Busy, busy day today. We went to build a kitchen garden - a garden made of plastic woven bags filled with soil and wooden sticks to support the bags and soil. We were building it for a woman who had 7 children - 4 biological and 3 orphans that she took into her home. We finished it by 11am. Two hours of hard work (we hope to beat our time tomorrow when we build another one). Thankfully, Bennett brought his Kershaw knife which I had used to cut open the bags to use as the walls of the garden. Today, my father taught me how to hoe. I swung that thing over and over and over again. It was fun... Although a lot of soil found a new home in my running shoes.
I wasn't the only one that got red with dirt... We all got dirty by the end of those two hours. Some, more dirty than others. Amy is the only person on this team that can truly say that she got dirt everywhere... Gary had accidentally spilled some soil on Amy's exposed lower back while she was working with the garden, and when she stood up, the soil on her back had slipped into her pants. Gary had soiled Amy's pants. She had to go to the outhouse to clean up.
After leaving the woman's home, we bike-taxi'd to the girls' academy which was founded by the daughters of the man who owns Costco. It was massive and beautiful. I wish my campus looked like it. It was on a sort of hill and so had a beautiful view of the river and distant hills. We met with the headmaster and he talked about the school. We joined the students for lunch and were able to converse with them. Many of the girls at my table wanted to be engineers. One wanted to be a pilot, and the another wanted to be a businesswoman. They were really nice and asked me about university. I was surprised to find that they had heard about McGill.
I came home with a few other people to organize the sports jerseys we had for Gashora. Other members of our team stayed back and built a shelf for the baskets to be displayed. We brought the jerseys down to the village and went to the basketball court to distribute the sports equipment. Following the distribution of the donations, the local basketball team wanted to play with us. So, a bunch of us played... It was pretty even in the end... However, it was rather amusing to watch my father play basketball.. He's definitely more of a biker and a swimmer than a baller.
There was a little boy named Big Dog who took quite the liking to me... He gave me a woven bracelet today... It's got the Rwandan colors on it.
So now we're back at home base, all tired out. I think we're all going to sleep well tonight.
My TTAA - the food edition
Rwandan coffee: the best coffee I have ever had. Ever.
Passion fruit: the key to my heart is passion fruit. If you bring me passion fruit, I'll be yours forever.
Tomato fruit: I've only ever had this fruit in Rwanda. It tastes sort of like a kiwi but looks like a tomato with black seeds... You only eat the seeds. Similar to a passion fruit but with dark red jelly stuff around the back seeds.
Hope all of you are doing well!
M
Mali Foster
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
July 16: Tour of Gashora
We were treated to a tour of
Gashora today. Unlike previous years, the team was offered bike rides
down to the village instead of riding the bikes themselves. We were
spoiled. Apparently, we'll continue to be spoiled with bike taxis as
we've arranged for it tomorrow morning too. I decided to walk down to
the village with Lisa and Maria... Then I started to run the last part
of the trek (not a good idea... You get really hot, really fast). It was
great seeing the Covaga women whom I recognized and hug
whole-heatedly.
We visited the medical center, where
we donated the medical supplies and a bunch of eye glasses. We also were
lucky to have eye charts to judge the type and strength of lens needed.
The medical center was well-organized, clean and was rather impressive.
There were such cute kiddies hanging around too.
Afterwards,
we went over to the primary school which was a walking-distance away.
When we entered the court, children crowded us where we stood and we
were soon ushered into the computer lab where we met with the teachers
of the school as well as the principal. We discussed what they needed
and they agreed to compile a list of what they felt would be helpful.
We headed for lunch then checked out their kitchen garden project which is aimed at having one
kitchen garden for each family. This will keep Rwandans from being
malnourished by providing families with protein-rich veggies. We will be
helping to build kitchen gardens tomorrow, as well as a fence to
protect them.
At the end of the day, we all came back
and rested for a little while. Some of us went down to the water-front
and went on a boat tour. I decided against this because I'd be eaten
alive by mosquitoes... We've already discussed that.
