Day Four

Over breakfast we had our first serious rain.  It really was torrential, but it lasted less than ten minutes.  Today I had to start thinking about setting up house!  Our accommodation has never been used by VSO, which means it will have a bed a table and a chair, mosquito nets, but Rwandan houses rarely have a kitchen, or electricity and it is likely to have an outside bathroom.  We will be cooking on kerosene stoves, filtering and boiling water and splashing water all over ourselves to get clean, so there will be a lot to get used to.  In one of our sessions I learnt that if I want to go running, I will have to do it in long trousers, shorts are definitely not acceptable.  At the VSO office, I was able to finalise the arrangements for getting a motorcycle.  They took a copy of my driving licence and are going to make the insurance arrangements.  Travelling to schools is going to be a bit of an adventure on the rough roads, particularly in the rainy season, which is less than four weeks away.

Day Five

After my early morning run (in long trousers) and shower I went on a shopping expedition for household equipment.  The shower was interesting; it gave me an electric shock (not static).  Apparently I am supposed to wear flip flops in the bath to provide insulation! The shopping trip gives me  a lot of very unfamiliar things to think about.  What pots and pans do I need given I only have one stove with one place to heat things?  What do you clean an outside bathroom with? (What is the floor made of?)  How do I wash up and do my laundry.  We know we will pay someone to collect water in jerry-cans and then have to treat it for drinking or store it for all of our washing needs.  Perhaps they can do the laundry as well?  Even washing powder is different – we settled on, “Power Boy” in the end.  At least it sounds as if it can get the job done.

The afternoon was filled with more details of the post I will be filling and what to expect in terms of working relationships and what might be achievable.  The more I hear the more daunting it all becomes!  Some of the schools are in a really poor state.  There are holes in the roofs; benches and tables on but almost nothing else in the classroom.  There is no electricity, so the headteachers have no equipment at all, but amazingly they are really enthusiastic and keen to work to improve their schools, so that is encouraging.

Day Six

Nothing much of interest to report.  Hundreds of black kites circle the city and one landed on the wall of our guest house even though there were plenty of people around. I’m not sure what they feed on but they don’t look particularly pleasant close up. People have been telling me that they have seen runners in shorts, so I thought I would give it a go.  The afternoon was particularly cool (about 22C), so it seemed a good time, because it would be quieter than either morning or evening.  I did not get any strange looks or comments but a couple of girls started running ahead of me to see if I could catch up.  I did eventually and we exchanged smiles and a greeting.

Day Seven

Today we went to Gisogi, the genocide memorial centre in Kigali. The centre opened 6 years ago on the tenth anniversary of the genocide during which a million Rwandans were killed.  There are the mass graves of over a quarter of million people on the site along with a carefully and skilfully crafted message about the origins of the genocide, the context in which it happened, the aftermath and the reconciliation work which is still on-going.  The most moving part for me was the stories of those who tried to save the lives of their friends and neighbours, putting themselves at incredible risk.  An exhibition of photographs at the end was dedicated to the children who were killed with the words,  “In memory of our beautiful children who should have been our future.”

 And finally, some more memorable words from Yolande Mukagosana.
 “There will be no humanity without forgiveness. 
There will be no forgiveness without justice. 
There will be no justice without humanity.”