Blog Neglect

Posted by Mikkel

It’s been very loooooong since I wrote anything here and I’m trying to think of why.

• Because Rwanda and the Rwandans became “normal” to me and I don’t recognize the special stories anymore. The barefoot kids that run along with me yelling musungu musungu; the incredibly beautiful green hills as soon as I leave Kigali; the luxury of coming home to Rose’s (our cook) dish and dessert of the day; the interesting discussions with friends like JP and Serge about the state of the country or peculiarities about Rwandan sex life; or the football training with 30 dead-serious young guy hoping for either a professional contract or me arranging a job for them.

Rwandan Girls

Posted by Janine (You’d probably agree that Mikkel should write the blog with this title but since he’s not writing anything at the moment, I’ll do it.)

Rwandan girls are beautiful. This is something that Rwandans, Ugandans, Congolese, Kenyans and  Westerners all seem to agree on. But there’s something interesting because they’re pretty for different reasons. My Rwandese colleagues told me the other day that the most beautiful girls have big eyes, ‘with a lot of white, just like cows’. Like cows? Yes like cows.  (They love them here and I can always count on some approving looks especially from elderly people when I say we are from Holland)

Back to the girls. They should also have big legs. Not skinny ones like us white girls. ‘Legs just like cows?’ I ask my colleagues.  But no-no-no that has nothing to do with cows, and they look at me as if I just said something completely stupid.

October -lots going on!

Trainings, creative sessions with kids, office moving, countryside trips and fun evenings with friends from holland and denmark. October was certainly full of events. See the pictures for a small impression!

In search of a new Henk

posted by janine

As Mikkel mentioned, we had a bit of a shock after we came home, when we heard that our dear ‘Henk’ (the househelp) actually turned out not to be the guy we thought he was. He’s in prison now. And... he has a child, which he never told us about! Now - was he really just fooling us with his innocence? We were under the impression that he still was a child himself! (I seriously thought that he never even touched a girl).

Keep the Faith – Part II and III

(Posted by Mikkel from Nairobi)

Yes, still in Nairobi and still no significant news about my visa. I’m going crazy with this feeling of not knowing…believe they call it “in limbo”. However it does make me think of all the people facing these situations for months and sometimes years when they are trying to enter my own country. And I, off course, always have the option of going home to a safe haven.

(3 hours later)

Finally got the approval and travelling to Kigali this evening. “The country director can come to Rwanda to solve the problems”…now that sounds promising!!! Will be interesting weeks. And to top it all off: Our beloved most trustworthy Henk that many of you have heard about and donated things to is in…(I still cannot f…… believe it)…prison. He is involved in a scam involving 5 other people and our housemate’s bank account! Have to found out what actually happened, but it sounds all wrong. I was so sure that this was really a good guy worth our trust and investment. Will keep you posted once we find out more. Maybe this is the most characteristic thing about Africa. How things – ‘everythings’ – can just suddenly turn ugly.

Keep the faith!

(Posted by Mikkel)

Four weeks in Europe. It should be easy to pick up the thread in Rwanda without a lot of trouble. NOT!!! Africa just decided to show me its more ugly face and throw everything at me: First the KLM plane turned out to be a Kenya Airways with a bad aircondition system. In Nairobi airport I wanted to buy some duty free alcohol only to learn that their sealing machines or the visa system was not working (4 different shops were not able to sell me anything). Finally in Kigali I’m not allowed in to the country because the immigration has not processed my visa application form in the three weeks they have had to do it (it should take three days). Right now there is a big chance that I will be going to Nairobi to stay there until my visa is “in ordnung”. And forgot to mention that they also lost one of our bags.

I’m now at the departure waiting room in Kigali Airport. Very low on energy and Africa credit. And what happens next: they manage to put on a movie in the waiting lounge about some airplane crash. Sorry Africa, but sometimes its hard to keep faith…

Four weeks out of Africa

posted by janine

Saturday 13 August we are flying back to Europe! It’s pretty strange to realize this. But the Rwanda chapter isn’t done. After a LOT of thinking and doubts, we eventually decided to extend our Rwanda adventure with a few more months. This means that we are only going to Holland / Denmark for 4 weeks now and then return to Kigali until around Christmas.

