Many good things

Burundi was good, but hot. However spending time with MCCers made for good conversation (open and honest about our life and struggles here), special food (they have soft serve ice cream in Bujumbura!!), and lots of learning (after discussing MCC values and evaluating our program in Rwanda/Burundi during the retreat, all 3 of us SALTers went to another part of Burundi to see their MCC peace programs and other important things in the region). That region of Burundi also had some amazing waterfalls, which made me feel like I was back in the US on a vacation with my family (except here they sent an armed guard with us). It was great to have a quiet place to relax, stick my feet in the cool water and feel refreshed from the spray of the waterfall.

Me, Annie and Janelle at the waterfall in Burundi.

I was happy to come back to Kigali, although it will take some time to get used to teaching English to the new group of students. After teaching the old students myself for 2 months I had gotten to know them and we were able to talk together. However, few of the new students know any English so it’s going to be a bit more difficult. Thankfully the other English teacher can help when my simple Kinyarwanda isn’t sufficient and we can enjoy other activities, like playing soccer or cards, without much language at all. Yesterday was great because a couple old students came back to visit and we all played soccer together. Despite the heat, sun and high school boys calling out inappropriate things to me as we played, it was a great game and we were quite happy (and tired) at the end!

Some other good moments this past week include…getting to “show off” where I work to a MCC education coordinator from the US -- Mwana Nshuti prepared a welcome for him which included students asking him questions in English and singing “God is so Good” which I taught them (I was so proud of their English!)…listening to 2 Rwandan colleagues/friends as they openly shared about some struggles in their life (it’s so rare here to show any type of pain/sorrow)…and having one of my English classes try so hard to pronounce my name the “American way” (the TH sound isn’t a part of the French or Kinyarwanda languages so usually I’m “bay-ta-ni”).

Welcoming the visitor and singing

Moving On...

Last Friday was the much anticipated Mwana Nshuti graduation! It was a good, but long, day. We had 19 students who were graduating and receiving tailoring certificates. Many of the students hadn’t been coming regularly the past month or so since their program was basically finished, so it was great to have all the students together for our special day. The program consisted of the “usuals” for any ceremony here: singing church songs, traditional dance, speeches from the leader of the organization and other important guests and food (and Fanta). We also had a video that I made of photos and video clips from our academic year (which unfortunately didn’t go over too well because of the skylights in the church) and an English skit. I was so proud of the students who did the skit; the plot was my idea but they used all their own words and certainly did some improvising. We also had a student read an original poem about the program and another read a short speech in English. The student reading in English did so well that the headmaster of the high school connected with the church (the church that founded our program and where the event was held, also where I worship on Sunday) offered her a scholarship to study for free at the school! Way to go Vestine!

I hope the students who graduated will be able to find a place to work as tailors (or start/join a sewing association/cooperative) or a place to receive additional vocational training (i.e. cooking, computers, etc.) or continue their classical education. Already 3 students have been able to return to school (4 if you count Vestine who should start next week) and 2 have found other vocational training programs to gain more skills. I’m happy for them as they move onward in their lives, although I will miss them! But it seems I have an eager batch of new students who are happy to have me teach them English, so that should be good!!

Other highlights from the past week:

=Visiting Ityanga, one of my coworkers. It was a slight adventure trying to find her house and overall the whole afternoon was an accomplishment because she only speaks Kinyarwanda – so our simple, slow conversation was especially meaningful.

=Playing goofy games (like sneaking food on someone’s plate when they aren’t looking) with my host mother and sister when the power went out during dinner

=Making no-bake cookies at Joyce’s house with her children, and proving to them that charcoal cookers (the Rwandan stove) work just fine! (It is typically assumed North Americans can’t use charcoal cookers, wash their clothes by hand, or use cold water for washing…but I’m trying to show people that isn’t the case!)

As much as I feel comfortable here, I still generally continue to wish I were closer to people here. It’s not a big deal because I’m leaving in a few months, and I certainly have many lasting memories from time spent with people here, but this past week was great because I visited 2 wonderful and fun Rwandan women and also randomly bumped into a former coworker who I hadn’t seen in awhile so we got to talk too!

Teachers and students with their certificates (unfortunately a couple left before we got the photo taken...and we were under orders not to smile, as is customary here...the students were happy, don't worry!)

