Gisenyi

Yay, another road trip! This weekend I visited Gisenyi- a resort town on Lake Kivu; a popular get-a-away spot for Rwandans in the western part of the country.

A local hotel in Gisenyi started a monthly "jungle party" with a BBQ, bonfire, DJ, and dancing. It was a lot of fun, I think there were a couple hundred people who travelled from Kigali to attend. Four of us drove up together early Saturday morning and enjoyed a fun-filled day (tennis, swimming, boat ride) and evening. Later Saturday evening we met up with seven others from Kigali for dinner and dancing.

Alexi, Jenny, and I stopped for a photo opportunity on the way to Gisenyi.

Alexi and Daniel

Daniel made sandwiches and homemade chocolate chip cookies for our trip.

Another photo stop.

We stayed at the Serena Hotel in Gisenyi.

The key ring had a cute wooden gorilla on it. This is the view outside of our patio from Jenny and my room.

Jenny and I (using my one-handed photo taking skills).

The beach view to the right.

Beach view to the left.

This is Daniel on the tennis court. We came prepared with our tennis rackets and tennis balls.

The four of us after our tennis match. We learned we play together well: none of us were very good!

Daniel and I in the water which was actually pretty warm. The temperature outside was about 85 degrees in Gisenyi.

Daniel and Alexi

We paid $10 to take a boat ride down the coast. We were close to the border of the Congo- but turned around because it's an area we are supposed to avoid. There is still some reported conflict on the border of Rwanda and the Congo, from the genocidaires hiding out there.

Headed to dinner

Early evening dancing

They call Rwanda the land of a thousand hills: I think I've taken pictures of at least 250 so far.

We traveled up and over a big mountain (or maybe two) and whenever we got up very high the temperature dropped to around 60 degrees. There was also an active (smoking) volcano we passed along the way- but the clouds prevented me from getting any good photos. I'll have to work on that!

This is a field of tea we passed, the tea plants are very beautiful.

This is a refugee camp; there are still a couple operating in Rwanda- 14 years after the genocide.

This is a pretty view of Kigali city in the distance on our way home.

More pictures from my trip to Butare

Notes on work

I've accomplished a lot in two weeks; learning about HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, understanding the prevalence and issues facing Rwanda in particular, and learning how public-private partnerships work here. Needless to say, I've been in a lot of meetings. For my short time here, I feel pulled between trying to impact services and program delivery with my social work training and alternatively assisting in management areas of budget planning and contracts which is a great need. The ability to respond both politically and programmatically to the American Ambassador's interests, the Government of Rwanda's interests, the US Government's interest, and especially in the best interest of Rwandans is fascinating and hard work. The HIV/AIDS program here has matured and is transitioning from crisis/start up mode to sustaining programs and weathering turnover in staff, partners, and leaders. This is a very exciting time to be here; we are identifying new focus areas including quality control, program evaluation, and ramping up prevention once treatment goals are reached. Being in such a small country, with a relatively small ex-pat community, is affording me the opportunity to work and gain experience in many different public health areas.

Along with the beautiful country and perfect weather the working conditions are very positive. The city and country are well-run...clean, reliable electricity, safe, and contrary to some other places things generally run on-time with deadlines being met. I have learned this is in large part because of the culture and people here; this is a very hierarchical and rule-abiding society. However, this is one of the poorest countries in the world and there is great disparity between those with resources and those without (60% of the population live in poverty). Also health care is very poor with extremely high rates of infant mortality and life expectancy only in the 40's. Economic growth is limited by few exports (primarily coffee and tea), low tourism interest, and issues with access to quality education and opportunities for higher education. The health care system is similarly limited by training needs and access issues. Rwandans killed or displaced during the genocide included a disproportionate number of highly skilled and educated members of society, including doctors, nurses and other health workers.

It has been a positive experience working here so far. A lot of people stare at me as a "stranger" but rarely heckle or bother me. I am often asked for money- mostly from children- and have heard this is common for all foreigners here which makes sense given our incomes compared to the average income of a few hundred dollars a year here. It seems that some of the men out at bars and restaurants have only learned the English phrase "can I have your phone number?" but this is easy to ignore and not overly bothersome. I have noticed an issue with prostitution and hope to explore how we can impact this in our treatment and prevention programs. I have learned from others in the office that younger women struggle in partnerships because there are issues with sexism sometimes resulting in disrespect or disregard for their ideas. However, I have not noticed this and may not have a chance to have close relationships with local businessmen and partners in my short time here. One of the biggest challenges is cultivating friendships with Rwandans. They are very private and reserved people with good reason. I think broken trust and broken communities has severely hurt the growth and spirit here. I am eager to learn more about how they are rebuilding and how to help.

The road to Butare

On Friday after work I went with friends to a small shop which sold wooden artwork from the Congo. I purchased a drum and masks. My first African art! That night I went to dinner with three friends- Jenny from the American Embassy, Laurie from the British Embassy, and Michael (an architect student from Harvard here working on a public health initiative). After dinner we went to a local bar where they have "karaoke" performances. This was quite interesting; there were groups performing lip sync to popular music with costumes and elaborate dance routines. It was pretty funny but the audience of Rwandans were very serious and watched the show quietly. It was funny to us because the performers were lip syncing to Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera and not doing it very well.

On Saturday I travelled to another city in Rwanda: Butare. Once again I saw beautful scenery along the 2 hour drive. The road was paved and nice to drive on. Along the way we saw women carrying babies on their back and heavy items on their head.
We saw three and four people on each bicyle.
Sometimes people creatively carried large bushels of bananas and even a table and chairs on one bicycle!

