September 8th, 2010
Today is our third day in Rwanda. It is 7:47am and the team has just headed off to work for the day. I have stayed behind a few minutes to organize my budget and our teams day. As I reflect over the past few days I am not sure how exactly I am feeling. This trip has been over a year in the making for me and having previously been here, at a different project, I feel overwhelmed with emotions. My first time as the Team Leader places a unique spin on my role in the group and I have to say I am enjoying it. The team that I have is absolutely incredible. I am proud to have 14 such hardworking, dedicated and caring individuals to share this experience with. I was originally worried about having three 17 year olds in the group…however, they have blown me away with their positive attitudes and playful nature. Their energy warms the group. One member has been suffering with back pain. This has not slowed her down once, she works so hard and stays so positive I am humbled by her. On the job site yesterday each person quickly picked up a shovel, wheeled wheel barrows, heisted boards to the roof and sawed logs without a moments hesitation. One member is even teaching English to the Covaga basket weavers – to help them learn to communicate with future customers. Overall, I am deeply amazed with this team!
It is a strange feeling coming back to Rwanda for a second time. Flying into Kigali I felt déjà vu arriving into the same airport, filling out customs forms and anxiously waiting, and praying, that our bags all arrive – and they did! Greeting Lama in the arrivals area I was grinning ear-to-ear. His warm smile, patient/laid-back nature and good heart reminded me of one of the many reasons why I fell so in love with Rwanda last year. Even better, Claudine, Lama’s girlfriend, is here to work with us. She is from Brundi and speaks English very well. It is like having two Lama’s! Leaving the airport I was also reminded how warm Rwandan’s are. A simple greeting of “Bete” will always spark a big smile from women, children or men who quickly thank you and in Kinyirwanda ask you how you are. I also remember how safe I feel here. There are no swarms of locals trying to sell you things. The country feels very peaceful. Despite the hundreds of people that fill the streets in this tiny overcrowded country – they seem to peacefully interact and go about their business.
On the worksite the locals welcome us. They seem very connected to this project. The Covaga Cooperative of women have elected officials who democratically make decisions for their cooperative. They will help out on the project in their beautiful traditional dresses and some even have babies tied to their back. The project works together with the Green Helmets who teach skilled trades to locals at the Nelson Mandela Education Centre just a few minutes away. Their students are working on their practicum and come to work with us each day. They can communicate in broken English which makes communication an easier job for us. On the job site there is hard work, laughter and pride. At one point we made two long assembly lines to pass tiles off a truck into a pile. The teamwork was impressive and the locals shouted out in Kinyirwanda “Go Development! Go Covaga! Go Development! Go Covaga” over and over. It was amazing!
Overall, I am humbled by this experience. I am inspired by my group, and I feel so much love for Rwanda and these remarkable people. This is all I have time to write now as I must get off to work.
Shannon Ritchie
DWC Team Leader
Rwanda 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Gashora, Rwanda: First day on the project with the community
I am so excited for this day is our first day on the Covaga Innovation Project in Gashora, Rwanda. We are up early, eating a good breakfast omelets, potatoes, cornflakes, fruit and coffee, Merv & I didn’t have a clue what we would be doing today but it was going to amazing that’s for sure. We headed down the dirt road (the earth is very red in color here and they have trees that look like cactus, we stay at the La Palisse Hotel where there is rooms that are modest with a bed and may-be a dresser every room has a mosquito net but the mosquitoes aren’t bad so far...We have toilets to share and showers as well with the best cold water that trickles from the shower head but OHHHH so appreciated after lots of dirt and sawdust on us.
We all walked down the dirt road to our work site ,which is about a 20 minute walk along the way we met many beautiful little children, they were all ages, so excited to see the Muzungu which is the name they say for white person. Some wear shoes like crocs, most still bare feet. They all came running up to us shaking hands, asking our names and loving it when we take there pictures. They laugh and giggle and when we take their pictures we can show them on the digital camera, they are always posing. Despite what these children’s families have gone through when the genocide took place in 1994 these children are very happy with what they have they are truly amazing, Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit the genocide museum in Kigali it broke our hearts so much to absorb, seeing the children, and the human bones brought tears to my eyes how senseless the killing and torture to women men and children of Rwanda was. Merv and I feel so privileged just to be here sharing in there lives a life determined to rebuild to include, family, love , laughter and education. We are thankful for so much we take for granted in our own daily lives...
Once at the site there were groups of people gathered many women ,men, and children very happy to see us shaking our hands, smiling introducing themselves, both of us saying our names to each other they wear the most beautiful bright colors, with dress and shawls, they also wear clothes we know have been donated like the Wendys’ soccer (football to them) shirts in bright yellow and purple and say Kamloops on them, how neat was that to see.
