The last days with my kids at Gisimba were so warm and heartfelt – I began to realize for the first time just how hard it was going to be to say goodbye...It was a week of exams, even for the five year olds!
I helped the teacher prepare the drawing for the "parts of a plant" exam, using the banana tree picture I had taught them earlier in the year. During their exam, I sat with a few of the kids who were struggling figuring out where on the paper to write their answers. I realized by sitting with them individually that they could indeed name the parts of the plant (leaf, flower, fruit, stem, roots) but just did not know where to write the answers. I got approval from the teacher to go ahead and write the answers if they knew them properly. One of the girls, Agape, was nearly in tears because she didn’t know where to write the answers. I called her over, sat her on my lap, and gave her exciting “great job!!” responses when she got each one right. I was so thrilled to see how her mood improved dramatically. Such serious young students! The kids were doing another exam to test their ability to form letters and had to make the letter E with clay. I was assigned the exciting task of walking through the kids and assigning them their score: excellent, very good, or good. :-) It was exciting to be playing such a role in their final week.
There is a really quiet girl, Rita, who I realized just sits mostly by herself during the recess break after their breakfast. One day the last week I sat next to her on the ledge and put my hand on her back. She looked up at me, smiled, put her hand on my leg, and we just sat there watching the other kids play. This lasted for only a few moments due to the other children finding an easy opportunity to jump on the teacher, but for those few minutes, I felt at such peace with this small, innocent little life...These are the quiet moments that make life worth living...
Thursday I began making paper hats for the end-of-year school party the teacher was going to have the following Friday. I folded five different versions of a paper hat for the teacher to select one. I proceeded then with 37 copies of that hat! We drew pictures and colored them to get them all decorated. We also worked on cutting out 37 pairs of paper eyeglasses. What a crazy fun party I am sure this was on Friday, which I had to miss!
Last Friday was my last real day to spend with the kids at the nursery school. Wanting to leave something special for each of them, I decided to make some certificates for them, each with a phrase as to why I loved their presence in my class. I spent an entire evening cutting, gluing, writing and stickering each one. For each of my teachers, I wrote a letter and gave a chocolate bar. For Jean Paul and Kharim, I wrote each a special note, trying to reinforce the importance of persuing goals and believing in yourself and working hard for that which you believe. When I exchanged my note with Jean Paul, he gave me a folder of beautiful necklaces made there at Gisimba and a short but sweet note thanking me for me time there. For Kharim, I decided I would read it to him to ensure he would actually understood it all (considering I was teaching him how to read). It was really challenging for me, and I found myself trying so hard to fight back the tears. I told him how proud I was of him and that I hoped he could learn from this experience that anything is possible if you work hard enough at it. I hoped, too, that he would be able to continue learning English after I left...You see, I have had this fear that my time there with him may not end up having any long term effect if he doesn´t keep trying to learn. I just have to keep hoping and praying that he will find the strength to believe in himself and to keep pushing himself forward. Some of these kids have their own internal discipline whereas others live simply day by day and plan little for their future. Kharim had fallen into that latter category, but with some of our talks, I hope he can change his perspectives...he sat there as I read my note to him and hugged me and told me he would never forget me...it is true that he will always have a special place in my heart. I think if I could have adopted a 16 year old child, I would have brought him home with me! We spent that afternoon reading a couple of books. He gathered some of the other kids together with whom he had taught some singing and dancing for other visitors and they sang for me. What beautiful voices from heaven...I was so very thankful for my camera to be able to capture such moments to treasure them for years to come. I played some foot-stomping and hand clapping games, too, with some of the other girls. It was so adorable because I had yet to figure out how one actually wins at this game and how they know what clapping pattern to have and when to put out their foot. It became evident to me that for the first time they were actually trying to teach me how to play instead of just laughing with me! :-) And by them doing this, I actually finally learned the point! Only took me three months!
So, although I was prepared for Friday to be my very last day, when I reconfirmed with my teacher, she asked that I come back on Monday. Little did I know at that time how little time I would actually have on Monday to spend with the kdis...when I did arrive after a long morning at the local police (that story will be explained below!!), I discovered that the teachers wanted to make me an African outfit! Anna-Marie took me to the local market to let me pick out a beautiful African batik. Returning to Gisimba, my measurements were taken and I realized I had to return the following day – my very last day in Rwanda – to pick it up. It was so beautiful, but more than anything, I was so moved that they wanted to do something so special for me! I went three months at Gisimba wondering if I was really bonding with the teachers and it wasn’t until my very last day that I realized just how much I was going to miss them, too! They kept joking, asking me to stay just a little longer. It made me feel so special and really touched my soul...
...and how my spirit has been forever shaped by the children at Gisimba....Gisimba is such a well-funded orphanage by the Belgiums that they tend to have a lot of visitors coming through to greet the children. It seems that these kids are so used to having visitors around that they do not necessarily need the attention and love of the visitors or volunteers. They always seem so independent and rely heavily on the house mothers and the older orphans for all their concerns and needs. Having spent three months there, it was evident that there were some kids who had become accustomed to my being there, but even so, it seems that they are so used to saying goodbye and letting people go that saying bye wasn’t so difficult for them. On my last day, for each hug I shared with these kids, I held on just a little longer...I love them all, each for their own unique charm! It was certainly much harder for me to let them go than the other way around. And not being able to share in English exactly what I was feeling, I did the best I could to keep my tears hidden....As I write this now, it is safe to say I am shedding more tears now than I did that day. Getting ready for my departure I was full of so many contradictory emotions. But now, as I sit here, just remembering their smiles and their laughter and their innocence, I cannot help but have a longing in my heart for them. I know they will all be fine. It is crazy how, as a volunteer, you enter into such an experience wanting to enrich the lives of these children and show them the unconditional love that you think they may be lacking. However, by the end you begin to realize just how much it may be more the other way around. These children have really taught me something about life and love and caring and what it means to truly overcome challenging situations. Their energy and enthusiasm and love for life are all incredibly contagious.........
After my emotional goodbyes, my final weekend I spent traveling to Gisenyi with two other volunteers. This town is in the northwest part of the country, boarding Goma in the DRC. Just at the northern tip of Lake Kivu, the views and beaches were to be incredible and would be a great way to end my stay in Rwanda...It was an exciting weekend, but was full of more rain storms than I would like to remember....little did I know that just 48 hours before my departure, there would be more excitment to endure.....
Returning from the weekend in Gisenyi, our volunteer group of seven decided to meet at a restaurant we had been to for so many other volunteer farewell dinners. After waiting for an hour for the other volunteers to meet us in town, we placed our pizza orders and I was so incredibly disappointed to learn that there was no spinach for my favorite spinach pizza!! From the exhausting and draining weekend, I was so disappointed. After about five minutes thinking of what else I felt like, the woman taking our order came to me and told me not to worry – she was going to the market to buy me some spinach! I couldn´t believe it! This is how life in Rwanda is. No other customers in the restaurant so their goal is to satisfy those that are there...it was so incredibly sweet! I was thinking to myself how I needed to get a photo with this woman when we were done with dinner...
Since the place was pretty empty, we had been storing our backpacks at the booth behind us. After placing the order with the woman, there was only one person who was serving our table; a young man who seemed to care little for the real comfort of his customers. I hadn´t thought much of it until immediately after eating, I went for my camera to get a photo of my new friend, and discovered my camera was missing. It was extremely apparent, although we took a lot of time giving him the benefit of the doubt, that the young man who was our server was the guilty party. Searching for two hours through every employee´s lockers, coats, pants, and cook line, the bar, everywhere, I began to outright accuse this young man of taking my camera. It seemed that the woman who found my spinach was also a bit suspicious of him. He continued to deny and told me that only God could judge him. What if some how I was accussing the wrong person?!
I was so incredibly emotional! I had been downloading photos to my jump drive throughout my stay, but the memory card on my camera contained all of the video and photos of my farewell with the children at Gisimba from that Friday. We tried numerous times to tell him and to just announce in the restaurant that if suddenly the memory card just appeared on the counter, we would leave and be fine...the camera was of little importance; it was all of the pictures on the card that were so meaningful and would be sorely missed...Nothing happened. By this time, the entire staff was helping us look. They called the manager who showed up and with whom we went through the same questioning. After a little longer, he decided to go pick up a couple of police officers and bring them by to help us solve the problem. As hopeless as it may have seemed, everything in Rwanda is about making guests feel comfortable. It was obvious, since no one else was coming or going, that someone on his staff took the camera, and he wasn´t going to just forget about it. After another hour or so with the police (four hours in total just looking and questioning and accusing...), they took the young man to jail to hold him overnight. I was to return at 8am the following morning to give my official statement.
Waking up the next morning, I felt incredibly hopeless. What incentive did this young man have to turn over the camera?! Another volunteer came with me to the station and thank goodness she did! It was over an hour wait of watching and listening to random prisoners before I was able to meet with someone and recount all of events from the previous night – how exhausting that was! I kept thinking that I was just wasting my time. I would have rather been at Gisimba trying to capture new photos of all my kids to try and replace those that had been lost...but I only had a few hours to get there to do it, and here I was filing a report for a missing camera...who was I kidding?!
After an interesting questioning session, they decided to go and see if the guy was still behind bars and to ask him a few more questions. It wasn’t long before he was out from behind bars, telling me he didn’t know what to say, and turned to my friend asking in French if he could speak with her separately. It ended up that he had spent the night in that holding cell and began questioning his life; what he was going to do about his job, his university, his family, and he realized he was sorry. He wanted to take us back to the restaurant to retrieve the camera if we would tell his boss we made an error and he could keep his job. After making a quick statement with the police that I had made a mistake and no longer needed the help of the police, we headed back to the restaurant with the kid´s identity card in my pocket – something so important to him that we could trust he wouldn´t run away on the walk...
The short of it is that I was able to get my camera back. Having been sitting in the bushes all night in the pouring rain, the camera no longer worked, but the memory card was saved! When it came time to talk to his boss, instead of telling the boss that we made as error, we told him the truth...we wanted the manager to forgive him as we did. And I did forgive him...I had been asking myself for the previous 12 hours why this was happening to me; that I had spent three months here contributing to the children in the country, helping a complete stranger sick on the road just days prior, and this was going to be the thanks I get?! It didn´t make sense. I really believe that things happen for a reason and I wanted to believe that something good could come from this entire episode. From this whole experience, if this young man could re-evaluate his priorities and perhaps change his mind about the type of character he wanted to be, than I would feel so much better about the whole thing. But when we sat with the young man in front of this boss and looked him in the eye telling him this was his chance to tell the truth, he sat there and looked at his boss and told the lie he thought we had shared. My heart sunk...I wanted so badly to believe that he was truly sorry...but lying for him in order for him to keep his job was not the right thing to do. He needed to actually apologize not just to us, but to his boss and his colleagues for the horribly long night that he caused for everyone. In the end, he lost his job and the boss made him tell his colleagues what really did happen. I want to believe that the humiliation will make him think twice in the future. I suppose I will never know what comes of him, but I can certainly pray that he will be shaped into a more honest person from having had this experience and that he can learn how telling the truth can truly free him.
Being back in the states, I have a new found appreciation for some random things: hot running water; vegetables; non-polluting vehicles; flat roads; the ease of our emergency response system.......I will forever be amazed by the incredible strength of Rwanda women and moved by the innocence of children...
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. ~Mark Twain
Finally home...but my last week in Rwanda was probably one of my most eventful and certainly the most moving...
Last Wednesday, I was walking home from Gisimba and had a sudden realization as I saw a man who was clearly in need of help: If I was laying on the side of the road, shaking with a wound on my head and foaming from the mouth, I would certainly hope that somebody, anybody, would stop to help me! Walking from Sonatube, there was such a many, laying on the side of the road, clearly injured and shaking. Yet, there was not a single person stopping to help. To be in need of help and having no number to call was very frustrating. I totally take advantage of our 911 system, to just know that help can be on the way when it is needed. I was clueless if there was any system like that in place in Rwanda. After trying to catch the attention of a few passerbys, one man did stop. He spoke only French, but he clearly understood when I said, "This man needs help. Where can I find help?" I walked to the small store I pass every day and asked the woman inside if there was an emergency number to call, that a man down the road needed help. Thank goodness the french speaking man came with me as he began explaining in kinyarwanda to her. As they tried to decide how I could find the police (who are actually posted at certain locations on the side of the road all around town, but just like at home, they are never around when you need them!), I saw the military truck driving by in the background, taking the soldiers to the placements for the evening. I asked them if the military would be able to find the police. They seemed to think so. I went quickly outside and back down the road, past the sick man who was still laying there with no help, but I didn't reach the truck before it was pulling away. I tried to stop a moto driver to ask him if he could bring a policeman to me, but he must have thought I was nuts and surly couldn't understand a thing I was saying. Just at that time, a second military truck was driving by. I followed it immediately to its stop and stood there waiting for the men to get out the back. I quickly asked, "English??" and one raised his hand. I proceeded to tell hiim that there was a man who needed help up the road and that I needed the police. He spoke to his boss real quick, asked another man to come with us, and they followed me to where the sick man was laying. I really could not believe how there was so much hesitation, as if they didn't really know what to do. This was the first moment I got close enough to the guy to see his face. He was clearly conscious at some level, but couldn´t hardly move other than the incontrollable shaking. Just looking into his eyes....I can still see him in my mind...this desperate plea for help....I reached down and just rubbed his arm, telling him we were trying to get him help, though he probably had no idea what I was saying....there is no telling how long this man layed there...the blood on his head drying and the foam or vomit on his face also nearly dried up....the military man reached down like he was checking his pulse and I asked him, is there an emergency number to call for help? he just looked at me. I said again, "we need to get this man to the hospital, what number can we call?" I gave him my phone and told him to call for help. Of course by this time there were many people standing around watching the muzunug with two military police - this surly sparked some curiosity - not the sick man on the street....I looked up and saw an ambulance from another town driving up the road and started waving my hands in the air. I cannot believe I got so lucky to find the help I needed just passing by. The ambulance stopped and a man got out to come look. We had found a piece of paper falling out of his shirt pocket. Upon further reading, we discovered the man had recently been released from a hospital of sorts, prehaps a mental hospital from the way the other men were saying he was not right in his head. I said I didn't care but that he still needed to get to a hospital now. Two men stooped down at his head and feet to lift him. I kenlt down with another man, each of us on either side of his hips, and the four of us lifted and carried him to the ambluance to load him inside. This little act had the crowd quite interested again in what the muzunugu was doing. I was a bit frustrated, to say the least. I am just so thankful that this man was able to get some help. We all thanked each other and soon went on our way. Walking home I was just so angry that no one was stopping to help this guy. I don't know if it is a cultural thing or just looking out for oneself or simply not paying attention to their surroundings, but it was really frustrating to think about at that time. Too much hatred in the world - we must really look out for each other.....but this was not the end of my run-ins with the Rwanda police.....
But more to come later today....
