Is it November?

November garden

Sitting here, out on the terrace, on a sunny and warm November morning.  Modeste, the guard, is doing one of his mega-cleans of the house so I have been banished from the house outside with all the furniture.

Apart from the distant sounds of the choir from the Catholic Church, rehearsing under a tree outside the church, I can hear them singing ‘Gloria in Excelsis Deo’, this is the only thing that lets me know it is November and Christmas is approaching.

Flowers in the garden are in full bloom again and I have two trees teeming with mangoes that everyone is desperate to come in and take, once they have ripened in a couple of weeks.  Not being seasonal here, as it is in the UK, you don’t really get a sense of what month it is other than looking at the diary or calendar. I’m not missing the commercialism of Christmas and, apart from seeing some street vendor selling some gaudy 'Joy to the World' poster (I resisted buying it), there’s no sign it’s going to be December in a couple of weeks.

Mango tree or so I've been told - I'm a city boy!

My visa/work permit saga continues.  Have lost track of the number of times I have been to the Immigration Office, here and in Kigali, think it is around 8 times with each visit resulting in a request to produce more letters and paperwork.  Latest request is for me to produce all my ‘O’ and ‘A’ level certificates from my exams I took in 1973 – 1975 that I don’t have. For some reason, I had kept all the paper slips which, in those days of old, they used to send you to notify you of your passes and failures - yes, I had a few. These were in a box in the attic of my friends, Richard and Prilla in Lewes, who are very kindly looking after some bits for me and Richard managed to find them, scan them and email them out.  However, the IO didn’t want to accept them but we have managed to get them stamped and signed by the District Office which proves they are originals, even though they are not, and now they have gone back to Kigali with all the paperwork and my passport will come back next Friday either with a visa/permit or a request for more documentation.

If Kigali insist on me producing original certificates then I am, as they say, "stuffed" and I might be home for Christmas. You can only get duplicates if you have lost them in a fire or had them stolen in which case you have to produce police and insurance reports and I'm not sure if they accept a Certified Statement.

My permitted time, to be here in Rwanda, ran out last Sunday but as my application is in the system they can’t say I am here illegally so I’m not expecting, hopefully, for a knock on the door to be faced with some guys in police uniform.

As a welcome break from all the stress that this process has caused, I’m sure I will be able to laugh about it afterwards, last weekend I went with a couple of friends of the Bishop to show them some of the beautiful countryside and scenery we have in this area.  On Saturday, we drove south to the town of Bugarama famous for its hot springs and huge rice plains.  Afterwards, we drove down towards the Burundi border passing right next to the DRC – stopping by the roadside, we were able to look down across the Rusizi River, that flows into Lake Kivu, across into the vastness of the DRC with plains and mountains in the distance.  This huge country stretches all the way from the middle of Africa to the Atlantic Ocean.

Bugarama with rice plains and hills of Burundi

Another 1km drive, you turn the corner and there is Burundi opening up in front of you so you have this opportunity to experience 3 African Countries within a few minutes of each other.  The border crossing has just been built with brand new buildings, smart offices with computers, printers, shiny floor tiles (loads of kids were sliding across it as if it was a giant skating rink) and is, so we were told, a model for all the border crossings that will be in Rwanda on the borders of Burundi, DRC, Uganda and Tanzania.  Another example of how things are moving on here – wish they would do something to move on the visa application process.

Overlooking Ruzisi River and the DRC

Sunday we drove in the other direction to the Nyungwe Forest and a taste of luxury at the Nyungwe Forest Lodge Hotel that I had visited some months earlier with the Bishop.  It was a damp day but they had open fires, comfortable sofas and lots of books to read so we had a bit of a lazy Sunday afternoon and a nice lunch too – soup to start with proper bread rolls and butter!

The beauty of the Nyungwe Forest

I’ve asked Christian, a young lad who acts as my translator and guide, to give me Kinyarwanda lessons so we are going to start these this afternoon. He speaks very good English and has a two month break from school as students are now on their long holiday so we are going to spend a couple of hours each Saturday afternoon trying to improve my Kinyarwandan. I want to be able to try and engage in some proper conversations or, at least, try to make myself be understood.

