ZAZA

ZAZA

Last Wednesday after finishing up ten days of training in Kigali with our lovely and diverse group of new vols  I was collected by Damien, the principal of  TTC Zaza, in the school pickup and we were finally off to Zaza. About halfway here the road becomes unpaved packed red dirt and it winds through one little village after another.  We passed through several beautiful, lush little valleys with patchwork hand-cultivated plots and eventually climbed into the hills.  Most of the people are subsistence farmers growing bananas, pineapples, corn, sorghum, peanuts, potatoes, cassava, etc.    A hand lettered sign on a bridge we crossed said "Attention Because the Bridge is Broken".  Fortunately not so broken that we got wet. 
I was quite excited to get to my house and see where I'll be living for the next while.  It was obvious that much had been done recently to fix it up, and in fact work is ongoing.  Yesterday I arrived home in the dark to discover that there was a large iron gate with a "person door" in it, where before I had been quite exposed to everyone passing by on the road, and had been starting to feel like a public curiosity.   There are 4 rooms, and a shower and toilet each in separate rooms that you have to go out the back door to get to, though they are part of the house.  The shower is cold only, but to have one at all is a great luxury.  And the toilet is a real toilet, not a hole in the floor, so I really do feel lucky.  I'm sure you are all happy that I have chosen to share this information with you.
Water comes from a standpipe in the yard so I have buckets and washbasins and jerrycans because supply is intermittent and unpredictable and to make it drinkable involves a large water filter somewhat resembling a church supper coffee urn.  There's no kitchen but when the workmen get their stuff out of another little exterior room I think I'll set it up for cooking.  There is no sink, and for the moment I cook on an electric hotplate. I'm planning to get a charcoal stove or maybe kerosene because the electricity also can be unreliable.   Lately I find myself dreaming about refrigerators.  It is almost impossible to keep anything fresh, and the nearest market is only on Thursday.  Also, the nuns up the road keep cows and will sell milk, which would be lovely but only if I could keep it cold.  Zaza itself has no shops selling food.  It's time to start digging up the yard and planting a few veggies.
The yard is mainly bare at the moment but there is a small flower garden and several banana trees, two with bunches of green ones not yet ready to pick.  In front is a huge avocado tree which has lots of fruit on it and my neighbour Jean Baptiste tells me he'll send his house boy over in about two weeks to climb up and bring them down.  Also there is a mango tree with no visible sign of mangoes at the moment.
I can see two little gekkos, positioned right at the small holes in the screen, waiting for mosquitoes.  They're the closest thing I have to pets, and though they do not sleep on the end of my bed they are endearing in their own way.  The tiny babies are especially sweet.
The village of Zaza is on a hilltop and looks out over lovely green valleys and a couple of lakes in the near distance.  The weekly market is in the the next village of Karembo.  To get there you walk through some forested land and  smallholdings, little wattle and daub houses, peanuts drying on the ground, little kids staring, adults staring, young men with enormous loads of pineapples or bananas on bicycles, women carrying produce on their heads,  everyone going to market.  In the forest were several pairs of men making lumber by the old pit saw method, using only a crosscut saw. 
Just down the road there is a tree full of weaver bird nests and yesterday they were all fluttering around the nest openings, doing what I am not sure, but they are bright yellow and black and it was a beautiful sight…noisy, too.  At night there are lots of small bats, also eating mosquitoes, I presume. 
People are incredibly hospitable here,  stopping on the road to just greet me and ask where I am going.  This I am  able to do in Kinyarwanda  which often just cracks them up.   I went for a walk the other  evening in the gentle coolness and nearly everyone was either walking or on a bicycle, some were herding their cows home for the night, and everyone was wishing each other a good evening. 
Around 5 a.m. yesterday I could hear a guy coming up the road beating a drum and then yelling out something, then he'd get a little closer and repeat it.  I thought maybe he did that every day to wake the village up, but I asked someone who said that's how information is given out to the community, and sure enough yesterday afternoon there was a village meeting. 
 Yesterday was a special celebration of TTC Zaza'a patron Saint, John Bosco.  My attendance was requested so I dutifully stuffed myself into my very smart Rwandan dress and headed off, first to mass at ten, then lunch in the school, followed by what could best be described as an endurance test.  There were speeches (many, all in Kinyarwanda)  skits, song and dance until after six in the evening.  Have I also mentioned, it was hot?  The dancing made it all worthwhile, though.  Traditional Rwandan dance is absolutely beautiful and elegant and the students who danced are remarkable.  I have also been welcomed very warmly by the staff at school and am looking forward to getting better acquainted as I begin to work with them.
Sunday was an adventure day, traveling by moto most of the way to Nyamata to visit another newly installed vol.  We walked over to the Nyamata genocide memorial, a church where thousands were killed as they sought protection. There are simply no words for it, other than the often quoted "never again". 
The guy with the drum was by again around 5 a.m. today to inform the community that it is a national holiday, Heroes Day.  Dennis and Stella, bird-watching vols from Australia living in Kibungo, are planning to come by to visit today.  I'm afraid my reputation as a hostess will not get off to a very good start…all I could get yesterday was a pineapple and a cabbage….a somewhat challenging menu concept! 
All the best to everyone reading this.  Please feel free to share it with anyone you think might care to read it.
Til next time
 