Last Wednesday, I was walking home from Gisimba and had a sudden realization as I saw a man who was clearly in need of help: If I was laying on the side of the road, shaking with a wound on my head and foaming from the mouth, I would certainly hope that somebody, anybody, would stop to help me! Walking from Sonatube, there was such a many, laying on the side of the road, clearly injured and shaking. Yet, there was not a single person stopping to help. To be in need of help and having no number to call was very frustrating. I totally take advantage of our 911 system, to just know that help can be on the way when it is needed. I was clueless if there was any system like that in place in Rwanda. After trying to catch the attention of a few passerbys, one man did stop. He spoke only French, but he clearly understood when I said, "This man needs help. Where can I find help?" I walked to the small store I pass every day and asked the woman inside if there was an emergency number to call, that a man down the road needed help. Thank goodness the french speaking man came with me as he began explaining in kinyarwanda to her. As they tried to decide how I could find the police (who are actually posted at certain locations on the side of the road all around town, but just like at home, they are never around when you need them!), I saw the military truck driving by in the background, taking the soldiers to the placements for the evening. I asked them if the military would be able to find the police. They seemed to think so. I went quickly outside and back down the road, past the sick man who was still laying there with no help, but I didn't reach the truck before it was pulling away. I tried to stop a moto driver to ask him if he could bring a policeman to me, but he must have thought I was nuts and surly couldn't understand a thing I was saying. Just at that time, a second military truck was driving by. I followed it immediately to its stop and stood there waiting for the men to get out the back. I quickly asked, "English??" and one raised his hand. I proceeded to tell hiim that there was a man who needed help up the road and that I needed the police. He spoke to his boss real quick, asked another man to come with us, and they followed me to where the sick man was laying. I really could not believe how there was so much hesitation, as if they didn't really know what to do. This was the first moment I got close enough to the guy to see his face. He was clearly conscious at some level, but couldn´t hardly move other than the incontrollable shaking. Just looking into his eyes....I can still see him in my mind...this desperate plea for help....I reached down and just rubbed his arm, telling him we were trying to get him help, though he probably had no idea what I was saying....there is no telling how long this man layed there...the blood on his head drying and the foam or vomit on his face also nearly dried up....the military man reached down like he was checking his pulse and I asked him, is there an emergency number to call for help? he just looked at me. I said again, "we need to get this man to the hospital, what number can we call?" I gave him my phone and told him to call for help. Of course by this time there were many people standing around watching the muzunug with two military police - this surly sparked some curiosity - not the sick man on the street....I looked up and saw an ambulance from another town driving up the road and started waving my hands in the air. I cannot believe I got so lucky to find the help I needed just passing by. The ambulance stopped and a man got out to come look. We had found a piece of paper falling out of his shirt pocket. Upon further reading, we discovered the man had recently been released from a hospital of sorts, prehaps a mental hospital from the way the other men were saying he was not right in his head. I said I didn't care but that he still needed to get to a hospital now. Two men stooped down at his head and feet to lift him. I kenlt down with another man, each of us on either side of his hips, and the four of us lifted and carried him to the ambluance to load him inside. This little act had the crowd quite interested again in what the muzunugu was doing. I was a bit frustrated, to say the least. I am just so thankful that this man was able to get some help. We all thanked each other and soon went on our way. Walking home I was just so angry that no one was stopping to help this guy. I don't know if it is a cultural thing or just looking out for oneself or simply not paying attention to their surroundings, but it was really frustrating to think about at that time. Too much hatred in the world - we must really look out for each other.....but this was not the end of my run-ins with the Rwanda police.....
But more to come later today....
Friday, October 22, 2010
L'Esperance.....hope
I must say, that the most incredible part of my entire time here was my trip this last weekend to another orphanage called L'Esperance. Maureen and I took a three hour bus ride to Kibuye and then embarked on a 90 minute motobike ride - up, down and around dirt and gravel roads, with rolling hills and views of Lake Kivu all around. I scheduled this trip after my visit with Manna Energy last month so that I could see one of their water purification systems in place. Little did I know what I would walk into. It is an absolute paradise...which seems crazy to say considering it is an orphanage, but it is truly magical. I could literally go on for hours about my experience here, so I will try to keep it brief.
First off, the Director - Victor. He is a Guatemalan who has been at L'Esperance for over five years after having spent 20 years in Germany. With an agricultural sciences background, not only has Victor worked to get the clean water system in place, but he has plans for the entire orphanage to become self sufficient in the next few years by creating income-generating projects. One such plan is to open an eco-lodge on the lake that will help fund scholarships for the older orphans to go to university. The plans are already developed with help from a university in Colorado. The goal - to make it the first Rwanda hotel to meet LEED standards! It will be hydro and solar powered and will use the fruits that are already growing by the orphanage to provide food in its restaurant. Fruit such as pineapple, banana, and mango are already being cultivated and will soon be joined with papaya and guava. From these fruits they will begin processing dried fruit and will eventually have it shipped to Europe. He is already working with NASA and Engineers Without Boarders from Boulder, Colorado to test out a few dryers this coming January. L'Esperance has already had cows donated to them to provide milk for the children. The cows have reproduced and the idea is that they will be able to sell additional supplies of milk to local markets for more revenue. With help from Manna Energy, Victor has already switched their cooking stoves to be 80% more efficient, only using .2 cubic meters of firewood per day for 127 children and staff! Remarkable! He has a plot of land that will be used to cultivate their own firewood so they will not have to battle rights to wood in the future, with a thought, as well, to eventually use some bio fuels. A mini agricultural school and community education program are ideas on the table, as well.
So besides all these amazing plans, my experience there with the children was truly magical, as well. We arrived and were greeted by numerous smiling faces and warm hugs. We were shown our room in the Director’s small yet cozy house. With no power and evening approaching, we spent a short time with the babies as they were enjoying their dinner of rice and beans.
Suddenly a huge storm began rolling in over the hills. The wind picked up, like you would not believe, and the children began screaming and ran for cover. We headed back to the house where the wind was blowing the rain in under the doors and in the vents above the windows. Victor told us that never in five and a half years had there been such an incredible storm! After a couple of hours, when the winds calmed, we were able to stand on the porch and look out at the horizon over the lake – the lights of Goma shown bright up north in the far distance...What a beautiful site to be seen!
After a standard Rwanda dinner of beans, rice and chips by candlelight, we went out to one of the orphan’s homes where they were singing and dancing some beautiful songs that they themselves had written in years past. Having produced two different CD’s, each having been taken to space, their singing truly moved my soul. To see all the children, old and young, joining together to share in simple pleasures; it was truly special. Later some of the teenage girls were dancing all around me, so I was able to join in, trying to shadow their moves - what rhythm they have!
Saturday morning Maureen and I went to spend time with the babies during their morning wash. The house mother and older girls were preparing the little baths after which each was placed on a small mat to await their drying. We helped to dry their little bodies and get them all dressed in worn, yet cleaned clothes. Sitting on the mats after being dressed, they were fed a handful of bananas each – again, it was incredible how they were so disciplined, sitting so still. What a contrast to the incredible energy they exhibited during the rest of the day. What great leadership this woman and the older girls have shown to them.
We enjoyed an afternoon hiking to the lake and were briefed here on how the eco-lodge would be constructed across the way. Other children from a local town were enjoying time just being kids, playing in the lake, in and out of the canoes they had there.
We came back and in the afternoon took some time to play with whiffle balls, tennis balls, frisbees and jump ropes with the kids. After a couple of hours with the older girls showing me up on the jump rope and playing some great ball with the younger kids, another huge storm rolled through. You would never believe the storms that could roll through this town. I think since it is up in the hills, right off of the lake side, the storms are incredibly intense. As we all ran for cover, I was in an orphan house with some of the older teenagers. We had a great time talking about my work, their studies, favorite foods, games, etc. Then, we began talking about song and dance! They tried to teach me a beautiful Kinyarwanda song they had made and then began to teach me the traditional Intore dancing. Wow...that was an awesome experience!! Juliet, Janet, Janet and Judy - how I miss those young women! I thought the previous night would have been hard to beat, but learning from these girls was so incredible.
Sunday was a beautiful time, touring around the entire orphanage, learning more about the chores the children have, including gathering water from the system, preparing the afternoon and evening’s food, cultivating the local fruits, gathering woods and running the cook stoves among many other things. This was the time that we were really able to get more information about all of the goals and practices of L’Esperance. The trip was too quickly concluded with another 90 minute motorbike ride back to Kibuye.
I must say that in all of the time I have spent here, I haven’t yet fallen in love with this country - it has really just been the children I work with, day in and day out, from which I have found the love this country has to share. My experiences with the kids at Gisimba have been so special, and traveling around the country side has been so beautiful, but until now I have not really fallen in love with anything here. However, after this experience at L’Esperance, I feel I have a stronger reason to come back to this country so that I can see how the programs that have been implemented have all progressed, not to mention to see these beautiful faces again...
L’Esperance means hope...and this place has truly given me hope for the welfare of these children. I see that they could perhaps find an inner strength here that so many other children never have an opportunity to experience.
First off, the Director - Victor. He is a Guatemalan who has been at L'Esperance for over five years after having spent 20 years in Germany. With an agricultural sciences background, not only has Victor worked to get the clean water system in place, but he has plans for the entire orphanage to become self sufficient in the next few years by creating income-generating projects. One such plan is to open an eco-lodge on the lake that will help fund scholarships for the older orphans to go to university. The plans are already developed with help from a university in Colorado. The goal - to make it the first Rwanda hotel to meet LEED standards! It will be hydro and solar powered and will use the fruits that are already growing by the orphanage to provide food in its restaurant. Fruit such as pineapple, banana, and mango are already being cultivated and will soon be joined with papaya and guava. From these fruits they will begin processing dried fruit and will eventually have it shipped to Europe. He is already working with NASA and Engineers Without Boarders from Boulder, Colorado to test out a few dryers this coming January. L'Esperance has already had cows donated to them to provide milk for the children. The cows have reproduced and the idea is that they will be able to sell additional supplies of milk to local markets for more revenue. With help from Manna Energy, Victor has already switched their cooking stoves to be 80% more efficient, only using .2 cubic meters of firewood per day for 127 children and staff! Remarkable! He has a plot of land that will be used to cultivate their own firewood so they will not have to battle rights to wood in the future, with a thought, as well, to eventually use some bio fuels. A mini agricultural school and community education program are ideas on the table, as well.
So besides all these amazing plans, my experience there with the children was truly magical, as well. We arrived and were greeted by numerous smiling faces and warm hugs. We were shown our room in the Director’s small yet cozy house. With no power and evening approaching, we spent a short time with the babies as they were enjoying their dinner of rice and beans.
Suddenly a huge storm began rolling in over the hills. The wind picked up, like you would not believe, and the children began screaming and ran for cover. We headed back to the house where the wind was blowing the rain in under the doors and in the vents above the windows. Victor told us that never in five and a half years had there been such an incredible storm! After a couple of hours, when the winds calmed, we were able to stand on the porch and look out at the horizon over the lake – the lights of Goma shown bright up north in the far distance...What a beautiful site to be seen!
After a standard Rwanda dinner of beans, rice and chips by candlelight, we went out to one of the orphan’s homes where they were singing and dancing some beautiful songs that they themselves had written in years past. Having produced two different CD’s, each having been taken to space, their singing truly moved my soul. To see all the children, old and young, joining together to share in simple pleasures; it was truly special. Later some of the teenage girls were dancing all around me, so I was able to join in, trying to shadow their moves - what rhythm they have!
Saturday morning Maureen and I went to spend time with the babies during their morning wash. The house mother and older girls were preparing the little baths after which each was placed on a small mat to await their drying. We helped to dry their little bodies and get them all dressed in worn, yet cleaned clothes. Sitting on the mats after being dressed, they were fed a handful of bananas each – again, it was incredible how they were so disciplined, sitting so still. What a contrast to the incredible energy they exhibited during the rest of the day. What great leadership this woman and the older girls have shown to them.
We enjoyed an afternoon hiking to the lake and were briefed here on how the eco-lodge would be constructed across the way. Other children from a local town were enjoying time just being kids, playing in the lake, in and out of the canoes they had there.
We came back and in the afternoon took some time to play with whiffle balls, tennis balls, frisbees and jump ropes with the kids. After a couple of hours with the older girls showing me up on the jump rope and playing some great ball with the younger kids, another huge storm rolled through. You would never believe the storms that could roll through this town. I think since it is up in the hills, right off of the lake side, the storms are incredibly intense. As we all ran for cover, I was in an orphan house with some of the older teenagers. We had a great time talking about my work, their studies, favorite foods, games, etc. Then, we began talking about song and dance! They tried to teach me a beautiful Kinyarwanda song they had made and then began to teach me the traditional Intore dancing. Wow...that was an awesome experience!! Juliet, Janet, Janet and Judy - how I miss those young women! I thought the previous night would have been hard to beat, but learning from these girls was so incredible.
Sunday was a beautiful time, touring around the entire orphanage, learning more about the chores the children have, including gathering water from the system, preparing the afternoon and evening’s food, cultivating the local fruits, gathering woods and running the cook stoves among many other things. This was the time that we were really able to get more information about all of the goals and practices of L’Esperance. The trip was too quickly concluded with another 90 minute motorbike ride back to Kibuye.
I must say that in all of the time I have spent here, I haven’t yet fallen in love with this country - it has really just been the children I work with, day in and day out, from which I have found the love this country has to share. My experiences with the kids at Gisimba have been so special, and traveling around the country side has been so beautiful, but until now I have not really fallen in love with anything here. However, after this experience at L’Esperance, I feel I have a stronger reason to come back to this country so that I can see how the programs that have been implemented have all progressed, not to mention to see these beautiful faces again...
L’Esperance means hope...and this place has truly given me hope for the welfare of these children. I see that they could perhaps find an inner strength here that so many other children never have an opportunity to experience.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Bits and pieces
A couple of postings ago, my dear friend asked me to explain a little bit about the challenges and implications of being in a country with three national languages - Kinyarwanda, French, and English - I am very happy to do so! It is safe to say that EVERYONE here speaks Kinyarwanda. If you travel to the countryside, most often no one speaks English, a few may speak French, but most business and daily interactions are all in Kinyarwanda. French was the national language until just a year or two ago. At the time, French was the language they spoke in schools and to conduct regular everyday business in the city. The switch from French to English was implemented by the president a year or two ago in order to conduct more international business and to attract more international investment as it is more widely spoken world-wide. When he did so, schools also switched to teaching in English, which is where there have been a number of children being left behind, and when it seems that reading and dictation became more important in schools than comprehension. At any rate, it is easy to spot billboards and signs that are newer because they are posted in English. Only old signs are still up in French. French tends to be more commonly spoken between people on the street but true business has been or is moving to English. But then there are many times you can see that messages are catered specifically to the locals because such things are posted in Kinyarwanda only. Of course, things like money are printed in all three languages, but there are not many things like that. Radio shows are often in Kinyarwanda with a word here or there in French...I hope that helps explain it a bit :-)
The last couple of weeks I have been helping the teacher with writing homework assignments. Math homework for instance came from me writing the numbers 9 and 10 and drawing nine triangles and ten stars in each of the 39 kids' homework journals so they could then go home and practice copying the number. I was also helping with classroom assignments during which I hadn't realized that people still use carbon paper...yep, they resort to it here when the copier is down. I had to trace stacks of 8 carbon copies, about five times each of a drawing of a Cat and letter C and then a drawing of a Dog and letter D. That was quite the chore!
When they are teaching letters, I have found it interesting how they have the kids learn the capital letter, lowercase letter and the cursive letter, all at the same time. I honestly think it confuses them a bit. The teacher doesn't actually show the kids how to write each letter, the are just expected to figure it out. I have so much enjoyment when I get to walk around and help the kids with their writing, holding their little hands and guiding their penmanship for a few times. Working on the letter b and d, there were a handful constantly getting it backwards. I tell you, it amuses me so much when I guide their hands, "ciiiircle, biiiig top, liiiittle tail," and then they repeat after me and actually write it correctly!!
At recess, the girls have been so adorable on the play ground lately playing with these yarn dolls. They take off their sweaters, bend forward, and put the doll on their back, wrapping their sweater around their chest - so freaken adorable just playing house like little girls will do!....I also had forgotten how entertaining a game of tag can truly be. It begins with just a few kids, but soon there are about 15 all shouting, "Teacher! Doh!" I stretch out to tag them, but goodness, they are always just out of my reach! :-) Apparently tag is so much more exciting when the teacher is "It." :-)
One day last week the teacher asked me to teach about parties, so of course I asked for some clarification. "You know," she said, "holidays that you have parties for, like New Years, Christmas, Easter, Weddings and birthdays." HA! As if I have any idea how people in Rwanda celebrate such holidays! I did the best I could, but it was a challenge trying to talk to five-year-olds who don't understand my English and can hardly comprehend what a month actually is, let alone that New Year's is the first day of a year! And don't forget no Santa Clause, nor Easter Bunny, nor "da-DA-da-da" for wedding...but we did have the Happy Birthday song :-) It was amusing, to say the least.
One thing you notice walking around here is that many children will greet you, "Good morning" but they do it when it is 5 in the evening, too! I decided to take it upon myself to teach morning, afternoon and evening by drawing scenes and acting out when they wake up, arrive at school, depart from school and go to bed, among other things. It seemed like they really had fun doing it! I don't know if they really will take it with them for now, but at least the concept is introduced! ;-)
I am really going to miss the hugs I get from some of the teachers here, but most of all, the older woman who I took of photo of pounding cassava leaves. She is such a lovable and powerful woman! Every week when I see her now, she gives me the strongest, longest hugs that I can remember. Her sincerity is incredibly moving...