So, here's my TTAA...
African
Tea: although it's essentially hot milk and a tea bag, it is my
favorite African hot drink! Yes, I may be mildly lactose-intolerant, but
I absolutely love the sweetness of the tea combined with the hot milk.
Babies and their mothers: it's the cutest
thing to see a tiny baby strapped snugly to their mother's back! One of
the Covaga women had a 2 month old on her back. So incredibly cute. She
swung the baby to the front to feed her, and when she was through, she
handed me her baby! So, I had this baby forced upon me... I was sort of
uncomfortable as I've never really been good with tiny babies... But the
longer I held her, the more I enjoyed it.
Bottled
sodas: pretty self-explanatory... Nothing like a cold bottle of orange
Fanta under the hot African sun... I don't know what it is about glass
and soda... But it makes the soda so much more awesome.
Later!
M
Mali Foster
DWC Participants
Rwanda, July 2012
July 16: Progress!
Two years ago our team went to the Gashora medical centre, donated supplies and had a tour. At that time the facility was barely a year old and was nearly empty of patients. There weren't very many services that we could see in operation: they had a birthing room, exam rooms and a dispensary. Today we went to Gashora medical centre, donated supplies and had a tour. We saw a visible change.
Instead of the chief of medical staff providing the tour, a hospital administrator responsible for the new computer server room accepted our donations and explained what the state of affairs was now at the clinic. First, we could see lots of patients waiting for consultations outside the consultation room and others waiting to enroll in the heath insurance program outside the social workers' office. Instead of an echoing hall, there was a low hum of over 60 people waiting for service - first come first served. The administrator, Willie, explained the average number of patients see per day fluctuates from 60 - 100 to higher during rainy season when there are more diseases.
We got an introduction to their consultation process and the evaluation room where patients got tests done. Then we moved on to the family planning room. As Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa, so we were told, the government has been encouraging family planning. The hope is to reduce poverty in part through reduced family sizes. It is an optional program and fully funded by the government. Instead of 8 or 10 kids, people are now reportedly having 2 or 3.
Next we learned about their HIV/AIDS treatment program which is also fully funded by the government. Patients get assessed and prescribed anti-retro viral medications. People get tested prior to getting married or otherwise if they feel sick. Pregnant mothers also get treatment in order to prevent the unborn child from becoming infected. They had not yet determined the success of the program as it has only been running for 2 years. What they could say was that this year 2 people in their program of 226 enrolled patients had died. As we had our orientation, we could count 4 women and one man outside the room and there was one man inside the consultation room.
The tour next took us to the hospital library where staff were encouraged to spend time improving their English as most medical books are in English. They have a partnership with the Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology (established by the daughters of the founder of Costco) who also use the library facilities. This library also houses two computer systems which transmit patient information, entered by specially trained staff, to the government.
Lastly we learned about the water purification system built by GE. They collect rain water and purify it so that it can be used in the hospital. They also sell it to the townspeople for a small fee, 5 Rwandan francs for 20 litres. It was quite impressive and hopefully will translate into great improvements in health now that clean water is available at the hospital.
I was amazed at how far the medical centre had come in such a short time. This was a village that didn't have electricity until 2009. Now the staff had moved from figuring out how to use the facility to identifying area for improving their current processes. In fact, they want to figure out a way to have all patient records on computer so that they can be accessed by medical staff at other facilities if patients go there. That sounded very familiar to those of us familiar with the challenges various Canadian provinces are experiencing trying to effect that change at home.
All in all it was very encouraging to see that the Rwandan government and the Rwandan people have used their ingenuity to improve their lives. They haven't simply taken donations and stood still but have embraced the opportunities in front of them with enthusiasm. Today was a good day indeed!