Kenya photo report

Two weeks ago, we managed to take time to explore another piece of Africa and had a wonderful week in Kenya:

Kibera slum in Nairobi

Congo

Posted by Mikkel

In a second attempt we succeeded and made it in to the ”promised land” of Congo. The town of Goma – on the border with Rwanda - looks like what it is. The result of one disaster after another: 75 years of colonial exploitation, 35 years of miserable and corrupt leadership and since 1995 a confusing armed conflict involving up to 5-6 different countries, numerous rebel groups, tons of valuable natural resources and absolutely no respect for human life and dignity. In 2002 the devastating eruption of the Nyarigongo volcano even offered a natural disaster supplement to all this human caused suffering.

Invisible fire

(Posted by janine)
Yesterday I talked to my colleague about her 17-year old sister who attends a boarding school.  Whenever someone tells you he or she is 17, you cannot help thinking about the year of birth... 1994. I asked my colleague about whether her sister learns about the genocide in school?

Her answer is giving me the shivers. Of course they learn something about the history of genocide (the 'official story'), but they don't really talk about it. It's too difficult, which is understandable.  But then she tells me that her sister actually got traumatized last week because of a fight that broke out at the school. Turns out that the T (utsi) children at the school have been receiving small notes with 'hate speech' from some other students, threatening them that they should be killed. Where did they get those ideas from?

Once again you realize that some tiny flame is still simmering throughout the country. And you wonder how often it sparks up a fire, and where, and who gets hurt by it. But you don't know because you just don't see it...

Friends and Gorillas

(posted by Janine)

Sorry: we haven’t been very active in writing lately. Part of the reason is that we have been very happy getting friends over, and of course we needed to spend all our spare (non-working) hours with them. We got the most out of it: biking through all the poor and rich neighbourhoods of town, showing them Kigali’s nightlife (and dancing moves!) and spending lovely hours at the lakeside with great swimming, grilled fish and evening-fires.

 

BBQ at our house: Dennis, Tine, Mikkel, Laetitia, Mikkel

Our first ‘visiting team’ were Tine and Mikkel, who spent 3 weeks in Rwanda.  I am pretty sure they saw more of the country than either of us (or perhaps any other tourist) ever did.  We had a great time with bbq's, rwandan-style aerobics and varagi-gin tonic. We also spent a super relaxing weekend at the lake together, 3hours from Kigali. 

The next ‘team’ –all the way from Holland- were Melchior and Jeroen, who came with a mission: visiting DRC Congo (to climb this volcano). Although Mikkel and I were able to get a visa in Kigali (not without trouble, but hey –it’s Africa), the others were told by the Congolese embassy to get their 285-dollar-visa at the border. But this was easier said than done. We ended up spending 6 long, hot and hungry hours at the border … without success!

Holidays in Uganda!

Lake Buyoni near the Rwandan border. We camped on on of the islands and got there with a canoo

 As usual, women doing the hard work

We drove through the only national park that has 'tree climbing lions'. Didn't know a lion could be so comfi up there!

Go on a boat safari with an antropologist and the one thing he wants is: talk to the people from the fishing village:-)

Ugandan beer. You gotta try the local stuff... (or at least the men do)

Not too bad either: a warm fanta at a local village bar after a long walk along crater lakes and maize fields. 

 

 

 

Waiting for the matutu bus back to town

In Rwanda it's not allowed to sell stuff on the street. In Uganda it sure is!

Crazy Kampala. How to get as many taxibuses as possible in the smallest taxi park with the most people!

A bit of wildlife in the city

Congestion congestion in Kampala. This makes Kigali a traffic-paradise!

