Sorry this blog has taken me so long to write and post. We received our site placements last Thursday night and it’s been a whirlwind since then. Everyone thought that we were going to get our placements on Friday, but then we a got a call saying that as soon as everyone got to the center, we would receive our placement. We all got there as fast as we could. A couple of the PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees – us) had drawn a huge map of Rwanda in chalk in front of the center and put the names of the organizations we would be working with on the map. We were each called forward to receive our site and organization. I was placed with African Evangelical Enterprise (AEE) in Gatsibo, in the east. However, I wasn’t really sure what the organization did, and we weren’t given our job descriptions until the next morning, so it was kind of a nerve-wracking night.
The next morning, Friday, we got our job descriptions. My job description includes supporting co-operatives and associations, building the capacity of those organizations, writing reports and doing management training courses. Not exactly what I had hoped for as a health volunteer, but I have been assured that I’ll be able to find and work on health projects.
Sunday we drove to Kigali for a health resource fair where we would meet our partner organizations. The resource fair and conference was interesting and it was good to hear about the work that AEE does, as well as about some of the other organizations that other volunteers will be working with. AEE in Rwanda receives a significant amount of funding from CHF, which is a large international NGO which provides many health services and economic strengthening activities in Rwanda. AEE in Gatsibo has two projects; the first of which falls under CHF and the second is a literacy and reconciliation project among OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children). Presumably, most of my responsibilities will be to work with AEE on the first project. AEE has not yet received the budget from CHF and so doesn’t have a clear idea of what activities they’ll be doing, or what I’ll be doing. They’re hoping to receive the budget in the next week or so, but we’ll see- things always take longer in Africa time. However, AEE anticipates that at least 80% of their activities will be related to economic strengthening, mostly through supporting Co-operatives and Associations in the region.
Tuesday afternoon we left with our counterparts to visit the site where we’ll be working for the next two years. My counterpart was Emile, and I stayed with him and his wife Lilian at their house in Rwamagana. Gatsibo and Rwamagana are gorgeous! I was concerned earlier, because the east is known for being hot and flat, but it was not much warmer than Kigali and “flat” was extremely relative. It’s like living in the Rockies and being told it’s flat compared to Everest. So there were still gorgeous rolling hills everywhere. There’s also a lake between Rwamagana and my site, and I’m told that the president has his summer home there, although I managed to miss it every time on our daily trips between the two cities.
AEE Gatsibo is a very small and young branch; there are only three employees right now, and I’ll be the fourth. However, they were all extremely warm and welcoming. Emile and Janvier both speak English farely well, although they encouraged me to work on my Kinyarwanda. Kristine, the accountant, doesn’t speak any English, but she’s really friendly and we do just fine together. during my site visit, I met with the Executive Secretary for the area, and visited a couple health centers to meet with co-ops, and met the head of the police station. I also visited the house were I’ll be living, and it’s gorgeous! It’s also gigantic- there are 5 or 6 rooms, including an indoor bathroom (a big deal in Rwanda), a kitchen and latrine in the back, and (best part) a mango tree and an avocado tree! So I’m really excited about the people I’ll be working with, my house, and the town I’m living in. The town is pretty rural, but it has market two or three times a week and it’s a short bus ride to Rwamagana, which is much bigger and has stores where I can buy everything else.
Also, I found out that another volunteer, Arielle, is living in the same town and working across the street from me! It was kind of funny how this was discovered. The whole time I was at the AEE office, I kept hearing about this other volunteer that worked “over there” (Rwandans like to be extremely vague about locations), so I was unclear if we were talking about the building across the street or the hill in the distance. I kept asking if I could go see this other volunteer, but was always told that she wasn’t there. So I had no idea what they were talking about. Well, the last afternoon of the site visit, Arielle walks into my office and tells me that one of the people in her organization told her that they had seen another muzungo walking around town and that she worked in the building across the street. So that’ll be good, and even if we don’t end up living that close to each other, we’ll still be able to get together to cook and maybe plan events in the community. She and I also took the bus back from our site to Nyanza together, which was good. The bus system can be somewhat complicated. And that was my site visit.