I have some new insight now on what it must be like to be an incredibly proud "mother" who ends up just embarrassing her children! Another volunteer works at a school Gahanga, which I went and visited a week ago. While there, I met a teacher, Jerome, who is really into music and has even recorded two songs. He is only 19, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for him to meet Kharim, since Kharim is 16 and is a music and dancing junkie! The other volunteer and I arranged this visit last Thursday at the guesthouse, complete with juice, fruit and fresh baked bread! Jerome was so great and made a CD of music for Kharim - it was so sweet. But when we all sat, complete silence! Oh, it felt so awkward, so I started just asking questions about Jerome's music and telling/asking Kharim how cool that was....then I was so horrible that I started bragging about how Kharim had read TWO short books that day!! TWO BOOKS!!! If looks could kill, I would have be dead by Kharim LOL At that moment, I realized that a 16 year old boy could easily be embarrassed about reading two short books in front of this 19 year old teacher who is a cool music guy.....UGH! Actually, it was pretty hilarious and from that point on, I cooled my jets and let them take over the afternoon conversing. My goodness, my children are going to hate me one day! LOL
After my exciting week, I had quite an incredible weekend visiting an orphanage called L'Esperance, but that will have to be its own entry. :-) I hope you all are enjoying the welcoming of autumn! I know I am so looking forward to the cooler temps when I return. Hugs to all!
The last couple of weeks I have been helping the teacher with writing homework assignments. Math homework for instance came from me writing the numbers 9 and 10 and drawing nine triangles and ten stars in each of the 39 kids' homework journals so they could then go home and practice copying the number. I was also helping with classroom assignments during which I hadn't realized that people still use carbon paper...yep, they resort to it here when the copier is down. I had to trace stacks of 8 carbon copies, about five times each of a drawing of a Cat and letter C and then a drawing of a Dog and letter D. That was quite the chore!
When they are teaching letters, I have found it interesting how they have the kids learn the capital letter, lowercase letter and the cursive letter, all at the same time. I honestly think it confuses them a bit. The teacher doesn't actually show the kids how to write each letter, the are just expected to figure it out. I have so much enjoyment when I get to walk around and help the kids with their writing, holding their little hands and guiding their penmanship for a few times. Working on the letter b and d, there were a handful constantly getting it backwards. I tell you, it amuses me so much when I guide their hands, "ciiiircle, biiiig top, liiiittle tail," and then they repeat after me and actually write it correctly!!
At recess, the girls have been so adorable on the play ground lately playing with these yarn dolls. They take off their sweaters, bend forward, and put the doll on their back, wrapping their sweater around their chest - so freaken adorable just playing house like little girls will do!....I also had forgotten how entertaining a game of tag can truly be. It begins with just a few kids, but soon there are about 15 all shouting, "Teacher! Doh!" I stretch out to tag them, but goodness, they are always just out of my reach! :-) Apparently tag is so much more exciting when the teacher is "It." :-)
One day last week the teacher asked me to teach about parties, so of course I asked for some clarification. "You know," she said, "holidays that you have parties for, like New Years, Christmas, Easter, Weddings and birthdays." HA! As if I have any idea how people in Rwanda celebrate such holidays! I did the best I could, but it was a challenge trying to talk to five-year-olds who don't understand my English and can hardly comprehend what a month actually is, let alone that New Year's is the first day of a year! And don't forget no Santa Clause, nor Easter Bunny, nor "da-DA-da-da" for wedding...but we did have the Happy Birthday song :-) It was amusing, to say the least.
One thing you notice walking around here is that many children will greet you, "Good morning" but they do it when it is 5 in the evening, too! I decided to take it upon myself to teach morning, afternoon and evening by drawing scenes and acting out when they wake up, arrive at school, depart from school and go to bed, among other things. It seemed like they really had fun doing it! I don't know if they really will take it with them for now, but at least the concept is introduced! ;-)
I am really going to miss the hugs I get from some of the teachers here, but most of all, the older woman who I took of photo of pounding cassava leaves. She is such a lovable and powerful woman! Every week when I see her now, she gives me the strongest, longest hugs that I can remember. Her sincerity is incredibly moving...
I have some new insight now on what it must be like to be an incredibly proud "mother" who ends up just embarrassing her children! Another volunteer works at a school Gahanga, which I went and visited a week ago. While there, I met a teacher, Jerome, who is really into music and has even recorded two songs. He is only 19, so I thought it would be a great opportunity for him to meet Kharim, since Kharim is 16 and is a music and dancing junkie! The other volunteer and I arranged this visit last Thursday at the guesthouse, complete with juice, fruit and fresh baked bread! Jerome was so great and made a CD of music for Kharim - it was so sweet. But when we all sat, complete silence! Oh, it felt so awkward, so I started just asking questions about Jerome's music and telling/asking Kharim how cool that was....then I was so horrible that I started bragging about how Kharim had read TWO short books that day!! TWO BOOKS!!! If looks could kill, I would have be dead by Kharim LOL At that moment, I realized that a 16 year old boy could easily be embarrassed about reading two short books in front of this 19 year old teacher who is a cool music guy.....UGH! Actually, it was pretty hilarious and from that point on, I cooled my jets and let them take over the afternoon conversing. My goodness, my children are going to hate me one day! LOL
After my exciting week, I had quite an incredible weekend visiting an orphanage called L'Esperance, but that will have to be its own entry. :-) I hope you all are enjoying the welcoming of autumn! I know I am so looking forward to the cooler temps when I return. Hugs to all!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Do not inflict your will. Just give love. The soul will take that love and put it where it can best be used. ~Emmanuel
Walking to my first bus on Mondays, I cannot help but have "A case of the Mondays," :-) But by the time I reach Gisimba and I hear the class shouting, "Good morning teacher! How are YOU?!?!" all those blues just disappear and my spirit is immediately at the will of those adorable kids! :-) Aline is one of my sweethearts and she waits for me to finish what I am working on to walk outside with her at their recess time. All she has to do is just look up and smile at me and I am sucked in! This particular Monday, after their recess time, the other teachers wanted me to teach the Little Tea Pot song to their classes. As I finished with the 3 and 4 year olds, I found my class in the toy room up on the hill. As I entered, I found all these five year olds, already sweating from running in the HOT sun at recess, with their shirts off and tied around their waists, working on some teacher-led aerobics!! LOL I suppose there is no reason why P.E. wouldnt't be part of their curriculum here, too! There was the teacher, standing in front of the class, leading them through various exercises: raising their arms to reach the sky, touching their toes; standing with arms stretched wide and fanning down to the opposite toe, all while counting "1-2-3-4,1-2-3-4," and on and on!!! It was all I could do not to laugh out loud by the pure joy I felt at seeing how much fun they were having....
Tuesday Sara and Jordan joined me at Gisimba. Apparently all teachers were off for a teacher appreciation celebration day at the National Stadium. So although my nursery school was cancelled, the orphanage was as open as ever, so off to work we went. It was so nice to have a couple of new faces there with me to help provide more attention to other kids. As we walked through the gate that morning, my sweet four-year old Laurene just ran right over to me and gave me a huge hug! That girl has the most addicting laughter! You really cannot help but feel like laughing, too, when she is with you. I often do the horsey-ride chat with her sitting on my knees, and everytime I get to the, "whoooaaaa horsey dead" part and drop her towards the ground, she just throws her head back and the sweetest "hahahaha" comes floating right out of her. Gosh, I must find a way to get that on video! She is incredibly sweet - and what a great welcome for my friends :-) We had Jordan helping Kharim with math while Sara and I kept ourselves occupied by reading and coloring and playing with the kids.
On Wednesday, a day after the break, I walked into class and the few regular trouble-makers that I still just adore got up to come give me a high-five and do this fist-bump, chest hit, peace sign that I started with them :-) Then Billy, one adorable trouble-maker, grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it! He looked up at me with this smile that I cannot forget! :-) It makes my nose tingle just remembering... even the bads kids can be incredibly sweet when they really want to :-) Although toay he was stealing stickers from the teacher's drawer! LOL Kids will be kids!
That day I was asked to teach the kids the difference between a street, a road and an alley. Although a street and road seem about the same to me, they really wanted to differenciate between the paved and non-paved. So, the teacher decided that taking the kids outside and pointing out the paved street, versus the dirt road, and the people-only alleyways was the best way to highlight the differences. I think this was just one of those things you had to be there to see, but it was so nice for me to see the students really respect the rules for once, as they were told to be quiet and walk with arms crossed as they made their way to the side of the road. Buses and motobikes, a policeman and delivery trucks were going by and Aline and others kept shouting out what they were seeing...to see how proud they are of themselves to show us that they know what is there just warms me. So special they are! Then at recess I somehow got the "ooh eee ooh ah-ah, ching chang, walla walla bing bang" song in my head and started singing with the kids....so much rediculous fun.... :-)
I have been realizing more and more these days that I really have developed such a connection with some of the kids there. It would be rediculous for me to think that since I don't know all 140-some names of everyone at Gisimba that I somehow have failed. I realized as I tried to introduce the kids to my friends that I really did know more than I tend to give myself credit for. Coming to a place like this, as much as you try not to have specific expectations, you cannot help but judge your time and wonder if you really are doing what you wanted to accomplish. It is crazy how I think many times that these kids do more to nuture my soul with love than I do for theirs.....but hey, love does make the world go round, so in many ways, I suppose it doesn't really matter so much. What I do know is that as my final weeks are counting down, I have been filled with some mixed emotions. With just a few weeks left, I find myself missing them already, wondering what impression will be left on them when I leave. I have tried really hard to show them as much love as I can, and to nurture their gentle souls to help them simply believe in themselves, whether through coloring or playing car games or reading....I do know that I have forever been changed by them...
Tuesday Sara and Jordan joined me at Gisimba. Apparently all teachers were off for a teacher appreciation celebration day at the National Stadium. So although my nursery school was cancelled, the orphanage was as open as ever, so off to work we went. It was so nice to have a couple of new faces there with me to help provide more attention to other kids. As we walked through the gate that morning, my sweet four-year old Laurene just ran right over to me and gave me a huge hug! That girl has the most addicting laughter! You really cannot help but feel like laughing, too, when she is with you. I often do the horsey-ride chat with her sitting on my knees, and everytime I get to the, "whoooaaaa horsey dead" part and drop her towards the ground, she just throws her head back and the sweetest "hahahaha" comes floating right out of her. Gosh, I must find a way to get that on video! She is incredibly sweet - and what a great welcome for my friends :-) We had Jordan helping Kharim with math while Sara and I kept ourselves occupied by reading and coloring and playing with the kids.
On Wednesday, a day after the break, I walked into class and the few regular trouble-makers that I still just adore got up to come give me a high-five and do this fist-bump, chest hit, peace sign that I started with them :-) Then Billy, one adorable trouble-maker, grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it! He looked up at me with this smile that I cannot forget! :-) It makes my nose tingle just remembering... even the bads kids can be incredibly sweet when they really want to :-) Although toay he was stealing stickers from the teacher's drawer! LOL Kids will be kids!
That day I was asked to teach the kids the difference between a street, a road and an alley. Although a street and road seem about the same to me, they really wanted to differenciate between the paved and non-paved. So, the teacher decided that taking the kids outside and pointing out the paved street, versus the dirt road, and the people-only alleyways was the best way to highlight the differences. I think this was just one of those things you had to be there to see, but it was so nice for me to see the students really respect the rules for once, as they were told to be quiet and walk with arms crossed as they made their way to the side of the road. Buses and motobikes, a policeman and delivery trucks were going by and Aline and others kept shouting out what they were seeing...to see how proud they are of themselves to show us that they know what is there just warms me. So special they are! Then at recess I somehow got the "ooh eee ooh ah-ah, ching chang, walla walla bing bang" song in my head and started singing with the kids....so much rediculous fun.... :-)
I have been realizing more and more these days that I really have developed such a connection with some of the kids there. It would be rediculous for me to think that since I don't know all 140-some names of everyone at Gisimba that I somehow have failed. I realized as I tried to introduce the kids to my friends that I really did know more than I tend to give myself credit for. Coming to a place like this, as much as you try not to have specific expectations, you cannot help but judge your time and wonder if you really are doing what you wanted to accomplish. It is crazy how I think many times that these kids do more to nuture my soul with love than I do for theirs.....but hey, love does make the world go round, so in many ways, I suppose it doesn't really matter so much. What I do know is that as my final weeks are counting down, I have been filled with some mixed emotions. With just a few weeks left, I find myself missing them already, wondering what impression will be left on them when I leave. I have tried really hard to show them as much love as I can, and to nurture their gentle souls to help them simply believe in themselves, whether through coloring or playing car games or reading....I do know that I have forever been changed by them...
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Ah yes - so I feel quite refreshed after having just had a small ice cream cup from a local supermarket! My ice cream addiction has been quite unsatisfied since I have been here, and I will be honest and say that I am looking forward to a big bowl with some chocolate syrup when I get home! ;-)
My week at school has been quite fun, though no incredible incidents have taken place. I have learned how to get their attention a bit more in class - "Muceceke! (Be quiet) Umva! (listen) Sipio? (understand?)" :-) .....By now it seems the kids have made huge progress on the months of the year and they all pretty much have learned the days of the weeks. They continue to point to my colored signs that I hung in the back of the classroom and it makes me smile and feel so happy when I hear them chanting away as a group - although I will keep working on their pronunciation of TH-ursday! I made some progress coloring the sheet of flowers that will serve as the cover for their art books. Other activities included reviewing letters I and B and coloring photocopies of my "work" drawings I made. I have really done well learning the names of all of my students, too, which is so awesome when I can just holler out to any student whose attention I need to get! :-) Such a cool feeling, too, when they look at me like, wow - she knows my name?!
Back at the house, we have been losing power a lot more than ever before and even went nearly 24 hours without. It isn't so bad except that it gets dark by 6:30 so you have a hard time finding a reason to stay up at night! :-) One night us three girls had quite the time trying to both avoid contact but chase and kill this massive cockroach around the living room! It was nothing I had seen before, which eyes that actually looked at you! Ugh!! I was finally able to get him down with y sandal but I will be honest in saying that we have spent the last few days staring at the corners of the living room, just waiting for his friends to come, too! UGH!
With the welcoming of October, we received five new volunteers on Thursday night, so we are now at nine. Three from Australia, one from England, and one from Canada. As before, it will be very interesting to see how the dynamics of the house change during my last month here.
Saturday while five volunteers went to Gisenyi, I took a day trip with another volunteer to Nyanza where the "Palace Museum" and art center are located. It is a small town that I sense does not get many tourists coming through. After the two hour ride, we walked for about 35 minutes and it was one of the more "modern" residential areas I had been in. The town was quite picturesque and the people were very kind but also kept to themselves. We had just a handful of kids that would briefly follow us on the walk, but other than that, it was simple, friendly "Muzungu, Amakuru?" greetings from strangers on the street.
When we arrived, a very friendly young man took us towards to house and acted as our guide for the afternoon. The first home we saw was the house built for the king during colonization in the 1930's and was lived in until the late 1950's. When we first approached, we were asked to remove our shoes - they really take much pride in the appearance and upkeep of this area. The house was a long building with doors for each room on both sides. The rooms were quite modern geometric patterns painted on the walls in dark shades of red, green, blue and yellow. There were historical photos all over the walls ranging from when the Belgiums first came to greet the king, dressed in very traditional clothing with a spear in one hand and his thatched hut behind him; to photos in the 1950's when the next king was visiting Belgium, dressed in a suit boarding a helicopter. These photos clearly demonstrated how just 25 years of colonization completely changed the livelihood of these people.
The first couple rooms were work areas for the king to finalize business for the various communities and tribes. There were three main common rooms, one each for greeting regular visitors, chiefs of various districts, and for Europeans. Some rooms were decorated with 120 unique spears that represent protection. There were fireplaces in two of the rooms and the bureaus and tables were constructed in very expensive looking dark wood. This house clearly demonstrated the effects of colonization on the daily living style for the king, even with modern bath tubs and sinks in the bathrooms.
