How to keep an illegal cow in the city.

Our neighbourhood is a strange but beautiful one. We supposedly walk home right through the middle of the red light district but the only real indication of this is a few lively bars with the odd red lantern. Our next-door neighbours are stowing an illegal cow, or at least we think they are. Apparently there are strict guidelines to do with space and keeping live stock in the middle of a capital city… ones which we feel might be being overlooked. Also slightly suspiciously there is a milk bar just down the road…. So when they say ‘fresh’ they mean fresh! Everything here is a bit of a misfit, which makes our area a bizarre combination of being quaint and urban Our street is no more than a dirt track patterned with potholes but our house and the three that surround it would fit in nicely in a middle class American suburb. Peoples dress sense here tends to mirror this randomness, with pink shellsuit bottoms and a traditional African patterned top being the latest fashion. Another observation that cannot go unmissed is the attractiveness of the bigger woman… the bigger the better! Many of the street children carry around scales to weigh yourself for a very low price, what they fail to realise is that very few muzungu women are likely to what to take them up on their offer. We have had to educate the boys at the centre that telling us that we are big would not be a wise move. Eric, One of the older boys, introduced us to his girlfriend the other day who happened to be a fairly voluptuous girl. After telling us her name he proudly pointed out her large cheeks and while vigorously moving his hands in the shape of an hour glass said ‘she’s biiiggg no?’

So on to what we have been up to… Well a few weeks ago we finally made it out of Kigali. We managed to experience some of Rwanda’s finest countryside by visiting our new friend Laurence, who lives, quite frankly, in the middle of nowhere…also known as Gahini. He took us on a two hour bike ride which to be perfectly honest nearly KILLED us (we blame it on the altitude)! But never the less we managed to see some spectacular scenery. The landscape was very much the quintessential rural African setting with little mud huts placed sporadically, fields of luscious green palm trees contrasting with the deep red of the soil. We also passed acres of paddy fields, the scene complete with workers and a setting sun. Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills which made the ride breathtaking in every sense of the word! We had a few near collisions with young children, goats, chickens… and each other! Being a muzungu in the city is difficult… being a muzungu in the country is near impossible. When we stopped for a breather we discovered how it must feel to be a zoo animal… a very rare zoo animal. Everybody who was walking passed stopped to point. People only a few metres away stood open mouthed out rightly staring. At this point it was very temping to stick our tongues out to see their reaction but we feared we might get poked with a stick and thought better of it. We completed the ride with a swim in Gahini’s very large and picturesque lake. Andrew then joined us, and Laurence very hospitably cooked us fish from the lake for dinner. The rest of the evening is a little hazy as much red wine, wuragi and Ugandan cherry was consumed. We do however remember thinking it would be an excellent idea to go swimming at around 3am during which time Nell managed to lose her top. Sunday was spent recovering by the lake and luckily we managed to scrounge a lift home, as being rammed into a taxi bus may not have agreed with us.

Last week we managed to fit in a trip to see the boy’s accommodation. It is a small but adequate house with a little out door kitchen and a couple of long drops. Each room hosts a surprising amount of bunkbed’s given their size and the boys have decorated their walls with a number of cuttings from newspapers… some more random than others! One wall had a selection of people taken from what appeared to be a Littlewoods catalogue, modelling clothes ranging from baby grows to walking boots! Another boy had decided to cover his entire room in newspaper including his ceiling, which looked like some kind of crazy modern art. Still we remember the days when pictures from Bliss and Just 17 stared back at us from all angles of our bedrooms… including the classic one of Leo De Caprio or such like placed prominently on our ceilings above our beds! We also got the chance to take part in an Eid celebration, which required us to eat a lot of food! Nicky’s friend Supertall (not like the opposite to Little John – he really is massive) is a Muslim and invited us to his cousins house for lunch and then his own house for dinner, with about an hour separating the two! The food was delicious and it was really nice to be invited into a Rwandan family home. Other than that illness has once more taken its toll on both of us. On Friday Jaz spent the entire day projectile vomiting into a very sorry looking basin. (I probably shouldn’t be admitting this, as you may all question my sanity but whilst alone, desperately board and fed up I wound up drawing a face on my belly; with my belly button acting as the mouth I then filled it full of water and made it mimic me throwing up… its amazing the things you can find entertaining when you spend 24 hours on the same sofa).