RED RICE

Posted by Mikkel
Its often the small things that surprise the most. Our "Henk" - the young guy who cleans, cooks, washes and irons for us - is going to a school which also involves a weekly all-day cooking class. His English is far from perfect, but every wednesday evening we discuss what he has learned to make and when I will get a chance to taste it. "Testing" we call it. This wednesday Henk seemed more exited than usual. He had learned to make RED RICE! "Very good" I was told. He was going to test it out the day after. But I had a dinner meeting and missed the experimental RED RICE meal. In the morning Henk insisted that I would bring the leftovers for lunch. His enthusiasm made me curious what it actually was, how you make RED RICE? "Food colour". Thats it! Velbekomme.

Culmination of grump

 posted by Janine

I woke up cranky today. Apparently it was a sign on how the rest of the day was going to be. It’s now 14 hours later and I am completely exhausted from my day. Slightly frustrated, somehow annoyed, vaguely irritated but mostly… tired.

Yesterday I had the best day where we went to visit a coffee station in the middle of the most stunning lush mountain landscape I have seen in Rwanda. And this morning, I had the most wonderful breakfast with fresh strawberries from that same mountain. So far so good, you would say (except for the grumpiness, something that Mikkel can confirm)

My working day started with on the program my first real fieldtrip to a coffee cooperative south in the country. I had quite a good start: we had a car, I had company (my colleague and the driver) and we only left one hour later than planned. So what’s the big deal? Well, here comes the cocktail for my frustrations:

•  A very winding road in combination with a let’s say, a-just-as-winding driver (= me fighting nausea)
•  A three (!) hour meeting in the local language where I only got sporadic translation (= me in utter boredom)
• A smelly toilet in the coffee plantation mostly inhabited by big noisy flies (=me wishing there weren’t so many people everywhere so I at least could make it a nature visit)
•  No food or drink until 16 in the afternoon (!). Apparently people find that the most normal thing here (=me secretly sneaking out of the meeting trying to comfort my crying stomach with an old banana that was still in my bag)
• An un-smooth interview in French about fairtrade certification (=me stumbling in French and the interviewee stumbling in French…lost in translation?)
• One of the workers drying the coffeebeans giving me the desperate ‘Give Me Money or Food’ gesture and the accompanying  look of hopelessness (= me returning this with a desperate but semi-friendly smile)

And then, many hours and winding roads later, when we almost reached home and I had no more credits for accepting anything but nice things, my new colleague asked me the question: ‘what religion do you practice?’ Aaaaiii. I cannot handle this but I cannot lie either.

When I ‘confess’ to her that I don’t have any, she is giving me the most horrific looks and attitude that you can imagine. And tells me she is terrified to ever send her 6 children to my part of the world, where the rich people have lost all their sense. There goes all my good efforts of building up a good rapport with this woman, with whom I have many more field visits to do.

This was my day. I'm tired ok? I just want work to be fun and comfortable ok? Can someone up there promise that? Sincerely thanks for listening, I needed to get it out somewhere, and you became my victims!  

Have a lovely weekend (I surely need it more than ever and the good thing is: it’s there in front of me, jeeeeee)

janine

Genocide Commemoration

Posted by Mikkel

Last week was Genocide Memorial Week. 17 years ago on the 6^th of April the Rwandan Genocide started. The following 100 days somewhere close to one million people – mostly tutsis - were killed often in the most gruesome ways. Around ¾ of the tutsis in Rwanda at the time are believed to have been killed. The killers were mainly armed with machetes and homemade weapons. They were organized and managed by local leaders and government officials. And they were backed-up by the national army.

In a way it is unimaginable what happened here during those 100 days. Most of the killing actually happened within the first 3-4 weeks. A friend of ours here was 11 years old and living in Kigali when the genocide started. He told me that it was just as unimaginable when it happened. And that that was probably one of the main reasons of the killers’ “success” in those first 3-4 weeks. Those that were hunted thought they would be safe if they gathered in schools, churches, etc. They thought no-one would kill 40.000 civilians who take shelter inside a big boarding school compound… But they did. It took three days and only 8 people survived by hiding under dead bodies.

