Homes and Community Visits

Friday morning came quite early, and for a Friday the 13^th, only one regrettable thing happened. Aime, Dennis and I were out in the field all day, and for most of this one I was playing with children, attempting French with some of the mamas who were waiting patiently to be interviewed. Our bus rides in the morning were 2 hours to Kigali from Musanze and then another bus took us out toward Gitarama. We ended up being relatively early which is wonderful (and incredibly rare) to our first meeting in Bukamero! We walked from the side of the road into the village (definitely not worth a 200 franc bicyclist taking us to the orphanage front, which we did last time), and greeted a few people in their fields along the way. People began to join soon after we arrived, many of which had not provided any information during the week before’s survey.

Since we were early, there were no community members waiting for us that had yet to be surveyed, but that did not mean that there weren’t little ones running around and ready to do some playing. I decided to walk around and take some photos, but didn’t get very far, because the kids began to tag along in the field of matooke and wanted their own pictures taken. Once you start this, it is very hard to stop- its mildly addicting to have them be so excited just to see a picture of themselves for 30 seconds- how can you stop?? Here are a few of the sniffly, yet adorable kids the rubbed dirt and buggers all over my skirt while we played around, I taught them colors in English, and they taught me the numbers in Kinyarwanda. We started out playing patty-cake and then played with make-shift pinwheels that are called ‘avions’, or airplanes in French. I spoke a little French with some of the mothers that attended the survey taking session, but again was pulled away by the kids as they wanted to play a hand game. We have something like it in the US, but all of the kids put both hands palms down to the sand, and one started singing a song and each time she stopped a hand would flip over (palm up). If your hand was flipped over and she picked it again, then you would have to take your hand out of the game. Last hand in wins! While I was not the last hand in, it was definitely a fun breather from the surveys, and gave Dennis some time with Aime, rather than having three of us interviewing one community member.

After joining the surveying, things slowed down, and we ended up staying particularly longer than necessary. Aime wanted to get to all those present, and so that was great, but also put us an hour late to our meeting at Ruhango. We were able to call ahead of time, but got lucky we made it to Ruhango in time for that. As we left Bukamero, there were not motos nor matatus in sight. We started walking and every few minutes the two guys would stop and try to find a bus/car going by that would take us. I was of course not keen on hitchhiking, and so tried to discourage that, and so then we started only looking toward buses. Turned out that the buses that kept denying to pick us up (aka driving past us with visible non populated seats) were actually carrying refugees. The first few busses must have just been driving faster, because shortly after, a caravan of over 20 buses, and 3 UNHCR Lorries came flying down the road. It was a bit heart breaking to think that many were moving, but also confusing. We had not had too much news about what was going on in Congo, so it didn’t seem like a huge new wave of refugees would be moving like that. In the rush of things, I brushed this off, and finally a matatu passed that was willing to squish us in! (We were 5+ to a row, in 3 seat rows.) Not a particularly comfortable ride, but it got us to Ruhango, and there I ran into the store to get some snacks. Samosas it turned out were the order of the afternoon, and then we were off to finding motos. I tried to let Aime do the bargaining without us being clearly attached with him, but I don’t think the hesitation did much good. Ruhango was about an hour moto ride out of the nearest town, and a bumpy one at that (hence why a matatu wasn’t going to be a very practical option), so either way- it was going to cost us!

We finally hopped on board and headed for a 7^th Day Adventist Church in what seemed very much like the middle of nowhere. Upon arriving, most of the community members had not come, because someone had mentioned house visits (which are very impractical for surveys to be completed in a timely manner. So Dennis and I sat down on the pastor’s porch, and met a few kids that had been around. Job (think biblical names) became my buddy in Ruhango- again one of the most genuine little kids you could meet! He had a relatively stern look with incredibly sad eyes, but at the same time when he smiled- he meant it and looked so happy! After an hour long hip flexor exercise (of a moto ride), it was nice to just sit and talk with the pastor and play with Job. He was shy, and clearly not as sporty as the rest of the kids. As they went off to do back flips and hand stands to show off, he stayed by my side watching and looking at the photos I took.

There was an interesting to hear about the Ruhango project as well because it had been an electricity project. While it did not bring electricity to every home, the goal was to build a line that would allow those who wanted to connect the option. Even for people without electricity in their own homes, they seem to be accessing it through friends. A woman who I met within the first 20 minutes of our visit had no shoes and no electricity, but had access to a friend’s TV for news. I had complimented how lovely she looked, but rather than accept her own elegance, she said it could not be true since she lacked shoes. It was sad to think that that was part of what would make her beautiful, when I would have loved to find her skirt fabric in market! Sometimes beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but I hope it doesn’t become too materialistic here in rural Rwanda.

The visit was a success, completing our surveys and even having time to visit the pastor’s church while Aime took control of the survey taking. Having said this, we did again do more surveys than perhaps we should have since we needed to return to Musanze that evening. This led to us missing the last bus from Kigali to Musanze, and spending the evening in Kigali. While Dennis just ended up staying the weekend, I was going to need to return to the Musanze house before returning to Kigali with the rest of the interns. I had left not only my computer, but also the fabrics for the weekend’s meeting with Natasha’s tailor. Dennis and I also had receive some information that the border towns near Congo might be risky over the weekend, so I decided it was probably best to bring my passport and any other important notions back to Kigali as well.

