Reeb in Rwanda

Bugarama

2011-09-23T07:51:00.000+02:00

A couple of days ago I went to the hot springs in Bugarama, Cyangugu with Solange and one of her friends. Bugarama is very hot! Though I was on the border of Burundi and the DRC, I felt like I was in Tanzania. The water was really hot too; seriously, you could boil an egg. The springs themselves were large; in fact, one guy was swimming in one. It was a nice little park and much better than the hot springs in Gisenyi.

On another note, the conference we hosted earlier this month was a hit. The kids gave great performances and shared a wealth of information. Forgot my camera, so no pics.

I bought a modem the other day. I was getting sick of the internet cafes in town. The machines weren't the best and, on some days, the power would surge like every 10 minutes and reboot the computer. It was, therefore, very difficult for me work on anything for an extended period of time. Anyway, I got this modem so I can work from home now. The speed isn't great, but MTN, the service provider, is doing this promotion where you pay about $1.50 for roughly two days of unlimited internet connectivity. So far so good.

Banda

2011-09-06T10:05:00.004+02:00

Things are going well. I am teaching Mondays and Tuesdays from 5pm-7pm at a community health organization. I am also teaching Wednesdays and Fridays from 2pm-5pm at Caritas, a Catholic organization that also does a lot of work for the Cyangugu area. I am teaching English and health; my students are all adults, which I enjoy.

Part of my position as PCVL in Rwanda is to visit volunteers in the Cyangugu area. Lately I have been making a weekly trek to a town called Mushaka to help a volunteer paint a 'World Map' at a school near her house. She is almost finished and it looks great. I'll post some pics when the project is complete. She also wants to paint a map of Rwanda and a map of the human body. These are all projects to help the students learn a bit more about themselves and the world around them.

This Saturday there is an HIV/AIDS conference that the education volunteers in the region are hosting. They have asked me to MC and give a presentation about the disease, how it harms people, how it is transmitted, and how it can be prevented. The conference will be all day and the audience will be about 60 secondary school (high school) students from four different schools. Each school is also doing a skit about HIV/AIDS education/prevention. I get to be a judge. It should be a great time. I'll get pics from that too, if possible.

I also made a visit to a village, located in Nyungwe Forest, called Banda last month. A couple of volunteers are stationed out there and they hosted or regional meeting last month. (Every month the volunteers in Cyangugu meet up for an afternoon, day, or weekend to exchange ideas and hang out.) The pics here are from Banda.

Kigali Wedding

2011-07-18T10:09:00.016+02:00

It was pretty cool. For all you Rwanda RPCVs and current PCVs, the wedding was held at St. Paul's this last Saturday. The first reception was held at the garden in 'Car Wash.' The second reception was held at the house her and her husband are renting in Kigali. The receptions had traditional dancers, Rwandan Pop-Singers (Kamichi was there and sang a few songs before he had his radio broadcast), and plenty of food and beer. Do-Do is working on getting her Visa so she can move with her husband to Europe, where he works. Congratulations, you two!

Pictures from Top to Bottom:

Tradional female Rwandan dance.

Tradional male Rwandan dance.

My date, UMUTONI Solange.

Wedding Season

2011-07-14T13:11:00.003+02:00

June, July, and August are big months for weddings here. Because of my work schedule, however, I have not been able to attend any myself. I have made time to go to one wedding, however. Saturday I will be attending the wedding of Do-Do. Do-Do and I have been friends for a while now; I met her through Brandon and Crissy when we were all stationed in Rwamagana together. It should be a good time.

I have been invited to teach English at an organization called Caritas Wednesdays and Fridays from 2pm-5pm. I had my first class yesterday. It was great. Got to run. More to come.