The Gisozi Genocide Memorial

This is a blog we have admittedly been avoiding for a little while now, because to be totally honest it’s very hard to know what to say. The Gisozi Genocide Memorial was incredibly informative but undeniably heart wrenching. Although we are both very familiar with the history of the genocide, bearing witness to its devastating effect on so many individual’s lives was quite different to anything we have ever read in a textbook. Seeing real propaganda that had been taken direct from national newspapers with various openly xenophobic cartoons was disturbing to say the least. There were various haunting images that are quite impossible to translate with the full impact they had on us, but a few that should not go unmentioned. We’re describing these images not for shock value but to try to convey their impact on us. One room is dedicated to ID cards and personal photographs that were either found with the deceased or at deserted houses some time later. What is quite notable is the fact that these photos are colour photos and many are of a quality that might make you assume they were taken yesterday. When you consider genocide or other wide scale atrocities it is easy to imagine a few old sepia images declaring that, as tragic as the event was, it has been relegated to a distant past. In this room the notion of ‘the past’ had no bearing on the faces that stared back at us. A second room contained the bones and clothes of just a few of the victims which was quite an explicit testimony to the brutality of the murders, as many of the skulls had large holes clearly evident in them. However the most disturbing and difficult room to face was one dedicated to children. The display covers the stories of various children that were murdered, provided by loved ones who survived, the stories include a large photo of each child, their age, their favourite activity, food, best friend, and, how they died. Looking into the eyes of these beautiful, innocent children knowing that they were brutally murdered was almost too much to bare.

When away from the memorial there are very few reminders, as an outsider to Rwanda, of the Genocide. However there are a couple that are impossible not to dwell on. There are a lot of people with missing limbs, far too many to all be related to birth defects. However, it’s a strange concept but it’s actually certain places that reside in our minds as a marker of the genocide more than people. The people we have met, undoubtedly, have their own personal memories and accounts of that time but when you meet them you are meeting them in the present, and unless they mention it, you do not dwell on their past. Certain places however do impinge a sense of questioning in us. The church we pass on the way to the orphanage is one that hundreds of people went to seek refuge in during April 1994, but were betrayed by their religious leaders and as a consequence were all murdered inside the church.

As you leave the memorial there is one last room for you to visit, it displays information on another 10 or so genocides that have occurred throughout history in various parts of the world, an essential reminder that unless we are tolerant of difference, under the right conditions such horrific events can occur anywhere in the world, at any time. We left with a feeling, which can only be described as emptiness. It is essential to not be consumed by this feeling, but it is also necessary to reflect on it. If we don’t, it is easy to forget what intolerance and ignorance of others can result in.

Excesses and consequences

Yet again it feels like a life times worth of memories have been made since we last wrote…. Some good, some bad, and some ‘ugly’. The art classes are slowly progressing, although some kids are certainly easier to teach than others, as it turns out that some of them hadn’t even used a ruler before…. Kinda difficult when you’re trying to teach them the precisions of card making, but hey we’re getting there. A good sign is that they are guaranteed to ask for ten more minutes at the end of every lesson. Also we always have a group of onlookers, desperate to try out all the materials, today the little deaf boy, Petite, was highly entertained by pritsticking a paper mask to his face, which remained there for the rest of the day- we’re just glad we didn’t have superglue lying around!! As for English, that’s got slightly more scary as we have wound up separating to cover both the intermediate and the beginners classes…we’re not sure what’s more challenging: trying to teach a class that want to learn grammatical rules that we didn’t even know existed and asking questions like ‘so what’s the third party past tense of that word then?’ or trying to teach a group of kids that quite clearly do not understand a single instruction you give, still Jaz has landed herself with the intermediates while Nell is tackling the beginners. Hopefully we are doing something right as they are still guaranteed to all be there, pens at the ready every lesson.