There mode of transportation for most is by bicycle, they carry each other, water, chickens, benches, anything they need to transport they do, as well as just for the pleasure, as vehicles are expensive and no one can afford them. The bicycles are older, with carrying racks and often big adult ones not small ones but the children readily adapt and zoom everywhere with them. When we arrived on site we had a group of men introduce themselves who were going to direct us and keep the project flowing. The structure of the centre is built of brick and today we were putting the frame up for the roof. This was hard to believe everything done by ropes and people power it is always a team effort we really helped there today everyone jumping in. We also dug a ditch with a pic axe and shovel good old manual labor but it felt so good and so right with everyone working together . Sad note on that was we had to fill it in because the authorities changed there mind where it should be placed. And another big hole had to be dug.
One of the most shocking things for most of us who went to the toilet was the kind of toilet it was an outhouse with a steel hole shaped like a key hole with two feet on it which you squatted down to do your business on you pack your own toilet paper or Kleenex because you never know if there will be any! Wish the kids could see this !!!
Merv found his grove with the guys and he took to the wheelbarrow hauling the dirt away, helping with the lifting of boards and enjoying the children which were many. I am so proud of him for coming on this trip. He too thought about how we take for granted in life that we have all the tools, and trucks available at home to make a job like this so easy here they have been working on this for 5 months and they are just at the roof the final stages which they hope to finish while we are here to help.
During the day we work, take a banana break, walk back to our hotel for a hot lunch, walk back ,to work, have another banana break which usually women deliver to us in a basket and these bananas are grown in nearby plantations. Just before the end of the day the tiles showed up in a big truck to do the roof and it was amazing we had women, with babies on the back, all of us, men workers, young boys, pitch in and pass the tiles to each other until that big truck was emptied the Rwandans love to sing and laugh and they did as we passed the tiles it was what Developing World Connections is all about even though we don’t speak the same language we are still connecting, people helping people.
I was so happy, I got to talk to the different woman who weave there baskets, and I also purchased some to bring home, I got to work shoveling dirt in making a trench, I got to have a lot of fun working with Peter (He will be graduating from his trade in carpentry he is very excited) who directed Ruth, Jenn, & I with the carpentry skills of using tools to cut, and shave the wood, measure and pile it back. It was great fun and we could tell he enjoyed teaching us. I got to hold a beautiful baby today, he was so cuddly and happy we all made him laugh and he giggled and we all melted. His mother was proud to share him with us. It is very important to Rwandans to have children and they think it is very sad if you don’t have any, they often ask you that question.
Merv and I just are so happy to be here and we are so Super happy Shannon and Lama have worked so hard to give us this amazing experience. Everyone should one day!
Ardell Fedorchuk
DWC Participants
Rwanda 2010
We all walked down the dirt road to our work site ,which is about a 20 minute walk along the way we met many beautiful little children, they were all ages, so excited to see the Muzungu which is the name they say for white person. Some wear shoes like crocs, most still bare feet. They all came running up to us shaking hands, asking our names and loving it when we take there pictures. They laugh and giggle and when we take their pictures we can show them on the digital camera, they are always posing. Despite what these children’s families have gone through when the genocide took place in 1994 these children are very happy with what they have they are truly amazing, Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit the genocide museum in Kigali it broke our hearts so much to absorb, seeing the children, and the human bones brought tears to my eyes how senseless the killing and torture to women men and children of Rwanda was. Merv and I feel so privileged just to be here sharing in there lives a life determined to rebuild to include, family, love , laughter and education. We are thankful for so much we take for granted in our own daily lives...
Once at the site there were groups of people gathered many women ,men, and children very happy to see us shaking our hands, smiling introducing themselves, both of us saying our names to each other they wear the most beautiful bright colors, with dress and shawls, they also wear clothes we know have been donated like the Wendys’ soccer (football to them) shirts in bright yellow and purple and say Kamloops on them, how neat was that to see.
There mode of transportation for most is by bicycle, they carry each other, water, chickens, benches, anything they need to transport they do, as well as just for the pleasure, as vehicles are expensive and no one can afford them. The bicycles are older, with carrying racks and often big adult ones not small ones but the children readily adapt and zoom everywhere with them. When we arrived on site we had a group of men introduce themselves who were going to direct us and keep the project flowing. The structure of the centre is built of brick and today we were putting the frame up for the roof. This was hard to believe everything done by ropes and people power it is always a team effort we really helped there today everyone jumping in. We also dug a ditch with a pic axe and shovel good old manual labor but it felt so good and so right with everyone working together . Sad note on that was we had to fill it in because the authorities changed there mind where it should be placed. And another big hole had to be dug.
One of the most shocking things for most of us who went to the toilet was the kind of toilet it was an outhouse with a steel hole shaped like a key hole with two feet on it which you squatted down to do your business on you pack your own toilet paper or Kleenex because you never know if there will be any! Wish the kids could see this !!!
Merv found his grove with the guys and he took to the wheelbarrow hauling the dirt away, helping with the lifting of boards and enjoying the children which were many. I am so proud of him for coming on this trip. He too thought about how we take for granted in life that we have all the tools, and trucks available at home to make a job like this so easy here they have been working on this for 5 months and they are just at the roof the final stages which they hope to finish while we are here to help.
