Up to Half Way!

Day 42 (Friday)

Yesterday we collected water from the roof during a storm.  It is very dirty with sand and soil, but looks cleaner than some of the water we have had delivered to the house from the local pump.  Lunch at a local “restaurant” today.  There was not really what you would call a menu.  “You have meat?”  “Yes, we have meat.”  So we didn’t really order, but after trying to get description asked to see what they had.  They just brought everything to the table.  We had 8 plates altogether; one of maize mash, cassava plus a white gelatinous lump (made we thought from African maize flour);  one of chips and spaghetti, one of chips and rice; two of spinach like greens; one of beans and 2 of meat in a watery gravy.  The meat was ok, no real fat or gristle to talk of and a decent quantity.  We had no idea what the bill was going to be, but when it arrived it was a real shock.  £1.30 for all of the food!  So, we’ve just eaten out for less than 45p each. 

Day 43 (Saturday)

I have travelled south to a town called Kibungo to see some volunteer friends.  Kibungo is bigger and longer established than Kabarore and their house is more sophisticated with two indoor and properly equipped bathrooms!.  After an early breakfast we walk down the side of a steep valley through loads of houses and farm small holdings in which there are penned cattle.  As we move further away from the town, there are more plantations and more scrub like vegetation.  As well as loads of exotic birds ( the best sighting being Ross’s Turaco – no picture, it flew overhead too fast!) I saw only my second wild mammal – a marsh mongoose.  After 8 ½ hours we returned to the town hot and dehydrated.  After a shower and a drink we have been invited to a Rwandan teacher’s house for drinks and we think dinner.  It is a very interesting evening and my first taste of Rwandan home cooking. 

Day 44 (Sunday)

After a bit of shopping in the shops which are much better stocked than the ones in Kabarore, I return home via two buses.  Travelling is pretty easy in Rwanda, but not always comfortable, particularly when you are trying to look after a full rucksack.  As soon as you walk into a bus park, someone asks where you are going and then directs you to a waiting bus.  The only trouble is avoiding this if you want to get an express bus rather than a local bus.  When I get back to the house I am told there has been another theft.  This time it is the water storage buckets from the garden.  We are thinking we will have to hire a guard.  Nothing is safe unless it is chained down or in the house and who knows whether or not someone won’t try to break in?

Day 45 (Monday)

Back to work after an enjoyable weekend.  I phone one of my headteachers and practice my French inviting myself on a visit this morning.  My request is accepted and I spend the whole morning working through documents and records until I feel my background work is complete and I can draft my report.   When the children have left, I inspect the latrines (from a distance!) and have a look at the classrooms and the rest of the site.  I speed back to Kabarore in a private car, the driver of which has sold seats to me and other travellers to help off-set the costs of his journey.  If only I could travel that way all the time!

Day 38 (Monday)

A public holiday, because of district level elections (but I did do some work).  As nothing much happened today, I went out to take a few photographs of Kabarore town. The old town is laid out to the west of the main road because to the east was originally part of the Akagera National Park.  The town is probably no more than about 500m by 400m, but I haven’t yet explored to the crest of the hill, which is the western perimeter, so there are no photos of that part.  The new town centre trading centre is pictured as are one or two of the side streets and the main bus / moto park for local transportation. 

Day 39 (Tuesday)

Yesterday we found somewhere to buy fresh milk.  It tasted of wood smoke which was a little odd.  We used it in tea and coffee, but the bulk we used to make pancakes.  Unfortunately we haven’t got the right sort of pan, so they were cooked on a pan lid.  Nice to eat something new.  This is our second dessert.  First was rice pudding made from left over main course rice, brown sugar and five day old milk.   I hoped to return to my first school today, but unfortunately the headteacher said she had another meeting to go to.  Hence I had to do more work from the house, but useful nevertheless. A review of the teaching I have seen and suggestions for improvement; the construction of an exemplar and generic school action plan to improve teaching and learning and some work on the school budget.

