Day 69 (Thursday)

My intention was to work flat out today, to make a big step forward with the science schemes of work and get one or two other reports finalised.  However, something always crops up.  Today it was a phone call from VSO telling me I had to fill in a form to cancel my visa.  I was told it was on the immigration website and spent a good few minutes looking for it.  I told VSO I could not find it whereupon they told me that I had to fill in the form for a visa application even though I was cancelling mine!  I then had to download it, get to a printer and print it out, fill the forms in and then send them back to Kigali.  There is no post here but the buses act as a courier service depot to depot.  I hope they now have the forms and my visa is being cancelled, because allegedly you cannot leave the country with an active visa!

Day 70 (Friday)

I have finished the science scheme of work.  Went to print it out at the district office and after a few sheets the printer packed up.  So, I had to go down to the telecommunications centre in Kabarore and get my printing done there.  I am now ready for my final week of work in Kabarore.  My plans are to spend two days training science teachers and one day working with a Head Teacher to write an action plan to improve teaching and learning.  I will have a final meeting with the District Director of Education and add the final details to my reports.  The end is in sight!

Day 71 (Saturday)

Today, I wanted to climb the hill to the south that overlooks Kabarore and it will be best done whilst the sun is in the east, so another early start.  I set off before breakfast and once at the top, take shots of the panorama over and beyond the town.  I managed to buy some muesli when I was last in Kigali, so it’s that and a banana for breakfast.  At least Rwanda produces good coffee to go with it.  For lunch we have bought samosas from the market, accompanied by tomatoes and avocados.  Papaya to follow.  We also managed to stock up with passion fruit which are about 2p each here.  There were none available at the market on Tuesday, but they will be a treat in our last week here.

Day 72 (Sunday)

We are expecting visitors.  Bert and his family are coming over for the day.  Kabarore makes a good day out if you live in Kigali.  It is a two hour bus ride each way, but there are good walks into the countryside from our front door and that is something you cannot do in the city.  Later in the afternoon  I walk up to the bus station with them and there is a lorry being fixed by the side of the road.  This is no small repair; the engine is in pieces and there are new pistons and big ends being fitted.  The mechanics seem to know what they are doing and everything is laid out carefully on cardboard spread on the mud (it rained very heavily this morning).  Picture attached. 

Day 57 (Saturday)

We are up just after 4.00 a.m. to breakfast before our 4x4 arrives at 5.00a.m. to take us to the park by 6.00.  We arrive as dawn breaks and the gloom lifts over the park.  We see a zebra before we are in the park proper.  We go in at the north entrance and the farm land outside is transformed to scrub with small herds of  zebras, impala and topi around every corner of the trail. We wind our way down to the plain where there is a long straggling herd of cape buffalo.  They watch us carefully as we park about 40m away and take pictures.  Later we see giraffe, elephants, crocodiles, hippos (largely submerged) warthogs, vervet monkeys, waterbuck, bush bucks and baboons.  Our drive through the park takes 11 hours and I have taken over 500 photos.  I need some time for editing. 

Day 58 (Sunday)

Disaster strikes again.  A power cut at 9.00 a.m. lasts all day and into the night.  No power for the laptop so no blog entries.  No power to cook and no lights in the evening.  My mobile phone needs recharging and so does my ipod.  The power cut lasts for six days; hence I am behind with my blog.  The power comes back on just as I leave for Nyungwe National Park on Friday afternoon.  So no time to make up my blog entries until the middle of next week.

Day 59 (Monday)

I am busy preparing for the Head Teacher training that I am delivering with David and Sarah.  The lack of power is a real nuisance.  Lots of charts, activity cards, document templates have to be done by hand and then copied by hand again.  Unfortunately none of us brought a ruler with us that was  longer than six inches, so long straight lines are a problem.  After a candle lit dinner cooked on a kerosene stove, there is not much more to do than go to bed.  Reading by candlelight is a strain on my eyes.

Day 60 (Tuesday)

More preparation work and I practise my “good” maths lesson on Sarah and David.  It involves two practical of activities one of which is a plenary.  It is meant to last about 20 minutes and demonstrate a lot of areas of good practice.  The maths is not too challenging, but I am not sure of the starting point of my students (the headteachers) so I want to be flexible and differentiate the level of difficulty, so all learn something new.  Not easy.  I think the sun should be directly overhead today in Kabarore, just a few minutes after midday.  I forget and go out to see at about 12.10 p.m.  The shadow of my approximately vertical stick is as small as it has ever been.  I take a picture of it!