Before grabbing dinner, we went back to Hotel X to check email (for Dennis) and got into an interesting reflection from Aime who wasn’t concerned about security in Rwanda. He seemed to think that his hometown in Gisenyi would be safe (which it ended up being). We were joined by Sasha and had a delicious Fresca pasta dinner at Hotel X, and then I literally went to sleep before there was any further chitchat. I was exhausted and needed the rest if I was going to make the 6:30 bus back to Musanze the next morning. Didn’t miss it, and so I joined the powerless/waterless up in Musanze just in time to do some work, pack, grab lunch and head back to Kigali.

Saturday afternoon, Sophia, Natasha, Emily and Sarah all hopped on the bus with me back to Kigali. Having internet again was good after 2 days, and it was good to get to talk to my mom again since we hadn’t been able to connect as all the talk of border activities had gone down. Natasha also took me and the rest of the girls to Kimironko market again to meet her tailor, and I said good-bye to some of my fabrics and crossed my fingers that the outfits would come out alright! I will be able to check on Saturday, (a week from when I dropped them off) and my 8 dollar outfits will be in try-on able form. I am excited to see the dress that comes out and to wear the pj pants I am having modeled of a pair from Molly’s xmas present back Sophomore year of college. This is those pjs second trip to Africa, so it seems fitting (no pun intended) for them to become a model for the ones made here!

After the market and Sophia and I’s dash to the bank to get gorilla moneys, we met the others to go out for dinner at our Ethiopian spot in Kimihurura. As usual, it was delicious, and coming home meant a good game of Igisoro was in store. Sarah had made us friendship bracelets in the Rwandan colors (all of us Spark muzngus got one at Hotel X), and they are in the very colors of the Rwandan flag. So far, I haven’t taken mine off, and I have a feeling it will last until far into the next school year if I leave it on! After that, Natasha, Sarah, Emily and I watched the Bachelorette and got our girly fix of gorgeous gowns and romantic boys. Pretty silly, but I am enjoying the running commentary all of us provide – and am of course curious who the crazy girl will pick!

The last facet to our Saturday was that Sasha brought home a new duck! (The old one got eaten apparently.) It has been named Pili after the spicy pepper concoction that you can put on any meal hear in Rwanda called pili pili. Little does the poor duck know that someday it may be served with a side of pili pili. These African ducks are pretty bizarre looking due to the red skin around their eyes, but to make the matter more bizarre, the next morning one of the bunnies (we had four) was dead outside the hutch. We think it just got left out of the hutch, but then who killed it? Blame has currently been placed on Pili- I am more inclined to blame one of Kigali’s hawks or white chested crows did the mauling. Bunny has been kindly buried (even after discussion of eating him for dinner), and that made for quite a morning Sunday!

After coming to terms with our lost rabbit, the team decided to finally try this Maize Fresh burrito place that just opened in Kigali for lunch. Dennis and I wanted to drop by UTC and a few gift shops before going, but agreed to meet everyone there. The gift shopping turned into wagering discounts for Igisoro wins! I told Dennis he had better win so I could get a board for 6ooo rwf, and to my disbelief (and perhaps the kindness of the shop owner) he did win! It made for quite a story, and I know that Igisoro is the method by which Dennis hopes to get to know as many Rwandans as possible. It’s competitive in a non-athletic way, and I have certainly had fun playing with him and the girls! After his win, we headed back to the burrito place. We were the first ones there (even being 15 minutes late), so we started another game (which I ended up winning) and played throughout the meal. I tried ginger beer (a non-alcoholic drink like root beer) on Sophia’s recommendation and loved it! The place was a pretty close second to chipotle, but they charged for sour cream while guacamole was free- doesn’t get much better than free guacamole (miss ya Hannah!)!

We all definitely enjoyed the lunch before parting ways – me back to the market, others to the house and others to various coffee shops. Pretty silly how we scatter, but I do enjoy it! Sophia and I planned to make it back to Musanze by Sunday night in order to be ready at 6am Monday for our trekking excursion and did make our bus after she caught-up on the Bachelorette. This bus ride was not a particularly pleasant one though. Not only was 20 minutes not early enough to get good seats, but there was an extremely car sick woman next to me and directly behind Sophia. At first, we thought she had a spitting baby, but no- and she had nothing to hide/soak-up anything. I luckily had a little toilette paper left over on my roll to wipe-off poor Sophia, but I thought she’d taken the brunt of it- Nope- that was the floor, where my purse was laying! For better or worse, I didn’t realize this until we pulled into Musanze. I lifted the bag onto my knees just to be soaked- revolting. 

This left me unwilling to put a poor moto driver through taking my smelly wet self-home- so we walked. Yet again, our water was out. I was glad I had clothes to change into at home, and that helped me make the decision of what to wear trekking the next morning (not my jeans!). We did some jerry can washing of our cloths and my mosquito net (which had been at the bottom of my bag), and then turned our attention to dinner. My plan was to make some pasta, and yet, the stove was broken- yet another disappointment for the evening! One of the knobs wasn’t working, so I decided it was best not to fiddle with it, ‘cause a surge protector blowing is one thing, but a gas stove is far less appealing- I would like to keep my eyebrows. So three hard boiled eggs and 2 bananas later I called it a night figuring that there was little else I could do with an evening like that! Better just to hit the sac and try again tomorrow- o and without a mosquito net since it was still in the process of drying! Not the best of evenings, but then again- always could be worse, right? Welcome back!