10/13/2018 0 Comments Off to the rugby!We were delighted when our team - Rusizi Resilience RFC made it to the National League final for the second time in three years. In the past I have followed the matches from home via messages on Whats app but for the first time we were going to be able to go and support the team in person. We knew they were playing a strong Kigali team - The Kigali Sharks managed by our very good friend, Kamanda, but we were happy to have got to the final and really just wanted the lads to put up a good performance - which they did. We arrived at the ground early enough to have a quick prematch drink and then went to greet the team who play in Caldicot kit. There weren't quite enough shirts to go around so they were supplemented by black and white South Gower kits and Oakdale mini rugby. Thanks to all the welsh clubs that have donated shirts over the years! ![]() The president of the Rwanda Rugby federation was sat with the trophies and the winning team was also going to be given a very special ball (one of the several hundred we had brought out with us last year!!) Glyn was the VIP who was taken out to shake everyone's hands before the game started. The first half was tough and the Sharks had the upper hand. Half time score 15-0. Glyn had a chat with the team at half time to encourage them. Resilience are well named and in the second half they stepped up a gear and played really well. Right to the end they fought hard and it was an exciting game that ended 27 - 14. But they did a great job and although they were disappointed - we were really proud. I will let the pictures tell the story. Donatien receiving the runners up trophy We invited the team to the local bar for a post match drink - think we attracted a few extras but the manager of the bar was very happy with us! Valens - we can always rely on him for a smile!!
Well done Rusizi Resilience RFC you have been brilliant. Maybe next year ........
0 Comments
8/25/2018 0 Comments Time is flying!It is hard to believe that we are eight months in. Time seems to be speeding up. We have enjoyed nearly two months of dry weather with only occasional rain. The sunsets have been fantastic and we have been able to visit a new hotel by the lake that we discovered - it isn't quite finished but the grounds are lovely. I thought that travelling to schools would become easier in the dry season but I hadn't thought about the ivumbi -dust. All that thick mud has turned to dust and the motos slide around in deep powder. If you are following another vehicle then its like driving in thick fog. We arrive at the schools covered and so started to wear waterproofs to protect our clothes. Several times I have been attached by the Headteacher with a towel trying to beat the dust off me! A few weeks ago the neighbours all started to cultivate the land - an indication that the rains are coming. We have all been issued with wellington boots and these are coming in very useful - unfortunately the person who provided them seemed to think that one size fits all - Krusty the Clown size! Size 8 on a size 5 foot! I wear two or three pairs of thick socks but it is still a bit like walking in flippers. This week we visited some schools that are particularly remote. It should have taken around an hour and a half to reach them. The night before we had very heavy rain for most of the night. Thomas my moto driver was supposed to be picking me up at 6:45 but he sent a message to say the road from his house was really bad and he was 'stucked'. When he arrived he said that this road was the same one we needed to travel along to get to the school but it was too bad. Thomas is very skilled at driving through mud so if he said it was bad then it must have been very bad. Before we could leave he and Gilbert had to free up the wheels that were clogged with mud. So we went a different way - it took us over two hours and there were places where the road was still really bad. Every now again the cry would come from Thomas, "Off!" and I would hop off the moto and leave him to slither and slide through the mud. I would go on foot and meet him where the ground was more solid. We eventually got to the school and had a great time as usual with the teachers. One of the teachers was my former student from the TTC - Fredrick. It was so lovely to see him again and know that he is working as a teacher. He is also an excellent rugby player and plays for Resilience although getting to training is impossible as he is several hours away. At lunchtime (12.00) they went home and we stayed in the school. After lunch we were going to observe some lessons and meet 1-1 with the teachers. Then the rain came! The mountains disappeared as the clouds descended to the ground. It seemed as if it would never stop. The roads had been bad enough coming - goodness knows what they would be like after all this rain. At 2.30 the rain eased and the teachers reappeared. We had already decided that we were going to have to leave by 3pm rain or no rain. At 3pm we got ready to leave but there was a problem with one of the motos - it wouldn't start. It took half an hour for Thomas to work his magic and get it going and we finally set off. The journey back involved even more 'off's and the mud was definitely worse. As we travelled the sky got lighter and we had some nice views of the huge tea plantation and the rainforest in the distance. We got back safe and sound - and Thomas dropped me at the bar! I needed a Primus.