Maria
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
Instead of the chief of medical staff providing the tour, a hospital administrator responsible for the new computer server room accepted our donations and explained what the state of affairs was now at the clinic. First, we could see lots of patients waiting for consultations outside the consultation room and others waiting to enroll in the heath insurance program outside the social workers' office. Instead of an echoing hall, there was a low hum of over 60 people waiting for service - first come first served. The administrator, Willie, explained the average number of patients see per day fluctuates from 60 - 100 to higher during rainy season when there are more diseases.
We got an introduction to their consultation process and the evaluation room where patients got tests done. Then we moved on to the family planning room. As Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa, so we were told, the government has been encouraging family planning. The hope is to reduce poverty in part through reduced family sizes. It is an optional program and fully funded by the government. Instead of 8 or 10 kids, people are now reportedly having 2 or 3.
Next we learned about their HIV/AIDS treatment program which is also fully funded by the government. Patients get assessed and prescribed anti-retro viral medications. People get tested prior to getting married or otherwise if they feel sick. Pregnant mothers also get treatment in order to prevent the unborn child from becoming infected. They had not yet determined the success of the program as it has only been running for 2 years. What they could say was that this year 2 people in their program of 226 enrolled patients had died. As we had our orientation, we could count 4 women and one man outside the room and there was one man inside the consultation room.
The tour next took us to the hospital library where staff were encouraged to spend time improving their English as most medical books are in English. They have a partnership with the Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology (established by the daughters of the founder of Costco) who also use the library facilities. This library also houses two computer systems which transmit patient information, entered by specially trained staff, to the government.
Lastly we learned about the water purification system built by GE. They collect rain water and purify it so that it can be used in the hospital. They also sell it to the townspeople for a small fee, 5 Rwandan francs for 20 litres. It was quite impressive and hopefully will translate into great improvements in health now that clean water is available at the hospital.
I was amazed at how far the medical centre had come in such a short time. This was a village that didn't have electricity until 2009. Now the staff had moved from figuring out how to use the facility to identifying area for improving their current processes. In fact, they want to figure out a way to have all patient records on computer so that they can be accessed by medical staff at other facilities if patients go there. That sounded very familiar to those of us familiar with the challenges various Canadian provinces are experiencing trying to effect that change at home.
All in all it was very encouraging to see that the Rwandan government and the Rwandan people have used their ingenuity to improve their lives. They haven't simply taken donations and stood still but have embraced the opportunities in front of them with enthusiasm. Today was a good day indeed!
Maria
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
July 16: Gashora Primary School
Today we visited Gashora Primary School. This is the school that the Softchoice team worked at in 2009 (Myself, Heather and Amy all work for Softchoice). They had put 14 laptops into the school. We had to buy a generator and a satellite dish for internet access.
Pictured on the side, 4 years later is Amy Hoidas (Softchoice Cares trip to Uganda 2008) and Heather Brown (Softchoice Cares trip to Sri Lanka 2010) each holding a laptop. We just found out that Gashora Primary School has been granted 481 One Laptop Per Child computers! This is an amazing accomplishment and a wonderful success built on the original donation by Softchoice employees!
Nick Foster
DWC Team Leader
Rwanda, July 2012
Pictured on the side, 4 years later is Amy Hoidas (Softchoice Cares trip to Uganda 2008) and Heather Brown (Softchoice Cares trip to Sri Lanka 2010) each holding a laptop. We just found out that Gashora Primary School has been granted 481 One Laptop Per Child computers! This is an amazing accomplishment and a wonderful success built on the original donation by Softchoice employees!
Nick Foster
DWC Team Leader
Rwanda, July 2012
July 15: Gashora
We've finally arrived in Gashora! It has been such a long day, but the entire team is here now! Corie, Heather, Amy, Gary, Mike, Bennett, Maria, Lisa, John, Nick, and myself. Woo! We start working tomorrow. Right now, I'm just marinating in bug spray (it's my African perfume). We'll be heading down for drinks and dinner shortly, but I wanted to post before it got too late and I got too sleepy.
Ah, a cool fact: Rwanda is only now starting to get road/street names... How they get around without those is beyond me.