RWANDA AT LAST

 RWANDA

It was good to finally be on my way on Jan 2 after a mad few weeks finishing up endless pre-departure tasks, moving my stuff out of the house and saying good bye to family, friends and beloved animals. I seem to recall spending Christmas with my girls as well.  And I am amazed that I brought mostly the right stuff with me considering most of it got packed on New Year's Eve with the help of Margot's fortified eggnog.  The trip here was four flights long but uneventful and happily my mostly appropriate luggage and I arrived all together.  It was a welcome sight to see Nicole, Manu and Rodrigue waving at the arrivals, and we were soon out into the beautiful warm African night and on our way to the Umudugudu (village) where I'm staying with the widow Verdianne and her four grown kids.  It's taken a while to get over the jet lag which I think was made more intense owing to how completely wiped out I was prior to leaving Canada.  But, I'm here and am happily helping out at Nicole Pageau's centre (Ubuntu Edmonton) and  re-united with the wonderful widows and other folks who live nearby and come every day. It has been a joy almost beyond description.  I didn't think I would ever see these people again.

The weather is humid and there are afternoon thunderstorms nearly every day.  When I have errands to do I walk a long way uphill through back yards and pathways and along the red dirt road to the main road where there are shared minibuses packed to the gills, or  motorcycle taxis.  I prefer those because it's cool and breezy, and also a bit thrilling as traffic rules are somewhat theoretical here.  The chaos of the Kimironko market is intense and multi-sensory and the shopping  there is always an experience.  I never leave there without having seen something that amazes me in some way.

At the centre, every day brings something new.  This new spacious multi-purpose building was made possible by another Canadian volunteer and it is a beehive of activity during the day.  There are women working in the sewing atelier, in the crafts area doing beading and making paper beads, a doctor comes several times a week to do a clinic, one of the boys cooks a midday meal to take to the 30 little ones in the daycare over a charcoal burning stove, the mechanics guys work on cars, and last week we organized almost 300 back-to-school packs and suitcases for the students who are sponsored and who have started their new school year this week.  By the way, if anyone is interested in sponsoring a child there are about 18 who still need one.  The cost is $150/year.  There's information on the Ubuntu Edmonton website.  I've seen first hand and up close the profound difference that this small but determined NGO has made in the lives of the people, most of them genocide survivors, who live in the area, so if you're looking for an organization to support this one is most worthy of consideration.

Before I left Canada some of my friends generously entrusted me with some money to do with as I pleased here, and I have already had the opportunity to use some of it on Nicole's recommendation as she is well acquainted with the stories of everyone here.  So far, and there's still quite a bit left, it has helped to pay one person's rent for four months, sent a young man to the dentist for some badly needed repairs, paid a little girl's school fees, helped a large impoverished family being supported by one of seven siblings, and  paid registration fees and one month's tuition for a young single father and genocide survivor who wants very much to finish secondary school this year but cannot afford it.  It's been a complete pleasure to be able to intervene with these relatively small but meaningful gifts to people who are just barely getting by and who do not expect a handout from anyone.
So, thanks to you all - be assured your money is being received with deeply sincere and moving gratitude, not to mention amazement,  and is being put to very good use.

This Saturday, the 15th, I'll be joining the rest of the newly arrived VSO volunteers for a week of in-country training before we all depart to begin out new jobs around Rwanda.  I promise more posts as it all unfolds.  A fond hello to anyone reading this...please stay in touch!

Can you find the grouse?

First time posting a photo.  These two lovely moose have been hanging around my yard for a couple of days, browsing the brush and relaxing.  I congratulate them for having survived hunting season and like to think they know they are safe here.  It's entertaining to watch them and contemplate the radically contrasting  environment that will soon be my home.  The house is growing emptier by the day and the box in the corner where anything Rwanda bound gets put is beginning to look full.  I have  lately been the recipient of an overwhelmingly generous amount of loving support from friends and family and feel like a very lucky girl. 
Stay tuned for what I hope will be fascinating tales of travel and adventure.
Happy holidays!

Six weeks and counting

This may come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, but believe it.  A blog!
What might not come as a surprise is that I'm in the throes of preparing to leave Canada in January for a two year volunteer posting in Rwanda with CUSO-VSO.  I'll be working as a teacher trainer in a village called Zaza in the Ngoma district in Eastern Rwanda, not far from the Tanzanian border.  The decision to do this has been a long time coming.  I am honored and delighted to have this opportunity to learn and share what I know in the hope that it will help a little to level the playing field for people living with the effects of poverty. 
It all seems a tad surreal at the moment as I pack up my household, distribute my animals (sad!), and shovel snow.   By the way, if anyone would like to care for my two lovely cats until next September, please get in touch. 
Stay tuned folks for increasingly frantic postings as departure time approaches.