Sophia's first Christmas

We had a quiet Christmas, with Hazel (Sophia's Godmother) and her partner Roshan joining the three of us for Christmas dinner. After visiting 4 supermarkets and a local market, I was able to find a chicken, pigs in blankets and most of the traditional British vegetables for Christmas dinner. You will see from the photo that we had a rare opportunity to use candles for aesthetics, not necessity!

Thanks to lovely family and friends from home, we were able to make a festive table with crackers and chocolate coins:

We ate slightly later than planned as the  buttons on my oven do not display the temperature any more so I had to guess, and in true Barnecutt fashion, was worried that the bird wasn't cooked. So, an hour late, and we sat down for dinner. As soon as we did, another couple turned up a - good job I over cater! No chicken left for the next day but everyone was able to eat their fill and especially enjoyed the Baileys desserts (which caused the 4 supermarket stops in preparation). 

Sophia had very few gifts, which we hope will continue to be the case as we don't want her to be overwhelmed with toys and 'stuff'. And the irony is that, despite this, she still enjoyed playing with the empty wine box best of all! Kids will be kids!

Holidaying with a baby

We headed to Gisenyi on Lake Kivu for a few days during the Christmas holiday. Having been there a number of times before (and blogged about it previously), I was looking forward to some nice sunshine and relaxation by the lake. Little did I know that holidaying with a mobile baby is far from a relaxing experience, especially when the tourism industry here provides next to nothing for babies...no baby bed, highchairs, food options etc etc.

We did have a lovely time but I was somewhat relieved to return to the comforts of Sophia's cot, her safe play area and all her toys in our house.

Highlights of the trip included Sophia and Collin trying kayaking for the first time in their lives (Sophia stuck to dry land), enjoying delicious fish from the lake and sharing a bottle of bubbly with friends to celebrate Collin's belated birthday. Sophia was very entertained by the champagne glasses and enjoyed joining in with one (full of water!). 

Brunch in Heaven

Collin and I took Sophia out for brunch today. As a sociable baby, Sophia loves any opportunity to watch people and make friends. We arrived at Heaven restaurant to see quite a few tables with infants and young children. There was a table set up for children to make cards using banana leaves and a lovely shop featuring Toddle Care products, designed for babies and toddlers . 

As soon as we sat down, two waiters arrived with a high chair and Toddle Care chair cover for Sophia. We thought Sophia would be too small for the high chair as she often topples forward when sitting but with the chair cover, she was able to sit up perfectly. I was really impressed with the attentiveness of the waiting staff - this is not a common occurrence in Rwanda, and I really felt like children were welcomed there. 

Sophia was very chuffed with her independent seating arrangement and giggled her way through the meal, staring at everyone who passed by. In fact she was so entertained, that she didn't even try to get any of my food. Now we are back at home, she is fast asleep, allowing me to blog for the first day in ages. It was an expensive brunch (with 10% tip added to the bill, something rare to see in Rwanda) but worth it to have a positive dining experience with a baby and to find a place I would be happy to go to on my own with her in the future. 

I was also able to buy her a wooden stacking toy from Toddle Care so it was a very successful outing.

 

Sophia in Rwanda

So, the next chapter of my Rwandan adventure begins. And this is, I think, the most exciting one yet, as Collin and I have returned to Rwanda with our 6 month old baby, Sophia. From now on, this blog will be about having a baby in Rwanda; the ups, the downs and ironies of it all. 

Although predominately set up as a platform for my friends and family to see what I am up to, I have learnt that my blog has also reached people trying to learn about the country before embarking on their own Rwandan adventures. Therefore, I will try to feed useful information into my blog as we go along.

We have been back for a month so far and I have noticed the following in the shops.....

Things which are scarce or expensive: 

• Baby formula - £8 a tub.

• Pampers - £23 for a large pack or £9 for a carry back of 9 nappies – We will be sticking to the cheaper brands, (sorry Sophia) which are £6 a pack, closer to UK prices but not as good quality.

• Baby toiletries – For some reason these are much more expensive than adult toiletries. Around £6 for Johnsons baby bath. Thankfully I brought some of this with me.

Things which are readily available:

• Baby baths – It took me a long time to choose which one to buy as I was faced with around 20 different models. There must be a big demand for these in Rwanda !!

  
  

  
  
  

• Delicious food for Sophia to try – We started weaning two weeks ago and Sophia seems to like the local avocados and mini bananas. At 20p an avo, this is now my instant food equivalent to Ella's kitchen pouches! I’m looking forward to giving her mashed carrot soon. The carrots here are SO sweet. Collin and I had both forgotten how much better the fruit and veg tastes here. 