Grenade Attack

2011-07-14T13:00:00.002+02:00

There was a grenade attack on Tuesday night at the market I live near. I was teaching near my house at the time, so I was a safe distance from the situation. I don't know how many were injured or killed. I do know that the market was closed Wednesday morning. I asked a close friend why he thought it happened. He said that there are angry militia men living across the border in the DRC. These guys fled Rwanda after the RPF took Rwanda in 1994, ending the genocide. He said it was the first attack he had ever seen in Kamembe. He assumes that they staged this attack to upset the peace and security in the area.

Still No Pictures of the House

2011-07-08T13:08:00.003+02:00

Honestly, I keep forgetting/putting it off. There really isn't to much to see anyway. I still don't have furniture, so its just a bunch of empty rooms - not very exciting.

The volunteers in my region met at my house for the 4th of July and we had a small party and meeting. It was cool. Other than that, nothing exciting has been happening really. I have been getting to know the community and the volunteers in my region, which has been great. I started an English club that meets Tuesday and Thursday nights. The attendance isn't what I want it to be, but its new and it may take a while to catch on.

Sorry I haven't written more; I just haven't been in the writting mood lately.

Alive and Cleaning

2011-06-08T11:33:00.002+02:00

Another pictureless entry...sorry. I moved into my new house last week and I have been cleaning it like crazy. Once I get it furnished, I will be sure to post pics; the house is great, it is just empty. Ha!

Everything is going well here. The volunteers in my region have been visiting to help clean the house and show me around Kamembe. Everyone has been very welcoming. My big project for this next week, besides finding furniture, is finding some work in the community. Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted on how my search goes.

Next Week

2011-05-22T10:27:00.004+02:00

My days in Kigali are numbered. I just got word the other day that next week I will be moving into my new home/office in Kamembe. Tomorrow I will start getting everything together for the big move. So excited!

Today there is a marathon in Kigali. MANY Peace Corps Rwanda staff and volunteers are running. I am not feeling well, so I stayed behind; I don't have the energy to be part of the cheer squad. We all had a party last night to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps and to load up on carbs for the race; I had been working these past couple of days to get everything together for it. I have been running around so much...this morning I just didn't have any energy left in me. The party went well, though, so that was nice.

Good luck, runners!

Mail Call!

2011-05-18T11:55:00.002+02:00

Check out the Mail Call! section. I added some items to my wish list. I should be moved into my new house by the end of the month, so feel free to start sending packages and letters again. ALL house-warming gifts will be accepted and appreciated. Thank you all in advance.
God Bless!

Check it out

2011-05-16T21:32:00.003+02:00

This link was just sent to me.

Enjoy.

http://appropriateprojects.com/node/677

Rubona Visit

2011-05-16T08:40:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I visited my old site, Rubona. It was a great time. I got into Rubona around 10/10:30 am and went directly to the health center. I got to see Dion, Rukumbuzi, and Claude (Sundays are pretty slow at the health center, so there weren't many nurses on duty). I met up with Schadrock there and we walked to Gakwaya's (Rutambi's dad) bar to get something to eat/drink.

I pretty much spent the entire day sitting in front of his bar eating goat meat, drinking beer, and greeting people I know as they walked by. I didn't really call anyone to tell them I was coming besides Schadrock. I called him because there were some documents I needed to pass his way. I didn't call anyone else because I didn't want to be swamped with people to visit. News travels fast in the village and I knew my dance card would be full soon after my arrival. Also, I figured if it was a surprise, it would be more fun for them anyway. I did call Nehemie in the afternoon, though.

Anyway, I was able to get a lot of socializing done, which is very important in Rwanda. I bought my friends some beer, fanta, etc. I was able to see Rutambi and his family, catch up with Nehemie (Rwamagana's mayor), and distribute pictures to everyone. They got a big kick out of the pictures that Yolanda gave me. They love her so much. (Yols, if you are reading this, I think they miss you more than me!) They also enjoyed the pictures of my family. My mother dressed up in the traditional Rwandan gown I bought her for Christmas and Paul wore his U.S. Army uniform. They loved it. Both of my brothers are bigger than me, so people had a hard time believing that I was the oldest of the three.

