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!