During the day we work, take a banana break, walk back to our hotel for a hot lunch, walk back ,to work, have another banana break which usually women deliver to us in a basket and these bananas are grown in nearby plantations. Just before the end of the day the tiles showed up in a big truck to do the roof and it was amazing we had women, with babies on the back, all of us, men workers, young boys, pitch in and pass the tiles to each other until that big truck was emptied the Rwandans love to sing and laugh and they did as we passed the tiles it was what Developing World Connections is all about even though we don’t speak the same language we are still connecting, people helping people.
I was so happy, I got to talk to the different woman who weave there baskets, and I also purchased some to bring home, I got to work shoveling dirt in making a trench, I got to have a lot of fun working with Peter (He will be graduating from his trade in carpentry he is very excited) who directed Ruth, Jenn, & I with the carpentry skills of using tools to cut, and shave the wood, measure and pile it back. It was great fun and we could tell he enjoyed teaching us. I got to hold a beautiful baby today, he was so cuddly and happy we all made him laugh and he giggled and we all melted. His mother was proud to share him with us. It is very important to Rwandans to have children and they think it is very sad if you don’t have any, they often ask you that question.
Merv and I just are so happy to be here and we are so Super happy Shannon and Lama have worked so hard to give us this amazing experience. Everyone should one day!
Ardell Fedorchuk
DWC Participants
Rwanda 2010
Gashora, Rwanda: The journey getting there
It’s 2:30 am Rwandan time, on Monday morning, September 6th. We are 9 hrs ahead of BC time and we are spending our first night in Kigali before we head to Gashora later today. It’s the first time I’ve slept with a mosquito net over the bed, but so far the mosquitos haven’t been too bad from what we can tell. That will likely change when we go to Gashora which is by a lake that has hippos and crocs in it. No swimming here!
We arrived into Kigali at about 3:00 pm Sunday, September 5th. It was a very long 2 days worth of travel from Kamloops, which started on Friday, September 3rd at noon. The flight into Kigali reminded me very much of flying into Kamloops – it looked very similar. We were greeted in Kigali with every single bag in much better shape than expected. It was with great joy that we saw every bag make the journey safely and all 15 of us team members had all of our clothes and donations without anything missing! I understand this is quite remarkable – especially considering the Air Canada reps in Kamloops found flight discrepancies between our tickets and the airline schedule!
Lana, myself and Shannon left Kamloops to Vancouver and met up there with Marlene, Jen, Ruth, Ardel, Merv, Kelsey, and Lauren. We then flew 9+ hours to London throughout the night. Sleep came difficult. I felt like I was Air Canada’s personal pill pusher as I distributed little blue sleeping pills amongst the team members. We got to London on time, but all quite weary from a long, sleepless night. We met up with Sarah, Mirae and Amy (all from Vancouver). We didn’t want to miss any opportunity though to explore London while on a 10 hour layover, so we checked our carry on into lockers and took the tube, or the “underground” and rode to Picadilly Circus.
We promptly went for some traditional English fish n’ chips and beer and although it was lunch time in England, it was only 3:30 or 4:00 am back home. Yum – fish n’ chips for breakfast!!! After some fuel, we went and did a whirl wind sightseeing tour to Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Big Ben and just enjoyed the architecture and people of London until it was time to take the tube back to the airport for the next leg of the trip – another overnight flight to Ethiopia (7 hrs +). This flight wasn’t quite as comfortable and I’ve gotten quite spoiled to the newer planes with individual tv monitors. This plane was quite old and the attendants were kind enough to brighten the lights and feed us dinner at about 1:30 am. Once in Ethiopia, we went for a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs, orange juice, toast and jam, and coffee – from a wonderful espresso machine with steamed milk! The best sight I’d seen all day. Plates upon plates of toasted baguette came to the table. There must have been 6 or 7 loaves sliced up. A lot of bread!!! It sure tasted amazing and the coffee was fantastic. However, after the one pot of steamed milk and one coffee each, it seemed like they ran out when we asked for more. We laughed about them having to go milk a goat. Which may have actually happened, because when we asked another waiter about 30 minutes later, he was kind enough to bring us some steamed milk and more coffee.
I used my first squat toilet in the Ethiopian airport. It was very clean, and it was right beside the female prayer room. There was this cool tub in the bathroom which I assumed was to wash your feet before praying. I found out later the other washrooms in the airport were western style toilets, but they always had line ups, and the very clean squat toilet didn’t, so it was all good.
One more flight – last flight of the day to Kigali. Just a short skip and a hop of 2.5 hrs. However, there was an unknown stop in Uganda for about an hour. Oh well, by this time although we were all antsy to get to our final destination, there is not much that can be done, so we just chilled. We flew into Kigali during a major rain burst ( it is the rainy season and it certainly has rained the past couple of days), but it was beautiful. As I mentioned, despite the cynicism, all bags arrived in tact so it was cause for celebration. Lama and Claudine met us with a little truck and it took two trips to load all of our luggage and us to the hotel. It’s a good thing half the luggage was donations or it would have been awfully embarrassing! In Rwanda, we met up with our final team members – Warren from England and Karol from France.