  
  
  
  One of my biggest concerns  before arriving here, was finding Sophia a cotbed. Using the Kigali Mums and Dads Facebook group, which is a great source of information, I was able to find someone who was selling a cot. We went to pick it up a couple of days after arriving but had to hire a pickup truck to transport it to our apartment (no, alarm bells didn't ring at this point!) However, when we reached home, the cot was too big to fit through the door....ahh! So for now, Sophia is sleeping in a makeshift bed which consists of her play zoo, mattress and mosquito net. I surround the mattress with pillows as she is becoming quite mobile now so I am concerned she might fall out. I think she must be the only baby who sleeps in a zoo! Having doors wide enough to accommodate our cot is now on the list of requirements whilst we search for a house next month!! In the meantime, it's the zoo for our princess:
  
  
  

  
  
  
  

Umubano Primary School

I cannot believe that I only blogged once during my most recent Rwandan adventure. However, I think that is probably representative of the busy time I was having in my role as Interim Head Teacher at Umubano Primary School. 

I also had to keep a website up to date, which contained a lot of what I would have been blogging about any way. For those of you interested, the site is www.umubanoprimary.org . Click on the news tab to see some of the things I was doing at the school. 

My Rwandan expeditions are currently on pause whilst I'm back in the UK to have a baby - mum would not have been impressed if I had had her first grandchild in Rwanda, even though she accepts that it probably won't be long until baby and I are flying back to Africa for our next adventure, along with Collin who is due to arrive in the UK on 17th march (which should be perfect timing before the birth...fingers crossed).

I spent 5 months of my pregnancy in Rwanda and found the healthcare there to be very good. I was offered an appointment with the consultant every 6 weeks and given an ultrasound scan at every visit. So I was able to see my baby 4 times on the screen as opposed to the usual 2 offered by the NHS. Having said this, my photo souvenirs all look like aliens so they are not much to write home about!!

Anyway, I will endeavour to blog more when the next African adventure commences and I will be sure to post some snaps of the baby too. 

If any of you are feeling charitable, here is a link to my school's fundraising page. We need help supporting the 30 children who have scholarship places: 

http://www.apartnerineducation.org/scholarship-fund/

This is me in Uganda at Christmas with a 6 month bump. Collin and I took a short break over there so he could introduce me to his family :-)

Back in Rwanda

Yes, I am blogging again!

After a month’s break at home in England, I am back in Rwanda with a new challenge, working at a Primary School in Kigali which is supported by a small NGO. The project is in its second year and the school has been designed to be a model school for local Rwandan counterparts to visit and learn from. The infrastructure is innovative, staff get constant on-the-job support from an international education specialist and the children learn in English from Nursery 1 until Primary 6.



The beautiful school, equipped with elephant slide and nursery children singing on the grass

My role here is the interim Country Director for the NGO. As such, I am Head Teacher for the school and Lead Practitioner in charge of staff development. Over the next few months, it is my aim to find a local Head Teacher to come on board and lead the school. Our long term plan is for the school to reach ultimate sustainability without requiring additional support from an INGO.

So another wonderful opportunity for me and the chance to stay in Rwanda for a bit longer. If you look back at some of my other blogs, you will see the stark contrast between this school and the rural schools I was working in last year. The school has its own library, play time equipment and local and international learning resources. It also has nearby grazing cattle, the occasional visiting goat and a local community which is more reminiscent of my time in Kibungo than Kigali. Definitely another home from home. Every morning and evening the children shake my hand to greet me and sometimes throw themselves at me for an opportunistic hug! It’s really nice to be based in one school and have some consistency…..and I haven’t been called Muzungu once, the kids here have already learnt my name!

More to follow – I promise not to be silent for so long this time.



Children reading in the school library

P3 Learners saying "Hello"

The school swings with 'Customers' waiting for their turn

Mount Bisoke

Last weekend, I visited the Virunga Mountains in the Northern Province of Rwanda. This is the home of the mountain gorillas, which I have been fortunate enough to visit twice already. However, this time, we were not tracking gorillas, we were climbing Mount Bisoke which has a summit of 3711m. Two of my VSO colleagues are climbing Kilimanjaro in 2 weeks so they wanted to get a bit of altitude training in. Naturally, Rwanda, the land of a thousand hills, provides a good environment for training and the girls had already been doing lots of local walks to get their fitness levels up. Being a good friend, I decided to join them on the Bisoke hike, having done no hill-walking or preparation…….

My fellow hikers



Photo taken because I was very purple! Little did we know that the purple was soon to become brown!

The walk took us 7 hours as Rwanda decided to show us a rain-day (we did choose to walk during the rainy season so not much of a surprise!). We all had waterproof coats and trousers and didn’t let the rain get us down. Although it did make the whole experience a lot muddier than we had anticipated.

At the start - can you even see the mountain?

Every now and then we needed a helping hand so we didn't fall in the boggy ground!

With the help of Deo, my wonderful porter, I managed to reach the summit and made it down again. Unfortunately the view at the top was no more than clouds and we were unable to see the crater lake at the top but the sign proves that we were there.

THE TOP!- V. Chilly!

At the end of the day, we returned to Gisenyi on Lake Kivu for lovely hot showers (still a luxury we appreciate here). Unlike the Kilimanjaro girls, I was left with aching limbs which stayed with me until Tuesday. I’ll be thinking of them as they do their big climb but I’m happy I didn’t sign up for that one!



Damp mist

Korean hikers with the rainforest behind them

Celebratory waffle! Can you see how muddy my feet were?

View on the way back down when the rain had stopped