Last week we took a trip to the local market, which could certainly be described as an experience! We were with Santiana, one of the local volunteers but this didn’t seem to make to difference to the amount of attention we got. We had a little gang of boys traipsing around after us asking us for jobs, money… anything! The women at the market didn’t seem terribly impressed by the fact that Santi was trying to barter for us and kept telling us if we were being charged a muzungu price or not. Still it was fascinating to see the hubbub of people and the mountains of fruit, veg, flour, beans ect… it was quite an impressive sight. We managed to come back with a weeks worth of fruit and veg for £2.50 which is pretty damn remarkable although we’re not entirely sure we’ll be able to cope with that much attention every week.

Last weekend was an eventful one. We had kinda gate crashed a friend of Nicky’s birthday party the previous weekend and managed to make a few contacts there which was handy. Friday night we cooked dinner for Nicky, Kine and Alison (two girls we’ve met though work) which went down nicely with a few cocktails. Nell however was feeling a little worse for wear so she did not accompany us out clubbing later that night. The rest of us however went on to Cadillac the biggest club in Kigali, where we joined a few of the VSO’s we’d met previously. I (Jaz) was really quite impressed with the real ‘clubbness’ of the place…. I had in mind a bit of a shack with loud music coming from a few dodgy speakers but it was just like going clubbing at home… well almost! There were a few notable differences, mainly in the way of dancing. One group of Russians had a Carlton from the Fresh Prince kinda style going down which was very difficult to take your eyes off! But a lot of wuragi (local gin) was consumed and before long I was busting out my own bad ass moves! The following night Nell was feeling better so we went for drinks with the volunteers from the centre to get to know them better, which again turned out to be a really great night…. They have assured us they will be coming with us the next time we go clubbing and teaching us Congolese dancing, which we’re told involves a lot of butt wiggling and not much else! The same night just as we were about to go to bed we got a text from Laurence (a VSO) who invited us to an expat. party! Given the fact that we are both hard core party animals we of course said yes and got a taxi there (kept having reality checks of…. Oh my god we are going out two nights in a row…. We are more sprightly than we thought!) The music collection was varied to say the least, but our new friend Lawrence managed to dance to almost all of it- we were particularly impressed with his shaking to Shakira and his initiation of a conga line to Kyle’s Locomotion. We followed this up the next day with an all you can eat breakfast with Nicky at a very expensive hotel, it was hugely extravagant but totally worth it. Following this we went to a genocide memorial but we will be dedicating an entire blog to this as we feel it was too significant just to mention in passing.

After the weekend Jaz was quite ill and until today (Friday) has been unable to shift the bug which has left her at home, slightly stir crazy for most of the week:
In regards to the description of my illness let me brief but honest. Developing chronic diarrhoea over night in a house that’s entire water supply simultaneously runs out is an experience I would not wish upon even my most loathed of enemies. It is a memory and a smell that I fear will haunt me for some time…

Never underestimate the technology of the flush.
Never underestimate the significance of water.

Greetings from Umutesi and Umutoni!

Before we forget for those of you who would like to send us huge amounts of gifts and letters through the post our address is:

Nell or Jaz c/o rYico
BP 5255
Kigali
Rwanda
And also just a quick word of thanks to everyone who have been leaving us comments, they're always intersting to read!!