The first impression of Rwanda was amazing – very clean. I didn’t see any garbage or litter and Lama told us that the use of plastic bags was illegal in the country (hence why they took them away from us when they saw us in the airport). Pretty proactive for a country such as Rwanda I’d say.
We checked into La Palisse – fancy on Rwanda terms and in our terms probably a 2 star hotel. However, it was clean, the thought of sleeping horizontally on a bed was very appealing by this time, and the best part……hot showers!!! We were so delighted to have hot showers after that long journey and we were all incredibly happy and content by this time. We cleaned up, went to exchange some money and then to a fantastic Moroccan restaurant. PS. Forgot to tell you that before we went to the restaurant, we were out and a few of us girls had to go to the washroom – we went and used the public washroom and when we came out discovered we had to pay 100 francs…that’s about .25 cents and obviously well worth it.
Anyway, back to the Moroccan restaurant – it was down the road from “Hotel Rwanda” and it was fantastic. We sat outdoors in the most beautiful outdoor setting with a ton of lights and candles hanging from trees, on tables, etc. Most expensive meal was 5600 francs which is about $12. It was absolutely fantastic. Shannon is spoiling us – she keeps needing to remind us that this will change soon as we get to Gashora. After eating, we were intending to go get supplies and water from the market, but after a full stomach, we were all exhausted. It was a long 2 days, we are very content and tomorrow will bring a full day doing our orientation, going to the genocide museum which will be an emotional experience prior to leaving for Gashora. It is also the presidential inauguration in Kigali with 15 heads of African states in attendance, so I’m sure tomorrow will be a very exciting, full day filled with excitement and new memories.
Now, it’s time to go back to sleep prior to an early start……good night!
Lisa Fuller
DWC Participant
Rwanda 2010
We arrived into Kigali at about 3:00 pm Sunday, September 5th. It was a very long 2 days worth of travel from Kamloops, which started on Friday, September 3rd at noon. The flight into Kigali reminded me very much of flying into Kamloops – it looked very similar. We were greeted in Kigali with every single bag in much better shape than expected. It was with great joy that we saw every bag make the journey safely and all 15 of us team members had all of our clothes and donations without anything missing! I understand this is quite remarkable – especially considering the Air Canada reps in Kamloops found flight discrepancies between our tickets and the airline schedule!
Lana, myself and Shannon left Kamloops to Vancouver and met up there with Marlene, Jen, Ruth, Ardel, Merv, Kelsey, and Lauren. We then flew 9+ hours to London throughout the night. Sleep came difficult. I felt like I was Air Canada’s personal pill pusher as I distributed little blue sleeping pills amongst the team members. We got to London on time, but all quite weary from a long, sleepless night. We met up with Sarah, Mirae and Amy (all from Vancouver). We didn’t want to miss any opportunity though to explore London while on a 10 hour layover, so we checked our carry on into lockers and took the tube, or the “underground” and rode to Picadilly Circus.
We promptly went for some traditional English fish n’ chips and beer and although it was lunch time in England, it was only 3:30 or 4:00 am back home. Yum – fish n’ chips for breakfast!!! After some fuel, we went and did a whirl wind sightseeing tour to Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Big Ben and just enjoyed the architecture and people of London until it was time to take the tube back to the airport for the next leg of the trip – another overnight flight to Ethiopia (7 hrs +). This flight wasn’t quite as comfortable and I’ve gotten quite spoiled to the newer planes with individual tv monitors. This plane was quite old and the attendants were kind enough to brighten the lights and feed us dinner at about 1:30 am. Once in Ethiopia, we went for a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs, orange juice, toast and jam, and coffee – from a wonderful espresso machine with steamed milk! The best sight I’d seen all day. Plates upon plates of toasted baguette came to the table. There must have been 6 or 7 loaves sliced up. A lot of bread!!! It sure tasted amazing and the coffee was fantastic. However, after the one pot of steamed milk and one coffee each, it seemed like they ran out when we asked for more. We laughed about them having to go milk a goat. Which may have actually happened, because when we asked another waiter about 30 minutes later, he was kind enough to bring us some steamed milk and more coffee.
I used my first squat toilet in the Ethiopian airport. It was very clean, and it was right beside the female prayer room. There was this cool tub in the bathroom which I assumed was to wash your feet before praying. I found out later the other washrooms in the airport were western style toilets, but they always had line ups, and the very clean squat toilet didn’t, so it was all good.
