Rainy afternoon in Kibungo...

It is really hard to believe that we have been in Rwanda for 3 weeks now, and we only have 1 week left in our stay.  I know the last week is going to fly by since we will be traveling and wrapping things up with each of our placements here in Kibungo.  Tomorrow, we are headed to the northwestern part of Rwanda to Volcanoes National Park where we will embark on our gorilla trek to see the endangered mountain gorillas.  I won’t say much about that now, as I know we will have a lot to say afterwards.  We are going to spend 2 days away from Kibungo for the trip.  There is a town near the park entrance that is supposed to have a great craft market, so we are hoping to do some shopping while we are there.  We will be going through Kigali on our way there and back, so I am sure we will stop for a “mizungo” meal while we are there too.  Luckily Rwanda is a small country, so the trip from Kibungo in the southeastern corner to Kinigi in the northwest should only take 5-6 hours.  We will be going by mini-bus most of the way, but we will take a moto the last few kilometers and a hired car to the actual park entrance on Sunday morning. 

Next week when we return, we also have plans to visit Akageera National Park for the day.  It is the game park here in Rwanda.  While it may not have the same number or variety of animals of many of the safari parks in Kenya or Tanzania, it promises to be a cool trip as well.  Drew will also be doing a community health day in one of the nearby villages and will work a couple more days in the hospital, while I will visit the kids at the orphanage a couple more times.

We have really hit a routine the past couple of weeks, and it has been cool to feel like part of a community.  We still get lots of stares as we walk down the street (there aren’t many white people here, especially in Kibungo), but we have also met several people through our work that have been so open and welcoming to us.  Many ask when we will be coming back, and if we can stay longer.  There is also a tight knit group of volunteers here from around the world.  Most of them are here for long-term projects similar to Peace Corps, so they have had a chance to settle in.

Earlier this week, we were invited to dinner by the Japanese volunteers and enjoyed a delicious meal of chicken curry and sticky rice (sent from Japan…so good!).  One of the Japanese volunteers, Yuki, is working as a nutritionist at the clinic where Drew works a couple times a week, and she invited several people over including two Rwandans, five Americans (Drew and myself included), three other Japanese volunteers, two Canadian students, and a Korean volunteer.  We sat around sharing stories of our experiences in Africa, as well as back home in a mixture of languages.  It was a wonderful evening of good conversation, laughter, and learning about the culture of the world.

I have continued visiting the orphanage each afternoon for a few hours to hang out and “teach English.”  It has been a lot of fun getting to know the children, and we have really started to get to know each other.  They are no longer afraid to laugh at my silly acting and dancing, and ask me lots of questions (though not always in English…luckily I have Constantina, their regular teacher, there to do some translating).  Yesterday, when I told them that I would be gone for a few days to visit the gorillas and animals at Akageera, they became frightened that I would not return because the animals would eat me!  So, we talked about how I would ride in car through the park, and that gorillas, while large, were very kind and peaceful creatures.  They also ask questions about my family--what their names are and what they do, why they aren’t here too. 

I ask them questions too.  Right now, many of them are obsessed with cars and trucks.  We went to play on the football pitch (soccer field) the other day, but rather than play, they wanted to stand at the edge of the field and watch the cars drive by.  At each passing car, they would shout, “mine!” trying to be the first to “claim” each one.  They are always so happy and joyful, full of life, despite the tragedies they have already faced in their short lives.  It is hard to believe that these children have no families to speak of, and will soon be sent away to boarding school away from the nuns that have cared so well for them since they were born.  I know many of them will continue to do well, while others it is hard to tell.  I will miss my afternoon visits with them, and I cannot believe I only have a couple left.

Other than the orphanage, I have accompanied Tom on a couple other garden projects, learning even more about how to grow food.  There are definitely many different issues here than the ones I would face in the desert of Tucson, but it has really peaked my curiosity and inspired me to continue reading and experimenting once I get home.  It has also been really cool to see families come together to help each other, sharing land and working together to plant food to help the community.  Many of the families have plenty of one crop, such as bananas, but this is all they have, so while they may have plenty of calories, they are not getting diverse nutrients.  In the new gardens, designed to supplement what they already have, we try to include a protein, starch, and green vegetable and teach the family about how important it is to have a balanced diet of all three.  Since many of the families do not have a job other than growing their crop, they can’t always afford other food, so having a garden at their home will make it easier for them to feed themselves.

I started off teaching a class in the mornings at the primary school, but once exams started, my students lost interest, and I do not blame them!  Since they changed the official government language to English from French a couple years ago, all of the students now sit for their national exams in English, even if they have not become sufficient yet.  The exams include difficult content in math, science, social studies, language, etc, and on top of that in a language that many of them don’t know.  They last for one week, and it is a very intense time for teachers and students alike.  Many of the teachers don’t necessarily know English that well either, but are doing their best to teach the students what they can.  Many of the students in the big city of Kigali are starting to fare better, but it will be a while before the rest of the towns like Kibungo catch up.  Once exams finished, the children began their 3-month break, similar to summer vacation in the US, except here the school year begins in January, so they will now be on break for the rest of the year.  It was no surprise to me when the students did not show up for my class on the first week of break.  The teachers were disappointed, but I know, kids will be kids, and they deserve their time off after working so hard!

Now, I am sitting and watching it rain outside the window.  We haven’t had any rain for a week, so it is a welcome sight, since it provides relief from the tropical humidity.  It does also mean that I may be stuck at home for the rest of the afternoon, and our laundry is not going to dry any faster in preparation for our trip this weekend. Ahh, well…I will roll with the punches. (I have learned a lot about that in the past few weeks.)  Stay tuned for our gorilla adventure!