Work at the guest house continues to keep me busy. Today is my first day off for a couple of weeks so a combination of not having had much time off and the stress of the visa application process had made me feel pretty exhausted.  Have planned a weekend away in a couple of weeks – going to Gahini located to the east of Rwanda, overlooking Lake Muhazi which has very different scenery to this area around Lake Kivu.  I’m visiting a South African couple who have been there, as missionaries, for some years and who I met when I came out in May – they are also good friends of Richard and Prilla who, themselves, lived in Gahini for 10 years in the 70’s and they are the reason for why I am here today.

As it will be a seven-hour drive by road, I am debating whether to get the bus to Kigali – a five-hour, fast drive or the more costly option of flying up to Kigali in thirty minutes and then a two-hour drive to Gahini.  I have to confess, I’ve not been on a public bus since I’ve been in Rwanda as, in the times I’ve been up and down to Kigali, I’ve either flown or been given a lift. 

I’ve decided I need to have these ‘treats’ from time to time, and not to feel guilty about it, and to be able to escape from here for a while.  It does feel, being here, that you are in a bubble and having to go through the forest, when you drive to Kigali which takes about an hour a half, makes you feel a bit cut off from the rest of Rwanda sometimes.

Life continues to have its challenges and frustrations. Sometimes I do feel this conflict that goes on between the Muzungu way of doing things and the Rwandese way that does, if I am honest, cause me some inner turmoil from time to time.  There’s a lot of process and administration involved in everything (as I am discovering from my visa application) and yesterday I had to get 4 cheques signed, for the guest house, by the Diocese and I worked out, with all the requisition forms and payment request forms and the cheques that needed signing by three people, including me, we ended up having 36 signatures!

It was then off to the bank to pay the monthly VAT and PAYE – 15^th of each month is the deadline date for all these payments and if you miss it you are heavily fined by the RRA (Rwanda Revenue Authority) with no questions asked.  Arriving at the bank, I discovered they were having network problems and couldn’t process the payments so, in between a another visit to the Immigration Office, stopping off at the guest house, visits back to the bank, staff lunch breaks, the payments were finally made in the afternoon at which point I decided to call it a day and headed to the house. It would  have just been my luck in trying to make these payments for the first time, they are usually done by Boniface in the guest house who looks after all the finances, I managed to get a fine for late payment.  And, they are quite large fines. I suppose the good thing is that being an unpaid volunteer, the Diocese couldn't deduct it from my salary!

If my visa is approved next week, then I have plans to have some work done on a house next door and move in by the end of the year.  Will be nice to create a ‘home’ whilst I am in Rwanda and to furnish it (you can get furniture made quite cheaply here) and to use of some of the lovely colourful African crafts - all those things that work here but never look quite right when you get them home. It will also be good to put some of my energy into a more practical and creative project.

I’ve spoken (or written) too soon about it being sunny and warm as it is now chucking it down and I've got to walk to town to get some shopping. Getting rains most days now and we are well and truly in the wet season but still get moments of sunshine and warmth.  Modeste has just sprayed the house with some foul smelling insect repellant so I think I’m stuck out on the terrace for a bit longer.

Back to the city

Rwandese dancers - no relevance to post but like to start with a picture!

Here I am back in Kigali, sooner than I’d planned. Decided it would be a good idea, or so I thought, to come up to the city to process my visa/permit application following my unsatisfactory attempt at trying to do it in Kamembe. Well, I am going back to Kamembe not having had much success in getting it done here either but now have a useful contact through my Rwandese brother, Charles Semwaga, who came to my rescue when I met him in Kigali following my visit to the Immigration Office.

When Charles starts off by saying “My brother, let me tell you something…”, I know some words of wisdom and advice are coming and they do.  Charles really understands how things work here and, perhaps more importantly, how the Rwandese and Muzungus relate to one another.  So it is a lesson for me, maybe a humbling one but just another thing I need to understand and learn as part of my journey here in Rwanda.

Having come back to this blog post to review and edit it, I have decided to change it as when I wrote it, yesterday in Kigali, it seemed to be a good excuse to have a rant about the frustrations I am going through to get my visa/permit sorted. Decided it makes rather boring reading and I am coming to accept, rather than just understand, there are reasons for why things are done here in the way they are so I really just have to stay patient, don’t get so indignant and don’t think things are going to change because I don’t like the fact that it could all be easier if they did things in a different way.

