The first school term, which ended i early April, passed very quickly, and seemed like a pretty steady climb up the learning curve most of the time. Getting used to the differences in the education system and starting to form relationships with my students, co-workers and villagers has been interesting, sometimes surprising, but never without unexpected pleasures and discoveries.
This job is brand new so the five of us in different TTCs (Teacher Training Colleges) around the country are more or less putting it together as we go, observing what is needed, collaborating and figuring out the best way to go about it. We are meant to be supporting child-centred learning with our student teachers and establishing teacher resource centres where teaching materials can be accessed or created from locally available materials. For that we are funded by UNICEF, which is a partner with VSO in this project. Large class sizes and a lack of basic teaching materials present huge challenges.
English was introduced here as the language of instruction (replacing French) a couple of years ago. I try to imagine if in Canada everyone were told one day that from now on all teaching must be done in Finnish or Mandarin or whatever. Everyone is trying their best but it is a struggle for both teachers and students.
I've got a nice veg garden going at my house, after first removing heaps of non-biodegradable junk from the yard. It's amazing how fast things grow, and in the winter, already!! It's the rainy season now, when everyone plants, so I just stuck some seeds in too and have all sorts of stuff coming along nicely. It's great to have leafy greens, which are not available in the markets. A Rwandan friend has persuaded me that I must follow Rwandan custom and get someone to help me out around the house so I've hired her sister to come twice a week. She always arrives with armloads of ornamental plants which she has planted everywhere and that has improved the yard immensely. I don't know what she'll do when all the available space is planted. I might have to fight her for my veg plots. She's also good at finding a kid out on the road to climb up and chuck down a few avocados now and then, which we share.
I do all my cooking outdoors on a one-burner kerosene stove, and have a little charcoal stove for weekends when there's a bit more time.
The charcoal stove is small, round, with a ceramic lined firebox, big enough for one pot. I love it. It's great for making chappatis and roasting ground nuts (my name is jen and I am a roasted ground nutaholic. Send help :o) Though I still occasionally daydream about it I've pretty much abandoned the idea of getting a fridge. And an oven is just a fond memory.
It has been fun getting to know the area around Zaza better and recently I had an interesting day with my friend Kate, a Peace Corps volunteer who also lives here. We walked to a nearby village where there is a busy Saturday market. The walk itself was lovely in the cool of the morning, through banana groves and past little subsistence farmsteads, and at the market we did some veg shopping and cruised the extensive used clothing section for wardrobe upgrades. After some hard bargaining each of us ended up with a new skirt. Well, new enough. Our main objective, however, was to find a pottery in the area which we'd heard about but didn't know exactly where to find it. We took bicycle taxis (highly recommended! all the fun of bike riding without any of the hard work) to yet another village and then down a succession of increasingly smaller pathways through pineapple fields, until we eventually arrived at the spot, overlooking Lake Mugesera. It is a simple, beautiful compound of buildings set in among shady trees, one full of weaver bird nests, and multicoloured flowering bushes. It is a religious order of sorts, devoted to agriculture, pottery making and the manufacture of a brew made from their pineapples. We were welcomed very warmly and shown around by a couple of the brothers. The pottery itself is in a big shed containing one wheel and a huge wood-fired kiln, which I would love to see in action sometime. After a walk through the fields and nearby village with one of the brothers we said our farewells and they handed each of us a warm-from-the-sun freshly picked pineapple. Does it get any better? On the way back to the road we accumulated an entourage of about 20 little kids who waited under a big tree with us (did I mention, it was hotter than stink!) until we eventually found a couple of bikes to take us home. I recall that pleasant day every morning when I drink coffee from my new favourite mug from there.
April is the month during which the genocide is commemorated in Rwanda. It is also a long interval between school terms and two friends and I chose to leave the country to let Rwanda do what it does during this somber time. Tanzania! Wonderful!! We flew to Moshi/Arusha and once there did all our moving about on buses, except for one memorable truck ride. We spent a couple of days wandering about around Lushoto in the Usambara Mts. but the Indian Ocean beckoned, so we headed east and found a lovely beach near Pangani which we had virtually to ourselves. Except for some monkeys. I suspect one of them may now be reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo because it disappeared very mysteriously one early morning from the beach. The water was deliciously warm and we swam ourselves silly. Then we split up and two of us went on a camping safari to Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. We saw lots and lots of beautiful critters and indescribably beautiful landscapes. Our other friend met up with students and friends from a previous stay in Tz. We all returned together to Kigali for a week of VSO training with the rest of our January intake and several newly arrived vols. It was good to see everyone again and compare notes about our experiences so far. There were also several birthdays to be celebrated with big jolly dinners out in the city. Good to get socially saturated and protein replenished before returning to work and the quiet of village life.