There was one problem, though. I forgot my camera. So, no pictures this time around. Well, I guess I'll just have to visit again soon.

Kamonyi Training

2011-05-14T15:03:00.003+02:00

I just got back from helping out with the training at Kamonyi. It was pretty cool. The new volunteers are great. They are a smart group and they're very excited to be in Rwanda; I could tell by the quality and quantity of their questions. I think I gave them some pretty good tips (I never realized how much I knew about Rwanda). It was great to meet everyone and help out.

Besides answering questions and giving presentations about culture, my main duty was to get the water filters up and running. Every volunteer is given a water filter to use for the duration of their service. For whatever reason, some of them were not working. I spent the better part of two days working out the kinks. Fun stuff, I know, but important.

Oh yeah, one more thing, there is NO electricity there. I am used to frequent power outages, but no power at all was a new thing for me. I pushed through it, though. I guess it is better for the new volunteers this way. If they can get used to living with no electricity now, then they should do just fine when they get to their sites, which will probably have electricity.

It seems like they are all having a good time with their host families too. Two of the volunteers have already left, but the other 18 seem to be going strong. Anyway, I might be going back there to help out next week; I don't know yet, but I really hope I get to go there again soon. I think the work that goes into PC trainings is very interesting.

At any rate, I am back in Kigali. I still don't know what is going on with my new home/office in Kamembe; I'm suppose to find out more on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Until I move, I'll probably be hanging around Kigali and working with staff on projects. I am staying at the new guest house that PC Rwanda has bought/built and it is freaking AWESOME. It can accomodate like 30 people; it has a full kitchen; and it has HOT SHOWERS!

That has been my week, pretty much. Tomorrow I am going to Rubona, my old site, to visit some friends. I am really looking forward it. If I get some time tomorrow, I'll let you know how it went.

Rwanda: Round Two

2011-05-10T15:35:00.002+02:00

I made it back Saturday night. The flights were pretty cool. Every time I have flown from Belgium to Kigali it was always night time; this time it was during the day. I got to see the mountains of Europe and the deserts of North Africa. They were pretty cool to see from the air.

Anyway, I got in just fine. Right now I am on my way to Kamonyi to help train the new volunteers that came in last week. I'm looking forward to it; I have never really got to participate in any other training besides my own. I'll be there all week.

This is the fifth group of volunteers that have come to Rwanda. They are the third health group. These new volunteers are living with host families, instead of on compounds, for the duration of their training. PC Rwanda staff want me there this week to help answer questions and ease their transition. I am also there because I don't have a house yet.

Before I left for the states I was in Kamembe looking for a home/office. I found an awesome place and since April the PC Rwanda staff have been working on getting it ready for me, but it is not quite ready yet. I am VERY excited to get down there and start working with the volunteers and the community.

This year should be pretty cool. I don't have much new information right now, but I bought a computer when I was in the states and the home/office should have an interent connection. In short, expect more frequent blog posts from me.

Goodbye, America. Thanks for the ride.

2011-05-06T02:36:00.002+02:00

Well, this last month has been pretty fun. I got to spend a lot of time with family and friends, get some important errands done, catch up on movies, and gain about 15lbs. Ha! Seriously though, it was great to touch base with everyone.

Thank you, family and friends, for such a great time.

It has been fun, but I am ready to return and get to work. I leave tomorrow and I am very excited about starting my new position in PC Rwanda.

As always, more to come.

Back in the States

2011-04-09T20:12:00.006+02:00

I got back into the states yesterday night. I took a plane from Kigali, Rwanda to Entebbe, Uganda on Thursday afternoon. I then took a plane from there to Brussels, Belgium. Next I 'jumped the pond' from Europe to Newark, New York. Finally, from 'The Big Apple' I caught a flight to 'The Windy City.' * I am sooooo tired and a little sick, but I am very happy to be home. I am taking this weekend off, but I have errands to run starting on Monday. Work never stops. On a brighter note, I should be able to get all this stuff done in a week; after that I can REALLY enjoy the next few weeks with family and friends. AND, when I get back to Rwanda in May, my house should be almost finished and ready to go! * Oh yeah! I forgot to mention that we chose a house on Monday and we started negotiations with the landlord. The house is beautiful and the landlord is very receptive to making the small changes that are necessary for the house to be brought up to PC codes and standards. Once I get back to Rwanda in May, I will post some proper pictures of Kamembe (my new home in Rwanda) and my new house. * Cheers!