On a more positive note, coming to Kigali again I still marvel at the developments in the city.  Sitting in a new shopping centre on Friday afternoon, I just people watched and strolled around some of the new ‘designer’ stores – there’s even an Apple reseller now (the technology and not the fruit type!) and a number of fashion outlets selling very expensive clothes but without any shoppers and quite a few bored looking shop assistants. 

Christmas comes early to Kigali

Saturday was ‘Umuganda’ or community workday that takes place across the country on the last Saturday of each month. The public are required to do some practical work in their Umudugudu (not easy to say), a community sub-division of around 10 houses. Rwanda is made up of five provinces, with each province split into districts, then sectors (like Kamembe) and then cells, each run by either a governor, mayor, community leader, all the way down to an Umudugudu. The government has decentralised a lot of control to encourage people to take responsibility for their community and to work alongside one another.

Staff at Peace Guest House were busy working together on clearing and improving a small plot of land at the entrance. Some staff, who live outside the Guest House, have to be given letters to give to their community leaders to explain why they are not available to take part in Umuganda in their community so there are very strict rules and regulations.

Kigali, as a result, was deserted on Saturday with very little traffic on the roads and with security patrols checking cars and buses to see, I assume, why people were not doing Umuganda.

Saturday morning rush hour in Kigali!

Stopping & checking buses in Kigali

This week I will say goodbye to Tony, Daniele, Rob, Jan, Ian and Mary as they head back to the UK. Have just met a lovely young couple, Julie and Tim, from the UK – Tim is related to a couple in my church and Julie is here, in Rwanda, for a few months whilst Tim has come to visit.  They are just up the lake and came down for lunch at the Guest House – realise it is a small world.

I come across many interesting people who come to Rwanda to work in some form or another. It’s always interesting to find out what they are up to – I met one chap in Kigali who is going research into the SME (Small, Medium Enterprise) market here in Rwanda and why more SME businesses are not developing; sat next to a young Chinese man at the Immigration Office who is working here in the construction business whilst on my other side was a Chinese woman involved in solar panels.

Guest House annexe being built

I take the occasional look, over the wall of the Guest House, to see how work is progressing on the annexe being built.  The basement, or cave as they call it, has been built and I noticed, the other day, an army of casual workers (men and women) had arrived to help out. All the work on the annexe is done by hand, the slope of land was dug by hand which in itself is an amazing feat; the rocks, cement and sand were all brought onto the site by hand and there is no sight or sound or any mechanical digger or machinery of any kind. As usual, heads come in very useful!

Army of workers

Escape to the City

City colour

Arrived yesterday for a few days in Kigali – feel like the country boy coming, all wide-eyed into the big city.  Have come to see friends, Rob, Jan, Ian and Mary from Lewes who are here, in Rwanda, for a few weeks.

The longer I am in Rwanda, I am learning more about my ‘tiredness and time to have a break from Kamembe threshold’ so having a few days here, and seeing friends, is very timely.  Also discovering the joy of having hand delivered ‘goody-bags’ from home containing all sorts of things including shortbread, chocolate, marmalade, DVDs of some of the great US TV series that I never seem to had time to watch when I was in the UK, interdents (those little brushes for cleaning your teeth) and light bulbs!  And, cards too – something lovely about getting hand-written cards from home.

City dawn

Opened my bedroom door yesterday morning to discover English newspapers left there by Ian and Mary – first ones I have seen since coming back here, from the UK, after my break at beginning of August. Muesli for breakfast, a cappuccino and chocolate croissant, at Café Bourbon as well as a pizza in an Italian restaurant have all made me feel very satisfied.

I have been having a busy few weeks hence the gap in writing my blog. My work at the guesthouse continues to be varied and at moment battling with trying to put together 22 new staff job descriptions, contracts both in English and Kinyarwandan and taking into account the Rwandese Labour Laws.  I am also trying to introduce a personnel policy, implement a renovation programme across 14 of the 20 rooms and the dining room, keep an eye on the building progress of the new guesthouse annexe next door (took me two hours to fully understand what was actually being built after pouring over plans that didn’t make much sense), taking 3 English lessons a week for the staff, support the implementation of a micro-finance project, arrange visits from the UK for church and mission groups/visitors, set-up links between Rwandese and UK Schools, trying to arrange a cow to be donated to an island and trying to look at how the guest house can buy 1000 chickens, for the Diocese farm, so that we can get a regular supply of eggs and I can have my fried eggs for breakfast.