Day 40 (Wednesday)

I have arranged to meet my first headteacher today, but had to cancel as I was told the Divisional Office had scheduled a meeting of headteachers for the same day, but with only 16 hours notice – only they hadn’t!  So eating humble pie, I had to rearrange the meeting for tomorrow.   It is a good job I have plenty that I can do without a meeting.  Our twice weekly foray to the market uncovered another find.  One of the regular stall holders was selling peanuts, which we have dry roasted and salted.  Our first snack food!  Photos of the market will be posted with this entry.  I have started a vegetable garden.  It is not very much, just 3 tomatoes and one bean plant.  It will be interesting to see how quickly they grow.  No chance of any produce before we leave though.

Day 41 (Thursday)

Our kettle which is only three weeks old no longer works.  We take it back to the shop and try to negotiate a swap, or refund.  No consumer rights here in Rwanda, especially if you are clearly not Rwandan and do not speak much above a smattering of Kinyarwandan!  Apart from the body of the kettle and the wiring there are only four parts to a kettle to go wrong and stop it heating the water.  The heating element, the switch, a safety cut out and a thermostat.  One by one I re-wire the innards of the kettle to bypass the switch, the safety cut out and the thermostat, but no luck.  The only thing we really needed working was the heating element, but that of course was the bit that was bust.

Day 31 (Monday)

An interesting day at work.  The new headteacher I am working with is indeed new.  He has only been the Head of the school for six months.  He explains how busy he is, but stays with me all morning translating the school action plan (which he did not write) from Kinyarwandan into English.  I write notes so I can re-write the plan and present it professionally with a critique at some time in the future.  Before I leave the Head shows me an official letter that he has to respond to by tomorrow.  He obviously feels very pressured so I offer to do it for him.  He has to write an action plan for a child centred, girl focused health related initiative.  He has already selected the initiative with the school governors; it just needs to be written up properly.  This is a great opportunity for me to demonstrate the difference between objectives, activities and outcomes/success criteria in more than a theoretical exercise.

Day 32 (Tuesday)

I catch an early bus and am at work by 7.10 a.m.  The Head is glad to see me as I am not sure he trusted me to do the job and return in time for him to submit the plan to the sector office.    I have brought my work on a flash drive, so I load it up on his office computer (the only admin computer in the school) and pick up two viruses.  We go through my plan together and put on the official headings and footings, print it out and it is ready to go.  He will deliver it by hand leaving me to do 3 lesson observations in the senior part of the school.  These are classes working towards GCSE standard exams.  The lessons are all copying from the blackboard for the full 50 minutes.  I won’t be recruiting any maths teachers whilst I am here.

Day 33 (Wednesday)                                                         

The rainy season must have arrived.  We are getting thunder storms and rain every day now.    It may be early days, but if the pattern is as it is now, then it rains every afternoon.   This will make an impact on the way I do my work and plan my visits.  It is not too much fun being stuck out in the rain when you are travelling to or from a school.

Day 34 (Thursday)

We awoke in mist and low cloud, but the sun had broken through by mid morning (9 a.m.).  I have been observing lessons for the last few days; unfortunately unaccompanied, so there is no one with whom I can share my reflections and who might learn some of the objectives and activities of purposeful teaching.  In a break to the recently established pattern, there is no rain in the late afternoon.  We have an opportunity for some shopping in Kabarore.  There are new shops opening every week, so there is a slightly wider range of products on sale.  We can now buy strawberry yoghurt and “five day old” milk.  There is also inflation.  The biscuits we like have gone up by nearly 100% literally overnight.  Still no meat or cheese, though!

Day 35 (Friday)

Up early again.  The passers-by on the road chatter as they walk and although there is a fence and they are 25m away, the sound seems to be right outside my window.   We have spent the early part of the last two evenings in the local bar having our regular order of goat brochettes and chips.  An interesting day at work though, because in my last half an hour with the Headteacher I think I managed to get him to take seriously his role in improving teaching and learning.  There is naturally a belief that this is almost impossible.  The teachers have taught in French, now they have to teach in English.  Until a year or two ago the pupils were taught in French, now they have to try and understand English even though it is their third language and one in which they have really had no instruction. However, the easiest solution would also make the biggest impact.  They have text books but they are locked away and the teachers never use them except to prepare their lessons.  They copy from the text book into their preparation and planning book and then in the lesson they copy from there  on to the blackboard so that the pupils can copy this down! I guess this gives them a job, but the pupils might well be better off with the text book as strangely the teachers never attempt to copy any of the diagrams and those and the pictures in the books are really helpful learning aids. Using textbooks  may not be much pedagogically, but it would be a start. We just need to unlock the store room and produce a system for looking after the books.