And a funny fact: the toilets in mine and Lisa's room is incredibly short... And when I say incredibly short, I mean training-potty-short... I'll post a picture eventually.
As promised, here are my TTAA!
1: the boda-bodas - If any of you have been on a motorcycle in your life, you know that it is super fun. However, these African motorcycle taxis are no joke... The road is pretty much theirs. They dodge and weave traffic and get so close to other vehicles that your legs brush up against busses and cars. They're pros though, so it's pretty safe... Sort of. Don't worry, we aren't going to ride on any boda-bodas on this trip... If I could choose, that would be my preferred mode of transport...
2: the little shops - Throughout the urban areas, you can see many little shops that line the streets. They can be small rooms from which people sell their goods. It's really quite cool to see the different coloured shops right next to each other. Sort of like a rainbow dusted with some of that African red dirt.
3: night time sounds - It's a wonderful thing to just sit around and listen to the bugs and the birds chirping and squeaking. The air and the atmosphere just feels fresh (even when you aren't). I can enjoy the bugs' song because as I mentioned before, I am marinated in deet. The sky was also beautifully blue, and the sun was so warm.
Until next time!
M
Mali Foster
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
Ah, a cool fact: Rwanda is only now starting to get road/street names... How they get around without those is beyond me.
And a funny fact: the toilets in mine and Lisa's room is incredibly short... And when I say incredibly short, I mean training-potty-short... I'll post a picture eventually.
As promised, here are my TTAA!
1: the boda-bodas - If any of you have been on a motorcycle in your life, you know that it is super fun. However, these African motorcycle taxis are no joke... The road is pretty much theirs. They dodge and weave traffic and get so close to other vehicles that your legs brush up against busses and cars. They're pros though, so it's pretty safe... Sort of. Don't worry, we aren't going to ride on any boda-bodas on this trip... If I could choose, that would be my preferred mode of transport...
2: the little shops - Throughout the urban areas, you can see many little shops that line the streets. They can be small rooms from which people sell their goods. It's really quite cool to see the different coloured shops right next to each other. Sort of like a rainbow dusted with some of that African red dirt.
3: night time sounds - It's a wonderful thing to just sit around and listen to the bugs and the birds chirping and squeaking. The air and the atmosphere just feels fresh (even when you aren't). I can enjoy the bugs' song because as I mentioned before, I am marinated in deet. The sky was also beautifully blue, and the sun was so warm.
Until next time!
M
Mali Foster
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
July 15: Downtown Kigali adventure time!
We're spending the day in downtown Kigali before we go to Gashora later this afternoon. We visited a supermarket called Nakumatt (a superstore that I am particularly familiar with) where some of the team bought groceries (like peanut butter) and we also visited a second supermarket called Simba to buy soccer balls. Lama, our host partner and guide, took us to a mall so we could look for a basketball net (which we didn't find but bought some jump ropes). We've been waiting for our last team member to land in Kigali because she had missed her connecting flight last night. We split the team so that one group headed to the airport to pick her up. So here we are, half of a team around a plastic covered table in a Chinese restaurant at the top floor of the Chinese mall. This is the perfect spot to have a restaurant. There are pretty much no walls, just a roof. No windows, just open space where we can see out onto the green and brown rolling hills. Up near the top of the hills, it's nice and green but farther down to the base of the hills, the hills turn brown with dusty, and rusty rooftops of huts, and the red dirt roads.
Before i forget to mention this, on the bus ride into the city I spotted a man on a motorcycle - a boda-boda. He was a motorcycle-taxi driver. And this man, I kid you not, was texting as he was riding the motorcycle. He was doing this with no hands! Crazy... Only in Africa...
I also saw something rather rare in Africa (at least in the places i've been to): I saw traffic lights!! The cool thing is that they count down way longer than Toronto traffic lights do. You know how the traffic lights start counting down from 10-20 seconds? Well in Rwanda, they count from 60 (maybe more as that's the number I saw when we passed by... It could be a higher number).