Despite the workload, I am enjoying it. I’m finding I’m drawing on all my years of work and business experience and the skills, that at time never seemed to be that appreciated or valued at home but here, even though I don’t get paid for what I do, the difference I feel I am able to make is all worth it.  Not just in my day-to-day work but also in other ways I am able to support people through preaching, listening when I have some late night visitors at the house who want to talk about problems they are facing.

No two days are the same. The other week I went for a meeting to the neighbouring Diocese of Kigeme, a two and half drive through the Nyungwe Forest.  Quite a hard journey when you do it once in a day but even harder when you do it twice but coming back the sun was going down, in some places we were above cloud level daily so quite breathtaking. The public buses that come down each day, from Kigali, drive through the forest at quite a fast speed, despite the twists and turns in the roads, the ascents and descents and the potholes  – not easy if you suffer from travel sickness and I hear that some of the Rwandese passengers throw up and even start to cry as the journey through the forest goes on and on and they fear going to this strange land on the other side.

Driving back from Kigeme through Nyungwe

I am also experiencing the extremes of Rwandese hospitality – from the good to the bad. When the rains come, you don’t always get a lot of warning and the other Saturday, I got caught in town when the heavens opened and the couple of Rwandans I was with ran for cover into someone’s house.  We ended up sitting in a rather dark but large sitting room with sofas and armchairs and when my eyes had adjusted to the light, I noticed a man sitting on one of the sofas. I assumed, the people I was with, knew the family but they didn’t – it’s just what you do here, run into a stranger’s house for shelter!

Can you imagine this happening in the UK?  You’d be lucky if someone opened up their door let alone let you in and if they did you’d need to have CRB check. Bernadette, one of the Rwandans I was with, then lay on one of the sofas and went to sleep and it didn’t take long for all the children to appear and the elderly grandmother brought in to see the muzungu in their sitting room.  Once it stopped raining, we just upped and went - a wonderful example of Rwandese hospitality.

At the other end of the scale, I have just started the process of applying for my work/permit visa – have just over four weeks before my permitted time of being allowed here for 3 months comes to an end.  Admit I have started the process rather late and after my visit to the local Immigration Office, earlier this week, I am wishing I should have started it earlier.

The immigration website says it only takes 5 days so I was thinking that was fine except when I visited the office and was faced with bureaucracy and officialdom at its worse, I know the application process is going to take much longer. Admitting I had been here since May, although with a three week break to return the UK in the summer, I was accused of working illegally and was told I would have to pay fine of RWF200k (around £200). I was then told my police clearance papers were out of date and that I needed to produce certificates for my educational qualifications taken nearly 40 years ago.  I can just about remember what ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels I got, let alone what grades I got and not even sure if I still have the certificates and, if I do, they are likely to be in boxes in storage in the UK.

Patronising, condescending, unfriendly, officious are some of the words that came to mind but I thought I was very restrained, stayed calm and patient and realised, had I been in this situation when I first arrived in Rwanda, I probably would have stuck two fingers up at them, walked out of the office and got the first plane home.

Anyway, the process continues and I need to spend the next few days re-writing my CV, compiling a very nice application letter and making sure I have everything in place so that the application can be processed although it may involve coming back to Kigali to get it sorted. Not sure what happens if I don’t get the visa/permit in place by 12^th November (deadline date) – may have to come home for a while, go to Uganda for a time or pay a fine.  Calling on support from people here to help me go through the process so watch this space.

Early morning at Peace Guest House

Following a lull in the heavy rains, these are now back. My stays for a few days in the week at the guesthouse, to avoid the evening heavy rains and a difficult walk home, allow me to attend a staff worship session at 7am each morning. All the staff meet to worship and pray before the day – they have lovely voices accompanied by an African drum, someone knocking together two pieces of wood and shaking some metal boxes that make the sound of maracas. I find it humbling that they come together and share some of their problems – sickness, difficulties in the family and on days, when the guesthouse is quiet, they pray for guests and then give thanks when guests start to arrive. They make me feel really welcome and always expect the ‘General Manager’ to say something and I love the sense of togetherness that we have in the morning slot irrespective of our roles and positions.