Day 61 (Wednesday)

Kelti comes over to complete the team working on the Head Teacher training.  There could be more trainers than Heads!  We are resigned to the lack of power, but it is now back on the other side of the main road.  At least we can get some photocopying done.  It is cloudy today at midday, so I cannot check the position of the sun in the sky.   In the early evening I go for a walk at the back of the house (the safer part- I hope).  To my surprise I hear a commotion and there I see a pair of Ross’s Turacot in plain sight feeding on avocados in a tree. They are more spectacular in flight and luckily they oblige by flying to a nearby tree.

Day 62 (Thursday)

A frustrating start.  Whilst we are waiting for the Head Teachers to arrive for their training we hear that they have all been called to a meeting at the District Office.  Maybe the meeting will be finished in a couple of hours so we wait hoping they will arrive.  At 1.30 p.m. we get a telephone call saying the meeting is likely to go on until at least 3.30 p.m. so we give up. Well actually we try to make sure everyone is committed to coming tomorrow instead. 

Day 63 (Friday)

We deliver the training to about half the Head Teachers we were hoping would come.  It seems to go down well and the messages are well-received.  At least it is something we have achieved.  The training covered aspects of lesson observation to improve teaching; schemes of work and touched on strategic  planning.  We delivered most of, but not all of, the original 7 hours of training material in 4 ½ hours.  I dash back to the house to pick up my rucksack and a bite of lunch.  At the bus station there is no 1.50 bus and I have to wait for the 2.20 bus which is late!  I arrive in Kigali with a few minutes to spare.  I need to get to the VSO safe to get some $ for the Nyungwe National Park.

Day 64 (Saturday)

Another early start to get the bus to Cyangugu.  The journey takes 5 hours and we find out this is the only bus journey in Rwanda where you buy a booked seat.  There are no seats on the first bus so we buy seats on the 8.00 a.m. bus and have to sit and wait.  The bus is full with every fold down aisle seat occupied. My rucksack is on my lap and it is difficult to move, but at least I have a seat.  When we get to the national park the road is very potholed and swings round hairpin bends every few seconds.  The driver keeps up a good pace and people are sick out of the windows.  The forest is very atmospheric.  The peaks up to 3000m are completely covered in trees; below there is mist and cloud. Steep walls of rock rise up above and fall away below the road.  It gets cooler as we get to the top of the pass and the climate and vegetation is reminiscent of England’s wettest places.

Day 65 (Sunday)

The Giskura Guest House is very comfortable.  They provide a packed breakfast so one can get an early start in the forest.  We cadge a lift and are at the park office (Uwinka) in the heart of the forest by 6.00 a.m.  You are not free to walk on the trails in the park.  You have to buy a “licence” and a guide.  Prices are not cheap.  We pay $45 to see Colobus Monkeys.  The trek there takes only 30 minutes, but we are able to stay and watch for almost 2 hours.  There are probably more than 200 of the monkeys in the group.  Some are high up in the canopy; others are lower down feeding.  We move off the trail and climb a slope through thick vegetation to get closer.  One monkey gets in a squabble with another, loses its grip and falls 35m to the ground.  The guide says it will be ok.  After a couple of minutes we see it rise out of the vegetation and slowly it climbs a tree.  When it is about 5m up, another monkeys antics break a large branch off a tree above and the shaken monkey has to jump to safety.  It is a dangerous life being a colobus monkey.

Day 66 (Monday)

We decide to take a proper breakfast at 7.00 a.m. and risk a later journey to the park.  The breakfast is coffee, omelette, bread, honey and bananas.  The journey to Uwinka (the centre of the park) is about 18 km and takes about 40 minutes.  There is no organised transport except for a bus every hour and a half, which is usually full. We are in luck and get a lift after just a few minutes. I have decided to do the red trail, which is the hardest in the park and ascends over 700m and covers 10 km.  It is supposed to take 6 hours and passes spectacular viewing points and waterfalls.  It is great to be 4 km into the rain forest.  There are huge mahogany trees, ferns, and creepers growing everywhere and covered in moss and lichens.  Disappointingly there are almost no animals or birds to be seen.  You can hear them in the canopy, but they are too well hidden. Apart from the lack of wildlife the walk is as you would imagine.  Dark tunnels through the vegetation take you to high points where there are views over the canopy and out towards the distant mountain tops swathed in cloud and mist.  There is not a patch of bare soil anywhere.  We manage to catch a bus back to the guest house after only a few minutes wait.  It has been much easier to get to and from Uwinka (from the guest house) than we thought, but the trails are much more expensive.  The red trail cost $40 (both prices quoted are for foreign residents; tourists pay more).

