sugar.

TYPICAL LADIESWEAR- SO COLOURFUL

 (many women wear similar clothes to those at home too)

• As I was leaving the bank the other day, a monkey passed me by – they are kept as pets by some.

• Everything grinds to a halt when it rains heavily. I was walking in town last week when it started so stopped to put up my umbrella and when I looked around, the streets had emptied - I’m not sure where everybody went! It is a given that meetings etc. will be postponed until it dries up. We even delayed lunch by a few hours one day recently on account of a downpour.

• All bars and restaurants offer a buffet lunch. It is pretty much the same everywhere - carb heavy - rice, chips, spaghetti (yes, people eat all three in one meal), cassava, banana stew, kidney beans, spinach or green beans, cubes of beef (one per person) and a tomato based sauce. People tend to just have tea and bread in the evenings so stock up at lunch time and boy do they know how to make the most of a buffet- layers upon layers of food are piled onto their plates. In peoples’ homes, the same foods as those offered at buffets are eaten every day – in the same giant sized portions though not the entire selection - generally at least two carbohydrate foods, a vegetable dish and beef cubes.

• The concept of acceptable personal space is very different – buses are generally jam-packed to capacity or if quiet, people will sit beside you even if there is a vacant seat elsewhere. In the waiting area of the local bank there are three distinct seats joined together, often seen seating four or five adults. If someone is leaning forward to fill in a form, somebody else will come and squash into the space behind them, not an inch to spare!

LOTS OF KIDS PLAY WITH THESE

• The majority of people here, of all ages, are very religious. On meeting someone new I generally get asked what church I am or if it’s a Sunday, whether or not I’ve been to pray. 

• Life is taken at a much slower pace- literally. As far as I’m concerned I stroll to work in the morning but find that I keep passing people out without meaning to, I actually find it difficult to adjust my speed!

• I could probably write an entire blog on the greeting etiquette- it ranges from the standard handshake to someone offering you their forearm if they feel their hand is dirty to holding each other’s shoulders and moving heads from side to side, touching foreheads three times. Male friends are very tactile- they will stand chatting with their arms around each other’s waists and walk together holding hands.

• Everybody has two mobile phones, one for the cheap network with bad signal and one for the better quality, more expensive network. (It is said that young men use the cheapie one to call their girlfriends who harp on too much – clearly very different to home where men hang on our every word!)  People are always chatting on their phones and it is totally acceptable to take a call while in somebody else’s company, at work, or at a meeting (even if you are the person addressing the meeting!)….anywhere really! Stalls selling airtime (pay-as-you-go credit) are on every street corner and mobile sellers even come around as buses are filling up and offer airtime through the windows.

LADY CARRYING CASSAVA ROOT ON HER HEAD - THE USUAL WAY TO CARRY THINGS HERE

• No buggies or prams here - mothers carry babies on their backs, tied on with a towel and a large sheet of material. Simple but effective, the baby is snug all wrapped up against its mother’s back, able to sleep comfortably or observe its surroundings while the mother’s hands are free.

• Lastly, there is neither a McDonalds nor a Burger King in Rwanda so the all-important Quarter Pounder versus Royale with Cheese question does not apply…let alone that of the Whopper!

Evenings & Weekends

I am just back from my Saturday morning in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city. I go there every week or so to withdraw cash and buy toiletries at the European style supermarket. I had figured out that the best place to sit for the 90 minute trip from Rwamagana was at the back of the minibus as otherwise you are up and down letting passengers on and off along the way. That was until this morning when a sack of live hens was placed under the back seat- the “bwock bwoking" and squirming has led me to re-think my tactics!

Walking down the confectionary aisle, green jerseys on the TV screen at the supermarket café caught my eye- low and behold it was Ireland beating the Aussies in the Rugby World Cup- it turns out an Irish guy had requested it to be shown! I must admit a pang of homesickness hit as I watched the game, I can only imagine the craic to be had in Dublin tonight.


