C'est un bon pays!

“C’est un bon pays!” (It's a good country!) – Felix, a Burundian MCC worker

After 27 hours of travel (from door to door, Akron, PA to Bujumbura, Burundi), I arrived safely! Miraculously I had almost enough sleep on the plane, all our luggage arrived intact, and we even had some fun surprises during our flights – like the earthquake in DC right after we landed and getting an ice cream bar on the plane for an extra snack! Needless to say I was still glad to arrive and meet the Mosleys (the family who lives in Bujumbura and works with MCC). This past week they did a great job of showing us around and teaching us about the culture here! (Also it has been fun spending time with their 2 children and dogs!)

Bujumbura is a small city and has a nice African feel; it reminds me a lot of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. People are quite friendly, although we got plenty of “muzungu!” calls as we walked around town (muzungo = white person). There are plenty of streetside vendors, crazy traffic, and some garbage lining the streets. I’ve heard Kigali is cleaner and more cosmopolitan. We’ll see what it’s like when I get there! (We are driving there tomorrow after church and I’ll stay with my host family beginning on Monday evening. Hope that goes well!)

Two interesting things Paul and Rebecca Mosley taught us about culture that are not natural to Americans were: 1) don’t take initiative at work and do things that aren’t asked of you (show respect and don’t threaten your boss’s authority by just waiting for another assignment); 2) strong friendships in Africa will involve sharing/lending resources (a “friendship” where money or possessions are not given/lent freely is superficial ---kind of the opposite to friendships in America!). So that will be interesting! I’m sure I will learn a lot the hard way but I am glad to learn what I can so I can try to “fit in” in Kigali!

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures at the moment (my camera didn’t make it with me to the internet café) so I will show you a map of Rwanda and some stats that I learned and will give you a picture of where I will be headed tomorrow. Be thinking of us as we drive across the border; hopefully we won’t have any issues and Annie will be able to get through easily (it’s a bit more complicated for Canadians than Americans)!

I will be in Kicukiro, KIGALI.

• Rwanda is known as the “land of a thousand hills” and the “land of eternal spring” (consistent temperatures --avg high = 79; avg low = 57)!
• Languages: Kinyarwanda (everyone), French and English (depending on education/age) – English is now a second official language and it’s use is increasing
• People groups: Hutu (84%), Tutsi (15%) – the tension from the 1994 genocide between these groups stemmed from Belgian colonization favoring one group; tensions began even before Rwanda’s independence in 1962. Things are better now – President Paul Kagame has helped unite the country and bring economic progress as well J
• Religion: Christian! (57% Catholic, 37% Protestant, 5% Muslim)
• Population: 11 million in Rwanda – 965,000 of which are in Kigali (42% of population is <15 years old; life expectancy is 57)
• Interesting facts:

o   The leading tourist attraction in Rwanda are the mountain gorillas

o   The last Saturday in each month is called “umuganda” and everyone helps clean the streets. Also there are laws forbidding walking on public grass, having any plastic bags, what kind of roofs are allowed for houses on large public roads, etc. – Keep it orderly and looking good!

o   50% of Parliament members are women – another law!

Rwanda sounds like an amazing place…I’m so glad I’m going to live there!

P.S. I’ve heard there is a “New York Bagel” shop close to my work and also plenty of other foods I like at home…I think I’m going to like it in Kigali! J

diversity in Akron

This past week was our orientation in Akron, PA. About 55 SALTers and 35 IVEPers were here - meaning 55 Americans and Canadians heading out to 25 different countries, and 35 young adults from about 15 countries around the world!! Such a wonderfully diverse group of people! We met to receive training and preparation about Mennonite Central Committee and living cross-culturally, before we headed out to our respective assignments for more country-specific orientation.

(All the SALTers & IVEPers!! I think I learned 50-60 names this week!)

While there were certainly times we had to discuss serious topics (culture shock, sexual harassment, etc.), most of my memories are of the laughs, conversations and games we shared together. When I arrived I felt an initial sense of isolation because I was surrounded by so many people I didn't know, like freshman orientation week all over again, but within 5 minutes I was outside and going on a walk with a group of girls in the IVEP program. The first or second person I met was Clementine, who I saw was from France. She made me so excited because she is from Strasbourg, where I studied abroad - and even goes to the church I attended while I was there (not sure if we met back then!!). Throughout the week I spent time with Clementine and shared laughs, games of Dutch Blitz, and even tried to prank the boys :) In that first afternoon I was able to speak French and play some fun Ultimate Frisbee, two of my favorite things, so I quickly realized it was going to be a great week!

(Miriam, Randall, Margita and Clementine playing Dutch Blitz)

Some other incredible moments were worship together in the morning, where we sang songs in various languages. Each day a different region of the world led us in some songs and we all tried our hands at singing in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Khmi, Chinese, Shona, and Arabic!! It was always amazing to be able to look around and realize what we all share.

We could not have bonded the way we did if it weren't for the "parties" we had the last 3-4 nights here. Jen had a dance party on her birthday, the Asians hosted a noodle party, my house had a grill/smores party and another house had a singing around the campfire night...so we could all come and relax and talk together. Sometimes talking was easy and other times I felt like I was playing taboo a little bit - but nothing made me more happy than reaching a point where we understood each other after we were struggling to share what we thought was important.

(Noodle party!)

Unfortunately Akron is quiet now and there are only 3 of us left. Everyone else seems to have arrived safely in their destinations and Janelle, Annie and I remain because we are waiting until Tuesday to fly to Bujumbura, Burundi for orientation with the MCC country reps who are in the US for the summer. So we were the goodbye crew who could send everyone off with as much energy as we could muster. (I'll admit it was a bit challenging since we stayed up until 1:45am to see off the first group and had about 15 more goodbyes for the 85 people in the program!) After a week where we were able to bond over food, music, activities and parties together - even if we didn't have many deep or long conversations - I was sad to see everyone go.

It doesn't quite feel real yet that I will be in Africa soon...I think I'll have to wait until I'm on the plane or getting off the plane! We are amusing ourselves here by traveling around on old bikes in need of improvement, eating the last "American" food we might get for awhile, and relaxing before we need to start adjusting to a new culture. All in all, we are happy here!