The time went way too quickly and this morning (1st August) at 6am we said goodbye to our wonderful visitors. Its actually really hard after people leave - I remember last time Lorna and Sophie visited us in 2014 it was difficult after they left. The plan was for them to go to Kamembe by taxi and get the mornng flight to Kigali. As it only takes 25 minutes to fly they would have a full day to spend in Kigali before flying home on the 2nd. Things didn't quite go to plan. We had had huge rain storms all night and the road to our house was very muddy. I didn't think the taxi would make it and I was thinking we would have to walk down carrying the bags. But the car got most of the way up the hill and we waved goodbye. They reached Kamembe airport but the plane coming from Kigali couldn't land because of bad weather and returned to Kigali. They weren't too sure what would happen but Rwandair took all the passengers for refreshments to the hotel Emeraude while they waited. It was after 2pm before they finally got on the plane meaning their planned day in Kigali didn't happen but it was fortunate that their flight to the UK is tomorrow morning and not today. Our final full day was Lorna's birthday and we went chimp tracking in the Nyungwe rainforest. We saw 5 chimps in different locations and didn't have to have too big a trek to find them. I mentioned in the last instalment that we went to Dieudonne's wedding (dowry) but the day after we attended the actual wedding. They bride and groom looked very happy. a bit of random clothes swapping between the groomsmen and the bridesmaids? we were at a popular location for wedding photos and there were three different bridal parties having photos taken on the same bit of grass. Taking photos of the abazungus became very popular. One of the other weddings had friends of ours as guests (Emmy and Noella) and I was happy to have a cwtch of 5 week old Kunwa The wedding reception was held at the TTC and it was so lovely to meet up with all my old friends again. The hall had been beautifully decorated. And the cake suitably fiery. Lorna and Sophie did a grand job of entertaining little Robert. On Sunday morning we called to see Emmy, Noella and their family on our way back to Nyamasheke. Cariad was very interested in Glyn's motorbike. Monday we spent a quiet day at home. Lorna and Sophie set to work helping me to make resources as my team were all away in Kigali. Then in the evening we visited the local bar for their speciality - goat brochette and chips. It has been a busy and fantastic two weeks with the girls and a huge thank you to them for coming to see us. We have really loved having visitors and now our big house feels very empty - so anyone else fancy coming to see us? You are most welcome!
7/30/2018 0 Comments Enjoying Rwandan CultureLorna and Sophie's visit is flying by. We have certainly packed a lot into the two weeks they are here. After leaving Akagera we went to the Inzu Lodge in Rubavu and had a couple of days to relax in the stunning surroundings. We went for a sundowner and pizza at the Paradise malahide. The following day we travelled back home to Nyamasheke calling at Home St Jean in Karongi for lunch. On Wednesday we travelled for over two hours to reach Nyakabuye where one of my former students has set up a nursery school called St Kizita's (with lots of help from friends in the UK) Now the school is going to link with Archbishop Rowan William's school In Portskewett (Wales). ARW had sent pictures, letters and videos for us to share. We collected some pictures the children had drawn and also took lots of photos and videos to be taken back to Wales. As our car pulled up the children were all very excited and sang their welcome song. ![]() We joined in with the outdoor games - Mingle Mingle ![]() We were treated to some traditional Rwandan dancing. ![]() Then we visited both of the classes. ![]() And then it was time to say goodbye! After a long journey home we were back just in time to welcome some of my work clleagues who had come to say hello. The following day Sophie and Lorna came down to the office and met my team of national volunteers. On Friday we headed to Kamembe as to attend a wedding. But we squeezed in a visit to ECPS Tara Primary first thing. ![]() The nursery children look very smart in their new sports kit. P6 children had just finished their Maths exam. We had a great meeting with the Headteacher, Emmanuel, who told us the story of his school. The school bell rang for breaktime and it was time to us to leave as we had a wedding to go to.. The rainwater harvesting tank in the background had been bought using donated money from Welsh Water and the base was built using money from Hendredenny Primary in Caerphilly. The school doesn't have much spare land but what they do have they grow some coffee and bananas that they sell. Banana flowers are just the strangest looking thing! We checked into the wonderful Hotel Emeraude and then it was time to get dressed in the Rwandan traditional clothes. Fortunately one of the waitresses in the hotel was on hand to help. I tried to dress Lorna and when she saw my attempt she simply said - "you tried" - and then proceeded to redress her! The dowry ceremony was all delivered in Kinyarwanda so we weren't exactly sure what was going on - but we clapped in the right places (we think!). The choir and dancing was fantastic - the little baby on the back of one of the choir members slept through the whole thing! There were men who did very good impressions of a cow - not sure why! We weren't in the best place to get pictures but Patricie looked very beautiful and Dieudonne very happy! We had a selfie with the bridesmaids And then it was all over.