I continue to learn about the Rwandese every day as much as I try to learn more about myself.  Yes, I still have moments of frustration but I am getting much better of dealing with these and just learn to be more patient.  The reality is that everything just takes longer – going to the bank and waiting in the queue although sometimes the muzungu gets preferential treatment and is taken to the front of the queue which people don’t seem to mind about although I am the first to speak out if I see someone queue jumping.  Trying to buy electricity is an effort, particularly when you realise the meter has almost run out despite recently topping it with enough money to run the national grid only to discover the network is down and you have to wait for a few hours before they text you the code to tap into your meter.

Anyway, enjoying the city experience, meeting both my muzungu and Rwandese friends as well as seeing Enock, a lovely Ugandan young guy, who came to spend a year in Lewes a while back. City life is so different from the poorer rural areas that you could be in two different countries. The desire for designer brands is growing here, evident by a lady sitting in front of me in church this morning with a rather large Prada handbag. A few years ago, global brands were virtually non-existent here but today they are a sign of growing wealth and prosperity here in Kigali – hard to reconcile with some of the very poor people and families I come across in the southwest of the country.

Sign of development in Kigali

On Tuesday, will leave the city and start the five-hour drive back through the forest to that strange, but lovely land beyond that has become my home.

Man of many hats

Say "cheese!"

Of the many hats I am wearing, I now find myself wearing one as an English teacher. Think a lot of people here assume I am a teacher as they shout out in the morning, as I walk to work, “Good morning teacher”. The staff in the guesthouse were very keen to learn to speak English, or improve the skills they have, so I have started to give them lessons each week.  At first, there were just a few who wanted to come along but now I have almost all of the 23 staff who want to learn, plus a few from outside, so having to do a few classes.

As is the rote learning culture here, the moment you write something on a blackboard, or in my case on a wonky flipchart, everyone frantically copies everything down. At the same time, I’m getting them to teach me Kinyarwandan which is slowly coming along – I told them that all English tourists always want to know where the toilet is so now I have the staff going around saying “Good morning, where is the toilet?” or in my case “Maramutse, umusarane urihe?” – ‘umusarane’ is the word for toilet, you never know it may come in useful one day.

Flipchart paper showing the workings of a Rwandese mind - and I wonder why I struggle!
(Apologies to the author but I love this)

The heavy rains are now becoming more frequent. As I sit here, writing this on the terrace, I can see the clouds building up over the DRC, on the other side of Lake Kivu, knowing the thunder and rain will be here this evening.  This is usually accompanied by power cuts – not easy when you are in the middle of a Skype video call or the rain on the tin roof is so loud I cannot hear what the person 4,000 miles away is saying.

The change of weather has also brought out many more insects.  The challenge for me now is getting into the house, in the evening, before the mosquitoes do and I now regularly check out around the house to see what insects are around and remembering to check inside the bed and also the inside of my shoes before I put them on.  Often in the evening I will be sitting there and see something, out of the corner of my eye, scurrying across the floor.

Useful parcel from home - thanks Charlotte!

And with the rain comes the mud and now getting sense of how hard it becomes when this thick, red mud just gets everywhere.  I still can’t work out how the Rwandans manage to keep their clothes looking so clean whilst my trousers get covered.

Have decided to spend a few nights each week at the guesthouse and use the house just for the weekends.  The journey back in the evening, now the rains are here, is getting increasingly difficult and I still struggle with the long dark nights on my own in the house so having some evenings at the guesthouse will give me some company and opportunity to watch some TV in the restaurant even if it only football – can see I will have to commandeer the remote!

Looking forward to the company of some muzungu visitors during the months of October and November - people I know from England so it will be good to share some conversations over dinner.  I’m finding now that as I am out here for longer communication from home becomes less. I know we all have busy lives and even here I am finding time is going quickly, October soon and then Christmas just around the corner.  Will be my first ever Christmas (can't believe I am taking about Christmas) away from England but looking forward to experiencing a Rwandan one – have volunteered myself to help them organise an English carol service with a nativity – what do they say about never work with children or animals?!  Anyway, watch this space.

Wash day

Modeste, one of the guards, is busy doing one of his mega cleans inside the house. Most of the furniture is outside on the terrace, my washing all over the grass and hanging up to dry getting ready to be ironed.

Can now hear the distant rumble of thunder so rain may be here earlier than expected – Modeste get that washing in!

