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

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

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