As we were on the tour of the house, there were many local Rwandans also visiting the museum. It was so interesting to hear them as more detailed questions, obvious that they had studied their history and were pieces together other stories they had heard with the photos on the walls and the stories we were being told. It was a real treat, adding a whole unique dynamic to the tour.
From the back area you could look out across a deep valley to a hill on the other side and see a massive white mansion. This house was built by the king after he had traveled to Beligum and had seen homes in Europe. Returning to Rwanda, he wanted a house built more for a king and thus started work on this one. However, he died before he could ever move in. I am not sure what it used to be, but the last few years it has served as an art museum, which we also visited later in the day.
The next area we toured was the chief's traditional house that had since been reconstructed, but had been lived in until the Belgiums came to Rwanda. There was a tall straw/bamboo fence around the communal area into which all visitors had to be invited. The house on the outside is built in a circular fashion with a small entryway in front. In front of the entryway there was a red circular porch with a white ledge in the front which apparently could not be stepped over. Visitors would first be welcomed into this main communal area and then would be called to the front of the house by the king when he was ready to see them. They would have to walk to the left side of the porch area and approach the king from a break in the white ledge there. Once invited inside, there was a a second circular wall constructed from numerous narrow weaved panels. This divided the foyer area from the living area. Guests inside were divided - men on the left, women on the right - from where they had to further await to be called into the main room. The entrance of the main room had a hearth in the middle, used both for cooking and for heat. Only med could be inside this main area. The women had to go past this entrance, around to the back to meet with the king's wife there. The back of the visiting room had a break in the panel, behind which a ledge was constructed that the king slept on. He was surrounded by baskets that were used for storing clothes and one special basket holding a gourd used to drink banana beer before bed. His wife, since she could not be in the main room, had a separate entrance to the bed from the back of the house.
When exiting the main house, you walked behind and faced two other huts of nearly the same set up, only on a smaller scale. One to the left was used to store milk and had to be guarded by a young virgin girl so as to not contaminate their milk. There were gourds and wooden containers of various sizes that were used to store the milk before bringing out to the king. The hut to the right was used to store their beer, which was always guarded by a young virgin boy. The first thing you notice about this hut is the missing white ledge in front. Apparently, they did not have this ledge as all the boys guarding the beer would live in constant intoxication so the ledge was left off to avoid them tripping and spilling the beer as they delivered it to the king. Inside there were different containers to hold their various beers - sorghum, honey and banana.
One thing that really surprised me as I walked through all of these houses was how incredibly cool it was inside. They really knew how to use their local resources to construct a cozy and cool hut to call home.
When we left the king's palace, we walked around the valley to the house on the opposite hill to visit the art museum there. Most of the pieces inside were from 2004 and 2006 so we speculated there must have been some art competition during those years. The pieces were quite remarkable - many clearly inspired by horrific sights during the genocide, but others quite the opposite, depicting in 3-d the artists' impressions of modern development in Rwanda and its place in Africa. It was really quite fascinating and I cannot wait to share some of the photos I was able to capture.
My week at school has been quite fun, though no incredible incidents have taken place. I have learned how to get their attention a bit more in class - "Muceceke! (Be quiet) Umva! (listen) Sipio? (understand?)" :-) .....By now it seems the kids have made huge progress on the months of the year and they all pretty much have learned the days of the weeks. They continue to point to my colored signs that I hung in the back of the classroom and it makes me smile and feel so happy when I hear them chanting away as a group - although I will keep working on their pronunciation of TH-ursday! I made some progress coloring the sheet of flowers that will serve as the cover for their art books. Other activities included reviewing letters I and B and coloring photocopies of my "work" drawings I made. I have really done well learning the names of all of my students, too, which is so awesome when I can just holler out to any student whose attention I need to get! :-) Such a cool feeling, too, when they look at me like, wow - she knows my name?!
Back at the house, we have been losing power a lot more than ever before and even went nearly 24 hours without. It isn't so bad except that it gets dark by 6:30 so you have a hard time finding a reason to stay up at night! :-) One night us three girls had quite the time trying to both avoid contact but chase and kill this massive cockroach around the living room! It was nothing I had seen before, which eyes that actually looked at you! Ugh!! I was finally able to get him down with y sandal but I will be honest in saying that we have spent the last few days staring at the corners of the living room, just waiting for his friends to come, too! UGH!
With the welcoming of October, we received five new volunteers on Thursday night, so we are now at nine. Three from Australia, one from England, and one from Canada. As before, it will be very interesting to see how the dynamics of the house change during my last month here.
Saturday while five volunteers went to Gisenyi, I took a day trip with another volunteer to Nyanza where the "Palace Museum" and art center are located. It is a small town that I sense does not get many tourists coming through. After the two hour ride, we walked for about 35 minutes and it was one of the more "modern" residential areas I had been in. The town was quite picturesque and the people were very kind but also kept to themselves. We had just a handful of kids that would briefly follow us on the walk, but other than that, it was simple, friendly "Muzungu, Amakuru?" greetings from strangers on the street.
When we arrived, a very friendly young man took us towards to house and acted as our guide for the afternoon. The first home we saw was the house built for the king during colonization in the 1930's and was lived in until the late 1950's. When we first approached, we were asked to remove our shoes - they really take much pride in the appearance and upkeep of this area. The house was a long building with doors for each room on both sides. The rooms were quite modern geometric patterns painted on the walls in dark shades of red, green, blue and yellow. There were historical photos all over the walls ranging from when the Belgiums first came to greet the king, dressed in very traditional clothing with a spear in one hand and his thatched hut behind him; to photos in the 1950's when the next king was visiting Belgium, dressed in a suit boarding a helicopter. These photos clearly demonstrated how just 25 years of colonization completely changed the livelihood of these people.
The first couple rooms were work areas for the king to finalize business for the various communities and tribes. There were three main common rooms, one each for greeting regular visitors, chiefs of various districts, and for Europeans. Some rooms were decorated with 120 unique spears that represent protection. There were fireplaces in two of the rooms and the bureaus and tables were constructed in very expensive looking dark wood. This house clearly demonstrated the effects of colonization on the daily living style for the king, even with modern bath tubs and sinks in the bathrooms.
As we were on the tour of the house, there were many local Rwandans also visiting the museum. It was so interesting to hear them as more detailed questions, obvious that they had studied their history and were pieces together other stories they had heard with the photos on the walls and the stories we were being told. It was a real treat, adding a whole unique dynamic to the tour.
From the back area you could look out across a deep valley to a hill on the other side and see a massive white mansion. This house was built by the king after he had traveled to Beligum and had seen homes in Europe. Returning to Rwanda, he wanted a house built more for a king and thus started work on this one. However, he died before he could ever move in. I am not sure what it used to be, but the last few years it has served as an art museum, which we also visited later in the day.
The next area we toured was the chief's traditional house that had since been reconstructed, but had been lived in until the Belgiums came to Rwanda. There was a tall straw/bamboo fence around the communal area into which all visitors had to be invited. The house on the outside is built in a circular fashion with a small entryway in front. In front of the entryway there was a red circular porch with a white ledge in the front which apparently could not be stepped over. Visitors would first be welcomed into this main communal area and then would be called to the front of the house by the king when he was ready to see them. They would have to walk to the left side of the porch area and approach the king from a break in the white ledge there. Once invited inside, there was a a second circular wall constructed from numerous narrow weaved panels. This divided the foyer area from the living area. Guests inside were divided - men on the left, women on the right - from where they had to further await to be called into the main room. The entrance of the main room had a hearth in the middle, used both for cooking and for heat. Only med could be inside this main area. The women had to go past this entrance, around to the back to meet with the king's wife there. The back of the visiting room had a break in the panel, behind which a ledge was constructed that the king slept on. He was surrounded by baskets that were used for storing clothes and one special basket holding a gourd used to drink banana beer before bed. His wife, since she could not be in the main room, had a separate entrance to the bed from the back of the house.
When exiting the main house, you walked behind and faced two other huts of nearly the same set up, only on a smaller scale. One to the left was used to store milk and had to be guarded by a young virgin girl so as to not contaminate their milk. There were gourds and wooden containers of various sizes that were used to store the milk before bringing out to the king. The hut to the right was used to store their beer, which was always guarded by a young virgin boy. The first thing you notice about this hut is the missing white ledge in front. Apparently, they did not have this ledge as all the boys guarding the beer would live in constant intoxication so the ledge was left off to avoid them tripping and spilling the beer as they delivered it to the king. Inside there were different containers to hold their various beers - sorghum, honey and banana.
One thing that really surprised me as I walked through all of these houses was how incredibly cool it was inside. They really knew how to use their local resources to construct a cozy and cool hut to call home.
When we left the king's palace, we walked around the valley to the house on the opposite hill to visit the art museum there. Most of the pieces inside were from 2004 and 2006 so we speculated there must have been some art competition during those years. The pieces were quite remarkable - many clearly inspired by horrific sights during the genocide, but others quite the opposite, depicting in 3-d the artists' impressions of modern development in Rwanda and its place in Africa. It was really quite fascinating and I cannot wait to share some of the photos I was able to capture.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Giraffe and zebra and elephant, oh my!
Gisimba Gisimba - my lovely children were not so lovely this week! I went to teach on Monday feeling a bit under the weather, with a very stuffy nose and having been up a lot of the night sneezing and sniffling. Since Monday was my day to teach Kharim after kindergarten, I decided I would go in and see how I feel....well it was a rough day in every way. I went through all the kleenex I had brought in about 20 minutes and I still couldn't stop sneezing! I actually was using a handkerchief which i have never done in my life! So not only was the dusty dirt and the chalk dust tickling my nose, the children decided to see how much they could get away with with the muzungu :-) They were crazy...I did some teaching (mostly review of the days of the week, months of the year and letters), but after the recess break was when chaos broke loose. Three boys, one of them (Shama) being one of my favorites, started hitting on each other and beating each other up! There were no other adults in my room because the teacher from my class was in another class dealing with misbehaving 4 yer olds....So here I was, the muzungu that no kid listens to, trying to break up this fight. I tried to separate them and in doing so, started to take one of them (Gianni) outside. He was hitting and slapping my arm (sure, no prob, I can handle that...) then he started the biting! I just let go....I walked to the other class where 5 teachers were standing and just told them, hey, I cannot handle this, they won't listen to me.....my arm was all red so they asked me what happened and so I told them. They looked so shocked and were so apologetic. Inside, I honestly just thought it was hilarious how undisciplined some of these children are...Both Shama and Gianni were taken outside by the teacher and then had to come and apolgize to me. The teacher made them kneel on the floor, with tears on their face and say, "Please teacher, I am sorry." I just wanted to hug them each, they were so adorable. I told them I forgive them and it was okay. It was such a strange position to be in, but it totally reaffirmed this feeling that is it next to impossible to be upset with kids for long. Their energy and love for life is simply too addicting to view any of them in a negative light for long.
So yes, I did take Tuesday off to recover from my head cold and by now am feeling much better. The rest of the week included the first water-color painting since I have been there, which was such a joy to watch. Paint is not a norm for these kids so to see their smiles was such a delight! I also have made a point to really learn all of their names. I wrote a seating chart (even though the kids move around ever few days) and took more pictures of them to study at home. The afternoon I did this, one of the boy's uncle who comes to help in the class every so often, lined the kids up outside on a cement ledge for me to take their pictures, too :-) They were all crouched down to the ground, squeezed together, with their arms wrapped around each other. They were just full of laughter and kept knocking each other over - it was so contagious. I snapped some pictures and as I reviewed them at home I couldn't help but laugh myself. Their smiles and energy is just so incredibly addicting, even through the photos....gosh, how i love those kids! But hey, it's helping, I think I got about 5-7 more names by the end of the week to add to the 10 or so I already knew!
And so to the real animals! Yesterday was such a beautiful day. After spending a lot of time during the week arranging for a car and driver, the four of us volunteers at the house headed out for an African safari of sorts in - Rwanda style! We were on the road at 5am for a 2 1/2 hour drive to Akagera National Park in the eastern province. The vehicle we had was so perfect - one of those safari type 4x4's with the roof-top that opens and big windows on the sides. As soon as we got into the park, we immediately saw two impala. After picking up our guide, it was just moments before we found our first exciting African animal - the Masai Giraffe! They were so beautiful, surrounded by the green trees with the early morning haze floating just above the ground, wrapped around them. We soon came upon zebra, with their stripes looking as though they could have been painted on with stencils, they were so perfect! The hills too, were breathtaking in the morning haze. Rolling green, vibrant in color, spotted with trees of green and brown and ruby red....There is certainly no autumn here, these are simply their natural color, but I couldn't help but feel a little closer to home as I thought how the trees will soon be changing and I will be missing my favorite season - here was my chance to take in autumn! :-)
All along the way we found so many other animals - warthogs (which I appropriately yelled, "Pumba!" ;-) ), baboons, topi, waterbuk, cape buffalo, and so many beautiful birds including these vibrant, metallic blue colored starlings! Part of the journey led us up this incredible hill where Robert, our driver, proved his awesome maneuvering abilities as he inched his way up these very unsteady and uneven rocks. When we reached the top of this hill, we all immediately shot up from our seats...the views were breathtaking! There was a lake and marshland in the distance, across which you could see Tanzania! All in front of us were the sprawling hills, just dusted with trees. You really felt on top of the world....Ad the silence was deafening...absolute stillness in every direction, yet to know how time was still moving forward with the animals going about their business in the valleys below....to see the stillness from a distance but to know the bustle below, it was like being let in on a beautiful wild secret of mother nature.......at one point, one of the volunteers exclaimed, "Now this is Africa!" Wow - what a crazy thing to hear...this is the Africa that is sold to outsiders to welcome revenue into their country to hopefully help better the other real Africa - the impoverished communities all around....I know the comment meant no harm, but I really couldn't help but wonder what our driver or guide would be thinking when they heard that....where would they fall into this Africa? It is incredible how two very different, polar opposite, contradictory images are painted of this massive continent.....
At any rate......as we came back down, we headed to the lake to look for hippos! And goodnss did we see some hippo! Our car was so close, on multiple occasions, to herds or troops of them. Lying in the marsh, soaking up some rays, and then cooling in the lake. They disappear so quickly under the water - makes you curious to know just how many are cooling under water without our having the slightest clue.....they stare at you with their huge heads and then you see their massive jaws when they yawn, showing their enormous white teeth - it was just amazing the immensity of their presence.... We rode on then, circling the huge lake to reach the elephant we could see hanging out on the other side. Making our way around, so near to the wet marshland, a HUGE Nile Crocodile ran down the embankment into the water, just in front of our car! We apparently disturbed his slumber...Approaching the elephants I was again so impressed by how close we could get and by their incredible size and presence. The most I could count at one time was 15 but there were more. A couple young babies and some youth, too, made up the group. It so reminded us of Dumbo at first as a huge group of them were suddenly walking out from behind some trees, single file march! :-) After we had been there for some time, one other big adult came from behind a tree, looked our way, displayed his massive trunk and then the guard informed us rather nonchalant, "Oh, he's preparing to charge." After a couple brief moments, we decided it was best to head back ;-) ....I couldn't help but think of my mother while I was there, wishing so much she could be there watching them with me - her love for elephants so great!....So I got a video for you mom! ;-)
While the drive back to the main gate was very long and bumpy, it was just so incredible to look out and see all the fields spotted with animals, clear to the base of the hills. This park has done a fab job reinventing itself from after the war when numerous animals were killed while Rwandans made their way back into their country and settled in camps in the park after having escaped to Tanzania. Overall, it was a really amazing journey and probably will be my last major "adventure" from Kigali....
My fingers have had quite the work-out this afternoon, typing on this keyboard with keys that seem to be an inch high and hardly compress as they should! Ah, the luxuries of a soft easy keyboard.... ;-)
So yes, I did take Tuesday off to recover from my head cold and by now am feeling much better. The rest of the week included the first water-color painting since I have been there, which was such a joy to watch. Paint is not a norm for these kids so to see their smiles was such a delight! I also have made a point to really learn all of their names. I wrote a seating chart (even though the kids move around ever few days) and took more pictures of them to study at home. The afternoon I did this, one of the boy's uncle who comes to help in the class every so often, lined the kids up outside on a cement ledge for me to take their pictures, too :-) They were all crouched down to the ground, squeezed together, with their arms wrapped around each other. They were just full of laughter and kept knocking each other over - it was so contagious. I snapped some pictures and as I reviewed them at home I couldn't help but laugh myself. Their smiles and energy is just so incredibly addicting, even through the photos....gosh, how i love those kids! But hey, it's helping, I think I got about 5-7 more names by the end of the week to add to the 10 or so I already knew!