My baking helpers, Bridget (almost 4) and Jessica (8)!
(The charcoal cooker is in the bottom right corner, not very visible though)

Preparing/eating the cookies!

I am looking forward to getting to know the new students at Mwana Nshuti and working with them (bragging point: I already know almost half of their names (maybe 20/50)…thanks to much photo taking and ordering!). I have gotten over my desire to keep teaching my old students, finally, and had 1 good English class with the new students who are eager to learn. But first, I am looking forward to a slight break – we have our MCC retreat in Burundi this week. 


Blessings!

Safari time!

Rwanda is a small country in East Africa, not one that is known for its safaris and astounding game parks. However, Akagera is the national park in Rwanda that has some of the big animals one thinks of as animals you’d see during an “African safari”. There aren’t any lions, leopards or rhinos, and only a few elephants so we didn’t see any, but I have nothing to compare it to and I was excited to see the hippos, monkeys, impala (and other types of antelopes), buffalos, warthogs, zebras and giraffe! It wasn’t really a traditional safari, as we went in our own SUV with a guide from the park joining us in the vehicle, but ironically enough our driver’s name was Safari! (He is one of our favorite taxi drivers in Kigali and graciously took us on the 12 hour trip from 5am to 5pm!) Our guide was pleasant and was excellent at sighting and identifying animals, which was helpful. Unfortunately the park is smaller than it used to be, and there are some poachers, which means some of the animals have really low populations and are at risk.

A lot of the park was covered in tall grasses and bush and trees which meant fewer animals lived in those areas – primarily the impala and other antelope-type animals. As this was the part of the park we entered, we were still excited anytime we saw a herd of impala and stopped the car frequently to take photos out the window! One of the lakes was home to several hippos, so they were the first “big animal” sighting and we daringly got out of the car to photograph the big guys standing or laying in the mud near the water. The monkeys and warthogs were fun to see but incredibly skittish so I didn’t get any photos. After many kilometers of beautiful trees, grasses and lots of impala, and going off-roading once to greet the buffalo (we stayed in the car for that one!), we were excited to reach the northern part with savanna grasses and one luscious valley where many animals were found – notably: topi (cross between antelope and buffalo?), zebra and giraffe!!! The giraffe are incredibly immense and majestic up close; we were within 20m of them in the car and maybe 70m when we exited the car! I really don’t have words to describe them but it was almost overwhelming. The zebra were also quite beautiful; it was a bit unreal to see the zebra, topi and giraffe all in the valley together. Not quite “Lion King” but I definitely felt like I was in some documentary about African animals!

The best way to show you my “safari” experience is definitely through photos, so here you go! 

A hungry (or tired?) hippo!?

Wouldn't want to come across these buffalo out of a car!

The male impala have horns and one male is the leader for a herd of females
 - until another challenges him and takes over that responsibility.

Joyce and me in Akagera park.

Zebras!!!

Topi and zebras in the valley - see the baby zebra in the middle?? 

So majestic...

Why did the zebra cross the road? (And why did the zebras leave the park?)

For me, it was a great experience to see these animals in the wild and not in the zoo! It was amazing how close we could get to some of them to take photos, and just to be able to observe them in their natural habitat. Another huge highlight of the day was sharing it with Joyce (my Rwandese friend and former language tutor). She was incredibly happy to be able to go with us (very few Rwandans go to Akagera, probably due to distance and/or price), and I was happy our car was fuller and to have time to be with her. Seeing her joy when she saw the lakes (apparently she really likes big bodies of water) and the trees that reminded her of growing up in Uganda made me so happy. People here don’t readily talk about their lives, and the past is rarely spoken about, so I loved hearing a bit about Joyce’s childhood in a village in Uganda helping her parents raise a big herd of African cattle.

It was a one-of-a-kind experience to see the animals, and it was great to learn some about my friend’s life and life in the village in Rwanda/Uganda. I won’t forget that day.

The following day was an Ultimate Frisbee tournament here in Kigali with players from Rwanda (expat and local), Uganda and Burundi playing together, which was pretty unique as well. I enjoyed the contrast to sitting in the car all day; the typical sunburn and sore legs following a tournament are well worth the fun of running hard and playing my favorite sport.

So…the past few days were busy and amazing, and there are more adventures to come this week as we prepare the closing ceremony for the students at Mwana Nshuti that will be held on Friday. Life is good!