Day 67 (Tuesday)

Another early start to get the bus back to Kigali.  The park guides have rung and booked us seats on the bus, so we know it will stop and pick us up.  In Kigali I take a small bus out to the VSO office and start to catch up with emails and my blog. I have been out of touch for ten days firstly because of the power cut and then because of my travels.  I am staying the night with friends and setting of on the remainder of the journey to Kabarore tomorrow after a bit of food shopping.

Day 68 (Wednesday)

Back to Kabarore where I have loads of work to do.  I have less than eight days left to finish all my work (science scheme of work, training of science teachers, reports and an action plan for one of my schools).  I have brought my flight home forward by five days (so it is now 85 days in Rwanda).  I feel this is the best thing to do given that my last 5 days were in Genocide Memorial week and by then I will have done the gorillas, so I would just be stuck in Kigali with not much to do.  Head down and back to work.  Probably short reports from now on.

Day 52 (Monday)

I am almost always up early, just after the sunrises.  On my early morning trip to the latrine, I literally do trip.  The way is covered with broken bricks and stones just loosely jumbled on the ground covering a width of about a metre for the 20m long path.  The bricks and stones slide and roll under my feet and I normally turn my ankle at least once on the journey.  Whoever owns the house made the path to keep his feet out of the mud that forms regularly in the rainy season and then gets brought into the house.  Only, as with many things in the house, it is just poor quality and it is safer to avoid walking on it altogether!  Just beyond the fence at the bottom of our garden is a field of sugar cane.  On my early morning walks to the latrine I can watch the male weaver birds cutting strips of the cane leaf and fly off with a 20-30 cm length in their beaks.  The males build the nests to attract a female.   If this applies to the human species, I am not sure our landlord would have got himself a prize female!

Day 53 (Tuesday)

The government has declared today a public holiday, as it is international women’s day.  Rather than take a day off, I have been working on the science experiments scheme of work.  I have also completed the planning of the Head Teacher training that is planned for next week with another VSO Education Management Advisor.  Our training covers the role of Head Teachers in raising the standard of teaching and learning in their schools (through strategy into action).  Hopefully a group of around 20 Head Teachers will turn up and be entertained!

Day 54 (Wednesday)

Our water delivery has got very muddy again.  Is there any point in washing in muddy water?  We filter the water for drinking, but it is a very slow process, so there is no chance of filtering our water for washing or laundry.  Unfortunately, I seem to have developed an allergy.  It could be to the anti-malaria pills, but it is impossible to be sure.  Could it be the muddy water?  It is not too serious, but my skin itches and I have a rash.  I don’t think I have been invaded by anything microscopic! 

Day 55 (Thursday)

A cloudy morning turned to rain.  Four hours later our water supplies are replenished, but all of the paths and roads are slippery with mud.  The sugar cane beyond our fence at the bottom of our garden has grown rapidly in the last few weeks and has been full of weaver birds.  I have also seen the bright red cap of a bishop bird. It has made going to the latrine an almost pleasant experience! This morning though a labourer came and cut the cane, so no more birds. More bad news.  I went for a walk this afternoon with my binoculars and came back without them.  Three youths walked up and asked for them in a non too friendly way, so I thought it best to hand them over.  I wondered if they were just going to have a look through them and hand them back, but they ran off with their prize.

Day 56 (Friday)

At 7.30 a.m. I was on my way to see various Kabarore Sector officials.  They were all very sorry about what had happened and promised action.  By 9.00 a.m. I was told I should go back to work.  I went to Kiziguru to deliver my report, which was on my memory stick.  When I got to Kiziguru the power was off, so I could not access my report.  The power stayed off until the evening and came on minutes before it got dark.  On returning to Kabarore, I was escorted to a school where it was thought one of the offenders might be a student.  I had to go from classroom to classroom with another potential witness to try to identify the guilty party, but neither of us could.  It was reassuring that so much effort was being put into apprehending the thief but annoying that the binoculars were not found before my trip to the Akegera game reserve.