Here is a quick catch up on some of the other things I’ve been up to: 


Miss INATEK 2011- A beauty pageant at Eric’s university where the prize is free fees, transport and unlimited “airtime” (mobile phone credit) for a year. The girls had to strut their stuff in four different outfits and answer questions in either French or English. There were lots of filler songs (and two power cuts!) during costume changes including a performance of “Bella” (huge hit over here, it’s played everywhere, seriously catchy tune) by Kigali’s pop sensation Dream Boyz.

      

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·        Wedding- I attended with Jean Marie (DIZA’s President) and his family. There are 3 parts- the first is where the groom offers a dowry of cows to the bride’s family. There were major negotiations as to the number of cows to be given and their quality had to be inspected before the deal was done (all ceremonial- the cows weren’t actually there!). We had a buffet lunch before the Church ceremony, complete with a very lively choir. Finally, the reception, where the newlyweds pretended to bake a cake for the guests (unlike the cows, the cake was actually there!). There were more songs from the choir and the evening ended with the guests queuing to present their gifts to the couple one by one. I wore a traditional Rwandese outfit:

      

     I took a motorbike taxi to the first ceremony and am raging I didn't get a photo of this- the helmet really complemented my floaty attire!

    

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      Lake Muhazi - I visited here with Eric and his friend Patrick, it was beautiful. We went for drinks afterwards where I discovered that Patrick’s favourite drink is Guinness and we ate Irish potatoes with our brochettes – small world eh?!

·         In the evenings after work Eric and I go for a walk on the roads just outside the town. I usually dine at the hotel restaurant and use their wireless to keep in touch with friends and family. Some of the parents from DIZA’s school have kindly invited me to play Scrabble with them too- they are very competitive / tactical in their play, I have a lot of improving to do!

A busy bee to say the least and loving every minute!

A typical day

The week before last was “month end” and offers a good example of a typical day at DIZA. Firstly, funds had to be transferred from one bank account to another and an instruction then had to be made for the bank to pay the school staff salaries. At home, this would all be done via internet from the comfort of the office in a matter of minutes. The Rwandan banking system is still developing (for example when you get a new ATM card you have to meet with the bank manager to collect your PIN code) which meant a more hands on, time consuming approach was required. Firstly we walked to bank A, queued for about half an hour to withdraw cash and requested a bank statement in order to prepare a bank reconciliation. Bank B, where we had to lodge the funds, was even busier and couldn’t generate a bank statement on the spot so we resigned to calling back the next day to arrange the payroll. We then had a twenty minute walk to a third bank to obtain more statements, thankfully these were available straight away.

 On our walk, we met three children who were returning from school (not DIZA’s school). When Eric quizzed them as to why they were going home in the middle of the day, they explained that they had been told to leave and not return until they had paid their school fees (public school fees here are approximately €10 per term , private school approximately €40).  Eric explained that while this shouldn’t happen, it often does and gave examples of families where there just isn’t enough money to send some/all children to school and pay for uniforms, books etc. so a lot of children simply don’t go at all or are in and out of school from year to year, therefore not completing primary school until their late teens perhaps.

After all our banking was done, we returned to the office for some more Quickbooks fun! We try to do a couple of hours every day to get it up to date.  Today, we worked to the soundtrack of the nursery school childen’s glorious music- we had been in Kigali the previous day and brought lollipops which double as whistles back with us!!!

The afternoon was spent drafting employment contracts for the school staff. Not something I have experience of but Eric had sourced a good template and a few examples which set us on the right path. Our work was interrupted from time to time by somebody coming to use DIZA’s photocopier, the man cutting the hedges around the school looking for payment and the nursery children who were wearing the stickers I brought them from home as earrings!!!

As you can see “typical” here has a very different meaning to at home.