Lunch with Harry Secombe

Harry, Madonna & Child!

A couple of Saturday’s ago Andre, one of my security guards, brought one of his children, Adorufe, to the house to keep watch over it (and me) whilst he went to the bank in town. I have to confess, I was unsure if Adorufe was a boy or a girl as they all have their hair cut short. Adorufe sat on a chair, on the lawn in front of the house, as I did a few chores and when I got my laptop out to check emails seated at the table, on the terrace, Adorufe came over and sat next to me to watch what I was doing. We then became the best of friends, I gave him/her a drink and a toasted cheese sandwich and then he/she had a long sleep on the terrace sofa – Andre ended up being away for most of the day so Adorufe, who speaks some English, told me about his/her family, writing all their names out for me and when Andre, finally, came back he invited me to visit his family.

On Sunday afternoon, I found myself sitting in their house staring at album covers of Harry Secombe on their wall after walking an hour and a half with Christian, the son of Leocardie who lives near to me, as a guide and translator. Arriving at Andre’s house, looking over Lake Kivu, I realised I had been there some years ago to visit him and his family. They live in a typical rural Rwandese house – timber frame, mud lined walls and tin roof. Small considering a family of 8 live there along with their cow and goat – not quite in their living room but almost.

Andre's living room

As is the Rwandese custom, you can’t just go and visit a family without them extending hospitality in a form of a meal and a Fanta so a lunch of rice, pasta, vegetables and potatoes was quickly produced. It’s hard to sit there and not compare how they live to how we do in the U.K. – no comfortable furniture, carpets on the floor, plasma television, fitted kitchen but just some very basic wooden furniture, bricks on the floor, a kitchen that is no more than a fire on the floor and the ‘drop’ toilet or pit latrine. Andre had a cassette player, powered by large car-battery, playing some Rwandese music – when he’s at my house, he’s fascinated by my laptop playing music on iTunes or via the BBC website and he will often sit outside my window, on one of the terrace chairs and listen to what is being played.

On the walls are anything they can find, hence the pictures of Harry Secombe – tried to find out from Andre if he knew who Harry Secombe was, explaining he was a famous Welsh singer and a member of the Goons but he had no idea who he was – trying to explain who the Goons were wasn’t easy either.

As we ate lunch, the children were out at the back eating theirs and were then brought in to be introduced all sitting on a long bench in front of me. First born Olive (17), twins Dorothina & Adorufe (15), Doroteya (10), Olivye (7) and last born Fororonste (5). Rwandese names are quite confusing as they don’t seem to have the same family name - their first name is like our surname but they take different names and then their second name is like our Christian name that many take only when they are baptised.  Andre’s first name is MUVYEKKULE whilst his wife’s first name is MUKANTAGWABIRA and one of their child’s name is KYIMPAYE – when they introduce themselves, you get the long first name followed by the Christian name which comes out as one long word so sometimes hard to work out what their Christian name is.

The Muzungu visitor

Andre earns around £20.00 per month, an average wage for Rwanda, walks from his house to mine every day in sun and rain for night security duty. They have a big plot of land, outside their house, so grow staple crops that will feed their family and may also provide produce they can sell in the market or to neighbours.  I think I may have said this before but people here never complain about their lives or their circumstances even though in Andre’s house, the rain leaks through their roof and probably comes through the house under the doors, there is no electricity for lights and the house is very dark even in the day.

Back before the rain

After a false start last week, with the heavy rain, we went through a few days of hot and dry weather but the rain started again over the weekend and a loud clap of thunder meant we had to make a prompt departure, from Andre’s, for a quick walk to the nearest village to get a couple of MoTos (motor bike taxis) so we could get back before the rains came.  Driving past the lake you could see the rains coming across and managed to get back before the heavens opened.

Heavy rains change the landscape as vegetation slowly turn back to green and views across the lake become clearer opening up panoramas I’ve not seen before.  Still getting some spectacular sunsets and, after a day in the office, I enjoy a walk back to the house along the lake stopping to enjoy the wonderful views and stunning scenery.  After being here a while now, it’s very easy to take it all for granted so I make myself stop and just take it all in and try not to take too many photos.

Singing in the rain...

The heavy rains have started right on cue and I do mean heavy.  Deluge on Saturday night resulting in loss of electricity and water in house and now, on Monday, another deluge and this is just the start of it.

