Sorry it’s taken so long for me to update this blog, but internet connection
here can be very slow. Since patience isn’t a virtue that I’ve been blessed
with yet (lol), I haven’t had the time or money to sit for long so that I can
post this. I want to cram a month’s worth of information on here, so I
apologize now if this is really long. I will try my hardest to update this more
frequently.
OK! So, WOW I live in Africa!!! I still can’t believe I’m here, and that
I’ve been here a month already. Let me begin by saying if you haven’t had
the opportunity to make a trip to this continent you must do so. Rwanda in
particular has the most gorgeous views. It is indescribably beautiful, and no
picture I could ever take would do it justice. My first 2 days in Rwanda were
spent in Kigali. I got time to spend with fellow trainees, and start getting
some of MANY shots. We also got the chance to meet with the Minister of Health
for Rwanda, and to hear some of his expectations for the work we will be doing
while we are here. This is an opportunity not afforded to many (or any) other
PC groups. We also went to the PC Country Director’s home for a welcome
party, where they had people there doing the native “cow” dance (long story,
I’ll explain about that in another post). We met Odette and John Baptiste,
which was kind of surreal
because I had begun reading about them in this book called, “We Wish to
Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families”, a great book
about the history of Rwanda and the genocide.
The following day we got on a bus to embark on a 2-hour journey to Butare,
which is our training site/home for 3 months. I’ve been learning, studying,
and practicing the language and it is no joke! They say that Kinyarwanda (the
local language) is the second hardest language in the world to learn, following
Chinese. That fact alone should give you some insight into how confused I am on
a daily basis. After a day or two in Butare, we went to the stadium to
celebrate one of their national holidays, Heroes’ Day. I think it’s a day
to thank those who helped to put an end to the genocide, but I didn’t get a
lot of clarification on that. During the ceremony my PC group was introduced to
the community, but even after that many still don’t understand what our
purpose is here, and that we are “abakorerabushake” (such a long word to say
volunteers), and don’t have any money. America=rich.
Interestingly enough I am constantly mistaken for Rwandan. People come up to
me speaking Kinyarwanda, and when I look at them totally confused, I’m
questioned and thought to be joking when I say that I don’t speak the
language. The next question of course is, “well where are you from?” my
response “I’m from America”. Them, “no what country in Africa?” me
“I don’t know.” Them, “what do you mean you don’t know?” They
start to get really upset about my ignorance, and I try to explain the whole
African Diaspora, but that doesn’t really translate. There’s a lot more to
say about this but I won’t write it all in this post.
On a good note, my living conditions are not too shabby. It’s definitely not
as primitive as I, and others expected. I have my own room, with a sink. We
have running water and a toilet. I have to take cold bucket baths, but I
quickly got used to that. What’s really weird is that we have wi-fi here?!?!
We were each given a host family, and I absolutely love mine. They are extremely
welcoming. The purpose of a host family is to give you a chance to become more
acclimated with the culture and language by interacting with a local family.
Since we live with fellow volunteers, PC just wants to be sure that we are
getting the real Rwandan experience. With them I have gotten the chance to see
what a Catholic service is like here (3 hours long), and also to experience a 3
couple wedding ceremony (that’s a story for another blog as well).
The US Embassy says that Rwanda is the safest country in Africa, and I truly
believe them especially when we have police patrolling the streets 24/7. We
have gone to 2 genocide memorials since we’ve been here. Both are really hard
to experience, but the second one had me in tears. The background story to the
Murambi Memorial is a sad one. In short, it was a local technical school where
many local authorities and church leaders told the Tutsis to go for protection.
In reality they were trying to get all the Tutsis from that area in one location
so that it would be easier to kill them. The memorial consists of about 21
rooms of bodies that they have preserved with limestone. It was difficult to go
through these rooms and see the remains of women, men, children, and physically
see how they died. I only made it through 5 or 6 of the rooms, because I saw
the remains of a child who may have been about 1 or 2 years old with a gaping
hole in his head
from where he was hit with a machete. Speaking about the genocide with local
people is a very sensitive topic. A lot of people speak in terms of before and
after the war /genocide. I don’t bring it up unless someone broaches the
topic with me, and even then hearing their stories is hard; because really what
can you say in response to the nightmare they lived through.
Random facts:
-Natural hair isn’t common here (unless you just became a Christian), so I
get stared at a lot.
-There’s a Dark & Lovely hair salon
-Lyrics to T-Pain, Akon, Brandy, Jay-Z, and a host of other hip-hop/R&B
artists are spray painted onto buildings, buses, taxis, etc. People will print
out the lyrics of these songs and ask me to explain them. (international social
responsibility is what I will be teaching about when I get back to the
states…read some of the following statements and you’ll understand why)
-I’ve had several chats with locals here about using the “n-word”, and
about what a ghetto really is.
-The BET awards is downloaded onto people’s computers, and watched over and
over again.
-They watch American videos here, and try to mimic them. Scantily clad women
in videos are automatically assumed to be American.
-It can get really cold here (I thought I was in Africa), so a jacket is
definitely needed
-Exercising here is hard because of the high elevation
-Gender equality doesn’t really exist, even though they have more women in
positions of power here then in any other country in Africa
-I miss a real mattress and pillow
-I’m losing my ability to speak and write coherently in English (it took me
forever to write this post, because I’m losing words)
-There’s no word for please or excuse me here…if people want to get by you
they just kind of push you out of the way…it’s interesting
-The PC nurse says that it’s highly likely that everyone will get malaria
here at least once (welcome to Africa!)
-There’s an actual verb for “to scrub a hyena vigorously”
-I found out my site placement!!!! I will be in Kigali (Rwanda’s largest
city), teaching and doing health/hygiene education at an all girls secondary
school. I’ve been told it’s the most prestigious girls school in the
country, so I’m really excited!! I go to visit my site, and see my house next
week so I’ll keep you all posted.
I apologize that this is so long, and appreciate you all taking the time to
read it. Miss and love you all!!!
Murabeho!! (Bye!)