One more flight – last flight of the day to Kigali. Just a short skip and a hop of 2.5 hrs. However, there was an unknown stop in Uganda for about an hour. Oh well, by this time although we were all antsy to get to our final destination, there is not much that can be done, so we just chilled. We flew into Kigali during a major rain burst ( it is the rainy season and it certainly has rained the past couple of days), but it was beautiful. As I mentioned, despite the cynicism, all bags arrived in tact so it was cause for celebration. Lama and Claudine met us with a little truck and it took two trips to load all of our luggage and us to the hotel. It’s a good thing half the luggage was donations or it would have been awfully embarrassing! In Rwanda, we met up with our final team members – Warren from England and Karol from France.
The first impression of Rwanda was amazing – very clean. I didn’t see any garbage or litter and Lama told us that the use of plastic bags was illegal in the country (hence why they took them away from us when they saw us in the airport). Pretty proactive for a country such as Rwanda I’d say.
We checked into La Palisse – fancy on Rwanda terms and in our terms probably a 2 star hotel. However, it was clean, the thought of sleeping horizontally on a bed was very appealing by this time, and the best part……hot showers!!! We were so delighted to have hot showers after that long journey and we were all incredibly happy and content by this time. We cleaned up, went to exchange some money and then to a fantastic Moroccan restaurant. PS. Forgot to tell you that before we went to the restaurant, we were out and a few of us girls had to go to the washroom – we went and used the public washroom and when we came out discovered we had to pay 100 francs…that’s about .25 cents and obviously well worth it.
Anyway, back to the Moroccan restaurant – it was down the road from “Hotel Rwanda” and it was fantastic. We sat outdoors in the most beautiful outdoor setting with a ton of lights and candles hanging from trees, on tables, etc. Most expensive meal was 5600 francs which is about $12. It was absolutely fantastic. Shannon is spoiling us – she keeps needing to remind us that this will change soon as we get to Gashora. After eating, we were intending to go get supplies and water from the market, but after a full stomach, we were all exhausted. It was a long 2 days, we are very content and tomorrow will bring a full day doing our orientation, going to the genocide museum which will be an emotional experience prior to leaving for Gashora. It is also the presidential inauguration in Kigali with 15 heads of African states in attendance, so I’m sure tomorrow will be a very exciting, full day filled with excitement and new memories.
Now, it’s time to go back to sleep prior to an early start……good night!
Lisa Fuller
DWC Participant
Rwanda 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Gashora, Rwanda: August 2010 - Reflections
I arrived in Gashora with about 15 snapshots of kids that I had taken on last year's trip. None of the families in Gashora have a camera and i knew that the kids would be excited to have a photo of themselves. I gave most of the photos out in the first few days...got plenty of squeals from youngsters and thank you hugs from their parents. After the third day, I still hadn't found one of my favorite little guys to give him his picture. Now, I shouldn't play favorites but this 9 year old boy was one that I remembered from last year as helpful, quiet but sweet. I remember saving a little AYSO soccer jersey for him and gave it to him at the end of our trip last year. Anyway, I started showing his photo to several other children and found out that the boy's name was Karisa. He was one of the poorest kids in the village-his father had passed away and he lived with his mother. He would rather watch the Muzungus than go to school- which explains why I remembered him so much from last year's work site. After the village kids got over the disappointment that I didn't have a photo for them, a few ran off to find the little boy. Awhile later, I saw him walking up. At first, I was surprised that he didn't seem more excited to get his photo. My surprise turned to concern when I saw him up close. He was breathing really hard and he seemed a bit thinner than last year. I tried to tell myself that maybe he just had a growth spurt or maybe he just had a cold...but deep down I knew that something was wrong. Even though he was excited for his picture, he just didn't have the same brightness in his eyes. He doesn't speak a word of English but I could tell that he remembered me. I had tears in my eyes as I gave him a hug while trying to hide my worry from him.