I'll give you my TTAA later tonight when we get to Gashora!
M
Mali Foster
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
Before i forget to mention this, on the bus ride into the city I spotted a man on a motorcycle - a boda-boda. He was a motorcycle-taxi driver. And this man, I kid you not, was texting as he was riding the motorcycle. He was doing this with no hands! Crazy... Only in Africa...
I also saw something rather rare in Africa (at least in the places i've been to): I saw traffic lights!! The cool thing is that they count down way longer than Toronto traffic lights do. You know how the traffic lights start counting down from 10-20 seconds? Well in Rwanda, they count from 60 (maybe more as that's the number I saw when we passed by... It could be a higher number).
I'll give you my TTAA later tonight when we get to Gashora!
M
Mali Foster
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
July 14: In Kigali, Rwanda
We finally made it to Rwanda!! It's day two and we are at the La Palisse in Kigali. Everyone's bags got here and everyone is safe.
Upon our descent into Kigali, we could see a lightning storm in the distance. It was pretty much a huge black mass of cloud which would sporadically flash white light. It was quite beautiful. I also watched my second sunset during our flight which was simply breath-taking. As we lowered onto the Tarmac, we could see the many twinkling lights on the hills but because the hills were hidden by the night, all you could see we're sparkling lights on what appeared to be a canvas of deep darkness. To me, it resembled the stars in the night sky.
So here we are, seated around a round table in the hotel's dining hall. The satisfaction that we've finally made it to Rwanda goes well with cold Tuskers and Primus' (the local brewskis).
Looking forward to a restful sleep tonight! Tomorrow night, we head for Gashora.
M
Mali Foster
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
Upon our descent into Kigali, we could see a lightning storm in the distance. It was pretty much a huge black mass of cloud which would sporadically flash white light. It was quite beautiful. I also watched my second sunset during our flight which was simply breath-taking. As we lowered onto the Tarmac, we could see the many twinkling lights on the hills but because the hills were hidden by the night, all you could see we're sparkling lights on what appeared to be a canvas of deep darkness. To me, it resembled the stars in the night sky.
So here we are, seated around a round table in the hotel's dining hall. The satisfaction that we've finally made it to Rwanda goes well with cold Tuskers and Primus' (the local brewskis).
Looking forward to a restful sleep tonight! Tomorrow night, we head for Gashora.
M
Mali Foster
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
July 13: Thoughts en Route to Amsterdam...then Rwanda
The journey has begun. John, Amy, Gary, Maria, my father, and myself have officially left our lives in toronto and are headed to Mama Africa. We will be meeting the rest of our team mates later - some in Amsterdam and some at our final destination, Kigali. Everyone got through the airport safely and without hassle. Well... For the most part. Turned out that Maria had left her yellow fever immunization proof at home so she ended up having to go back to her house to pick it up. We've never been asked for immunization records, but if by the off chance that we are asked, we must present the appropriate documentation. If we don't have our records, we can actually be refused entry into Rwanda.
We've got 5 hours and 33minutes until we touch ground in Amsterdam. I can't really say how I feel about going back to Africa. I am happy, of course... But I couldn't tell you why. Maybe it's because I can get on an aircraft and wake up in an entire other world. Maybe it's the friends I've made during past visits. Is it the scenery? Is it the satisfaction I get when I see the smiling faces of the basket-weaving women, the children and my DWC teammates? I really couldn't tell you. I just know in my heart that it's where I am most happy. Ever since 2007, I have been drawn to Africa. Like a really strong, unseen magnet and I can only tell you that I am pulled to Africa like north and south poles. That's it. I don't know why - it just is. Maybe one day I will be able to tell you exactly what I love above Africa. In fact, I'll make it a little project. Every day/night spent in Africa, I will enter 3 things I love about Africa in this log thing. I will also make it my mission (because I have never completed one of these Africa logs) to log every time I get the chance - at least once a day. I will share what I've learned, what inspired me, what scared me, made me laugh and/or what I've done.