We had an hour's walk back to the hotel which cause a bit of a stir with the locals - not least because the wind had picked up and the skirts are not the easiest to control! 7/29/2018 1 Comment Our first visitorsSix months in and we were very excited to have our daughter, Lorna, and her friend Sophie come and visit us for two weeks. We met them at the airport and travelled straight to the Akagera National park. We were staying at the beautiful Ruzizi Tented lodge. We had all afternoon to chill and watch the hippos in the lake. The evening meal by the fire was excellent. After a sunrise breakfast we headed out for a full day's game drive in Akagera ![]() Akagera is quite a small park compared with some in other African countries, but it's really beautiful and now proudly boasts the Big Five having introduced lions and rhinos in recent years. Last time we visited in 2014 there were no lions or rhinos. The lion population has increased from the 15 that were brought from S Africa in 2015 to 22 but in such a very large area you have to be lucky to find them. Guess we are lucky...... (yep there are two lions under the bush asleep - top marks for our guide, Zachary, for spotting them!) We had a great day driving right through the park - I will let the pictures speak for themselves! After a full day in the park it was time to head back to Kigali. The second puncture of the day (see wrecked tyre number one on the back of the jeep) meant that we were without a spare. ![]() Rwanda is full of helpful people and another jeep stopped and loaned us one of their spares so as Zachary put it 'we are saved'! We spent one night in Kigali staying at Five to Five and the following day we headed for Rubavu in western province for a couple of days' relaxation at the edge of Lake Kivu staying at one of our favourite places - the Inzu Lodge. We have done quite a lot in the first four days!
6/15/2018 0 Comments Two schools linkedThree years ago while doing a WaterAid assembly at Bosbury Primary near Ledbury in Herefordshire, I was chatting to Maggie the Headteacher about my time in Rwanda and she expressed an interest in forming a link. The children wrote letters to their partner school, ECPS Tara Primary which I delivered when I visited the school in 2017. I brought letters back from the Rwandan children and videos. The a couple of months ago we found that the British Council was funding link school visits through their Connecting Classrooms programme. It was a lot of work for both schools to complete online courses before the deadline and was particularly challenging for the Rwandan school as the network can sometimes be poor here. But they managed it and at the beginning of June, Sue and Lizzie from Bosbury Primary arrived to spend a week with their link school. I was so excited that finally the schools would form a proper link and no longer rely on me as a mediator. I arranged a day's leave so i could spend time with them at the school. And then ---- was told that there was a full week's training for me in Kigali so I had to cancel the leave. I was gutted but still managed to spend the weekend and part of the first day before I had to travel to Kigali. We spent Sunday with Sue and Lizzie at the fabulous Hotel Emeraude. We went into the town via moto which was great fun. Emmanuel came to the hotel to meet Sue and Lizzie for the first time. They had some books to give him. He was so excited. He had told me previously he is planning on having a library so this is the start! The we were invited to the Abagore bar (Ladies' bar) near the hotel to meet the parents' committee from the school and local leaders. Lots of speeches (Sue and Lizzie had to do two each!) We were well looked after with drinks and chicken and chips and everyone was so happy to see their visitors. One of the members of the parents' committee Jean Paul (a founder member of the school) is a coffee farmer and we were delighted to receive a packet of his coffee that he sells all over the world. On Monday morning Sue and Lizzie went to the school for the first time to meet the children and the teachers. I was able to call in for a couple of hours before I had to head to Kigali on the bus. We managed a video live chat with the children at Bosbury who sang to us from their school assembly. P4,5,and 6 children at Tara crammed into a classroom and sang as well. It was also lovely to spend time visiting classes and seeing my former student, Valens, in action with his nursery children. Tara primary has benefitted from money raised through Welsh Water and now have two rainwater harvesting tanks (previously the school did not have any water tanks). Sue and Lizzie are Welsh Water customers and in some way so is Emmanuel! I was really sorry to have to leave and would have loved to spend more time with them all but I knew they would have an amazing week.