And so to the real animals! Yesterday was such a beautiful day. After spending a lot of time during the week arranging for a car and driver, the four of us volunteers at the house headed out for an African safari of sorts in - Rwanda style! We were on the road at 5am for a 2 1/2 hour drive to Akagera National Park in the eastern province. The vehicle we had was so perfect - one of those safari type 4x4's with the roof-top that opens and big windows on the sides. As soon as we got into the park, we immediately saw two impala. After picking up our guide, it was just moments before we found our first exciting African animal - the Masai Giraffe! They were so beautiful, surrounded by the green trees with the early morning haze floating just above the ground, wrapped around them. We soon came upon zebra, with their stripes looking as though they could have been painted on with stencils, they were so perfect! The hills too, were breathtaking in the morning haze. Rolling green, vibrant in color, spotted with trees of green and brown and ruby red....There is certainly no autumn here, these are simply their natural color, but I couldn't help but feel a little closer to home as I thought how the trees will soon be changing and I will be missing my favorite season - here was my chance to take in autumn! :-)
All along the way we found so many other animals - warthogs (which I appropriately yelled, "Pumba!" ;-) ), baboons, topi, waterbuk, cape buffalo, and so many beautiful birds including these vibrant, metallic blue colored starlings! Part of the journey led us up this incredible hill where Robert, our driver, proved his awesome maneuvering abilities as he inched his way up these very unsteady and uneven rocks. When we reached the top of this hill, we all immediately shot up from our seats...the views were breathtaking! There was a lake and marshland in the distance, across which you could see Tanzania! All in front of us were the sprawling hills, just dusted with trees. You really felt on top of the world....Ad the silence was deafening...absolute stillness in every direction, yet to know how time was still moving forward with the animals going about their business in the valleys below....to see the stillness from a distance but to know the bustle below, it was like being let in on a beautiful wild secret of mother nature.......at one point, one of the volunteers exclaimed, "Now this is Africa!" Wow - what a crazy thing to hear...this is the Africa that is sold to outsiders to welcome revenue into their country to hopefully help better the other real Africa - the impoverished communities all around....I know the comment meant no harm, but I really couldn't help but wonder what our driver or guide would be thinking when they heard that....where would they fall into this Africa? It is incredible how two very different, polar opposite, contradictory images are painted of this massive continent.....
At any rate......as we came back down, we headed to the lake to look for hippos! And goodnss did we see some hippo! Our car was so close, on multiple occasions, to herds or troops of them. Lying in the marsh, soaking up some rays, and then cooling in the lake. They disappear so quickly under the water - makes you curious to know just how many are cooling under water without our having the slightest clue.....they stare at you with their huge heads and then you see their massive jaws when they yawn, showing their enormous white teeth - it was just amazing the immensity of their presence.... We rode on then, circling the huge lake to reach the elephant we could see hanging out on the other side. Making our way around, so near to the wet marshland, a HUGE Nile Crocodile ran down the embankment into the water, just in front of our car! We apparently disturbed his slumber...Approaching the elephants I was again so impressed by how close we could get and by their incredible size and presence. The most I could count at one time was 15 but there were more. A couple young babies and some youth, too, made up the group. It so reminded us of Dumbo at first as a huge group of them were suddenly walking out from behind some trees, single file march! :-) After we had been there for some time, one other big adult came from behind a tree, looked our way, displayed his massive trunk and then the guard informed us rather nonchalant, "Oh, he's preparing to charge." After a couple brief moments, we decided it was best to head back ;-) ....I couldn't help but think of my mother while I was there, wishing so much she could be there watching them with me - her love for elephants so great!....So I got a video for you mom! ;-)
While the drive back to the main gate was very long and bumpy, it was just so incredible to look out and see all the fields spotted with animals, clear to the base of the hills. This park has done a fab job reinventing itself from after the war when numerous animals were killed while Rwandans made their way back into their country and settled in camps in the park after having escaped to Tanzania. Overall, it was a really amazing journey and probably will be my last major "adventure" from Kigali....
My fingers have had quite the work-out this afternoon, typing on this keyboard with keys that seem to be an inch high and hardly compress as they should! Ah, the luxuries of a soft easy keyboard.... ;-)
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Teacher! Amazi!
Thanks everyone for all of your comments on my blog! :-) I have enjoyed hearing from each of you. And thanks, Mom and Jamie for the hints on songs to teach days of the week and months! I will definitely be using these this week...
So last Thursday I was asked to teach the whole class the entire day, which was really quite exciting! I did a ton of review but it was so fun to work on my own ideas and to practice calling out names of the kids all day long. I think I only know about 12 kids by heart and a few others I guess at :-) but I keep trying to pick up a few more every day. Thursday one of my boys, Filbert, was acting so unusual. He is normally so hyper and laughing and I can never get him to calm down. He sat Thursday with his head on his desk and when I would call on him to see if he was paying attention, he didn't even try. I knew he must be sick. In the afternoon, we had some guests in the class and they had me running around getting colored pencils sharpened for a special project. Next thing I knew, I heard a soft and calm, "Teacher.." I looked up and Filbert had this innocent, nonchalant look on his face. I followed his eyes to his desk and saw how he had thrown up....poor little guy! I went straight over and led him outside and had the teacher's aid try and find some water to clean the desk. I got my cottonelle wipes (thanks mom!) and my water bottle and went out to help clean his hands and arms and clothes. All the kids came running out to see what i was doing. I had him tilt his head back so I could poor water in his mouth and all the kids were shouting, "Teacher, amazi! Teacher, amazi" (water) I laughed and said, "Oya, you're not sick..." so they proceeded to start a fake coughing contest! LOL It was so adorable! At any rate, he remained calm the rest of the day and seemed to feel better, but I thought it so strange that no other teacher around seemed to check on him or anything. I think they are so used to sickness and stuff that something so minor didn't hardly phase them. Ah, who knows, I was just happy I had a few things to help. I have decided I will be taking more first aid stuff with me to the school, just in case, too.
Friday I had a meeting with a company called Manna Energy and was able to learn about 4 different water treatment projects they have in Rwanda. They are such an interesting organization in that they will be getting their funding via carbon credits for reducing the amount of wood that is used for fuel and boiling water. Through their work, they actually have a 10 year vested interest to ensure the systems are up and running correctly and are being used and monitored effectively. Knowing a little more from Greg about how control systems are used, I found it so interesting how they are using technology to monitor the health of the systems from places in the US and then use text messaging to send alerts if a bulb needs changing or if the system needs backwashed or something. It was really quite interesting. I definitely recommend checking out their site to see their project work and how their funding works. They are doing some great things! I am hoping to check out a project site at the L'Esperance Orphanage later in October, so I will keep you all posted.
Signing off for now! Ciao!
So last Thursday I was asked to teach the whole class the entire day, which was really quite exciting! I did a ton of review but it was so fun to work on my own ideas and to practice calling out names of the kids all day long. I think I only know about 12 kids by heart and a few others I guess at :-) but I keep trying to pick up a few more every day. Thursday one of my boys, Filbert, was acting so unusual. He is normally so hyper and laughing and I can never get him to calm down. He sat Thursday with his head on his desk and when I would call on him to see if he was paying attention, he didn't even try. I knew he must be sick. In the afternoon, we had some guests in the class and they had me running around getting colored pencils sharpened for a special project. Next thing I knew, I heard a soft and calm, "Teacher.." I looked up and Filbert had this innocent, nonchalant look on his face. I followed his eyes to his desk and saw how he had thrown up....poor little guy! I went straight over and led him outside and had the teacher's aid try and find some water to clean the desk. I got my cottonelle wipes (thanks mom!) and my water bottle and went out to help clean his hands and arms and clothes. All the kids came running out to see what i was doing. I had him tilt his head back so I could poor water in his mouth and all the kids were shouting, "Teacher, amazi! Teacher, amazi" (water) I laughed and said, "Oya, you're not sick..." so they proceeded to start a fake coughing contest! LOL It was so adorable! At any rate, he remained calm the rest of the day and seemed to feel better, but I thought it so strange that no other teacher around seemed to check on him or anything. I think they are so used to sickness and stuff that something so minor didn't hardly phase them. Ah, who knows, I was just happy I had a few things to help. I have decided I will be taking more first aid stuff with me to the school, just in case, too.
Friday I had a meeting with a company called Manna Energy and was able to learn about 4 different water treatment projects they have in Rwanda. They are such an interesting organization in that they will be getting their funding via carbon credits for reducing the amount of wood that is used for fuel and boiling water. Through their work, they actually have a 10 year vested interest to ensure the systems are up and running correctly and are being used and monitored effectively. Knowing a little more from Greg about how control systems are used, I found it so interesting how they are using technology to monitor the health of the systems from places in the US and then use text messaging to send alerts if a bulb needs changing or if the system needs backwashed or something. It was really quite interesting. I definitely recommend checking out their site to see their project work and how their funding works. They are doing some great things! I am hoping to check out a project site at the L'Esperance Orphanage later in October, so I will keep you all posted.
Signing off for now! Ciao!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Day by day, life is getting easier...
It has been far too long since I have written - but I find that I am in such a routine these days that I being to forget that the small things I experience throughout the day may in fact be interesting to others :-)
Last Monday, before I wrote my previous blog entry, was a national holiday due to the inauguration of President Paul Kagame. It was an interesting ceremony to watch on TV. Most of it was in Kinyarwanda, but there were some parts translated into English. The event took place in their national stadium and I had heard that people were lining up at 6am as it was first come, first entry - no tickets. The stadium was PACKED and the crowd was all dressed in Rwanda colors (blue green and yellow) spelling Kagame's name in the crowd - it was crazy! There were MANY other heads of state here which was so interesting because the night before and for two nights following, we heard so many helicopters flying overhead near the airport, probably added security for these folks. At any rate, after the introduction of each person, they had a blessing from a Muslim imam and a Catholic priest and then had the infamous Rick Warren speak on behalf of the US....that was interesting, to say the least.....there was much talk from all parties speaking about how Rwanda people have taken to the polls and have spoken their minds freely about what they want for their future. I won't get into the details too much of his speech, nor my impressions of them as you can surely find the news online, but it was quite interesting to see how the country thinks they are viewed from the international perspective and how they have come together under some sort of national unity against outside influences for the better of their country....The rest of the ceremony included a very beautiful group doing an intore dance, with men dressed as warriors with a spear and shield (symbols of Rwanda's security) and women dressed in their traditional toga-like dress, with the most graceful, swaying movements I have witnessed in dance - this part was worth it! There was a signing of sorts, a presentation of their flag and national symbols and national emblem and then an inspection of their troops - and much laying of their anthem. All in all, it was a unique experience to have witnessed....
The last week and a half I have been feeling exhausted with the children in the kindergarten! You would think with time they lose energy, but these children just continue to find it somewhere! LOL I have continued to work on teaching the days of the week and months of the year. It is hilarious, actually, because I was asked to teach them as "day 1 is...day 2 is..." and the same with the months. So, I hold up fingers and ask now, "What is day 1?" and they should back Monday! But after Monday, every day seems to be Friday! And I taught them a little rhyme, "No school Saturday, no school Sunday!" So those are a cinch...but, the as I ask for day 4, they are shouting, "April!!" with such vigor and enthusiasm, I hate to tell them they are wrong... LOL They are just so freaken adorable! I love these kids!
Another thing I was just asked to do was to teach Professions....so...we opted for Teacher, Carpenter, Bus Driver, Doctor, Policeman, and Pilot (much at the teacher's direction...) Last night I went home and used my VERY little artistic skills to draw these for class. I presented them today to the class and the kids really loved them! The teacher did, too, and asked me to do them again on white paper (instead of on the colored paper like I did) so that they can make photocopies and distribute to the students :-) This made me so happy to hear! Although, my Carpenter is going to do a better job at making a bureau that isn't lopsided and my doctor will hopefully look a bit more professional this time around :-)
So yes...I was in school today helping the teacher write the homework assignment for the kids (since there was no power to use the photocopy machine...) and I started thinking that I really do enjoy the teaching part of my day more than I had thought I would. I was just so terrified of not having enough direction or thinking my ideas wouldn't be good enough, but I think that is more due to the culture of teaching here, and how there isn't really a set curriculum that the teacher follows, at least not for that young age....but maybe, perhaps, just maybe, teaching kids will be something I may find myself doing more of at some point in my future....I really enjoy teaching these small concepts and helping the students...and it is so incredibly fulfilling when I see them really get something right! So yeah....just another idea to throw in the mix in my mind's potpourri of thoughts.......
I have been making more progress with Kharim, too....bahoro bahoro...he was doing so well last week at sounding out words, so just yesterday I started working on speaking words and having him write them down. I was also provided a great little activity book by another volunteer who just left and it went along perfectly with the way I was trying to teach vowel sounds. So yes, I feel I have a new resource and even more motivation, day by day, to keep working with him. I told him yesterday that he will be able to read a short book before I leave. He laughed and shook his head........I told him how proud I was already of his progress and insisted it WILL happen - so I have my work cut out for me!
Back at the house, yesterday was the departure of John - the older volunteer who was here for three months and whose words of advice really helped me cope with adjusting to life here for the long haul (as compared to the others...) And then today, my dear friend Charlotte, who has become such a close friend during her month here, left to get back to Germany....I am now in the house with just three new people who just arrived yesterday. It makes for an exciting six more weeks as the dynamics in the house are sure to be very different from my first six weeks. There is an 18 year old girl (staying for one month) who will likely join me at Gisimba starting Friday. The other two are 22 (staying for 6 weeks) and 25 (staying for 1 month) and are both in the literacy program.
Well - that seems to be all the pertinent news from here...I hope everyone is enjoying the coming of autumn...my favorite season!!
And here I will give a warm shout-out to Alan and Emily, getting married on Saturday, September 18 - I miss you two and will be sending you warm wishes across the oceans on your special day.... :-)
Hugs to all,
Tracie
Last Monday, before I wrote my previous blog entry, was a national holiday due to the inauguration of President Paul Kagame. It was an interesting ceremony to watch on TV. Most of it was in Kinyarwanda, but there were some parts translated into English. The event took place in their national stadium and I had heard that people were lining up at 6am as it was first come, first entry - no tickets. The stadium was PACKED and the crowd was all dressed in Rwanda colors (blue green and yellow) spelling Kagame's name in the crowd - it was crazy! There were MANY other heads of state here which was so interesting because the night before and for two nights following, we heard so many helicopters flying overhead near the airport, probably added security for these folks. At any rate, after the introduction of each person, they had a blessing from a Muslim imam and a Catholic priest and then had the infamous Rick Warren speak on behalf of the US....that was interesting, to say the least.....there was much talk from all parties speaking about how Rwanda people have taken to the polls and have spoken their minds freely about what they want for their future. I won't get into the details too much of his speech, nor my impressions of them as you can surely find the news online, but it was quite interesting to see how the country thinks they are viewed from the international perspective and how they have come together under some sort of national unity against outside influences for the better of their country....The rest of the ceremony included a very beautiful group doing an intore dance, with men dressed as warriors with a spear and shield (symbols of Rwanda's security) and women dressed in their traditional toga-like dress, with the most graceful, swaying movements I have witnessed in dance - this part was worth it! There was a signing of sorts, a presentation of their flag and national symbols and national emblem and then an inspection of their troops - and much laying of their anthem. All in all, it was a unique experience to have witnessed....
The last week and a half I have been feeling exhausted with the children in the kindergarten! You would think with time they lose energy, but these children just continue to find it somewhere! LOL I have continued to work on teaching the days of the week and months of the year. It is hilarious, actually, because I was asked to teach them as "day 1 is...day 2 is..." and the same with the months. So, I hold up fingers and ask now, "What is day 1?" and they should back Monday! But after Monday, every day seems to be Friday! And I taught them a little rhyme, "No school Saturday, no school Sunday!" So those are a cinch...but, the as I ask for day 4, they are shouting, "April!!" with such vigor and enthusiasm, I hate to tell them they are wrong... LOL They are just so freaken adorable! I love these kids!