Yesterday I was informed by one of my co-workers that I was having a party today (Easter) At first I thought it was just a language thing and he was actually inviting me to a party. But, no. Having just returned from three weeks away and having misplaced my magic carpet to the market I found myself a little short of party supplies but fired up the charcoal stove and made a big stack of chappatis, salsa and a large container of popcorn. We will meet at the canteen in the village because I only have two chairs. Besides, they have cold Primus (local beer) there.
**Party update: Success. We had a nice time. My guests were quite impressed that I can do things like make popcorn all by myself. (!?) I think maybe some stereotypes might fall during my stay here. My favourite thing about the canteen is that the school's cows make their leisurely way back to their cowshed via the canteen grounds, where they graze as they go, all around the little open-sided round huts where people sit.
**Here is something that I am just putting out there in case anyone reading this feels moved to help. There is an exceptional student in one of my classes who is about to have to abandon his studies for lack of financial support. His mother is a poor subsistence farmer who is not able to earn enough for his school fees, which for the year would total around $250 U.S. While his circumstances are by no means unique I believe he is outstanding and hope he can stay in school. That's all…just handing it over to the universe….
One of my senior students invited me to his home last weekend, so on Sunday he collected me and we walked there together. It was May 1, Labor Day here, so as well as being Sunday it was also a holiday. I met and was made to feel very welcome by his mom, both of his grannies, some aunties and scads of kids, some of them his siblings. His mom is a farmer and she prepared a delicious meal of bananas and beans for us, accompanied by her homemade banana beer…a girl after my own heart. Banana beer, served fresh and warm, is an acquired taste which some never acquire. It's made by mixing mashed up bananas and roasted sorghum and then leaving it all in a warm place to do its thing for a few days. Easy peasey! Bananas….I read recently in the Guardian that the average person in these parts eats at least three times their body weight in bananas annually.
Yesterday on the bus to market in Kibungo I sat and had a great conversation with a very articulate twelve year old boy who was going to see his family and get a prescription filled at the hospital. The woman beside me had two little boys with her so one quite happily sat on my lap and played with my bracelets. Then, as I got on the bus to come back here in the afternoon a little kid took one look at me and completely freaked out. Like, came totally unglued. His mom covered his head with her shawl and everyone on the bus kind of looked embarrassed. Africa….land of contrasts.
I hope my fiends reading this know that I miss you all very much and think of you often. Please stay in touch and come for a visit if you can.
Til next time...
WHERE DID THE TIME GO?
All right all right. I know It's been ages since the last posting…sorry folks. Just checked and it has been over two months. No, I have not been eaten by tsetse flies or gone walkabout in the hot sun. Just busy and …well, that's a lame excuse and I don't expect anyone to buy it.
The first school term passed very quickly, and seemed like a pretty steady climb up the learning curve most of the time. Getting used to the differences in the education system and starting to form relationships with my students, co-workers and villagers has been interesting, sometimes surprising, but never without unexpected pleasures and discoveries.
This job is brand new so the five of us in different TTCs (Teacher Training Colleges) around the country are more or less putting it together as we go, observing what is needed, collaborating and figuring out the best way to go about it. We are meant to be supporting child-centred learning with our student teachers and establishing teacher resource centres where teaching materials can be accessed or created from locally available materials. For that we are funded by UNICEF, which is a partner with VSO in this project. Large class sizes and a lack of basic teaching materials present huge challenges.
English was only introduced here as the language of instruction (replacing French) a couple of years ago. I try to imagine if in Canada everyone were told one day that from now on all teaching must be done in Finnish or Mandarin or whatever. Everyone is trying their best but it is a struggle for both teachers and students.
I've got a nice veg garden going at my house, after first removing heaps of non-biodegradable junk from the yard. It's amazing how fast things grow, and in the winter, already!! It's the rainy season now, when everyone plants, so I just stuck some seeds in too and have all sorts of stuff coming along nicely. It's great to have leafy greens, which are not available in the markets. A Rwandan friend has persuaded me that I must follow Rwandan custom and get someone to help me out around the house so I've hired her sister to come twice a week. She always arrives with armloads of ornamental plants which she has planted everywhere and improved the yard immensely. I don't know what she'll do when all the available space is planted. I might have to fight her for my veg plots. She's also good at finding a kid out on the road to climb up and chuck down a few avocados now and then, which we share.
I do all my cooking outdoors on a one-burner kerosene stove, and have a little charcoal stove for weekends when there's a bit more time.
The charcoal stove is small, round, with a ceramic lined firebox, big enough for one pot. I love it. It's great for making chappatis and roasting ground nuts (my name is jen and I am a roasted ground nutaholic)
Though I still occasionally daydream about it I've pretty much abandoned the idea of getting a fridge. And an oven is just a fond memory.