Emmanuel and the teachers and parents at Tara Primary did an amazing job and I am sure the link between Bosbury and Tara will go from strength to strength! We did have a final chance to meet up with Sue and Lizzie before they flew home as we attended the Queen's birthday party at the residence of the British High Commissioner in Kigali. 6/15/2018 0 Comments Rwandan wedding - part 2!!Having attended the dowry ceremony for Isaie and Noella the next celebration was the religious ceremony at a large catholic church in Kamembe. I had been told we would be dressed so arrived at the Rwanda Aid house and met Janyis where we awaited our clothes. There had been some miscommunication and this time we were not going to be provided with Rwandan garb to wear. Fortunately we were staying at a nearby hotel so Glyn whizzed me back by motorbike so I could change quickly into something a bit more wedding appropriate than my tatty cut off jeans and T shirt. We joined the ceremony at the church where the bridal party were getting ready to enter the church. The super cute bridesmaids and page boys were inside the church sat at the back The photos were taken by the lake Then the reception was at the Divina Centre by Lake Kivu - the friends and family had done a fantastic job with the decoration of the hall. ![]() ![]() The lighting of the candles on the cake was pretty spectacular The table bling was also very impressive! ![]() Very excited to see the bottle of red wine ----- non alcoholic? Really??
So we danced instead and yes Ed Sheeran did feature! We were honoured to be invited to the wedding of Isaie and Noella. Isaie works for Rwanda Aid.
The wedding was a very big affair with about 800 guests invited. It took place over two days. The first weekend was the dowry and the following weekend the religious ceremony and reception. The RwandaAid ladies were all dressed in matching outfits for the dowry which took place in the grounds of the Sunshine Academy (a nursery school that used to be a hotel) in Kamembe. The pictures say it all, I think! 5/26/2018 0 Comments My Daily CommuteAs part of my job I am doing a lot of travelling by moto. As we get a lot of rain I seem to get wet fairly often but the scenery is stunning. I thought I would share with you a taste of my journey to work in the district of Nyamasheke with my trusty and skilled moto driver, Thomas. Thomas lives in an area called Rangiro where it seems it is always raining. He has nearly an hour's journey to get to my house in the morning. I visited Rangiro sector with him one day and experienced his daily mud! Now I understand exactly what he means when he sends me a text to say he will be a bit late - "Sorry Mary I am stucked" Wherever we go in Nyamasheke the road twists and turns and gives us so many views of Lake Kivu. We can always see the vast Nyungwe rainforest in the distance. This rainbow over the tea plantation was really impressive (and you can see the shadow of us on the moto and the rainforest in the distance) ![]() The main roads in Rwanda are in good condition but some of the side roads into the more remote areas are not so good and a journey along them is known as experiencing an african free massage! Sometimes the roads are so bad the local school kids can keep up - "Chase the muzungu" is very popular! Some of the schools in Nyamasheke can only be reached by boat. As it was raining we chose to use the covered boat with an engine rather than the open boat powered by paddles. (cost 50p instead of 20p) Not so good when we tried to get the boat going back though. The boat was there but no driver who said he wasn't coming until the rain stopped - which fortunately it did - an hour and a half later! In the photo below my colleague, JMV, is speaking to the driver of the boat. I really enjoy these journeys - so many interesting things to see. Rice fields in the valleys.. ![]() And schools on the hills.... And after a 'hard day's work'... It's home to watch the sun set over the lake (well - occasionally - sometimes the rain is so bad we can't even see the lake!)