Delayed

2011-03-22T15:28:00.003+02:00

Sorry guys, but I will not be in America next week.

My departure date has been delayed until the first full week of April.

My home/office hunt was a success. I have found some housing options in Kamembe, but staff are not available to see them, approve one, and sign a contract for another two weeks. We could wait to do all of this stuff until I get back from America, but I am afraid the houses will be rented out by then and I really don't want to search for a house all over again; I would rather have all this set up before I go.

I promise I'll be home soon, though. Ihangane (Be patient).

Party Time Pics 2

2011-03-16T17:21:00.012+02:00

These are pictures from the 'Graduation Ceremony' that my students and I had earlier this month.

From Top to Bottom:

Immaculee talks about our time together as a class...in English, of course.

Schadrock and Immaculee present a gift to me from the class.

Nicole presents her 'Certificate of Completion' with me.

Rutambi and I get a photo together.

Justine poses with me.

Some students listen as their names are announced.

Finally, Schadrock, our MC for the night (and the class president), tells some jokes (as usual), in English.

Party Time Pics 1

2011-03-11T10:58:00.013+02:00

These pictures are from the party the nurses and I had.

From top to bottom:

Jean Marie (the MC for the night), a nurse, talks about our time together.
Two nurses (on my left), Vestine and Dion, present me and Solange with a gift.
Me and the director of the Health Center at Rubona.
Finally, the guy the nurses hired to sing for us all night.

Party Time

2011-03-05T16:49:00.006+02:00

These last few weeks have been pretty busy.

In February, I visited Rusizi a couple of times to look for a house/office, check out the capital city (Kamembe), and visit some of the PCVs that live in the area. As far as an update is concerned, I am still looking for a house/office. Kamembe is awesome (there is a bar there that has LIVE music [pop and traditional] from the DRC [the Congo] EVERY weekend!). The volunteers in the area are fun, excited, and hardworking; I look forward to working with them. I am actually headed out that way again really soon...to look for a house/office, of course. In fact, I may be in Kamembe for the rest of March, until I leave for America.

Because I might be in Kamembe, Rusizi for the rest of the month, I have been in the process of finishing everything up in Rubona, Rwamagana - handing over projects, packing, and saying 'bye' to people. It has been hard and easy at the same time. People are sad that I am going, but they understand AND they are very happy that I will be in Rwanda for another year; hell, they want me to move to Rwanda permanently.

Anyway, I finished my last day at the health center and I taught my last English class in late February. We (my friends, neighbors, nurses, students, and I) then scheduled two 'going away' parties, which occurred this last week. On Monday, February 28th the nurses, my neighbors, and I had a party. We had fried potatoes, roasted goat, beer, and Fanta. There were about 50 people there; the Mayor of Rwamagana District was there to celebrate with us, as well as the Executive Secretary of Rubona Sector, my landlord (Rusagara), and Rutambi's parents, just to name a few.

People gave speeches, of course. There was also a guitarist there that the nurses hired to play traditional music (as well as a few songs that they wrote for me, which were awesome and hilarious!). The nurses gave me some thoughtful gifts and I, of course, gave gifts to the nurses. We drank, ate, took pictures, and danced well into the night. It was great.

The second party was Thursday, March 3rd. This party was in honor of the students enrolled in my English class; of course, some nurses were there and a few other neighbors. In all, this party rolled about 50 people deep too. It was at the same place as Monday (in my classroom at the health center), it was at the same time, and the same type of food and drink were served.