Another thing I was just asked to do was to teach Professions....so...we opted for Teacher, Carpenter, Bus Driver, Doctor, Policeman, and Pilot (much at the teacher's direction...) Last night I went home and used my VERY little artistic skills to draw these for class. I presented them today to the class and the kids really loved them! The teacher did, too, and asked me to do them again on white paper (instead of on the colored paper like I did) so that they can make photocopies and distribute to the students :-) This made me so happy to hear! Although, my Carpenter is going to do a better job at making a bureau that isn't lopsided and my doctor will hopefully look a bit more professional this time around :-)
So yes...I was in school today helping the teacher write the homework assignment for the kids (since there was no power to use the photocopy machine...) and I started thinking that I really do enjoy the teaching part of my day more than I had thought I would. I was just so terrified of not having enough direction or thinking my ideas wouldn't be good enough, but I think that is more due to the culture of teaching here, and how there isn't really a set curriculum that the teacher follows, at least not for that young age....but maybe, perhaps, just maybe, teaching kids will be something I may find myself doing more of at some point in my future....I really enjoy teaching these small concepts and helping the students...and it is so incredibly fulfilling when I see them really get something right! So yeah....just another idea to throw in the mix in my mind's potpourri of thoughts.......
I have been making more progress with Kharim, too....bahoro bahoro...he was doing so well last week at sounding out words, so just yesterday I started working on speaking words and having him write them down. I was also provided a great little activity book by another volunteer who just left and it went along perfectly with the way I was trying to teach vowel sounds. So yes, I feel I have a new resource and even more motivation, day by day, to keep working with him. I told him yesterday that he will be able to read a short book before I leave. He laughed and shook his head........I told him how proud I was already of his progress and insisted it WILL happen - so I have my work cut out for me!
Back at the house, yesterday was the departure of John - the older volunteer who was here for three months and whose words of advice really helped me cope with adjusting to life here for the long haul (as compared to the others...) And then today, my dear friend Charlotte, who has become such a close friend during her month here, left to get back to Germany....I am now in the house with just three new people who just arrived yesterday. It makes for an exciting six more weeks as the dynamics in the house are sure to be very different from my first six weeks. There is an 18 year old girl (staying for one month) who will likely join me at Gisimba starting Friday. The other two are 22 (staying for 6 weeks) and 25 (staying for 1 month) and are both in the literacy program.
Well - that seems to be all the pertinent news from here...I hope everyone is enjoying the coming of autumn...my favorite season!!
And here I will give a warm shout-out to Alan and Emily, getting married on Saturday, September 18 - I miss you two and will be sending you warm wishes across the oceans on your special day.... :-)
Hugs to all,
Tracie
Saturday, September 4, 2010
"When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future." ~Dian Fossey
Musanze - what a beautiful escape from the harshness and clouded Kigali! We took Friday off from work to begin a three-day adventure to the north, in search of relaxation, solitude, some village scenes and gorillas! You have no idea how happy I was from the early morning hours when the breakfast table was set with the delicious fruit salad which I have been blessed to have only three times so far! What a welcomed change from the daily bread - the bread varieties always remind me of Bubba in Forrest Gump and all his shrimp varieties! LOL I mean how many ways can you have bread served before it sadly becomes a bit dull....the little joys we find here in fruit, flat land and hot water ;-)
Charlotte and I arrived in Musanze in the early afternoon and knew immediately how lovely this town already was. As a base community from which many people begin their gorilla treks, they are seemingly used to tourists around, so the infamous "muzungu" wasn't shouted at us nearly as often. After meeting with the tour company through which we were planning a community visit, we decided the walk would be best for Saturday. So for the afternoon we planned a short excursion on our own to Mukamiira - a less-frequented village 30 minutes away in which a small but tranquil lake would be our destination for some reading and journaling. But first, LUNCH! I must say it is so great to travel with someone who enjoys eating the local food as much as I do! We found the Green Garden buffet just off the main road and had such peace enjoying our lunch in their small garden area behind the building. From here, taking in the scenes around us, we spotted an oddly shaped figure in the hills off in the distance. As we starred at it, we soon realized it was a person...but this man towered over the few buildings surrounding him. Thus, we aptly named him, the Musanze Giant :-) Our story of this man involves some injustice he faced due to his towering figure and thus he was ostracized to this mountain to overlook the community for eternity....and somehow, the moral of the story will involve the community embracing him when he saves the town from a landslide, likely to be caused by some earthquake...So that is about as creative as we could get.... :-) But I am telling you, this "giant" continued to interest me and if I had had the time, I surely would have tried to find a path up this hill to speak to him myself!
After lunch we checked into this lovely guesthouse where a woman has opened the front part of her property as a guesthouse and rents out the rooms separately. It boasted a peaceful porch from which we could view the "Musanze giant" and take in the serenity of this town. After settling in, we caught our afternoon bus to Mukamiira. The bus ride was really so beautiful The mountains from the Volcano Park were so prominent all around the town. The clouds softly hiding the peaks allowed for breathtaking views. It was a bit hazy in the distance, but I was unsure if it was due to pollution or the natural clouds for this time of year. At any rate, as we stepped off the bus we soon realized that the town certainly is not as accustomed to tourists as the "muzungu" shouting and the following soon began. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk as we watched the locals at a couple different watering stations and could see more closely the plots of land being cultivated with cassava, maize and bananas, to name a few. It was so picturesque as a handful of children followed behind, laughing and smiling while a man biked by packing a load of bananas and woman passed balancing insanely heavy bags of what I could only guess were potatoes of sorts on her head. We reached the turn off to head towards the lake and it was soon apparent that we were now the the main attraction. As we made our way down the narrow dirt trail, we were leading a train of one older woman and three girls which soon became quite a group of people. The views of this small lake in the late afternoon sun were really calming, but the masses of people following us was a bit unnerving. We decided to stop and sit on a small grass hill near the shore of the lake and watched a teenage boy put out a fishing net along the shore, carefully untangling and dropping it just-right along the bank. But around us, teenage boys were everywhere! At one point, I counted 21 people who were watching us. And it wasn't as though they were watching from a distance - no, there were many sitting all around, with four right in front of us, laying on the ground with the chins propped on their hands, starring at us as though we were an exhibit in the zoo.....it was really quite annoying. I put on my bug repellent and one boy tried to lean over and smell me while another I found leaning over my shoulder as I tried to write in my journal. Trying not to be rude, I asked the crowd to back away and they did, but the lake soon lost its appeal since we could not be left alone, so we headed back to the path and on to Musanze. Even with the disturbance, overall we had a really nice time just being out and about, taking in the fresh air all around us. Back in Musanze we hit up the outdoor market to buy our fruit for dinner - pineapple, bananas, avocado, maracuja, and passion fruit.
Saturday we woke around 6:30 for another peaceful morning sitting on the front porch, drinking some Rwanda black tea, listening to man singing off in the distance, the birds whistling their tunes and soon watching a new rain cloud move through. The rain started just as we were enjoying our breakfast of banana, maracuja and bread with butter & peanut butter and banana and peanut butter, which I must say have made me a bit nostalgic. With the rain falling, the temperature quickly dropped as it seems to do here, fluctuating 10 degrees or more between every time a short rain comes through and the sun chooses to shine.
We met our guide, John, and he led us through the streets to these roads heading down to a village at the base of these mountains. To walk down, past women and children living in their real homes, going about daily life was a fresh pace for both of us. It seems getting out of the main roads allows my soul to connect with something almost bigger than myself. We were told how they will be already making the trek to town at 5am with baskets full of things to sell, so those walking back that we saw, with empty baskets, were complete with round one. Many times we were joined by trails of children again - always walking on your heels making navigating down a narrow rocky dirt path a bit challenging for my clumsy self. They really are okay in spurts, but I find the constant following and touching a bit much at times. We find ourselves constantly balancing personal space with natural curiosity - something I doubt I will master before I leave here....I really do wonder if there will be a time where "muzungu" is no longer hollered and the children may not follow strangers to the edges of their villages...so we walked through so many banana fields and made it to the base of the hills where women were cultivating the land. There was his hazy fog just gently embracing the hills around us. And every so often clouds of smoke rising from the hills were they were burning fields or grasses. The silence and calm was so welcoming...we saw along the way evidence of the stages of banana beer making. The sorghum soaking in canvas bags in the river to turn them dark, the heaps of banana leaves under which the banana were fermenting, and the drying of the sorghum before they add it to the fermenting bananas. We also were able to see how they made containers woven out of banana leaves and cow dung to place in the trees for bees to capture their honey. The final destination was a basket weaving co-op. They were not really weaving that day but they did come to show us how they do it, wrapping one kind of grass around stands of another thinner type of grass. After the hour and a half walk there and the 30 minutes in the hot sun, we back up a main road - up, up, up back to Musanze. Another trip to the fruit market and lunch before we caught another bus up to Kinigi- our base before the gorilla trek on Sunday!
As we got off the bus in Kinigi, I was overwhelmed with the beauty all around. The mountains were sooo close, even with their distance. I felt so much excitement being there! We had to walk up a long hill, just about 1k, but it was up and up and for me, it was amazing. The mountains really surrounding us and the late afternoon sun behind the clouds was so beautiful. I snapped a couple photos of the sun hiding behind the clouds as the mountains prepared to welcome the setting sun. We walked with more children following behind us and Charlotte discovered the simply asking them to stop and go home actually works! We simply must remember this for next time! :-)
Once we finally found the guesthouse, relief set in so we could finally stop working so hard! The people working there seemed very sweet but the rooms were not as nice as we expected - I get the sense that most places can get by up there with the minimum since the gorillas are such a popular destination - they will get business anyway. As we were settling in, I heard very loud thunder all around, rolling through the mountains and the sky began to flash with lightning. The storm as it moved in was gorgeous - just as the sun was setting, there was nearly a straight line in the clouds separating the clear blue from the dark grey. The rain was falling so hard for most of the evening that the ceiling in our bathroom was actually leaking through the night. Back in our room, we used my swiss army knife to cut up our pineapple, which I must admit I did a fab job at, leaving only the base and the center core still standing :-) We shared a nice salad and some African Tea (like Chai tea) back in the restaurant, sitting around a hot fire, listening to the rain, and chatting with an interesting family from New Zealand. They had seen the gorillas that morning, so just listening to them talk about the experience really put me in the mood for the next day!
Sunday morning was a sign of great things to come when the rain was holding off but the skies were just overcast enough to keep the air nice and cool. After a quick early breakfast, we met our hired driver who took us to the ORTPN office to meet the guides and to be assigned to a group. It was crazy to see how many people were all around; some of whom had done treks in the past, others just as excited to have their first experience like me. My excitement was accompanies with some nerves, curious to which group I would be assigned and what family of gorillas we would be tracking. They say some came be found in as little as 20 minutes while others can take two hours or so. If you know me at all, I am sure you can guess I was really looking forward to one of the longer hikes - to really be able to experience the forest in which these amazing animals live! Well, I had 5 Australians in my group and two from Texas. We were going to be tracking the Hirwa family with 12 members, the youngest a baby of only six months! The silverback made his way to this family from two other mountains, surviving as he battled for space in two other groups before he found this one. Their names means Good Luck.....
Since Charlotte was hiking the Dian Fossey tomb trail, she used our driver and I joined a couple in my group and their driver to get to the trail head. The 30 minute drive took us to the base of the mountain where our guide explained all the rules about the hike and passed our our walking sticks. We began making our way through very large bamboo forests with a tracker in front using his machete to cut through the thick bamboo for us to squeeze through. We saw fresh antelope and buffalo prints in addition to elephant dung and prints - I still cannot believe an elephant fit through this dense area of the forest! I soon began to see how helpful the walking sticks really were as we worked our way up very steep mountain sides. I kept envisioning what it would be like when we see them - sitting amongst trees while we would kneel behind surrounding trees and watch them from a comfortable and clear distance - it was nothing of the sorts! We went up and up and up, for about 90 minutes until the trackers told our guide we would find them down the side of this mountain and across the valley below. So our ascent quickly turned to an extreme descent! We were standing at what seemed to be a cliff, but our head tracker began using his machete and cutting branches of trees on the side of the mountain on which we were challenged to find some decent footing, all the while slipping on the wet stalks and trying to hang on to the branches and roots above us. You shouldn't be surprised to know I did slip and fall a couple of times....but the fall was so weird because you're walking almost straight down, as if you were going down a ladder, do "falling" was more like me losing my footing, laughing so much as I held on to a branch above my head as my feet worked to find something to rest upon. We were all slipping around everywhere but the porters were so great at helping us all in our moments where balance left us. Not only was knowing that we would soon be near the gorillas keeping all of our spirits up, but the views were spectacular! It was something I had never seen before in my life! We really felt as though we were in the tops of the trees, looking out at the small hills of the countryside sprawling to one side, with the tall Volcano mountains to the other side, the tops of which were still covered in a soothing and calming grey mist...
About 45 minutes of this, we reached a clearing in the valley where we met up with the rest of the trackers and could see the silverback off in the distance, just resting and eating some grasses. After a short hike up the other hill, suddenly they were just right there in front of us! It was an awesome feeling to be near such impressive creatures and my nose tingled as my eyes watered. We saw the silverback resting mostly, but grooming another. The baby and another younger gorilla were gently playing with each other. Another female was off eating alone, with her body showing signs of being quite pregnant. There are 12 in the family, but I do not know that we even saw all of them. They moved around quite a lot and we had to keep walking at times to follow them to their new resting place. The total experience was one hour but it was well worth it! The one I was closest to just sat in front of me, maybe three yards away, just eating - but I was so thankful she was looking my direction so I could examine the roughness of her nose and the brown on her eyes and the wrinkles in her fingers. She was beautiful! The trackers kept making some noises to try and get the silverback to turn our way, but I don't think he was interested in our presence much at all :-) He kept to himself mostly. In fact, at one point, the mother of the young baby came out of the bushes somewhere and made some noises after which the baby got on her back and she led the way off to a new destination. Even though the majority of the time we were with them their backs were to us or they were slightly hidden behind other grasses, I was still able to capture a handful of videos and over 100 pictures - just snapping away to capture any moment possible :-)
As we began our walk back, the gorillas were moving in the same path we wanted to take, so there were a couple of times we had to wait for them to decide to get a move on before we could keep walking ourselves. During the entire journey back up the mountain, through my slipping and falling backwards, I was in my own world, just hanging on to the memories of the experience. I cannot believe I was actually able to do this one thing that I never really thought would be possible....it was such a surreal experience, but one I will be forever thankful to have had.
Charlotte and I arrived in Musanze in the early afternoon and knew immediately how lovely this town already was. As a base community from which many people begin their gorilla treks, they are seemingly used to tourists around, so the infamous "muzungu" wasn't shouted at us nearly as often. After meeting with the tour company through which we were planning a community visit, we decided the walk would be best for Saturday. So for the afternoon we planned a short excursion on our own to Mukamiira - a less-frequented village 30 minutes away in which a small but tranquil lake would be our destination for some reading and journaling. But first, LUNCH! I must say it is so great to travel with someone who enjoys eating the local food as much as I do! We found the Green Garden buffet just off the main road and had such peace enjoying our lunch in their small garden area behind the building. From here, taking in the scenes around us, we spotted an oddly shaped figure in the hills off in the distance. As we starred at it, we soon realized it was a person...but this man towered over the few buildings surrounding him. Thus, we aptly named him, the Musanze Giant :-) Our story of this man involves some injustice he faced due to his towering figure and thus he was ostracized to this mountain to overlook the community for eternity....and somehow, the moral of the story will involve the community embracing him when he saves the town from a landslide, likely to be caused by some earthquake...So that is about as creative as we could get.... :-) But I am telling you, this "giant" continued to interest me and if I had had the time, I surely would have tried to find a path up this hill to speak to him myself!