Part of the community

On the last Saturday of the month, everything here shuts down for a few hours between 7am and 11am so that people may partake in public service work. Eric and I met at the sector office and after some hanging around we found out that the task of the day was to assist with the re-build of a school destroyed by bad weather. Like most things here, the scheduled time doesn’t mean much. We were the first volunteers to arrive (some “real” builders were already hard at work….just how hard I was yet to appreciate). Foundations were being dug for classrooms. All the work was done manually with people taking it in turns to use a limited number of tools. More hanging around ensued with the majority of people arriving by about 9. During this time, part of me was cursing the fact that I had missed a precious couple of hours in bed for nothing while another part was in no rush to demonstrate my building skills in front of a group of men! Women who had arrived were shown to a different area and I eventually followed, expecting/hoping for “lighter” work. That was not to be however -they were digging the foundations for a toilet block albeit in an area with slightly softer ground. I was handed a shovel and there were a few oohs and aahs before the whole place erupted into hysterics as I attempted to knock the hardened earth into pieces and shovel it away….and I don’t blame them one bit, I have neither the strength nor the technique for such work, pretty pathetic!!! The laughter was all in good spirits I hasten to add; as ever here in Rwamagana, everyone was really friendly and welcoming and in this instance, highly amused!

After the work a meeting is held. Local issues or details of upcoming events such as elections are communicated. On the agenda this month was what to plant for the current agricultural season. Then the matter of crops being stolen from farms was raised. It was claimed that some of the culprits were present and one poor fella had to stand up to identify himself!!! It was all very tame and people weren't fussed or angry. Often this is the way petty crimes are handled initially. If people re-offend, the police are involved. An interesting way of dealing with things I thought.

Overall - a fantastic experience - I was really struck by the sense of community spirit and am in awe of the women, it was incredibly demanding work but it didn’t faze them one bit! 

First impressions

Guidelines suggest keeping blog entries short and sweet. I feel like I have so much to share after only 5 days here-all extremely positive- but will do my best to edit!

By way of introduction, my name is Sarah Farrell. I am 25 years old, from Dublin. I completed my ACA training with Deloitte Dublin recently and am now based in Rwamagana, Rwanda working for 9 weeks with an organisation called DIZA (which means "Friends of the Children" in Kinyarwanda). I will explain more about the organisation at a later stage. In the meantime, their website is http://www.rwandanorphans.org/ if anyone wants to check it out. I arranged my placement through London based "Accounting for International Development"(www.afid.org.uk).

The Rwandan people are unbelievably friendly and welcoming, I can't get over it. The fifteen minute walk from my hotel to the DIZA office is an experience- as a "mzungu" (white person!) I am instantly noticeable. I get plenty of stares from all and children regularly come up to shake my hand and say good morning. I'm constantly waving and returning smiles. The odd person even stops to chat.

The children at the school run by DIZA are just adorable. Due to funding restrictions the school is being built classroom by classroom. (As it happens, the school building project is funded primarily by an Irish charity called the Rwandan Children's Project http://www.thercp.org/ - another plug!) At present there are two classrooms which are used by 38 nursery students. I visited them on my first morning and they were SO excited to see me. Most rushed over to hug/examine me and they sang me some English songs they've been learning- one a chant "we know English, we know English" and another about "the biggy biggy moon in the biggy biggy sky and the biggy biggy sun in the biggy biggy sky and the smally smally stars in the biggy biggy sky"!

I'll come back to explaining a typical day in the office when I'm settled in but so far we've installed Quickbooks accounting package and are in the process of transferring over information from excel. A tedious process but once the groundwork is done it should speed things up for the long run. We've also done some net to gross payroll calculations- a personal favourite as I like a bit of algebra and trained in the personal tax department!

I work with DIZA's coordinator, Eric. I can't speak highly enough of the reception he's given me. He has shown me all around the town, helped me organise accommodation and even taken me to watch an Arsenal match in a local bar- premiership football is hugely popular here. I'm learning lots about Rwandan history and way of life from him.

I will leave you for now with a quick note on the food here-a specialty is brochettes - kebabs of goat meat and onions. They are just delicious! On most menus they come with a choice of "chips, sweet potatoes or Irish potatoes". When I saw this and exclaimed at the "Irish" part Eric just said "why, what do you call them?".......they're just regular, boiled potatoes to me; we're not sure where the "Irish" came from!

Photos to follow soon….promise!