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!