This morning's rain outside my office

I can see how the rains change the pattern of daily life as people just stop and wait until the rain has cleared. The next few months are going to be challenging but I know the conditions for many here get very tough so I feel blessed to be living in a good house free (I hope) from a leaking roof.

I realise how varied my weeks are becoming and how I’m amused (most of the time) with things I see walking around, the people I meet and the things that happen during the course of my day. Rather than ramble on, I thought I’d post a few photos to show what I mean - some of these have appeared on my Facebook page so apologies if you see them twice.  What I write and show on this blog isn’t to make fun of anyone or anything but just to show, at times, the lighter side of life here.

'Preacher Man is back on the road'

 With The Bishop in another rural church festooned with toilet paper!

Mamas & Papas launch their latest pram in Rwanda

Walking to work the other morning I came across these kids being pushed along in a wheelbarrow,

Spot the rogue Chinese man

On Saturday a local choir came to the guesthouse to take photos and record a video.  Look closely and you can see a Chinese man, staying at the guesthouse, got himself into the picture.

Bad hair day!

It always amazes me what they carry on their heads.

Dancing Bishop

First time I’ve seen a dancing Bishop. Wonderful service at another rural church yesterday. 

New logo

This week I’ve been appointed  General Manager of the guesthouse.  First job was to authorise the purchase of 3 toilet seats.  On a more business like note, have also had a lovely new logo designed by a designer friend of mine in the UK and representing the start of good things to come for the guesthouse including a lot more guests!

Robbie

On a sadder note, I heard on Sunday night that my daughter’s dog, Robbie, a lovely West Highland Terrier suddenly collapsed and died at the weekend.  He was 13 and such a lovely dog who I looked after on many occasions ever since he was a puppy and who always made a fuss of me when I visited Jenny in London. I know we muzungus get very attached to our pets that live with us through the happy and sad times of our lives but remain faithful and constant companions.

The next (or new?) chapter

Home from home

Have now been back in Rwanda for almost two weeks, after my three weeks spent in the UK. Into my routine of working at the guest house, my daily walk up and down to the office, hearing the cries of ‘mzungu’ from the children and getting used again to the nights getting dark at 6.30pm.

Coming back to Rwanda has felt like the next chapter or possibly a new one?  I left, to come home, feeling tired after my initial three months but, on reflection, I came out tired after packing-up the house and all the things I needed to do before I came. Also, there was a lot of emotion to deal with – saying goodbye to family, friends and Jasper (my faithful four legged friend) who, I have to say, on seeing him when I came home seemed blissfully happy in his new home.

I did let the tiredness and frustration build up but the two-week mission-training course I did has helped hugely. It was great to be amongst other people who are doing similar crazy things with their lives too and going off to places including Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Spain, Malta, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and China. 

I feel I have come back with a different mind-set, more relaxed (I know it’s early days!) and, perhaps, more of a sense that I belong here or I can get to belong here. Connecting more with everyone I am working with and meeting and also being more ‘intentional’ in making a home here and developing deeper and more meaningful friendships.

There is a sense here of a change coming from the dry to the wet season. The land has been prepared with fields and plots dug over so everything, mainly due to the lack of rain, is looking very brown and dry and so different from other times of the year when the countryside is so very green and lush.  I suppose it feels like an English September, when we have an Indian summer, still very warm but with the evenings drawing in but knowing a change of seasons is underway. Everyone tells me that the rains that come are very heavy so I think I could be in for an interesting and muddy time.

Getting ready for the rains

The Diocese has started an English service at 8am on Sunday so it’s good to be able to go to church here and actually understand something. Spent yesterday morning in a three-hour meeting, with staff from Diocese, that was conducted, understandably, in Kinywarwandan with bits of it translated for me but I can see the need for language lessons being a number one priority.

Short-cut to the shops!

Been into town this morning, not my favorite of experiences, to do a bit of shopping taking the short-cut (coming down is even harder!) and managed to buy some amagi ga-antandatu (six eggs), using my limited Kinyarwandan. Did come away with six eggs but think I may have paid mzungu prices! I buy eggs from a place in town where they come to sell all the live chickens but not at the stage yet where I think I can buy one as used to them being oven ready!

Some for the pot

More musings next week.

P.S. Click on images to see them full size.