Oh, almost forgot. The entire site visit I was trying to dress up by wearing skirts and nice shoes. The last day Emile told me that when I come back I should bring more close-toed shoes and cowboy pants. It took a while to figure this one out, but eventually I realized he was talking about jeans. The people who work for AEE in bigger cities- like Rwamagana- are extremely well dressed, but because my site is so much more rural, and we travel around a lot, jeans are better. Which reminds me of another funny story. During the site visit I got permission to ride a moto to some of the more remote health centers to visit co-ops. Because I was wearing a skirt, I always had to ride side saddle, which was pretty interesting. Well, the last day we went out to visit a site that was over an hour away, and while we were there, it started to pour. Emile told me that I would need to sit like him (meaning with one leg on each side of the moto), which meant that I needed to hike the skirt up by my knees (scandalous in Rwanda- you should never show your knees) and because this was a new skirt that I had just gotten made, it bled blue dye all over my legs and turned Emile’s pants blue. Oops! But I’m sure we looked hilarious riding around in the rain. Also, in order to be able to ride on a moto, Peace Corps has to give you a PC-approved helmet. The helmets are those huge, intense looking ones that BMX racers use. And mine is bright yellow. In case I don’t look crazy enough already, lets add a huge yellow helmet. But I’m sure I made someone’s day with my strange muzungo self.
In other news, the Saturday before last we got up really early so that we could drive the nearly four hours to Nungye national park where we were going to go for a hike and see animals and monkeys and wonderfulness. Unfortunately, when we got there we found out that even through the park had previously told us it was going to cost a discounted $35 since we were volunteers, we had no proof that the park had agreed to this, so we now need to pay $70 a person. Almost no one brought that much money, so we got back in the bus and drove back. Kind of disappointing. I’m hoping that they get the cost issue resolved so we can go back another Saturday, but it doesn’t sound particularly hopeful. Bummer.
That night was great though. A number of trainees got together to host a March birthday / St. Patty’s day party. They made salsa and guacamole and we had rice, beans, and cheese which we put into a chapatti to eat like a burrito. Delicious! I ate way more than I should have, and it was glorious. After dinner we went to Boomerang, a bar restaurant, for a drink and to hang out. Unfortunately, my stomach decided it was not happy with all the delicious food I gave it and it would much rather go home and go to bed early than hang out with everyone else. At least Sonya was nice enough to walk home early with me, and it gave me the chance to talk to the LCFs for a bit on the walk home.
Speaking of which, our LCFs are a riot. Last Monday night we were studying in the main room and one of the magazines (Star, I think) was out and they were paging through it. Mostly I think they were horrified / amused with the magazine, but their reactions were priceless. Here is what I learned: Gilbert thinks Jessica Simpson is beautiful but doesn’t really like Beyonce. Stiletto heels and bleached/torn jeans are ridiculous, but it’s ok because it’s all about style. Reggie Bush looks like a big Usher. And finally, describing the show The Bachelor makes it sound like the worst polygamist idea on the planet. Way to stay classy America.
Friday night we had a talent show, which I thought would be campy and dumb, but was hilarious. Laundry house got together and put on a skit where they mocked a Kinyarwanda class, complete with impersonations of some of the LCFs. Another group of girls sang a Mylie Cyrus song that they changed the words to be about PC Rwanda. Kerry said that she wanted to do a skit, so she and I threw one together where we looked like idiots, but everyone laughed, so it went over pretty well.
Saturday was Umuganda, which is where, on the last Saturday of the month, everyone does community service work. We walked a few miles out to a field that they were cultivating to get it ready to plant cassava. I think it was a community plot for poor families, so if they don’t have food, they can take it from that plot, which is a great. None of us had tools, so we all took turns borrowing hoes from Rwandans. They got a huge kick out of watching us hoe, and I was really glad for the chance to participate in Umuganda. Also on Saturday mornings all the high school kids have mandatory physical exercise where the run around the city in huge groups for hours singing. It’s crazy to watch them go by, especially when you have groups of 50 people staring at you and waving. And then a minute later another group runs by. And then another. On the other hand, if you ever wanted to feel famous and had tons of paparazzi following your around, I guess that’s a good opportunity… And it also makes me feel better that even they don’t run up all the hills- they walk them, just like me.
That night my house got together to cook some American food, and it was glorious!! We made cheeseburgers with tomato, sautéed onion, avocado, and hot peppers. And we mixed the hamburger meat with onion and pepper and oregano. We also made French fries, that were double fried and mixed with onion, hot pepper, and oregano. Soooo good! And the LCFs loved it! Especially the French fries- they ate a whopping plate full of them and then came back for more. So that was a lot of fun, and delicious, and it gave me lots of hope for cooking at site over the next two years. It’s amazing what you can do with a big pot and a charcoal stove.
So that’s basically what I’ve been up to for the last couple weeks- not particularly chronological, but oh well. There were lots of ups and downs, but overall, pretty fantastic!
Love you and miss you all!
