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

Tanzania

Collecting spices in Zanzibar



Dar es Salaam

After the big move, I spent a week relaxing in Tanzania with a group of volunteers (and an honorary volunteer!). Our first stop was in Dar es Salaam, the economic capital of Tanzania. I was surprised to find very little in the city and felt it was comparatively less developed than Kigali – It’s funny how you become possessive over a place….I found myself saying “Well, it’s not like this in Rwanda” quite often! 

After Dar, we got a ferry over to Zanzibar, to the main port, Stonetown.

Ferry to Zanzibar - VIP Lounge

 

Looking back at Dar from the ferry

 This was a far more appealing place to me; tiny little windy alleyways full of small trinket shops and jewellery stores, lovely boutique hotels with rooftop views for watching the sunset and a plethora of restaurants including a Swahili place where we ate sitting on cushions on the floor at a low table.

Penthouse apartment in Stonetown

 

Swahili dining

Night market

Typical Zanzibari buildings

The local beers - Safari and Kili

Ferry from mainland to Zanzibar

Sun setting from beautiful rooftop bar

 

Happy Hour!

Rather cool bar called 'The Post'

From Stonetown, we also took a trip out to a rural area where we were able to explore a spice plantation and sample some of the plants growing there.

grapefruit skin



Vanilla

Climbing the tree for coconuts

DSTV gets everywhere - and I had never heard of it before going to Africa!

The final location on our whistle-stop adventure was the beach where I spent two days swimming happily in the sea (many of you know I am a water baby), sunbathing (Or rainbathing to be more accurate) and enjoying massages from the beach-side massage parlour. It was the perfect break to help me relax and prepare for the new challenges post-VSO.

Our gorgeous room on the beach

Kendwa Rocks resort

Leaving Kibungo

April has been a busy month for me as I left Kibungo and finished my placement with VSO, having completed a year's work with them.

It was very sad saying goodbye to my friends but I am glad to be staying in Rwanda for a while longer with the prospect of seeing them all again.

Before leaving, I held a small party at my house and invited my closest friends. We ate goat brochettes and ibitoke and drank lots of Fanta. I then packed all of my stuff up into a small driving school car with dual controls (taxis are not easy to come by in Kibungo!) and I left for Kigali. After the stress of moving and saying goodbye, I was very grateful to spend the following week in Tanzania, with friends, having a relaxing holiday....photos to follow.






Goodbye Moses - my wonderful housemate and washer-upper! Now under Michelle's watchful eye (left)

Goodbye Patrick - my lovely guard and BEST friend in Kibungo

Farewell party at my house

Not such a sad goodbye to this spider - thankfully the only day we ever met was my last day in Kibungo!



Goodbye Safari - my very cautious moto driver who never let me fall off!

Goodbye Mama Blair- my washing lady who cleaned my clothes and my house (sometimes a bit too thoroughly!)

Goodbye Jean de Dieu - Headteacher at Kansana, the school that gave my parents such a wonderful welcome.

Goodbye Judith - My DEO, boss and friend.

My 'taxi'

Fully loaded and ready to leave my Rwandan home



Imbuto Foundation

The last week of term included a flurry of activities; a farewell and thank you from the mayor, two VSO meetings and a rather special ceremony in the district, courtesy of the Imbuto Foundation.

The Imbuto Foundation is a social mobilization campaign which promotes girls’ education. It is led by Jeanette Kagame, the First Lady of Rwanda.

Moses and I attended the Prize Giving Ceremony for Ngoma and Kirehe District where the best performing girls were rewarded for their results in the National Examinations.

 

At the event, the girls were presented with a big bag of goodies, including a wristwatch, periodic table, Oxford English dictionary and 20,000RWF cash (which for some people is equivalent to a month's salary). It was wonderful to be part of the Girls’ Empowerment campaign and my District Education Officer was particularly proud as her daughter was one of the prize winners.

Inhore Traditional Dancing

 

Many confident girls gave speeches of thanks

 

The girls receiving their prizes

 

My DEO - A very proud mum!