I guess I can give you my TTAA (three things about Africa) for the day... Even though I'm not in Africa yet. I owe you something seeing as you've suffered my lengthy rant. So, without further ado, here are my TTAA!
Número UNO: I think one of my favorite things about Africa is African time. If you're in Africa and you've got a meeting scheduled for 1pm, you can bet your bottom dollar that it'll end up happening later. Say, 2pm or 3pm. I love that. Time is like a flexible guideline - a REALLY flexible guideline. I love that Africa forces us to become like leaves in a busy river - you've got no other choice but to go with the flow. Some people who come with us on trips like this can't handle that flexibility. We're so used to having structure in our lives where we have a schedule for every day of the week, that when that organization suddenly disappears,we have no idea what to do with ourselves. I love that it makes us relax and let go of the stiffness we're so used to.
Número DOS: I am in love with the busyness of the capital cities (those that I've been to). I love the sounds of irritated car drivers, the traffic jams, the conversing voices, the motorcycles that narrowly fit between the spaces of the grid lock, the people walking up to passing cars trying to sell call cards - I love it all. There's just so much to see and hear... And smell. Oh, the smell! This brings me to my THIRD thing : the smell of African cities. The combination of burning garbage and red dirt - it's a really unique scent. It's what I look forward to as soon as I leave those airport doors. I don't know what it is about the smell. It hits you like a sucker punch to the nose, but I find it rather soothing. It makes me feel alive. It's a pretty funky stink.... In a good way.
It has just occurred to me that whoever is reading my entries may not know who I am. My name is Mali Foster - the daughter of Nick Foster (our fearless leader). I just finished first year university at McGill. I'm double majoring in International Development Studies and African Studies, and minoring in psychology. This is my 7th or 8th time traveling to Africa. I have been to Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
I hope that the other authors introduce themselves too so you can get the full picture. We're all very interesting people... Or so we'd like to think. (hehe) But please, do follow us on this journey. I can guarantee you that it's going to be one heck of a trip. And, lucky you, you'll be able to see through the eyes of our different team members. I love that we're all different but we're all coming together to make a difference in the world! Ah... It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling.
M
P.S. we're in Amsterdam now
Mali Foster
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
We've got 5 hours and 33minutes until we touch ground in Amsterdam. I can't really say how I feel about going back to Africa. I am happy, of course... But I couldn't tell you why. Maybe it's because I can get on an aircraft and wake up in an entire other world. Maybe it's the friends I've made during past visits. Is it the scenery? Is it the satisfaction I get when I see the smiling faces of the basket-weaving women, the children and my DWC teammates? I really couldn't tell you. I just know in my heart that it's where I am most happy. Ever since 2007, I have been drawn to Africa. Like a really strong, unseen magnet and I can only tell you that I am pulled to Africa like north and south poles. That's it. I don't know why - it just is. Maybe one day I will be able to tell you exactly what I love above Africa. In fact, I'll make it a little project. Every day/night spent in Africa, I will enter 3 things I love about Africa in this log thing. I will also make it my mission (because I have never completed one of these Africa logs) to log every time I get the chance - at least once a day. I will share what I've learned, what inspired me, what scared me, made me laugh and/or what I've done.
I guess I can give you my TTAA (three things about Africa) for the day... Even though I'm not in Africa yet. I owe you something seeing as you've suffered my lengthy rant. So, without further ado, here are my TTAA!
Número UNO: I think one of my favorite things about Africa is African time. If you're in Africa and you've got a meeting scheduled for 1pm, you can bet your bottom dollar that it'll end up happening later. Say, 2pm or 3pm. I love that. Time is like a flexible guideline - a REALLY flexible guideline. I love that Africa forces us to become like leaves in a busy river - you've got no other choice but to go with the flow. Some people who come with us on trips like this can't handle that flexibility. We're so used to having structure in our lives where we have a schedule for every day of the week, that when that organization suddenly disappears,we have no idea what to do with ourselves. I love that it makes us relax and let go of the stiffness we're so used to.