Its crazy to think we’ve only been here two weeks, already sooo much has happened and yet life feel strangely normal, the culture shock has subsided and although there is still much for us to learn we are settling in nicely, with our home proving to be a definite safehaven for when the centre gets a bit too much. We are also gradually getting to know many of the children much better, there is Winnie who is very outgoing and incredibly welcoming, John – our keenest English student, who is guaranteed to sit at the front of the class EVERY lesson, his hand held high in the air. And the little boy with no name – he has no name because he is deaf and therefore cannot speak either which means nobody can actually ask him his name, he is one of the youngest children and a real character…. He may not be able to speak but he certainly makes a lot of noise! It is so nice to be able to get to know many of them individually, when we first arrived there were so many faces that the idea of even just remembering their names seemed far to daunting! We have also been given Rwandan names by the kids which apparently is quite an honour! Nell is now Umutesi which translates to ‘loved by the parents’ and Jasmines is Umutoni which translates to ‘most responsible child’ (I was kinda hoping for ‘wild one’ or ‘the cool kid’ but I guess it’s still a complement!)
Our timetable has certainly filled up as well. We now have two art classes and an English class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, all of which require lesson plans so we are kept very busy. We have also decided to volunteer at an orphanage every Tuesday. There are between 40-50 babies in one room, the smell and the heat make it quite an intense experience but certainly a rewarding one. The babies range from a few weeks old to around 2 years old. Our job is basically to feed them, change them and give them a cuddle. We work along side a few local women and a few nuns who run the orphanage all of whom work incredible hard. Through working there we have met a few other international volunteers who we are gradually getting to know better, one of which is coming for dinner on Friday… our first guest… lets hope we don’t give her food poisoning!

Before we left the UK many of the questions that often cropped up when discussing our trip with people were related to the genocide. As an outsider from day to day there is virtually no sign that such a horrific act ever took place here. However occasionally we are reminded of this aspect of Rwanda’s history. A few days ago we saw a truck full of prisoners pass by wearing pink, this is to identify them as those accused of participation in the genocide. It was a very stark reminder that this only happened 12 years ago and everyone is still living with the consequences. While this generated a moment of uncomfortable reflection it is worth noting the country’s significant effort to overcome its damaged reputation of brutality and blood shed. One aspect of society which is most admirable is ‘umuganda’ this happens every last Saturday of the month. Basically every citizen is required to take part in community service of some kind, all the shops close and it is taken very seriously if you don’t take part…. Can you ever imagine that happening in England!

There are a few cultural differences that simply can’t go unmissed, one of which being the surprising amount of affection boys seem to show one another here! Every journey we make we are guaranteed to see at least one pair of boys walking down the street holding hands. We gather that this is not done in the Brightonian style of… ‘Gay and Proud!’ as the concept of homosexuality is socially so completely unheard of that it doesn’t even cross their minds! I guess its more of a brotherly love thing but still it’s not something you’d be likely to see on the streets of the UK everyday! The weather however is surprisingly familiar with its unpredictability, only just a little more extreme. They don’t call it the rainy season for nothing, I can tell ya! The rain is heavier and louder than anything we’ve ever experienced, yet very comforting when we’re falling off to sleep, however we’ve still managed to get sun burnt today! One of the upsides is that often when the electricity goes we have our very own light display to watch, as our balcony has a rather spectacular view of the whole of Kigali with its rolling hills marking our horizon. Often there are lightening storms, which illuminate vast areas of the sky creating a cacophony of colours.

We have a mango tree in our front garden of which we’ve had an eye on and generally our diet contains a lot of fruit so no need for the vitamin pills just yet! One last thing that has to be mentioned before we head home for dinner is the impressive amount of stuff people can carry on their heads….. seriously this is a talent that can’t go unnoticed! The quintessential African woman carrying a basket of fruit on her head does not do this skill justice, we have witnessed towels piled a couple of feet high, hats, bags of charcoal, piles of bulrushes and just about anything else you can imagine! It appears that in order to acquire this talent you must start young; the other day we came across a girl, no older that two years of age putting all her concentration into balancing a bag of sweets on her head, she was doing so well until the two muzungus walked passed and alas her concentration wavered!