That night, I talked over my experience with Nick and decided that I would pay the $2 for a years worth of Rwanda's universal health care. Then the doctors would see the boy at the nice new health center and hopefully figure out if he had worms or even malaria. The next day, I had Lama find the boy's mother to be sure that was okay. After an in-depth Kinyarwandan conversation between Lama and the mother, Lama steered me off to the side. "I have bad news" Lama said and my stomach dropped. Apparently the little boy (and his mother) were both HIV positive. This was not news that I was expecting and I had to walk away for a bit. It seemed so unfair that this little boy was born with HIV. The family was receiving medication from the health center, but with a sick mother and no father, the family did not have enough money for nutritious foods and it was taking a toll on the boy's health. Perhaps this wasn't the best approach but I gave some money to the boys mother (about $50 US) and made it clear that it was for their well being. She thanked me, slipped it under her shirt and we took a photo. I did not see her again the entire trip. Later that day, I saw the boy in a brand new outfit and freshly bathed. He looked much better, though I couldn't help but wince when I felt his hard belly. At movie night that night, the little boy sat in my lap as the team worked to get the electricity connected. Being a nine year old boy, he was a little too big to be cuddled like a baby, but he briefly feel asleep in my arms, and I loved him more that I thought was possible for a stranger. When he woke up, I had one of my Rwandan friends tell the boy that the could go play with his friends and that he didn't have to stay with me. He told her he would rather stay with me so that he could see the screen (We snagged one of the desks). He then proceeded to tell the Rwandan translator that his mother had told him that I was a good person and that she couldn't care for him like I could and that I was taking him to America with me. I have no idea where that rumor came from, but clearly the villagers talk and that story was created. I told the Rwandan translator that there was no way I was bringing him to America and that she needed to tell the boy that he should stay with his mother. She responded that she didn't have the heart to tell him and that it was best for him to believe that there was hope in his future. I tried to tell her that he should know the truth but the movie had started and the kids in the room were screaming. Later, during a scene in E.T where the American mother is putting dinner on the table for her kids, he looked up at me and smiled and cuddled close. My stomach dropped and I, once again, had tears in my eyes. The next day, I had a Rwandan friend tell the boy that he was not coming to America. I wasn't there to see the boy's reaction. I didn't get to say goodbye. I wish I could tell you that there was a happy ending to this story but there is not. I am resting easier knowing that my 'adopted' Rwandan family has promised to look out for the boy. They are showing their love for me by helping the boy. Covaga should be giving the boy a goat out of the funds that we raised. But, life is tough for these people in Gashora. Much tougher than I realized last year. It is not just a village filled with women chatting while weaving and happy kids running through the streets. I am not sureI was prepared to peel off the layers and see the harsh reality that is life in a developing country. As we enter Uganda, I am honestly not ready to reach out and make such deep connections as I have with those in Gashora. I hear life is even harder in Uganda-less government structure, less access to healthcare, etc and I'm not sure I can handle another heartache. But, I didn't come on this trip just for safaris and photo ops. Situations like these spur me to care more and therefore do more. My Rwandan friends have asked me to say God Bless you to our team's friends and family. I couldn't agree more.
Love, Melissa
DWC Participant
Gashora, Rwanda: August 2010 - Friday Night, Movie Night.
On Friday night we held the first movie night in Gashora. People came from all over the village. We walked up from the hotel and when we got close to the Gashora Primary School children came running out of the dark night to greet us! They literally jumped on us!
We got to the school. We had a plan. Ryan was to get the projector. Michon had the computer. I was to get the two thirty foot extension cords. We were going to plug into the classroom at the opposite end from the computer lab and project on an end outside wall. That was the plan. First hiccup. No power in that classroom. Ok, no problem, they had an extension cord. Sortof. It was a mass of tangled wires that could be used to wire something. So, after 20 minutes of sticking bare wires into electric sockets and wrapping bare wires around plug in posts - tahdah! - still no power. Turned out that one of our fancy new extension cords was defective. So, plan B (or is that C?). We move the group to the second classroom and use the shorter extension cord. Again, 20 minutes of fiddling with wires and we have a connection. Power on! But when we turned on the projector and the computer....not enough electricity! So, we decided to go on battery power with the laptop...and we are ready for the show.
More than 80 kids and parents poured in the small classroom. I can't tell you how that is possible but the floor was covered with children as young as 5. We started by showing pictures that we had taken of the kids during the week. Well that was the biggest hit. They were roaring when they recognized someone. Then we put on the movie ET. I wish I could tell you that you could have heard a pin drop but that wasn't the case. People were talking and narrating the movie. We loved it. We watched about the first half and then it was time to wrap up. We all had the same sense of closeness with the group packed into the room. You weren't so much sitting in a chair or on a bench but sitting "with" the people of Gashora. As we filed out and the movie goers disappeared into the darkness we too quietly left feeling closer to this community. Things aren't easy here. Several times we thought about canceling. But perseverance is key. Maybe that is the same in North America and we just give up too easy. But this was so worth it. The next day were were asked, "When is the next movie night?"
Nick
DWC Team Leader
Rwanda 2010
Gashora, Rwanda: August 2010 - Sunday's Best.
We started our final day in Gashora by attending mass at the local Anglican church. We were welcomed into the church by Janvier, the principal at Gashora Primary. As we entered, we were greeted by beautiful song and scripture. It's fair to say that I don't wear my emotions on my sleeve, and I haven't been actively participating in the catholic church back home in Chicago. As we spent our final hour with the community of Gashora, in their church, in their community listening to their amazing songs, I couldn't help but wear my emotions. I can't tell you one word that was spoken during the mass, but I was consumed by their incredibly beautiful song, I was consumed by the sense of community in the room. I believe in the power of music, but sitting there today, I think I found some clarity in the role of community. We live in an incredibly complex world, but it's not as big as we make it out be. We live in a global community.