We stopped along the way at a place where the Twa (a Pygmy people, 1% of the Rwandan population) make pottery. They had finished the actual pottery making for the day (often you can observe them working). Luckily we were still able to visit the pottery shop, and we bought a number of fun pieces.

Michael is taking a photo of the kiln.


Janice is surveying the pottery in the store.





Jenny and Michael are buying pottery





I purchased these pretty mugs and bowls.

The kids near the pottery place were excited to look at photos of themselves.

We stopped for lunch in Butare-

Me and Jenny



Janice and Michael





We also visited the National Museum of Rwanda (outside of Butare)

We learned about the history of Rwanda- and traditional dance, music, etc. As well as a history of the leadership and genocide.
These are traditional baskets which are a specialty and sold here.


This is a cooperative store in Butare which sold many of the traditional Rwandan baskets and woodwork.

I bought lots of fun things. Here is one of the colorful baskets I bought.


On Sunday I played tennis with Laurie and learned that I really need to take advantage of the lessons offered here (only $5 for a top-notch instructor!) I also got a massage which was only $12.

This is Laurie- she lives down the street from me in a big 3 bedroom house. She will be here for two years so she brought many of her own things, including a slow-cooker which she used to make a beef brisket with carrots and potatoes for us on Sunday night. Yum!

Coffee Talk

(repost after accidentally deleting this post yesterday)

I can’t read People magazine here (a guilty grocery store pleasure) but maybe I could write for them. Ewan McGregor was spotted in Kigali a week or so ago at a coffee shop. This is the first “coffee shop” in Kigali in the first “mall” in Rwanda- so of course it would attract Hollywood stars. It even has wireless internet and Starbucks-ish coffee! Apparently Ewan was here on a motor bike ride across Africa as a UNICEF Ambassador.

Exploring the countryside

I've had a busy couple of days! On Friday I went to movie night at the "American Club". (An embassy supported organization/club which hosts various social gatherings like movie night every Friday). Anyone can join, it's not limited to Americans. Afterward I went out with some new friends- there is a small but close ex-pat community here. It was nice to get to know many of them better. I'm starting to put names, faces, and jobs together.
On Saturday I played softball and attended a cookout hosted by the Marines. There are a handful of Marines stationed here, and they are the ones who provide the first-run movies for movie night, and they brought hamburgers, hot dogs, Mountain Dew, and Bud Light to the cookout. They have quite a network for getting things sent to them. We played a "west coast" vs. "east coast" game which lasted 7 innings (before people got tired and hungry). The west coast won (darn!), but it wasn't a landslide. We played at a stadium near downtown Kigali and attracted a crowd of Rwandan families and children who sat in the stands. I spoke with a few who said they had seen baseball games on TV before- but not seen it played in person. On Friday it had been funny to watch Daniel trying to get some of our local staff to plan to come out and play softball. They asked him how do you play- and he explained you hit a ball with a stick and then run. They asked him "run where?" And he said "run home", which made everyone laugh. At the game we got the crowd to do the wave and the 7th inning stretch! Too bad we didn't have peanuts and crackerjacks.

On Saturday night I met up with a new friend who works for the British embassy and lives on my street. We tried one of the recommended restaurants called Havana Club which serves wood-fired pizzas. It was pretty good food, and definitely an interesting chance to learn more about the British government system and their efforts in Rwanda.

On Sunday I went for a drive with Donald who recently acquired a car here. It was great to get out of the city and see some of the countryside. The main roads here are in pretty good shape; there were even streetlamps far outside of Kigali. Donald is trying to get used to all of the motor taxis that honk and zip past you, not to mention the pedestrians everywhere! We are lucky to live in a city and country in Africa where we can safely drive out of town and explore on our own.

We passed the Kigali airport on the way out of town.

We passed many cows and goats. I saw people walking their goats on a rope leash.

This is what many of the homes look like on the edge of Kigali city.


Most people we passed were getting water from nearby streams or wells. Many of them carried the water on bicycles or on their head. Most people wore very "western" clothes, only a few in brightly colored African print dresses.

The countryside is very beautiful. Lush green as far as the eye can see. I saw a lot of corn growing, and banana trees. The soil is dark brown and things seem to grow abundantly.

We did not see very many water sources. Only an occasional stream or small lake (it is the dry season), which is probably why people were walking so far to get water.

Almost every home we passed had landscaped and swept yards with gardens.

There were alot of pretty flowers that I cannot identify yet.

This was a road we followed for a long time- about 50 km outside of the city near a town called Rwamagana. There were many homes at the side of the road and many people walking around. We only passed two other cars in an hour. Many of the people and young children yelled "mzungas!" at us- which means "white people" in Kinyarwanda. Most people smiled and waved. At one point Donald stopped at the side of this road and many people gathered around our car- peering inside. I felt this was fair since we were driving down their road peering at them. Everyone seemed friendly but did not speak English or French.

The further out we drove- the more rural it became. There are many mud homes, and farming fields.

This is a church we passed. Probably a Catholic church- as this is the predominant religion in Rwanda.

This drive was a wonderful introduction to the beautiful countryside in Rwanda. The pictures do not do it justice!

A team of five Peace Corps staff are here scouting out Rwanda as a potential new site for Peace Corps volunteers. They have not had a presence here since 1994, before the Genocide. I am learning a lot in these meetings as many people have given overviews of the work being done here, the government, and cultural background.