After lunch we checked into this lovely guesthouse where a woman has opened the front part of her property as a guesthouse and rents out the rooms separately. It boasted a peaceful porch from which we could view the "Musanze giant" and take in the serenity of this town. After settling in, we caught our afternoon bus to Mukamiira. The bus ride was really so beautiful The mountains from the Volcano Park were so prominent all around the town. The clouds softly hiding the peaks allowed for breathtaking views. It was a bit hazy in the distance, but I was unsure if it was due to pollution or the natural clouds for this time of year. At any rate, as we stepped off the bus we soon realized that the town certainly is not as accustomed to tourists as the "muzungu" shouting and the following soon began. We thoroughly enjoyed the walk as we watched the locals at a couple different watering stations and could see more closely the plots of land being cultivated with cassava, maize and bananas, to name a few. It was so picturesque as a handful of children followed behind, laughing and smiling while a man biked by packing a load of bananas and woman passed balancing insanely heavy bags of what I could only guess were potatoes of sorts on her head. We reached the turn off to head towards the lake and it was soon apparent that we were now the the main attraction. As we made our way down the narrow dirt trail, we were leading a train of one older woman and three girls which soon became quite a group of people. The views of this small lake in the late afternoon sun were really calming, but the masses of people following us was a bit unnerving. We decided to stop and sit on a small grass hill near the shore of the lake and watched a teenage boy put out a fishing net along the shore, carefully untangling and dropping it just-right along the bank. But around us, teenage boys were everywhere! At one point, I counted 21 people who were watching us. And it wasn't as though they were watching from a distance - no, there were many sitting all around, with four right in front of us, laying on the ground with the chins propped on their hands, starring at us as though we were an exhibit in the zoo.....it was really quite annoying. I put on my bug repellent and one boy tried to lean over and smell me while another I found leaning over my shoulder as I tried to write in my journal. Trying not to be rude, I asked the crowd to back away and they did, but the lake soon lost its appeal since we could not be left alone, so we headed back to the path and on to Musanze. Even with the disturbance, overall we had a really nice time just being out and about, taking in the fresh air all around us. Back in Musanze we hit up the outdoor market to buy our fruit for dinner - pineapple, bananas, avocado, maracuja, and passion fruit.
Saturday we woke around 6:30 for another peaceful morning sitting on the front porch, drinking some Rwanda black tea, listening to man singing off in the distance, the birds whistling their tunes and soon watching a new rain cloud move through. The rain started just as we were enjoying our breakfast of banana, maracuja and bread with butter & peanut butter and banana and peanut butter, which I must say have made me a bit nostalgic. With the rain falling, the temperature quickly dropped as it seems to do here, fluctuating 10 degrees or more between every time a short rain comes through and the sun chooses to shine.
We met our guide, John, and he led us through the streets to these roads heading down to a village at the base of these mountains. To walk down, past women and children living in their real homes, going about daily life was a fresh pace for both of us. It seems getting out of the main roads allows my soul to connect with something almost bigger than myself. We were told how they will be already making the trek to town at 5am with baskets full of things to sell, so those walking back that we saw, with empty baskets, were complete with round one. Many times we were joined by trails of children again - always walking on your heels making navigating down a narrow rocky dirt path a bit challenging for my clumsy self. They really are okay in spurts, but I find the constant following and touching a bit much at times. We find ourselves constantly balancing personal space with natural curiosity - something I doubt I will master before I leave here....I really do wonder if there will be a time where "muzungu" is no longer hollered and the children may not follow strangers to the edges of their villages...so we walked through so many banana fields and made it to the base of the hills where women were cultivating the land. There was his hazy fog just gently embracing the hills around us. And every so often clouds of smoke rising from the hills were they were burning fields or grasses. The silence and calm was so welcoming...we saw along the way evidence of the stages of banana beer making. The sorghum soaking in canvas bags in the river to turn them dark, the heaps of banana leaves under which the banana were fermenting, and the drying of the sorghum before they add it to the fermenting bananas. We also were able to see how they made containers woven out of banana leaves and cow dung to place in the trees for bees to capture their honey. The final destination was a basket weaving co-op. They were not really weaving that day but they did come to show us how they do it, wrapping one kind of grass around stands of another thinner type of grass. After the hour and a half walk there and the 30 minutes in the hot sun, we back up a main road - up, up, up back to Musanze. Another trip to the fruit market and lunch before we caught another bus up to Kinigi- our base before the gorilla trek on Sunday!
As we got off the bus in Kinigi, I was overwhelmed with the beauty all around. The mountains were sooo close, even with their distance. I felt so much excitement being there! We had to walk up a long hill, just about 1k, but it was up and up and for me, it was amazing. The mountains really surrounding us and the late afternoon sun behind the clouds was so beautiful. I snapped a couple photos of the sun hiding behind the clouds as the mountains prepared to welcome the setting sun. We walked with more children following behind us and Charlotte discovered the simply asking them to stop and go home actually works! We simply must remember this for next time! :-)
Once we finally found the guesthouse, relief set in so we could finally stop working so hard! The people working there seemed very sweet but the rooms were not as nice as we expected - I get the sense that most places can get by up there with the minimum since the gorillas are such a popular destination - they will get business anyway. As we were settling in, I heard very loud thunder all around, rolling through the mountains and the sky began to flash with lightning. The storm as it moved in was gorgeous - just as the sun was setting, there was nearly a straight line in the clouds separating the clear blue from the dark grey. The rain was falling so hard for most of the evening that the ceiling in our bathroom was actually leaking through the night. Back in our room, we used my swiss army knife to cut up our pineapple, which I must admit I did a fab job at, leaving only the base and the center core still standing :-) We shared a nice salad and some African Tea (like Chai tea) back in the restaurant, sitting around a hot fire, listening to the rain, and chatting with an interesting family from New Zealand. They had seen the gorillas that morning, so just listening to them talk about the experience really put me in the mood for the next day!
Sunday morning was a sign of great things to come when the rain was holding off but the skies were just overcast enough to keep the air nice and cool. After a quick early breakfast, we met our hired driver who took us to the ORTPN office to meet the guides and to be assigned to a group. It was crazy to see how many people were all around; some of whom had done treks in the past, others just as excited to have their first experience like me. My excitement was accompanies with some nerves, curious to which group I would be assigned and what family of gorillas we would be tracking. They say some came be found in as little as 20 minutes while others can take two hours or so. If you know me at all, I am sure you can guess I was really looking forward to one of the longer hikes - to really be able to experience the forest in which these amazing animals live! Well, I had 5 Australians in my group and two from Texas. We were going to be tracking the Hirwa family with 12 members, the youngest a baby of only six months! The silverback made his way to this family from two other mountains, surviving as he battled for space in two other groups before he found this one. Their names means Good Luck.....
Since Charlotte was hiking the Dian Fossey tomb trail, she used our driver and I joined a couple in my group and their driver to get to the trail head. The 30 minute drive took us to the base of the mountain where our guide explained all the rules about the hike and passed our our walking sticks. We began making our way through very large bamboo forests with a tracker in front using his machete to cut through the thick bamboo for us to squeeze through. We saw fresh antelope and buffalo prints in addition to elephant dung and prints - I still cannot believe an elephant fit through this dense area of the forest! I soon began to see how helpful the walking sticks really were as we worked our way up very steep mountain sides. I kept envisioning what it would be like when we see them - sitting amongst trees while we would kneel behind surrounding trees and watch them from a comfortable and clear distance - it was nothing of the sorts! We went up and up and up, for about 90 minutes until the trackers told our guide we would find them down the side of this mountain and across the valley below. So our ascent quickly turned to an extreme descent! We were standing at what seemed to be a cliff, but our head tracker began using his machete and cutting branches of trees on the side of the mountain on which we were challenged to find some decent footing, all the while slipping on the wet stalks and trying to hang on to the branches and roots above us. You shouldn't be surprised to know I did slip and fall a couple of times....but the fall was so weird because you're walking almost straight down, as if you were going down a ladder, do "falling" was more like me losing my footing, laughing so much as I held on to a branch above my head as my feet worked to find something to rest upon. We were all slipping around everywhere but the porters were so great at helping us all in our moments where balance left us. Not only was knowing that we would soon be near the gorillas keeping all of our spirits up, but the views were spectacular! It was something I had never seen before in my life! We really felt as though we were in the tops of the trees, looking out at the small hills of the countryside sprawling to one side, with the tall Volcano mountains to the other side, the tops of which were still covered in a soothing and calming grey mist...
About 45 minutes of this, we reached a clearing in the valley where we met up with the rest of the trackers and could see the silverback off in the distance, just resting and eating some grasses. After a short hike up the other hill, suddenly they were just right there in front of us! It was an awesome feeling to be near such impressive creatures and my nose tingled as my eyes watered. We saw the silverback resting mostly, but grooming another. The baby and another younger gorilla were gently playing with each other. Another female was off eating alone, with her body showing signs of being quite pregnant. There are 12 in the family, but I do not know that we even saw all of them. They moved around quite a lot and we had to keep walking at times to follow them to their new resting place. The total experience was one hour but it was well worth it! The one I was closest to just sat in front of me, maybe three yards away, just eating - but I was so thankful she was looking my direction so I could examine the roughness of her nose and the brown on her eyes and the wrinkles in her fingers. She was beautiful! The trackers kept making some noises to try and get the silverback to turn our way, but I don't think he was interested in our presence much at all :-) He kept to himself mostly. In fact, at one point, the mother of the young baby came out of the bushes somewhere and made some noises after which the baby got on her back and she led the way off to a new destination. Even though the majority of the time we were with them their backs were to us or they were slightly hidden behind other grasses, I was still able to capture a handful of videos and over 100 pictures - just snapping away to capture any moment possible :-)
As we began our walk back, the gorillas were moving in the same path we wanted to take, so there were a couple of times we had to wait for them to decide to get a move on before we could keep walking ourselves. During the entire journey back up the mountain, through my slipping and falling backwards, I was in my own world, just hanging on to the memories of the experience. I cannot believe I was actually able to do this one thing that I never really thought would be possible....it was such a surreal experience, but one I will be forever thankful to have had.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Happy September!! I cannot believe one month has passed since my arrival here.....
Soon after my last post on Sunday, we were blessed with the first rain of the season!! I have never been so happy to smell the freshness of rain. I had great hopes that it would clear the air of all the exhaust and pollution, but to no avail. Sunday evening was quite lovely as it fell pretty hard and allowed for a fresh perspective, but by morning the thick polluted air was still covering the city. For some reason, I have actually found it harder to breathe this week than in prior ones - perhaps it is due to the building layer of scum on my lungs, but I am hopeful this feeling will not last. And since I will be traveling to the mountains this weekend, relief will soon be upon me! :-)
Kharim has been making great progress this week at Gisimba! As of this afternoon, he could identify every letter of the alphabet, without hesitation, except for the letter "I". That was huge today!!! I was sooo proud of him! We began this week working on sounds of letters. I separated the vowels to really have him focus on getting those sounds "perfected." I have started with three-letter words, keeping the last the same and just changing the first. Then I showed him how just changing the vowel in the middle makes a completely different word - and he has started to see why the vowel sounds are so important and I see him trying very hard to do them correctly. Today I started taking some flash cards and having him sound out the words that did not have any "exceptions" to the sounds....he was doing sooooo well!!! My nose tingled as I watched him focus and think really hard about how to sound them out. Granted, he has a long way to go, but I really think he has been coming along well. One of the ladies from the Belgium organization that has been around Gisimba for a while, told me yesterday that she thinks he has a learning disorder and that he just cannot remember anything....I was soooo upset with that comment...I see him try so hard, I just don´t think he has had anyone to really give him the attention that he needed to get this done....I am really looking forward to the progress he may be able to make in the next two months!
For once I will let this entry stay short. I am working on posting some additional pictures of kids at Gisimba with a better one of Khraim, too :-)
Hugs to all!!!!
Soon after my last post on Sunday, we were blessed with the first rain of the season!! I have never been so happy to smell the freshness of rain. I had great hopes that it would clear the air of all the exhaust and pollution, but to no avail. Sunday evening was quite lovely as it fell pretty hard and allowed for a fresh perspective, but by morning the thick polluted air was still covering the city. For some reason, I have actually found it harder to breathe this week than in prior ones - perhaps it is due to the building layer of scum on my lungs, but I am hopeful this feeling will not last. And since I will be traveling to the mountains this weekend, relief will soon be upon me! :-)
Kharim has been making great progress this week at Gisimba! As of this afternoon, he could identify every letter of the alphabet, without hesitation, except for the letter "I". That was huge today!!! I was sooo proud of him! We began this week working on sounds of letters. I separated the vowels to really have him focus on getting those sounds "perfected." I have started with three-letter words, keeping the last the same and just changing the first. Then I showed him how just changing the vowel in the middle makes a completely different word - and he has started to see why the vowel sounds are so important and I see him trying very hard to do them correctly. Today I started taking some flash cards and having him sound out the words that did not have any "exceptions" to the sounds....he was doing sooooo well!!! My nose tingled as I watched him focus and think really hard about how to sound them out. Granted, he has a long way to go, but I really think he has been coming along well. One of the ladies from the Belgium organization that has been around Gisimba for a while, told me yesterday that she thinks he has a learning disorder and that he just cannot remember anything....I was soooo upset with that comment...I see him try so hard, I just don´t think he has had anyone to really give him the attention that he needed to get this done....I am really looking forward to the progress he may be able to make in the next two months!
For once I will let this entry stay short. I am working on posting some additional pictures of kids at Gisimba with a better one of Khraim, too :-)
Hugs to all!!!!
Friday, August 27, 2010
You may laugh or you may cry...but don't say I didn't warn you...
Written on Friday, but connection dropped before it could be posted....
I had another moment with an older woman at Gisimba on Tuesday. She was apparently another house mother, helping to pound cassava leaves. With some translation assistance, I asked her if I could take a try - she was so excited to show me how to position the body just right to achieve the most power with each movement! After my weak attempt, I was able to take a picture with her. She looked so deep in my eyes, grabbed at my shoulders and demanded with a firm smile that she get a copy of that photo :-) We hugged and hugged...what a beautiful moment for me to really connect with another...the incredible power of the older women here to communicate so intensely without a single word we understand together....it is so incredible...
KINDERGARDEN
So - here it is, Sunday, a full week has gone since my last post. And what a fun week it has been! During the recess break this week, two of the other teachers at the school have been trying to help me learn some of the fun playground songs in Kinyarwanda. :-) I try to mimic the teachers as they try and sing with the kids. I'm picking up some words, bahoro bahoro, but it will be a while before I will even think I would be able to sing one without their guidance. Hopefully with a couple months ahead of me, I can get at least one memorized!
Through the week, I have continued to work on songs from last week, including I'm a Little Teapot. The children have been making soooo much progress!! On Friday we were all standing and singing, doing all the body movements with the song, and although they are still struggling with some words, they were really quite entertaining! I even had to pull my camera out and take a video of them...Just watching them bounce their hips and tip over to pour out makes me smile with so much joy!! I am so proud of them and continue to feed off their enthusiasm....
Another project this week, which I believe will continue through my time here, is the memorizing of "A Story About a Frog." It consists of 6 pages, appearing to be pulled from a coloring book. Each page has a picture of Kermit the Frog talking about "some of the things I like to do." The way they teach here is so much more focused on memorizing things. The teacher will just repeat the first page over and over again and move to the second page when they can recite the correct sounds....Well this week I was asked to help color the pages of the book for each of the 39 students in the class!! So, while they are working on learning the Rwanda anthem or taking their breakfast break, I have been assigned to coloring - 6 pages for each of the 39 students!! There is another teacher assistant who is helping, and thank goodness I like to color, but I found this so interesting. They just photocopy the blank page and color in. I was trying to understand why they don't make this a coloring assignment, but those seem to be saved for things like vegetables and transportation, etc. I suppose this is like their "textbook" so the teachers want to give them a complete copy to "read" rather than color....can you imagine our teachers coloring our storybooks for us?? Such an interesting thought...