We look out for each other in our communities across North America, but it's important that we look out for our neighbors across the global. What happens in Rwanda or Uganda likely won't make headlines in your local paper, but it has an impact. You might not notice it right away, but it will touch in you in some way, at some time. On the topic of Sunday's best, we did some incredible things this week. We continued to work on the Covaga Innovation Center. In October of 2009, we laid the foundation for the main wing. This past week we finished up the entryway and work is beginning on the roof. We brought over 400 pounds of donations to Gashora in the form of medical supplies, clothing, school supplies, and technology equipment. We showed the movie E.T. at a movie night at Gashora Primary. We donated $1400 to Covaga through the Gashora Basket Project sales (to be used for the purchase of livestock and youth scholarships). We made new friends, we celebrated with old. Above all, we created a stronger bond with our global community.
We look out for each other in our communities across North America, but it's important that we look out for our neighbors across the global. What happens in Rwanda or Uganda likely won't make headlines in your local paper, but it has an impact. You might not notice it right away, but it will touch in you in some way, at some time. On the topic of Sunday's best, we did some incredible things this week. We continued to work on the Covaga Innovation Center. In October of 2009, we laid the foundation for the main wing. This past week we finished up the entryway and work is beginning on the roof. We brought over 400 pounds of donations to Gashora in the form of medical supplies, clothing, school supplies, and technology equipment. We showed the movie E.T. at a movie night at Gashora Primary. We donated $1400 to Covaga through the Gashora Basket Project sales (to be used for the purchase of livestock and youth scholarships). We made new friends, we celebrated with old. Above all, we created a stronger bond with our global community.
We are off to Uganda tomorrow morning. We have a couple rest days and then back to work. Another successful trip to Rwanda, and we can't wait to return. With love from Rwanda..
DWC Team
August 2010
Gashora,Rwanda: August 2010 - Construction Days are over.
Yesterday we finished the construction of the terrace. We pushed hard and thanks to our Rwandan friends who also worked very hard we got it done. It looks great and we are very proud of what we accomplished. It was a lot of picking, shoveling, wheel barrowing, and stone work. And it looks great!
We celebrated with a beer as a team at a local establishment which was fitting.
We then observed the donation of a cow and scholarship money by Melissa and Ryan to the women of the Co operative. They were very surprised and happy. This donation was the result of Melissa and Ryan selling baskets and raising money all year. It was very emotional and a wonderful gift that will keep giving.
We are all very tired and looking forward to some time off. Though we are tired and sore we have no regrets and would do it again. We now look forward to some good work in Uganda.
Michael Loeters
DWC Participant
Gashora, Rwanda: August 2010 -
Our team of ten people is traveling to Rwanda and Uganda in August of 2010 to volunteer.
We will be working in Gashora, Rwanda helping construct a building for the women of Covaga Basket Weaving Coop. They take Water Hyacinth out of the local lakes and weave it into beautiful baskets as a way of generating some local income.
We will also be taking 6 laptops to help establish a computer facility for the Urungano Youth Association.
In Uganda we will be volunteering at African Child in Need, Sanyu Babies Orphanage and the OCA Computer Center. African Child in Need takes street boys off the street and gives them a home and an education.
Follow our adventures - we will update our progress daily!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Mapendo
We've reached day 27. The regular bouts of sickness have come and gone for most of the group. The project is moving along smoothly and the team has gelled nicely. Jenn and I have had some pretty interesting days recently as well. On Friday, we spent a few hours in the bank withdrawing some money. Initially it was an annoyingly slow process, especially for us Canadians who are used to jetting in and out of the bank on a lunch break. But with unreliable networks, we ended up waiting for quite some time.
Although we were stuck, it turned out to be a bit of a blessing in disguise. As Jenn stood for a while working out the transaction, I sat with our stuff. I was sitting next to a lady who, as it turns out, is one of the most interesting people I think I've ever met. Her name is Rose Mapendo. She is the co-founder of Mapendo, an organization that helps women and children refugees from the Congo, from Sudan, and from Somalia. She is a 1998 genocide survivor from the DR Congo who is now a spokesperson for several organizations, including the UN. She was also the 2009 United Nations Humanitarian of the Year. After an hour conversation, we parted ways with hopes of meeting her organizations headquarters in Nairobi in August. Being Muzungus here certainly draws a huge amount of attention, but every once in a while it sure is a great conversation starter.
Dan
DWC Student Team Leader
June 2010
Although we were stuck, it turned out to be a bit of a blessing in disguise. As Jenn stood for a while working out the transaction, I sat with our stuff. I was sitting next to a lady who, as it turns out, is one of the most interesting people I think I've ever met. Her name is Rose Mapendo. She is the co-founder of Mapendo, an organization that helps women and children refugees from the Congo, from Sudan, and from Somalia. She is a 1998 genocide survivor from the DR Congo who is now a spokesperson for several organizations, including the UN. She was also the 2009 United Nations Humanitarian of the Year. After an hour conversation, we parted ways with hopes of meeting her organizations headquarters in Nairobi in August. Being Muzungus here certainly draws a huge amount of attention, but every once in a while it sure is a great conversation starter.