God bless sms

Posted by Janine

I started the job at the school book company and it’s fascinating. I have 5 colleagues, who I am supposed to ‘manage’. Almost all of them are in the end of their twenties and single. In fact, one of the guys instantly fell in love with my sister when I showed him her picture on internet (yes Lon, I didn’t tell you this yet!)  Partly this is because he likes to marry a ‘white woman’ as this will bring him beautiful babies… But when I told him she is not religious I saw that this brought some doubts to his face.

He and some of the other colleagues are pretty serious about Jesus. They talk a lot about him (in fact, it’s one of their favorite topics), read the bible during working hours and listen to gospel songs and very melodramatic slow religious songs (until I ask them to please stop it!)  Yesterday when my stomach was protesting a little bit, I sent an sms message to my colleague that I would work from home and she wrote back to me: 

Hard work!

Posted by Mikkel

It’s been long since I wrote more than one or two lines to you.  I have been very busy!!! I keep telling myself that I must adopt a more relaxed (some here would say African) attitude to work, but it’s difficult. Especially when my organisation (Educat) has gone schizophrenic on me. I believe that is the best way to describe it. 

Job dilemma: food & beverage or books?

Posted by Janine

I got a job offer! After quite a few weeks of intensive searching and ‘selling myself’;) and meeting with more than 10 different organizations and companies…this one came out of the blue. Like it usually seems to go: by pure luck, via my housemate. In theory, I could have just chilled in my hammock sipping smoothies for the last 4 weeks (maybe I did?) because so far my efforts have only been rewarded into promises that ‘they will get back to me’.

10 Reasons to Like our House

Posted by Janine

It took some time but we found a house! After having visited at least twenty places (partly while Mikkel was at work) I surely know everything about different living styles, ranging from bucket showers and hole-in-the-ground toilets to super fancy ‘expat’ mansions. I also found out that the Rwandese have a peculiar taste for furniture, to put it mildly. But our final catch was worth the search:

"No money, no wife!"

The hard truth spoken by my ”moto-driver” this morning…

Work, weddings and videos

Posted by Mikkel

Time flies and it is already two weeks since I arrived…

At work we are quite a bit further: an updated strategy, an action plan for 2011, a budget (or half of it to be honest) and 7 job descriptions of my new employees beginning tomorrow. In these two weeks the organization “discovered” its own financial crisis and had the director from its most important partner disappearing (to later reappear in South Africa). So it has been more than hectic to say the least! 

First weekend away; view over lake Kivu

(Posted by Janine)

Arriving late Friday night, and leaving for the country side the morning after! A 2 1/2 hour busdrive brings you to a cloister in Kibuye, on top of a hill looking over the beautiful lake Kivu.

The temperatures here surely make you happy for a morning swim! And, the nuns and priests who were gathering and singing there on Sunday were fun to talk to and practice some first words in the local language 'Kinyarwanda'.

Backyard tabletennis after work

I could also tell you loads about my first day at work...

Kigali - day 1

(Anthropologists learn they should write down as many observations as possible the first days in a new place.)

What better way to start a day in a new place than with a jog:

1. Every ten seconds someone’s cheering “musungu, musungu."
2. Even though I deliberately put on my yellow Brazil shirt there is no way of blending in. No other white person on the street this morning, but luckily many Brazil shirts:-) Together with all sorts of obscure old company shirts from Danish, Dutch and other origin.
3. A young man join me running for 5 minutes with his wheelbarrow.
4. Just like me (at this particular morning) people´s main means of transportation seem to be their legs.
5. Going a little away from the main road you suddenly see lots of people (including way too many school aged kids) carrying big water containers.
6. Many young men are hanging out on the streets. Guess I would hang out there as well. If for no other reason than to watch the many beautiful women!

And then I forgot to mention that those “thousand hills” will either kill me or give me the condition of a marathon runner.