Turn Left at That Cow!

So officially I’ve been here for three weeks. Definitely feels like it. I am finding my way around the Kigali area quite easily now using certain landmarks and yes, one of them is veering left at the house with the cow. This has been a great week so far as absolutely NOTHING has gone as expected. My friend Mark had a good quote on the subject which I’d like to share about faith:
(Alan Watts on Faith):
Faith is a state of openness or trust. To have faith is like when you trust yourself to the water. You don't grab hold of the water when you swim, because if you do you will become stiff and tight in the water, and sink. You have to relax, and the attitude of faith is the very opposite of clinging, and holding on. In other words, a person who is fanatic in matters of religion, and clings to certain ideas about the nature of God and the universe becomes a person who has no faith at all. Instead they are holding tight. But the attitude of faith is to let go, and become open to truth, whatever it might turn out to be.
Education: I am learning a fair bit more about the Rwandan Education System. As the curriculum has recently been switched to English (and most teachers have secondary level education consisting primarily of French and Kinyarwanda), you can imagine the challenges. The post-colonial methodologies contribute to the poor quality of teaching. I am incredibly glad to be working in the primary division for maximum impact. To accommodate the masses of students, there is “double shifting” meaning students attend either morning or afternoon. This seems to solve the school vs. work challenge as children can have access to education and still maintain chores at home- (not having to choose either/or). Some schools have feeding programs to encourage school attendance but they are being discouraged in part because the focus is academics and in part because they are notoriously hard to maintain. Solar energy is another priority and getting the one computer a school might have out of a box in the corner and into use is a long-term goal of the headmaster of Ecole St. Dominique (see pic). A primary methodology handbook was created by VSOs and strategies such as mindmaps, QDPA and unique seating plans are included. I’d love to give my colleagues back home a copy of this handbook- it’s got some great ideas! In a bookstore downtown, I spotted Howard Gardner’s book on Multiple Intelligences- a favorite teachers’ college guide. If it’s in the country, that’s a good start, maybe there’s hope for the theory that children need more than “talk and chalk” teaching in the future. When I toured schools last week with a ministry inspector, he spoke passionately about Rwanda’s intitiative to become a “knowledge-based economy”. The fact that Rwanda does not export sugar or coffee or gold, has no resource to speak of and low tourism, makes it necessary for Education to become the focus for their future development. Impressive strategy.
Funny anecdotes: I was in the craft shop (a co-op downtown for local artisans to sell handicrafts) and I only bought a $3 scarf. The vendor was trying to sell me much, much more but I insisted as a volunteer here for a year I could not buy anything more. He said “I hear on the radio that your country is having money problems”. Hmm, an African empathizing about the global recession in the West.
Language/ Communication Issues: Each day there is something lost in translation but I’m finding it increasingly humorous. For instance, yesterday a man said : “I issue you a good day !” and there is a construction sign that I absolutely love (and must get a picture of) that is a small triangle inside of which reads: “Mens at works”. On a more serious note, the ketchup situation here has me quite worried. I’ll order fries and ask for ketchup and the waiter will point to the white glob on my plate and say “but you have mayonnaise” and I’ll politely say “yes, I see the mayonnaise, may I also have ketchup?” to which he’ll respond “but there is mayonnaise”. I can sometimes get a watered down version of “sauce” and sometimes, if I’m really lucky- be rewarded with a bottle of Heinz (there’s no other keinz) but I have to pay 200fr for it.
Trivialities: You can’t eat or drink in public. You can’t walk on the grass. Locals call me “sistah” or “muzungu” and I often answer “mon frere” or “my name’s not muzungu it’s Rebecca”. This always produces quite a chuckle. I’m finding that I’m speaking mainly in French. I really enjoy it. I’d like to get a Kinyarwanda language tutor once I’m set up in my house but have also considered learning Kiswahili as it is the most widely spoken African language and many Rwandans are actually Congolese or Ugandan and speak Swahili over Kinyarwanda.
Guest House Visitors: Since I’ve been here at the Guest House for three weeks, I’ve seen many visitors come and go- and not without some intriguing stories. Each morning at breakfast there is a diverse group of people and in the evening if I am using the internet in the lobby, random conversations are struck- this may be prompted by the Canadian Flag sticker on my laptop. For the record, I will correct anyone (even my Director of Education during a meeting with the Mayor) if they try to call me an American ! At the guest house I have discussed the finer points of peanut butter with a British masters’ student, international politics with a Cameroonian who works in Tanzania on the genocide tribunal and been berated on the “god-complex” of most humanitarian aid-workers by a Swiss jerk.
The guest house staff have become like a second family. Erik works in the kitchen and slides around in these fancy dress shoes which may be a few sizes too big for him. He has the most charming, bright smile. Fulgence is the one whose law dissertation I witnessed at the University last week and Theo is getting married on Sunday and has invited me to the wedding! Clementina and Diana do cleaning and the night guard likes to listen to my hip-hop. They have commiserated with me when at 6am I am waiting out front for the driver and by 7:30am I reluctantly head back to my room because no one has come. I have handed them my phone on several occasions so that they can speak Kinyarwanda for me with the person on the other end who has decided not to understand my French or English! The housing plans are coming along and I think when I do leave Beausejour Guest House I will most likely plan to return a few months from now to check in on my first Rwandan friends.
Well, if you’re still reading this, kudos to you-it’s quite a long blog. I’ll plan to write more frequently and briefer entries. Remind me to tell you of my adventures this morning riding a moto for 2 hours in the freezing rain only to arrive within 3km of the school we wished to visit and find that the muddy road is washed out and we can’t make it even on foot so must turn around! I don’t know why but my reaction to these types of situations is to laugh. “Adventure’s my middle name”. Okay, last anecdote- my phone # here ends in -007 so anytime I share my number with someone,;friend, local or colleague, there is an inevitable James Bond reference. Haha.
K, if in the next few months I am not laughing at these types of experiences, (and feel like crying over them instead)- please give me a proverbial whack over the head.
Ciao for now amigos!