We are now over four months in and keeping really busy. I am in the middle of a load of maths trainings and it was lovely last week to meet up with three of my former students (from 2014) who are now teachers in one of the schools I am working with. Florentine (standing next to me) was goalkeeper in the netball team I had started at the college in 2014. ![]() As Glyn is without a bike at the moment it isn't quite so easy to pop out and buy food and Nyamasheke is a bit limited. Biscuits are readily available in Rwanda but they are different from back home. We have tried many different ones. Last week Glyn spied some 'digestives' in a shop in Kamembe that were in packaging very similar to McVities and bought them. I was doubtful. They tasted of cardboard and clung to the roof of your mouth. It was a large packet and between us we had eaten one! Even the chickens that wander around our garden wouldn't eat them! What were we going to do with them? We live in a beautiful, big house. There are only two of us living here but we have 5 bathrooms and four showers with hot water boilers. But for various reasons we have not been able to get the boilers to work. Since we have moved in we have had half a dozen plumbers / electricians spend hours here trying all ways to get one boiler to work and then to get the hot water to come out of a shower rather than a random hole in the wall. It is, as they say in Rwanda, a challenge! Yesterday our most persistent boiler man, Nick, seemed determined to get it working. He arrived at 10am with a mechanical engineering teacher from the local technical college. After dismantling one of the other boilers and combining the parts they got one of them to produce hot water. Yey!! But then when they turned on the shower a tiny trickle came out. The pipes run through the walls. It was a mystery to begin with to work out where the water was going until we noticed the corridor was awash with hot water. The water is going through the wall. Plan B...... they decided to move the now functioning boiler into one of the other bathrooms. But the powerpoint next to the boiler didn't work (and is hanging out of the wall) so they chopped a cable off a defunct boiler, twisted the wires together and ran a cable at head height across the bathroom. It took several hours for the tank to fill and the water to heat up but it seemed to be working. While they were waiting they sat on our verandah and had a coffee......... ...with a packet of Rwandan digestives. Between them and Gilbert our guard who came to join them, they ate the lot. I was spending a few hours making some bottletops counting sticks to use with primary maths teachers and had collected a massive number of bottletops from the local bar. Sabin, the Mechanical engineering teacher, looked scathingly at my rather pathetic hammer technique and took over (fine by me) and by the end of the afternoon had hammered holes in all of the bottletops so Gilbert and I could thread them onto bamboo brochette sticks. As far as bottletop counting sticks are concerned it was a very productive day! Even little Cariad who came to visit us today with Emmy and Noella was impressed! But what of the boiler? Having helped me make my bottletop counters and eaten a meal, they continued with the mystery that is our bathroom boilers. The boiler was working, the water was hot, our electricity meter was registering not much so I had topped up....... but water would not come out of the hot tap. They came to the conclusion that again there was a problem with the pipes in the wall and said they would buy a load of pipe and return the following day (today) to try again. They had been working on it for 10 hours! This morning they arrived and continued with the work but now so much water has been used out of our storage tank that the water pressure isn't high enough to make it work. We now have to contact the water company to top up the tank! I am beginning to think this just isn't going to happen. Bucket baths it is then! And finally the bike..... Glyn has been given a motorbike to use for his hour's journey to and from the Rwanda Aid office. It is a tad unreliable - No speedo, mileometer or fuel gauge so it can be difficult to judge fuel level (and he has run out once) Often wouldn't start, failed electrics (on our way home in the dark - I was waving a torch over his shoulder so we could see the track), engine plate fell off, chain came off, chain snapped, puncture, clutch cable snapped and there are probably more things that I have forgotten. The times he has been stranded on the side of the road he has always been rescued by friendly helpful Rwandans (and even the chief of police!) but when the clutch cable snapped a few miles from home when we were both coming back one evening he has decided enough is enough and now we have said farewell to the bike. A mechanic came to our house to fix the clutch cable and then he rode the bike to Kamembe. We followed in a van. The bike didn't quite make it though - at the edge of town the chain fell off. So we have been bike less for a week but hopefully there will be a new one coming from Kigali next week. I And once we have the new bike, we will be mobile again and can go off in search of some decent biscuits!
|
Archives
December 2018
Preparing to go back to our second home
|