September 2009 Newsletter

It’s been a month of saying good hellos.  I arrived in Kigali, Rwanda on August 10 and am having a blast.  Here are a few of the people who’ve helped me say good hellos:

Brad, Kiki, Oliviana, and Grace:  It was so difficult to leave my family in the states, but having family here and getting to meet my new niece Grace has been wonderful.  They have made me feel welcomed, provided for my needs, and given me a safe place to adjust to all the changes of living in another country.

Charlotte has been here since June volunteering as a YFC intern.  She has introduced me to many people and helped to ease the transition.  We’re staying in the YFC dorm together until she leaves in September. 

Kellie, Sue, & Iona are counselors from Vancouver YFC who did a week long counseling workshop for the students in the young leaders program and several of the Rwandan YFC staff.  They did an excellent job and it was a great way for me to meet the students and staff as a participant in the workshop rather than as a teacher.  It was also really nice not being the only new white person.

The YFC teachers have been very welcoming to me and eager to begin English lessons.  This month we are doing pronunciation exercises and they are doing a great job.  There are many sounds in English that are new to them, but they are very willing participants in the silly sound drills. 

The YFC Students:  I am so famous here!  The kids laugh and run to shake my hand or hug me when I’m around.  Many still call me “Mama Oliviana”  (Kiki’s name in Rwanda), so the next Kinyarwanda phrase I’ll learn is “Auntie Oliviana”.   

Other expats:  I’ve met several other expats here who are very down to earth, have a great sense of humor, and love the Rwandan people.  They have also welcomed me with excitement.

I look forward to continuing to build friendships here, but miss you all as well.

The YFC Dorm

I've been staying at the YFC dorm for a few weeks. Here's a few pictures.

The Dorm: It's a nice 30 second walk from the dorm to the school.
It has one long hallway with several rooms on both sides.


This is my room - a bed with mosquito net, nightstand, and a dresser.

Some rooms have one full size bed, others have a few single beds.

This is the living / dining area.



This is the bathroom room - a row of toilets across from a row of urinals.

This is the water supply when there is no water in the pipes.
The shower room - a room of showers on one side and urinals on the other.



The view from the dorm.

Marching in Rwanda

Friday was sports day. I was looking forward to it all week because I had heard that we were playing volleyball. School is not in session on the last Friday of every month, so the teachers have an inservice day of training in the morning and sports in the afternoon. After English training in the morning, we headed to lunch for a some heaping plates of rice, beans, and potatoes. After lunch, sports day began. The dress code for sports day is whatever you want it to be, ranging from dresses and sandals to full athletic gear.

Now let me tell you a little about the location of the YFC compound. The YFC compound is directly at the top of a hill called Kibagabaga (Cheebagabaga). This is where the mawch began (that’s march in Rwandan English).

So with full bellies and at the hottest part of the day we set out mawching - we being the teachers, the YFC staff, the support staff, and the university students in the young leaders program. The mawch began as a very slow saunter for about 10 minutes and covered about 1/10th of a mile on flat terrain - it was a really slow saunter. Then we began going downhill and the mawch become a run accompanied by some chanting of words I didn’t know. I thought, “Oh, we’ll run down the hill, mawch through the valley behind the compound and then back up the hill just on the other side.” I was wrong. We kept on running for what felt like 5 miles - right through the valley of rolling hills. “Rolling hills aren’t so bad,” I thought to myself as I walked up them and ran down them. But then we passed the compound and kept going. “Yikes! Where are we going now?” No one seemed to know. I was beginning to wonder how long I would last when the road curved back up towards the top of the hill. I breathed a sigh of relief to round the corner and see all the super athletic men standing at the top waiting for everyone else. I thought it was so nice of them to wait for everyone, so that we could all walk back to the compound together.

To my surprise, I realized that I was one of the first women to reach the top. To my horror, I found out that the mawch was only half over. We had made a large half circle that went around the backside of the Kibagabaga and next we would take a half circle path down the front side of Kibagabaga. Brad, realizing that many would not make it through a full circle mawch, suggested that perhaps some could go on and finish the circle while others could saunter back to the compound. So many sauntered back to the compound while others kept mawching.

This is where it gets ridiculous. Being the new white girl with a competitive streak, I couldn’t quit. I had to prove something, but even now I’m still trying to figure out what that was.

So we ran down the hill and across to the other side and then back up to the compound. And this time the super athletic guys didn’t wait for us slower ones - they just kept going. I found my gang of run-walkers and after what felt like another 5 miles, we finally made it back to the compound.

We enjoyed some refreshing boiled water, did some exercises and stretches, and then had a volleyball tournament. That’s another story in itself, but one for another time. It was a great afternoon and a wonderful way to end a busy week.

Even though the mawch was painful at times, I finished the day with a sense of accomplishment and a bizarre thought that maybe I’d take up running in Rwanda. After all, I’ll be the only white girl mawching on sports day and I’d hate to let down all the bright skinned people all around the world!

On Saturday, I slept until 5 PM. I think partly from physical and mental exhaustion and partly from the 2nd night of Benadryl. Yes, I completed the mawch with a irritating sinus infection.