But let me start by telling you about what a typical kind of day in the life of this volunteer work in Rwanda is like. It gets light early here – maybe around 5.30am or so and is a pleasant shock coming from the 7am and change at the earliest (indeed it is probaby getting worse as I write) and takes me back to those summer days when the light wakes you gently. Given we are not going to bed that late, it is not unpleasant to wake from slumber at about 6-6.30 and then doze. My first thought tends to be whether I have got myself all hooked up in my malaria net and whether I am going to drag this off the ceiling as I clumsily untangle myself. I haven’t so far but imagine I probably will at some point. I then usually become aware of how clammy I am as it is hot at night too and sleeping surrounded by a malaria net has its obvious benefits but drawbacks in terms of making it hotter. That said, the mossies have not been bad at all though which is a blessing.
So having determined the relative malaria net destruction status as well as degree of clamminess, it hits me between the eyes – the cold shower! Oh I did not see that coming! It takes your breath away. Indeed usually I hate showers that do not stand over a bath but in this instance I am grateful – grateful because I can soak and try to wash my hair and then hope that the hyperventilating subsides before I get to the rest of my body!! It is grim! However I was told that paying 3,000 Rwandan francs ( i know most of you will be well aware that it is about 900 rwandan francs to the £;-) for a sunbed on the beach at the Lake Kivu Serena hotel (which also has wireless) also gives access to the pool showers and if you time it right, these are hot – well ish – but certainly not breath takingly cold. So the Sunday treat is a swim in the lake which is just delectable followed by a hot – ish shower!! It is nice that I have already got to the point where I am grateful and indeed dreaming of all these things I will enjoy back home in a few months! Not that I am a wuss you understand;-)
So the business of getting up takes longer than usual both because we have more time but also because of the mental preparation needed for the shower and the mental excuses as to whether some kind of washing with facial wipes would suffice cos if I hum a bit, I am not likely to stick out much! Maybe, given the colonisation history, this is where the French got their shower protocols from;-) But we do have a flushing loo and also a bathroom that is ensuite so who am I to grumbleJ
Breakfast is usually had at about 7.30-8am and invariably involves some bread but sometimes with something else too. There is the most fabulous fruit salad which contains a tomato fruit in it which is just yummy. The water however is gupping! It is boiled and then filtered but it still takes like swimming pool water that has been washed out in a muddy bucket! We have yet to find a solution to the problem so are currently forking out for bottled water. In the grand schemes of things, a big bottle is about 60p so this is what we use to fill the kettle and then have coffee. We have also managed to find some milk albeit long life (after an unfortunate episode with milk with a cottage cheese identity crisis) so coffee in the morning is good and a little treat.
We have 2 people that translate for us. Olive is working with Tim who is busy on the HIV and AIDS programme. So far he has taken blood for HIV tests, checked out pregnant women to ensure that their pregnancy is going to plan as well as do some consultation work. So Olive works with him to make sure he understands what people are saying and he then fills in forms in French. It is all very full on. As of last year, all children are now learning English in school as opposed to French but those of the elderly and educated generation tend to speak French. He has agreed to have a go at all the areas in the hospital as he probably has just as many qualifications as anyone else so shouldn’t be long before he is on the maternity ward! Will post pictures of the 'delivery room' at some point- somewhat sparsely equipped one could say as well as how wet his feet may get!
And then there is Leticia who works with Christine and I on the Gender Based Violence programme whilst Caitlin is on her own in the orphanage and forced to speak in the language of cuddle! So Olive lives in the house as well as Katesi who does all the cooking. This she does over charcoals in a room opposite the house. Even though we do have BBC Entertainment and some of the run up to Xmas chef programmes, we have yet to find one that seems to fit our need in terms of how to get Xmas dinner on the table when you are working with an interesting barbecue - be great if someone could have a word!
So Leticia turns up at about 8.30 and there or thereabouts we then leave to go where we need to go. If it is a Monday then all of us except Caitlin are off to the clinic. So we leave the house to the spectacular view of Lake Kivu - we have swum in there and it was just glorious. On the Congo side, there is a volcano whose name escapes me at the moment so there is a lot of lava and igneous rock around. And there are very few decent roads (so Jock McGrumpy can use Gisenyi as an example of where more less than 30,000 feet would be more useful on Google Earth!) in Gisenyi so the walk down to town which takes about 15 minutes is down a muddy, invariably deep puddly,( it rains heavily for a short while most days) very bumpy, lava type road – the kind that you would never expect to drive a car over in the UK and you might think twice about a combine harvester too! So at this point it is usually about 25 ° C so invariably we are always clammy after about 2 minutes (something which, during the morning pre-shower doze/meditation, comes up in terms of why bother!).
Down in town we then catch a mini bus – you know, the type that you can usually get about 14 people in. Funnily enough in Rwanda, I have yet to see any health and safety signs or those of the ilk of what the maximum number of persons that can be carried is! Probably because there are usually 18-19 people in the minibus before it considers leaving – so obviously the best thing about the bus is the windows as it would seem that many people have the same pre-cold shower chat with themselves! Either that or deodorant seems a bit extravagant when you are hungry – fair point!! The smells are something that I am getting used to though… So we bobble along on the bus for about 15 minutes or so, most of which is on a relatively decent road. It does seem to struggle going up the hill though and if I were a betting person, it would seem that there is a competition to see how long before a bus driver really needs to change gear!
So we get off the bus and then it is on the back of a push bike for 15 minutes. Now those of you who have been paying attention and are ready for the test will remember that I said that there is a lot of lava and huge puddles knocking about so I find this quite scary! And there is one hill that I get off and walk at. Despite the fact that it is scary, I love this bit. This is where we go into a poorer area on the way to the Murara clinic. The road is lined with what look like wattle and daub houses to probably most of those with little building experience and behind these houses are ‘gardens’. Lots of these people work in ‘cooperatives’ whereby they grow and sell vegetables as a group as well as making things e.g. necklaces, baskets, soaps etc as a group.
But what I love about the bike ride is that lots and lots of little kids come out of their houses and you hear the word ‘Muzungu’ lots. Loosely translated this means ‘white skinned, pasty-looking, Johnny foreigner, traveller person’! Bearing in mind that many of these peeps are unlikely to have seen a TV, it is a Mr Livingstone/the Queen type experience. Lots of them wave or want to hold your hand or indeed cuddle you – it is just so lovely to be cuddled just cos! That said, Caitlin has it going on all day in the orphanage so imagine you can overdose! So it can feel a little like a royal parade where we get to meet and greet the locals – most of the time I like being an object of fascination.
So we usually arrive at the clinic at about 9.45 give or take an hour or so – African time is very flexible and the business of punctuality I am sure would be over rated if they even had a name for it! We then spend the morning and early afternoon making beads with a group of usually 5-6 ladies or so and sometimes 1 chap. All of these ladies are HIV ± and part of a cooperative too.
So thats the morning taken care of - I will tell you more about the afternoon once i have figured out that I can post OK.
On a final note, it is always the little things that are of great hilarity: things that would just never occur to me and are different in a way that seems weird even though there is no reason why that should be the case. Hence the picture of the bathroom below in the guest house in Gisenyi. I cant seem to rotate it but why the loo is in the middle of the room just seems hilarious!
Anyway do email and text - it is nice to hear from everyone and hope you are all not too cold!
xxx
Great picture. Great description - was there with you on the bike!
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