Day 46 (Tuesday)

Having been in Kabarore for five weeks I feel I have got a handle on how life is here.  In some senses the work has settled down if only in to some sort of routine.  I usually try to go to my schools in the morning and although I am happy to stay longer it is rarely necessary as the visit will generate plenty of follow-up work.  I then travel back to the house and write reports, or do more contextual work in the afternoon.  I spend at least two hours a day travelling when I go to schools.

VSO pays the rental on the house, but we have to pay all the bills.  The bills are for water and electricity and all other living costs including travel, phone cards and internet access.  All this seems to be costing about £30 a week and as the allowance is just under £40 a week, there is a little left over for entertainment, excursions or unplanned expenses like medicines.

Day 47 (Wednesday)

A slower than normal start today because we are invited to the District Head Teachers meeting, which is being held in a local school.  David and I make a brief presentation about our work and our intentions for the rest of the term.   We walk to the meeting and after our presentation we walk back.  The meeting carries on without us, but we have to return in an hour to introduce ourselves to the other Head Teachers in our sectors.  This means we can sit down and have a drink for 20 minutes before we have to make the walk back.  Walking 4 miles in the heat of the day is quite hard work.

Day 48 (Thursday)

Suddenly I am very busy.  I have more work than I know how to deal with!  When I made my presentation to Head Teachers, I mentioned the box of science equipment that all of the Group Scholaire schools had received.  I said I understood that science teachers were trained in theory, but had no practical experience and so they did not know how to use the equipment.  I explained that I had catalogued the equipment and been through the science syllabus to indicate where the equipment could be used and was going to write a scheme of work to link the equipment, the text books and the syllabus.  I finished by saying that I would be happy to train teachers to use the equipment in their schools.  Well, after the meeting I had a line of Head Teachers all queuing up to ask me to train the teachers in their schools; more than enough to keep me busy well into April.

Day 49 (Friday)

We are Kigali for the first time in 5 ½ weeks.  Although, originally I was glad to leave Kigali, I am now quite pleased to be back.  The main draws are the food (meat and cheese) and of course running water and the absence of latrines in back gardens, but also it will be great to catch up with the volunteers I arrived with and see how everyone is doing.  As we rode the bus into Kigali we went through 1 ½ hours of torrential rain.  It was still raining as we got off the bus and we had to dash for shelter.  We stood with about 100 other people on a garage forecourt until the rain slowed and then with me, my rucksack, lap top and camera bag all under my poncho we made our way to the VSO office.    I did not want to leave anything valuable in the house after the series of thefts and I had also packed a full rucksack to test out its capacity for storage (and mine for managing it and all the other bags I would need to carry) when travelling at the end of my placement.  I learnt a valuable lesson, as it was difficult to manage the rucksack and two other shoulder bags when they are all under a poncho!

Day 50 (Saturday)

I am starting to think about the end of my time here.  If I am going to see the gorillas I should buy a licence now, as they are still available in April.  This is probably because it is the middle of the rainy season and the worst time to go. However, I have no choice.  A licence for gorilla watching costs $500 but is half price if you have a work permit.  It is still far too much to pay out of my volunteers allowance, so I take along my $ travellers cheques to pay the fee.  The booking office will not take them, so I go to the most “international” bank in Kigali.  They will not change them either, and when I ask they say that they cannot be used in Rwanda.  I wonder why I was advised to bring them!  But all is not lost, because they will give me a cash advance on my credit card. Not cheap though it is reassuring, as otherwise I would have had to think carefully about every trip I do as a tourist.  All of the National Parks charge in dollars and are very expensive even for a day.  This is the only place you can use a credit card in Kigali and probably in the whole of Rwanda.

Day 51 (Sunday)

Back in Kabarore and it is raining.  The rain water is very dirty, but as we are short of water it is good to collect it.  With thick cloud cover it is relatively cool and I have to put on a fleece top!  Today has been a quiet day.  Reading, a crossword and a bit of preparation work for tomorrow.   I have finished the draft of the report on my first school and I will share it with the Head Teacher tomorrow.  Having been away we have little fresh food in, so it is a good excuse to go to the bar and watch the football. However, we had a two hour power cut in the afternoon exactly coinciding with the time of the Liverpool v Man Utd. Game, so that plan did not work!