Ah yes...so speaking of books and repetition, one of my highlights this week was when I was able to bring calm to the class all on my own :-) After recess one day, the kids were out of control! You would think they would lose energy, but no...they just become more hyper! So, I grabbed one of my books, "Go, Dog, Go." I began to read the simple words from each page - Big dog, little dog, white dog, black dog... etc etc. The kids suddenly started paying attention to me! They would repeat each line I would say, of course, because that is what they think they are supposed to do, but it worked out great because there are so many parts in there concerning prepositions I had recently reviewed with them - such as up, down, above, below - so they were simultaneously getting a review of those words as I had them do different hand or body motions. For the first time, the teacher had to tell them to get their bags when the guardians were showing up before we had finished a lesson! Normally they are bouncing off the walls when it is time to go. It was such a joy for me! :-)
One more thought on the kindergarten kids....So, over time, in an effort for the kids to understand what I mean when I say, "Listen to me," I have adopted a habit of pulling at my ear lobes...I thought this would help them to realize that you must use your ears to listen....so, on Friday, after recess, I wanted to try and do more songs with them. I stood in front with my finger in front of my lips to attempt to silence their afternoon energy. Suddenly, one of the dramatic boys in the back opened his eyes really big, stood up, pulled at his ears and shouted, "Listen, listen, listen to me!!" LOL This was HILARIOUS!!! All the kids began doing the same thing! The teacher started laughing along with me as she tried to explain to them in Kinyarwanda that in order to "Listen to me," they had to stop saying so! LOL I laugh so much just remembering it. Soooooo adorable these kids are!!!
AT GISIMBA
So, many of the students who have been waiting to get materials to go to boarding school at Sunrise were finally able to depart on Tuesday afternoon. It made for very quiet afternoons the rest of this week because not only are some away at boarding school, but many those who remain are out and about during the day at local school. In any case, I have been able to bond more with some of the younger girls, doing all sorts of things: bouncing balls, singing songs, dancing, playing their version of hopscotch, even just sitting with each other, laughing at my attempts as they try to make me speak kinyarwanda. Such a joie de vivre these children have...it can be a bit therapeutic :-)
I have been able to make some progress with Kharim, as well - the 15 year old who cannot speak English. I found out he is in Primary 5 - the equivalent of fifth grade. He was showing me what he does in school, but it is so sad because he just copies things from his teacher but has no idea what he has even written in his notebook....On Thursday after kindergarten, there were two muzungus standing around at Gisimba - an older woman and a younger guy. They are volunteers from the Belgium organization that provides most of the international funding for Gisimba. It became evident that the woman had been here many times. She saw me and said, "You must be the one teaching Kharim English. He is so happy to have someone working with him." I learned that they all know his English but no one has thus far been able to really help him progress so she wished me well in that regard and said he seemed very excited to be working with me. Just hearing that really touched me....I pray I won't let him down.....I found out that there is someone who wants to sponsor him to go to a really good school in Uganda, but because of his English, he cannot go, so now he and I have even more motivation and push to keep trying! After getting some advice from my sister, I have been finding new ways to help him learn the alphabet, not just by memorizing the order, but actually comprehending the letters and recognizing them and writing them.....and on Friday we began working on their sounds....this will take a lot of time and effort, but I am really looking forward to the day he will be able to read a short simple book to me....what an accomplishment that will be for him!!
NYAMATA - an emotional experience...and may be graphic at times...
This weekend we all decided to stay in town which has been a nice change. However, yesterday was quite an emotionally exhausting and draining day. Three of us visited Nyamata - the site of a genocide memorial. I don't know that I can even go in to much detail right now, but I will share a few things about the site. When we arrived, the church was actually locked. But we were able to view through the doors and windows the rows of wooden benches covered with layer upon layer of the clothes worn by the 41,000 people from that area that were killed during the genocide....A deaf guard led us behind the church to a crypt area where we were led underground. Descending, we were faced with rows upon rows of caskets covered in purple and white cloth...this was such a hard place to be as I really felt like we were disturbing their peace...as we entered a second crypt, I was very unexpectedly faced with rows and rows of bones and skulls with their empty eye sockets staring back at me, each telling its own story with long cuts or small holes, each inflicted with the weapons of the war....I was so distraught seeing this and had such mixed emotions as I wanted to pay my respects but felt so strange seeing this raw, naked snapshot of the real individuals who lost their lives so prematurely...and something about the way they were lined up seemed so disrespectful for me to be there, seeing them lined up so orderly as if it was some storage room in a museum...As we were reflecting on the church from the outside, Charles Mugabe showed up. He ended up being our "guide" as he opened the church and began telling us the history of this site where 10,000 people stood shoulder to shoulder for three days until April 10 when masses of the perpetrators arrived and began the terror...There were marks on the doors of the church where men tried to shoot at the locks, but to no avail, so tried to get through with grenades instead, where the large crater on the cement floor and shrapnel in the ceiling tell the beginning of the story...what took a moment for us to realize was that Charles Mugabe was there on April 10, 1994 - an 8-year old boy, one of 13 people who walked out of that church, who was saved by his older brother who made him hide near the baptismal bowl and covered him with blood to make him appear dead. Charles witnessed the decapitation of his mother as she tried to prevent the hammering-to-death of his father...and faced reality the following morning that his 5 other siblings were murdered through the night....He told of a Hutu woman who, after refusing to kill her Tutsi husband, was forced upon the alter of the church where men proceeded to cut out the child she was carrying in her womb and had her bleed to death on the alter. Women who came to hunt with their husbands were charged with the mass killing of children, many by being picked up from their legs and swung like a bat against the brick walls until their heads were beaten in - blood stains on the wall still tell of these beatings...Ideology has somehow become more powerful than our natural instincts to protect, especially protection of innocent children...Humans seem to be the only species that will seek out to commit such mass atrocities against its own kind....can these acts come to an end before we bring about our own extinction?!
I am sorry my thoughts above may sound so dry, but my emotions have been so incredibly raw since seeing these sites...hearing the first hand accounts of a survivor and his struggles with forgiveness and yet to hear of his success with his studies and his promising future and interest in conflict resolution....what power for survival the human spirit can carry within...these unfathomable stories have left me so confused about the incredible power of propaganda and the ability for people to hang on to life when all seems lost....
OTHER NEWS
Friday was the last day for one of the volunteers that I had started working with at Gisimba, although she moved 10 days ago to another orphanage. We have another volunteer leaving on this Wednesday, so it will soon just be me and two others. Apparently there are no others coming at this placement next week, so in mid September when these two leave, I am hoping some more will be placed here in Kigali with me....thankfully I have really gotten along well with the others here and it adds a special dynamic to the entire experience. Actually, the girl still here from Germany will be joining me this coming weekend when I got on my Gorilla Trek. She isn't doing the trek, but will be hiking to Diane Fosey's tomb. It will be nice to travel with someone for this mini-adventure. We are currently planning a full extended weekend as we will be taking Friday off to begin the trip.
I have been touched today, by a beautiful, fragile-looking but incredibly strong older woman...she approached me today at the bus stop while I was waiting with Kharim, my English student at Gisimba....she began speaking in words I could not understand and Kharim said, "You're beautiful...she is saying you are beautiful." The woman is a house-mother at Gisimba. I reached for her hand, expressing much thanks and sincere gratitude for her kind words....she continued to speak in words I could not understand....as I stared into her eyes, I asked Kharim what she was saying..."I watch you with the children, you are beautiful with them, i love you very much...." It was all I could do not to shed the tears that were swelling up inside my eyes....All I could do was wrap my arms around her and hug her and rub her back, telling her how beautiful and sweet she was....how incredible it is that love can be shared so easily between complete strangers....a simple smile, a laugh, a hug....she has touched my soul....
I had another moment with an older woman at Gisimba on Tuesday. She was apparently another house mother, helping to pound cassava leaves. With some translation assistance, I asked her if I could take a try - she was so excited to show me how to position the body just right to achieve the most power with each movement! After my weak attempt, I was able to take a picture with her. She looked so deep in my eyes, grabbed at my shoulders and demanded with a firm smile that she get a copy of that photo :-) We hugged and hugged...what a beautiful moment for me to really connect with another...the incredible power of the older women here to communicate so intensely without a single word we understand together....it is so incredible...
KINDERGARDEN
So - here it is, Sunday, a full week has gone since my last post. And what a fun week it has been! During the recess break this week, two of the other teachers at the school have been trying to help me learn some of the fun playground songs in Kinyarwanda. :-) I try to mimic the teachers as they try and sing with the kids. I'm picking up some words, bahoro bahoro, but it will be a while before I will even think I would be able to sing one without their guidance. Hopefully with a couple months ahead of me, I can get at least one memorized!
Through the week, I have continued to work on songs from last week, including I'm a Little Teapot. The children have been making soooo much progress!! On Friday we were all standing and singing, doing all the body movements with the song, and although they are still struggling with some words, they were really quite entertaining! I even had to pull my camera out and take a video of them...Just watching them bounce their hips and tip over to pour out makes me smile with so much joy!! I am so proud of them and continue to feed off their enthusiasm....
Another project this week, which I believe will continue through my time here, is the memorizing of "A Story About a Frog." It consists of 6 pages, appearing to be pulled from a coloring book. Each page has a picture of Kermit the Frog talking about "some of the things I like to do." The way they teach here is so much more focused on memorizing things. The teacher will just repeat the first page over and over again and move to the second page when they can recite the correct sounds....Well this week I was asked to help color the pages of the book for each of the 39 students in the class!! So, while they are working on learning the Rwanda anthem or taking their breakfast break, I have been assigned to coloring - 6 pages for each of the 39 students!! There is another teacher assistant who is helping, and thank goodness I like to color, but I found this so interesting. They just photocopy the blank page and color in. I was trying to understand why they don't make this a coloring assignment, but those seem to be saved for things like vegetables and transportation, etc. I suppose this is like their "textbook" so the teachers want to give them a complete copy to "read" rather than color....can you imagine our teachers coloring our storybooks for us?? Such an interesting thought...
Ah yes...so speaking of books and repetition, one of my highlights this week was when I was able to bring calm to the class all on my own :-) After recess one day, the kids were out of control! You would think they would lose energy, but no...they just become more hyper! So, I grabbed one of my books, "Go, Dog, Go." I began to read the simple words from each page - Big dog, little dog, white dog, black dog... etc etc. The kids suddenly started paying attention to me! They would repeat each line I would say, of course, because that is what they think they are supposed to do, but it worked out great because there are so many parts in there concerning prepositions I had recently reviewed with them - such as up, down, above, below - so they were simultaneously getting a review of those words as I had them do different hand or body motions. For the first time, the teacher had to tell them to get their bags when the guardians were showing up before we had finished a lesson! Normally they are bouncing off the walls when it is time to go. It was such a joy for me! :-)
One more thought on the kindergarten kids....So, over time, in an effort for the kids to understand what I mean when I say, "Listen to me," I have adopted a habit of pulling at my ear lobes...I thought this would help them to realize that you must use your ears to listen....so, on Friday, after recess, I wanted to try and do more songs with them. I stood in front with my finger in front of my lips to attempt to silence their afternoon energy. Suddenly, one of the dramatic boys in the back opened his eyes really big, stood up, pulled at his ears and shouted, "Listen, listen, listen to me!!" LOL This was HILARIOUS!!! All the kids began doing the same thing! The teacher started laughing along with me as she tried to explain to them in Kinyarwanda that in order to "Listen to me," they had to stop saying so! LOL I laugh so much just remembering it. Soooooo adorable these kids are!!!
AT GISIMBA
So, many of the students who have been waiting to get materials to go to boarding school at Sunrise were finally able to depart on Tuesday afternoon. It made for very quiet afternoons the rest of this week because not only are some away at boarding school, but many those who remain are out and about during the day at local school. In any case, I have been able to bond more with some of the younger girls, doing all sorts of things: bouncing balls, singing songs, dancing, playing their version of hopscotch, even just sitting with each other, laughing at my attempts as they try to make me speak kinyarwanda. Such a joie de vivre these children have...it can be a bit therapeutic :-)
I have been able to make some progress with Kharim, as well - the 15 year old who cannot speak English. I found out he is in Primary 5 - the equivalent of fifth grade. He was showing me what he does in school, but it is so sad because he just copies things from his teacher but has no idea what he has even written in his notebook....On Thursday after kindergarten, there were two muzungus standing around at Gisimba - an older woman and a younger guy. They are volunteers from the Belgium organization that provides most of the international funding for Gisimba. It became evident that the woman had been here many times. She saw me and said, "You must be the one teaching Kharim English. He is so happy to have someone working with him." I learned that they all know his English but no one has thus far been able to really help him progress so she wished me well in that regard and said he seemed very excited to be working with me. Just hearing that really touched me....I pray I won't let him down.....I found out that there is someone who wants to sponsor him to go to a really good school in Uganda, but because of his English, he cannot go, so now he and I have even more motivation and push to keep trying! After getting some advice from my sister, I have been finding new ways to help him learn the alphabet, not just by memorizing the order, but actually comprehending the letters and recognizing them and writing them.....and on Friday we began working on their sounds....this will take a lot of time and effort, but I am really looking forward to the day he will be able to read a short simple book to me....what an accomplishment that will be for him!!
NYAMATA - an emotional experience...and may be graphic at times...
This weekend we all decided to stay in town which has been a nice change. However, yesterday was quite an emotionally exhausting and draining day. Three of us visited Nyamata - the site of a genocide memorial. I don't know that I can even go in to much detail right now, but I will share a few things about the site. When we arrived, the church was actually locked. But we were able to view through the doors and windows the rows of wooden benches covered with layer upon layer of the clothes worn by the 41,000 people from that area that were killed during the genocide....A deaf guard led us behind the church to a crypt area where we were led underground. Descending, we were faced with rows upon rows of caskets covered in purple and white cloth...this was such a hard place to be as I really felt like we were disturbing their peace...as we entered a second crypt, I was very unexpectedly faced with rows and rows of bones and skulls with their empty eye sockets staring back at me, each telling its own story with long cuts or small holes, each inflicted with the weapons of the war....I was so distraught seeing this and had such mixed emotions as I wanted to pay my respects but felt so strange seeing this raw, naked snapshot of the real individuals who lost their lives so prematurely...and something about the way they were lined up seemed so disrespectful for me to be there, seeing them lined up so orderly as if it was some storage room in a museum...As we were reflecting on the church from the outside, Charles Mugabe showed up. He ended up being our "guide" as he opened the church and began telling us the history of this site where 10,000 people stood shoulder to shoulder for three days until April 10 when masses of the perpetrators arrived and began the terror...There were marks on the doors of the church where men tried to shoot at the locks, but to no avail, so tried to get through with grenades instead, where the large crater on the cement floor and shrapnel in the ceiling tell the beginning of the story...what took a moment for us to realize was that Charles Mugabe was there on April 10, 1994 - an 8-year old boy, one of 13 people who walked out of that church, who was saved by his older brother who made him hide near the baptismal bowl and covered him with blood to make him appear dead. Charles witnessed the decapitation of his mother as she tried to prevent the hammering-to-death of his father...and faced reality the following morning that his 5 other siblings were murdered through the night....He told of a Hutu woman who, after refusing to kill her Tutsi husband, was forced upon the alter of the church where men proceeded to cut out the child she was carrying in her womb and had her bleed to death on the alter. Women who came to hunt with their husbands were charged with the mass killing of children, many by being picked up from their legs and swung like a bat against the brick walls until their heads were beaten in - blood stains on the wall still tell of these beatings...Ideology has somehow become more powerful than our natural instincts to protect, especially protection of innocent children...Humans seem to be the only species that will seek out to commit such mass atrocities against its own kind....can these acts come to an end before we bring about our own extinction?!
I am sorry my thoughts above may sound so dry, but my emotions have been so incredibly raw since seeing these sites...hearing the first hand accounts of a survivor and his struggles with forgiveness and yet to hear of his success with his studies and his promising future and interest in conflict resolution....what power for survival the human spirit can carry within...these unfathomable stories have left me so confused about the incredible power of propaganda and the ability for people to hang on to life when all seems lost....
OTHER NEWS
Friday was the last day for one of the volunteers that I had started working with at Gisimba, although she moved 10 days ago to another orphanage. We have another volunteer leaving on this Wednesday, so it will soon just be me and two others. Apparently there are no others coming at this placement next week, so in mid September when these two leave, I am hoping some more will be placed here in Kigali with me....thankfully I have really gotten along well with the others here and it adds a special dynamic to the entire experience. Actually, the girl still here from Germany will be joining me this coming weekend when I got on my Gorilla Trek. She isn't doing the trek, but will be hiking to Diane Fosey's tomb. It will be nice to travel with someone for this mini-adventure. We are currently planning a full extended weekend as we will be taking Friday off to begin the trip.
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