Número DOS: I am in love with the busyness of the capital cities (those that I've been to). I love the sounds of irritated car drivers, the traffic jams, the conversing voices, the motorcycles that narrowly fit between the spaces of the grid lock, the people walking up to passing cars trying to sell call cards - I love it all. There's just so much to see and hear... And smell. Oh, the smell! This brings me to my THIRD thing : the smell of African cities. The combination of burning garbage and red dirt - it's a really unique scent. It's what I look forward to as soon as I leave those airport doors. I don't know what it is about the smell. It hits you like a sucker punch to the nose, but I find it rather soothing. It makes me feel alive. It's a pretty funky stink.... In a good way.
It has just occurred to me that whoever is reading my entries may not know who I am. My name is Mali Foster - the daughter of Nick Foster (our fearless leader). I just finished first year university at McGill. I'm double majoring in International Development Studies and African Studies, and minoring in psychology. This is my 7th or 8th time traveling to Africa. I have been to Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
I hope that the other authors introduce themselves too so you can get the full picture. We're all very interesting people... Or so we'd like to think. (hehe) But please, do follow us on this journey. I can guarantee you that it's going to be one heck of a trip. And, lucky you, you'll be able to see through the eyes of our different team members. I love that we're all different but we're all coming together to make a difference in the world! Ah... It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling.
M
P.S. we're in Amsterdam now
Mali Foster
DWC Participant
Rwanda, July 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
June 1st: Nearing the end
Things are still going excellently. Tomorrow will be our last day of work; we will have a community feast to say goodbye to our friends and then the team will be headed with Lama to Kigali.
It will be hard to say goodbye but we have made a number of friends that we will keep in touch with via Facebook.
Jim Boyle
DWC Team Leader
Rwanda, May 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
May 22nd: Safari time
Haven’t posted in a while so a lot has happened…….
We went to Kigali for the weekend after our first week of work because we wanted some more time to check out the city. We stayed in a Youth Hostel called “Discover Rwanda”, it is run by an organization called AEGIS, which basically means it is run partly by genocide survivors. It seems like a pretty cool organization that runs all sorts of programs that support survivors from all backgrounds. It was nice to stay in a youth hostel because of the other youth as well, it was interesting to meet other travellers and learn about all the good spots to check out. We ended up going to a club on Friday night called KBC which was a lot like a club in Vancouver just with better dancing. Rogers and Cedric came out with us too and showed us how Rwandans party, and as a result we didn’t really get going on Saturday until about 2pm. Lama came and took us to a local market that had lots of used tools, used clothes and shoes, as well as spices, flours, and dried fish and meat. Later that night, Lama took us along with William, Cedric, and Rogers, to an old school reggae bar, which was pretty entertaining to say the least. Sunday we headed back to Gashora, which we soon realized feels like home.
The next week was a hard week of hot work. A few team members worked on the roof covering the patio of the Covaga weaving house. The “sky team”, as we call them, removed old sticks coving the patio and helped to build a new structure to support the new tin roof. Mayor is the contractor working on the roof and is now a part of our team, he quickly has planned and constructed a waterproof cover for the women so they can sit outside and weave, even when it is raining (which at this time of year is at least once everyday it seems). The rest of us worked mostly on digging holes moving huge rocks around and prepping the borders of the property for a new fence that will keep the chickens and goats out of the fields where we have planted onions along with the already planted cabbage and carrots (soon to be watermelon as well). It seems to be getting hotter everyday and the work gets harder, but the further we get on projects the more exciting it gets, to see what we have accomplished. Today the “sky team” painted the roof and it looks like they are pretty much done!!! Which is pretty amazing. We also put in and cemented a large section of fence posts.