Dan
DWC Student Team Leader
June 2010
Biking in the Dark
As travellers we know that there are few moments along the journey where you become completely absorbed by your surroundings. We are in Rwanda and every ounce of our being gives into this. You don't know when these moments will come, they are not anticipated and they can not be found in a guide book. For us this moment came last night, we like to call this our Rwanda moment number 1!
Last week we were invited to the local school to play a game of soccer against the teachers. So yesterday we arrived at the knee high grass football field in our work clothes and running shoes to face our opponents dressed head to toe in matching red uniforms. We enjoyed the moment despite knowing we would surely lose. After the match we were surrounded by 600 students, half of the school had come out to watch. We enjoyed some beers with the team and were soon encompassed by darkness. And by darkness I mean you can not see your hands wave in front of your face. We then spent 45 minutes trying to find our bikes while negotiating in Kinyarwandan with our taxi drivers trying to increase the prices again. A fun game that we usually lose. We finally bunched together, left our bikes and headed down the road for a 40 minute walk home, all the while continuing the negotiations. After nearly another half an hour we settled on a price and were offered free rides home.
Now begins our Rwandan moment number one. We climbed on the back of our bicycle taxi driver's bikes and settled in for a bumpy ride home in the pitch dark. As we rushed down the hill I began to realise that I never felt more encompassed by Rwanda. My life in the hands of my new friend Bernard, the bugs and the rain flying at my face, and the distant singing of the Rwandan women along with a little bit of fear and a whole lot of excitement. In that moment I let go and let myself become completely engulfed by Rwanda.
Dan and Jen
DWC Student Team Leaders
June 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Gashora, Rwanda: May 2010 Student Group
Today, we've been working all day and at 430, half an hour to quitting time we got rained out. Work is going great and everyone is happy. We just went through our first wave of sickness in the group which surprisingly took a long time to come. Just sore stomachs and headaches. Nothing a little cyprofloxacin and some rest can't take care of. This weekend is the time for the gorilla trek for the lucky ones who are getting to do it.
We will update when we can.
Dan and Jen
DWC Student Team Leaders
May 2010
We will update when we can.
Dan and Jen
DWC Student Team Leaders
May 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Gashora
Covaga is a women's collective working in Gashora to fight poverty though their incredible talent for weaving baskets made from water hyacinth and papyrus. The women are kind and seem to be constantly giggling usually at our attempts to speak Kinyarwanda. These women are strong, patient and empowered. They dress in colourful traditional dresses and sit comfortably in the shade weaving for hours. Sitting amongst them in silence can only be described as serenity.
Jen and Dan
DWC Student Team Leaders
Gashora, Rwanda, May 2010
Kigali
Surprisingly, the arrival of our 25 friends in Kigali has consumed most of our past week and has not allowed us access to a computer. For the first week of our African journey Dan and I spent our days exploring Kigali. Kigali is clean, beautiful and constantly bustling. The city is spread out over at least a dozen rolling lush green hills dotted with banana trees and corn fields. Brick houses line the dusty red roads.
Dan and I spent our days on crowded fifteen passenger city buses and slow moving motos and have enjoyed a constant diet of beans, rice, potato, banana and brechette(basically goat on a stick- the local favorite). We have met a dear friend Chistopher who has given us a incredibly warm welcome to Rwanda which has included several Rwandan lunches and tours around downtown. Chistopher has even been kind enough to invite us to his house where we enjoyed an evening of Rwandan beans and rice and of course rap music videos. What unites us always comes in surprising forms!
On May 15th Dan, Lama, Chistopher and myself spent the day meeting our host partners. At the Nelson Mandela center, just outside Kigali, we met the greenhelmets team from Germany who will be the architects on the Covaga center. Currently the team is working with the community to build a school for vocational training. We enjoyed a french cup of Rwandan coffee with the group then headed to Gashora to meet the Covaga women.
Jen and Dan
Student Team Leaders
Rwanda May 2010
African Scene
Not much has happened to this point, but I will leave you with a little anecdote:
Yesterday morning, we were flying into Nairobi International Airport. Having flown over night, it was the tail end of a long, dark, 9 hour flight. We flew over many things that we wished we would have been able to see; the sahara, Lake Victoria, the mountains of Kenya. but just as we were making our final approach, the sunrise poked gloriously over the horizon out the window over my left shoulder. The cocktail explosion of colors would be hard to do any justice by mere description but there was however two Kenyan men sitting directly behind me who summed it up best. They had been quiet for the duration of the flight, but seeing the sunrise one leaned over to the other and said to the other in his distinctive Swahili accent: "it's beautiful, no? this is an african scene."
Dan Couture
DWC Team Leader
Rwanda 2010
May and July 2010 Student Teams in Gashora, Rwanda.
vutika - be interested, be attracted, be fascinated
All news out of Africa is bad. It made me want to go there, though not for the horror, the hot spots, the massacre-and-earthquake stories you read in the newspaper; I wanted the pleasure of being in Africa.
- Theroux-
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