Football, Banks, Retreat & Ice

You can see from the heading, I’ve had quite a varied week!  Started off, last Sunday, with a football match (watching, not playing and the first since seeing Arsenal v Fulham in the old Highbury stadium) between the Diocese Youth Team and the Rusizi District Team.

I was told kick-off was at 3pm but being Rwanda I knew it would start later so arrived around 3.30pm when they were still discussing tactics, warming up and the match started just before 4pm.  I forgot that ‘youth’ in Rwanda is anything from 14yrs to 34yrs so couldn’t quite understand why the teams were made up of very large chaps. I asked someone what happens when the youth get to 35 – are they young men or middle aged?  No, old. Made me feel positively ancient.

It was a good match and just when it looked as if it was going to end in a no score draw when the youngest and smallest player from the Rusizi District Team scored in the last minute – think he was so small that no one saw him sneak up and kick the ball into the goal.

Winning team photo

I should be getting used to this by now as after the match, I thought I could just sneak off but I was asked to go and have a Fanta with the players.  They had played for 90 minutes with no water and I was treated as the guest of honour, given a drink before all the others and was asked, as is the Rwandese custom, to make a speech. There wasn’t a Biblical passage about football that came to mind but a few mentions of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal got them happy and then I remembered the “it’s not the winning but taking part that counts” quotation so ended on that but not sure how it came out in translation.

In the week, I needed to go and get some money exchanged in Kamembe Town. There has been a huge growth in banks in the town and across Rwanda and people are being encouraged to join ‘Savings & Credit’ programmes to teach them to become more self-reliant. They set-up small community savings groups and, each member in the group has to save some money each week – we are talking, in many cases, amounts of RWF100 (10 pence) which may be 10% of their weekly income (you can work this out to get an idea of their income) – and then they bank the collective savings of the group.  This gets them into the habit of saving and also gives them confidence to go into a bank and pay money into the account.  Small banks are opening up in the rural villages and there are even mobile banking services. 

I went into a bank, as have got to know a couple of staff there, who are keen I open up a bank account with them (which I need to do). A new airport style security check has been installed at the entrance but, most people walk around the gap next to it or, when you do walk through it, as I did and it bleeps, no one bothers to check you!  I was shown into the office, of one of the staff I had met, and although there was another customer in there, they just sat me down and talked to me and completely ignored the other person!  It’s things like this that make me smile as you just wouldn’t see this at home. The office was air-conditioned, the first I had come across in my time here, so I could have spent the afternoon there.  Did have a very interesting chat about banking in Rwanda – some good interest rates on deposits here!

On Thursday, I had a day-away with The Bishop (TB).  He wanted to go on a ‘retreat’ for a day so we escaped and drove to a five star lodge hotel located in a tea forest on the edge of the Nyungwe National Park – hope none of the staff from the Diocese are reading this as we could be in trouble! TB said he wanted a day with no phones, email or work stuff but when I arrived at his house, with my swimming trunks, sun tan lotion and sun glasses, he had packed-up his briefcase full of papers, phone and his iPad ready to go. I just smiled!

Passed this wedding procession on way to lodge

The NYP is acclaimed for its biodiversity and for being one of the most endemic species-rich areas in all of Africa and is one of the most important conservation sites.  It covers 1020km2 and boasts a diverse ecosystem from rainforest, bamboo, grassland, and swamps.  It protects one of the region’s largest and oldest remaining patches of montane rainforest and is home to 300 species of birds, 13 primates and location for one of the sources of both the Nile and Congo rivers. Takes almost two hours to drive through the forest to get from Kigali – Kamembe but it is spectacular.

The lodge is set in a tea plantation with the forest as an amazing backdrop and very peaceful – there were even some monkeys up in the trees and on the roof of one of the bedrooms. Temperatures in the park are cooler than those in Kamembe and we experienced the first rain in seven weeks.  So, no swimming but just a relaxing day, chatting with TB, trying to get him off his phone and stop checking his email and enjoying the beautiful surroundings and being transported into a world of luxury although a stark reminder of the rich and poor divide that is developing here. Even the men’s urinals, in the gents, were filled with large pieces of ice – never seen this before!  The contrast between this and a pit latrine couldn’t be more different.

The Lodge in tea plantation & forest behind

Then it was back, I suppose, to the real world of Kamembe where they’ve been painting the town red.  Must have had a consignment of red paint delivered as suddenly the buildings are turning red– not quite the Farrow & Ball shades I’ve been used to in Lewes High Street but it kind of works here! 

Painting the town red!

Tomorrow I’m going, with TB, to Kanzu - one of the remotest of the Diocese of Cyangugu’s 15 parishes and have just been told it takes four hours to drive there. TB has asked me to preach and also to preach in two more remote parishes on the next two Sundays. Many of the churches are in very remote places and difficult to access so if some pastors need to come to Kamembe, for a meeting, it can take them seven hours to get here! One thing I notice about being here is that people don’t complain – despite the hardships, challenges, distances they just get on with it.  Not like me, as I often moan to myself about the heat, the hills, the dust, and the potholes so I have much to learn from these resilient people.

I think TB wants to turn me into a ‘Preacher Man’. I’m also now known as ‘Musungu Man’ by some of the children I pass each day walking to and from the guest house – meaning ‘White Man Man’ – bit like ‘White Man Van’ but without the van!

Just back from town, where I managed to leave my printed sermon, that I just had just walked all the way down to the guest house to print out, in Alimentation OK where I buy groceries (and now Mars Bars!) but one of the shop assistants ran after me up the high street. Being the only musungu don’t think he had a problem finding me and I was much relieved as couldn’t have faced going back to the guest house although it would have given me something to moan about.

Walking up the hill, to the house, about 50 soldiers with rifles passed me in single file. I think each one of them ‘eye-balled’ me but didn’t respond to my friendly ‘wiriwe’ (good afternoon) or a smile.  They were Rwandan military so at least we haven’t been invaded.

Off to Kigali on Monday, to meet a group coming over from the UK who are working here for three-weeks. Hoping to have time to get to one of the city’s new coffee shops for a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant or two!