Day 36 (Saturday)

Disaster!  Our kettle, which is only three weeks old no longer works.  We have no idea about consumer rights in Rwanda, but it is back to the shop with our kettle.  The owner of the shop is not there, so we are told to come back later.  We have booked a day in a 4x4 exploring the local safari park for tomorrow.  We will be off at dawn and back at sunset, so we plan and then purchase all the ingredients for our picnic lunch. The best we can do is bread, boiled eggs, biscuits, tomatoes, bananas and guacamole.   I empty the memory card for my camera and charge the battery.  All ready for a great day out!

Day 37 (Sunday)

Our day in the Safari Park ...except it wasn’t, as the 4x4 did not turn up.  So at 6.30 in the morning we are back at our house kicking our heels with nothing to do and a long day in front of us.  Perhaps the saving grace is that it is raining, so we might have had a disappointing day anyway.  Clearly it is difficult to arrange things from Kabarore, as in no way could this be described as a tourist centre.  By 6.45 it is raining heavily and looks like it is set in.  So, I’m just waiting for the Sunday Observer to be delivered and then I’ll sit down and catch up with all the news!  Looks like it will be a quiet day except for the rain battering down on the tin roof.

The baptism group

A view of lake Muhazi

A boat on the lake

An otter!

A pied kingfisher

Day 28 (Friday)

Today was a typical work day.  After breakfast I catch the bus to Kiramurutzi and then walk to the school.  I talk to the Headteacher and then watch two lessons.  I give feedback to the teachers and by then the school has closed for lunch.  This is not like in England.  Everyone goes home and the buildings are locked.  Well, actually there are some of the smallest children, probably not even five years old wandering about the site.  One of them is crying, but I am the only adult around and I do not know how to help. I feel awkward leaving but feel there is nothing I can do.  The bus back to Kabarore is very cramped and stops every km or so to exchange passengers.

Day 29 (Saturday)

The weekend!  We have planned a trip to lake Mahazi, which is about 50 km to the south of Kabarore.  We took an express bus because you actually get a seat to yourself and it dropped us off outside the Jambo Beach Restaurant.  The restaurant is set right by the lake and you can sit and watch life on the water, whilst having a cold drink.   A pied kingfisher was fishing nearby and soon after we arrived a small group of otters swam by.  By lunchtime a large group of volunteers had assembled and we mulled over our choices from the most extensive menu we had seen since arriving in Kabarore.  When we called the waiter over to order, he explained that most of our choices were off!  Oh well, it wasn’t my first choice, but I ended up with omelette and chips.  It was great fun catching up with everyone, but then the air chilled before a steady downpour that lasted for hours made for a cold wet journey home.  Those of us wearing just T-shirts regretted our lack of foresight, but we will be better prepared next time!

Day 30 (Sunday)

I am awake as (normal) before 6.00 a.m., so I decide to go for an early morning walk with the camera.  I am out exploring by 6.30, but there are already people (adults and quite young children) toiling in the fields and collecting water.  I stroll slowly by and many people stop and talk.  I meet a seventy five year old man who asks why I am in Rwanda.  He tells me he is a retired headteacher and he speaks very good English.  A woman asks me what I am doing here and I try to explain.  She again speaks good English and asks me if I know any local headteachers, so I mention the two I know who work in Kabarore.  She tells me I must come to greet Ignacious, who lives 100m away.  After, when I am on my way again, a well dressed man approaches and asks if I will take a picture of his family and the people he is with.  He is part of a Baptist congregation who have come to baptise some of their group in the lake.  I go over with him and take some photos.  I have put the photos on a memory stick for him to collect.  All in all, it was an interesting morning that somehow didn’t turn out as I expected, but was all the better for that!