This last weekend we woke up even earlier than we are used to during the week (which is really early) and met our safari driver, Claude, so that we could start our 2.5 hour journey toward Akagera Park. We knew that the park hosted a large array of animals but I don’t think we were prepared for the fields full of Giraffes and Zebras hanging out together, and the hippos and crocs swimming side by side. We also saw a bunch of Pumba looking like wart hogs and some bare bummed baboons. It was pretty crazy to see the open plains as the country is definitely known as the “land of thousand hills” for a reason. I often forget I am in the middle of Africa while I am here, because it already feels like home in Gashora, but the game in the park definitely snapped me back into the reality of where I am!
We have only been here for just over two weeks, but it definitely feels like a lot longer than that. The friends we have made so far, Rogers, William, Mayor, Cedric etc., will definitely not be easily forgotten. We are already thinking of ways we can come back or maybe bring them to us for a visit. I am excited for the next two weeks here but I am also trying to savour every moment, as I am nowhere near ready for it to end!
On Saturday I am going Gorilla trekking….wish me luck!
TaraCrone
DWC Team Member
Rwanda, May 2012
We went to Kigali for the weekend after our first week of work because we wanted some more time to check out the city. We stayed in a Youth Hostel called “Discover Rwanda”, it is run by an organization called AEGIS, which basically means it is run partly by genocide survivors. It seems like a pretty cool organization that runs all sorts of programs that support survivors from all backgrounds. It was nice to stay in a youth hostel because of the other youth as well, it was interesting to meet other travellers and learn about all the good spots to check out. We ended up going to a club on Friday night called KBC which was a lot like a club in Vancouver just with better dancing. Rogers and Cedric came out with us too and showed us how Rwandans party, and as a result we didn’t really get going on Saturday until about 2pm. Lama came and took us to a local market that had lots of used tools, used clothes and shoes, as well as spices, flours, and dried fish and meat. Later that night, Lama took us along with William, Cedric, and Rogers, to an old school reggae bar, which was pretty entertaining to say the least. Sunday we headed back to Gashora, which we soon realized feels like home.
The next week was a hard week of hot work. A few team members worked on the roof covering the patio of the Covaga weaving house. The “sky team”, as we call them, removed old sticks coving the patio and helped to build a new structure to support the new tin roof. Mayor is the contractor working on the roof and is now a part of our team, he quickly has planned and constructed a waterproof cover for the women so they can sit outside and weave, even when it is raining (which at this time of year is at least once everyday it seems). The rest of us worked mostly on digging holes moving huge rocks around and prepping the borders of the property for a new fence that will keep the chickens and goats out of the fields where we have planted onions along with the already planted cabbage and carrots (soon to be watermelon as well). It seems to be getting hotter everyday and the work gets harder, but the further we get on projects the more exciting it gets, to see what we have accomplished. Today the “sky team” painted the roof and it looks like they are pretty much done!!! Which is pretty amazing. We also put in and cemented a large section of fence posts.
This last weekend we woke up even earlier than we are used to during the week (which is really early) and met our safari driver, Claude, so that we could start our 2.5 hour journey toward Akagera Park. We knew that the park hosted a large array of animals but I don’t think we were prepared for the fields full of Giraffes and Zebras hanging out together, and the hippos and crocs swimming side by side. We also saw a bunch of Pumba looking like wart hogs and some bare bummed baboons. It was pretty crazy to see the open plains as the country is definitely known as the “land of thousand hills” for a reason. I often forget I am in the middle of Africa while I am here, because it already feels like home in Gashora, but the game in the park definitely snapped me back into the reality of where I am!
We have only been here for just over two weeks, but it definitely feels like a lot longer than that. The friends we have made so far, Rogers, William, Mayor, Cedric etc., will definitely not be easily forgotten. We are already thinking of ways we can come back or maybe bring them to us for a visit. I am excited for the next two weeks here but I am also trying to savour every moment, as I am nowhere near ready for it to end!
On Saturday I am going Gorilla trekking….wish me luck!
TaraCrone
DWC Team Member
Rwanda, May 2012
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