It has been fun getting to know the area around Zaza better and recently I had an interesting day with my friend Kate, a Peace Corps volunteer who also lives here. We walked to a nearby village where there is a busy Saturday market. The walk itself was lovely in the cool of the morning, through banana groves and past little subsistence farmsteads, and at the market we did some veg shopping and cruised the extensive used clothing section for wardrobe upgrades. After some hard bargaining each of us ended up with a new skirt. Well, new enough. Our main objective, however, was to find a pottery in the area which we'd heard about but didn't know exactly where to find it. We took bicycle taxis (highly recommended! all the fun of bike riding without any of the hard work) to yet another village and then down a succession of increasingly smaller pathways through pineapple fields, until we eventually arrived at the spot, overlooking Lake Mugesera. It is a simple, beautiful compound of buildings set in among shady trees, one full of weaver bird nests, and multicoloured flowering bushes. It is a religious order of sorts, devoted to agriculture, pottery making and the manufacture of a brew made from their pineapples. We were welcomed very warmly and shown around by a couple of the brothers. The pottery itself is in a big shed containing one wheel and a huge wood-fired kiln, which I would love to see in action sometime. After a walk through the fields and nearby village with one of the brothers we said our farewells and they handed each of us a warm-from-the-sun freshly picked pineapple. Does it get any better? On the way back to the road we accumulated an entourage of about 20 little kids who waited under a big tree with us (did I mention, it was hotter than stink!) until we eventually found a couple of bikes to take us home. I recall that pleasant day every morning when I drink coffee from my new favourite mug from there.
April is the month during which the genocide is commemorated in Rwanda. It is also a long interval between school terms and many of us chose to leave the country to let Rwanda do what it does during this somber time. I went with two friends to Tanzania. Wonderful!! We flew to Moshi/Arusha and once there did all our moving about on buses, except for one memorable truck ride. We spent a couple of days wandering about around Lushoto in the Usambara Mts. but the Indian Ocean beckoned, so we headed east and found a lovely beach near Pangani which we had virtually to ourselves. Except for some monkeys. I suspect one of them may now be reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo because it disappeared very mysteriously one early morning from the beach. The water was deliciously warm and we swam ourselves silly. Then we split up and two of us went on a camping safari to Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. Lots and lots of beautiful critters and indescribably beautiful landscapes. Our other friend met up with students and friends from a previous stay in Tz. We all returned together to Kigali for a week of tVSO raining with the rest of our January intake and several newly arrived vols. It was good to see everyone again and compare notes about our experiences so far. There were also several birthdays to be celebrated with big jolly dinners out. Good to get socially saturated before returning to work and the quiet of village life.
Yesterday I was informed by one of my co-workers that I was having a party today (Easter) At first I thought it was just a language thing and he was actually inviting me to a party. But, no. Having just returned from three weeks away and having misplaced my magic carpet to the market I found myself a little short of party supplies but fired up the charcoal stove and made a big stack of chappatis, salsa and a large container of popcorn. We will meet at the canteen in the village because I only have two chairs. Besides, they have cold Primus (local beer) there.
**Party update: Success. We had a nice time. My guests were quite impressed that I can do things like make popcorn all by myself. (!?) I think maybe some stereotypes might fall during my stay here. My favourite thing about the canteen is that the school's cows make their leisurely way back to the school cowshed via the canteen grounds, where they graze as they go, all around the little open-sided round huts where people sit .
Here is something that I am just putting out there in case anyone reading this feels moved to help. There is an exceptional student in one of my classes who is about to have to abandon his studies for lack of financial support. His mother is a poor subsistence farmer who is not able to earn enough for his school fees, which for the year would total around $250 U.S. While his circumstances are by no means unique I believe he is outstanding and hope he can stay in school. That's all…just handing it over to the universe….
One of my senior students invited me to his home last weekend, so on Sunday he collected me and we walked there together. It was May 1, Labor Day here, so as well as being Sunday it was also a holiday. I met and was made to feel very welcome by his mom, both of his grannies, some aunties and scads of kids, some of them his siblings. His mom is a farmer, like most of the women in the village, and she prepared a delicious meal of bananas and beans for us, accompanied by her homemade banana beer…a girl after my own heart. Banana beer, served fresh and warm, is an acquired taste which some never acquire. It's made by mixing mashed up bananas and roasted sorghum and then leaving it all in a warm place to do its thing for a few days. Easy peasey! Bananas….Where would we be without them? I read recently in the Guardian that the average person in these parts eats at least three times their body weight in bananas annually.
To my fiends reading this, I hope you know know that I miss you all very much and think of you often. Please stay in touch and come for a visit if you can. Sending love to everyone.
From under the mosquito net
XOXO!
Til next time...
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