The speeches were plentiful, the food was delicious, and the evening was very nice. We took pictures like CRAZY! I am still a little blind in my right eye because of all the flashes. The students also bought me some great gifts. I gave the class some presents as well; in addition to the notebooks, books, pens, and pencils I distributed, I also awarded students with 'Certificates of Completion;' they were especially excited to receive these certificates.

I have pictures of all of this, of course. However, the power has been out in Rubona for about a week now. My camera died Thursday night and I have been unable to charge it. The power did come back on for a few minutes yesterday, though. However, because of a huge power surge, it blew out all of my light bulbs, my phone charger, AND my camera charger! ARG!

I think I have enough juice in my camera to get the pictures onto facebook AND I want to post a blog entry with the pictures very soon. However, photos of Rusizi will have to wait until I buy another battery charger for my camera, which may not be for another month or so. *sigh* Meh.

Okay. They are kicking me out of the computer lab now. I gotta go. Keep a look out for those pictures because they are coming really soon.

Mom, Dad, brothers, and friends, see you in a few weeks!

My New Mailing Address

2011-02-05T16:20:00.002+02:00

Don't send anything yet, though. I will not be able to check it until late May.

Emmett V. Reeb, III
Peace Corps Volunteer Leader
U.S. Peace Corps
BP 541
Cyangugu, Rwanda

First Visit to Rusizi

2011-02-05T12:33:00.006+02:00

In other news, I visited Rusizi last week for the first time. It was great! I was able to spend some time with the new Country Director (CD) of Rwanda (she started last last year, but I never really got to know her until this last week) and learn more about my PCVL position. She pretty much told me what the APCD told me at the COS conference in January. The only really new addition to my list of duties is to have a project in the community. I have no problem with this at all; I'll probably continue to teach English.

The town is pretty cool. It is right on Lake Kivu and right next to the DRC; seriously, I am so close to the Congo that I can see into people's houses! Ha!

I got a tour of Rusizi from Christa and Kate, two volunteers that are stationed in the area. They took me around and showed me all the important places in town. They introduced me to a few of their friends and showed me a couple prospective houses/offices.

Speaking of housing, I still don't know where I am going to live in Rusizi, but I still have time to get that in order. I expect to get most of those specifics out of the way before I leave for the states at the end of March. Speaking of which, I only got a couple of weeks left. See you soon, Chicago!

Local Elections

2011-01-29T23:56:00.006+02:00

Every city, town, and village in the world experiences some form of violence. I don't care who you are or where you are from.

I feel that Kigali, and Rwanda as a whole, is a pretty safe place. However, just like any city in the world, it is not immune to violence.

Below is a message I received from the Peace Corps Rwanda administration that was given to them by the US Embassy in Rwanda.

Please see the warden message sent out last night from the US Embassy.

Please remain calm and vigilant.

Warden Message

U.S. Embassy Kigali, Rwanda

Grenade Explosion

January 28, 2011

The U.S. Embassy in Kigali learned that a grenade explosion occurred in the Remera-Giporoso area of Kigali near an Engen petrol station at approximately 7:00pm this evening. Two people are dead and more than two dozen have been injured. The Embassy urges U.S. citizens in Rwanda to remain vigilant, exercise caution, and avoid crowds, demonstrations, or any other form of public gathering.

This is not the first time an attack like this has occured. They happen every few months, usually around elections or important dates that are observed because of the genocide in 1994. This is, however, the first time I think I have mentioned an attack like this in my blog. I mention this attack because some people have seen the 'Rwanda News' section on my blog and have asked me about it.

This was the worst attack that I have seen so far. Peace Corps Rwanda takes these attacks very seriously and has policies and procedures in place to protect volunteers from situations likes these.

What was the cause of this last attack? Well, April 2011 will be the 17th anniversary of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. So there is that to consider. Most probably it was because of the local elections that are taking place this month (February). Below is a message I received from the Saftey and Security Officer of Peace Corps Rwanda.

I wanted to remind you that the local leaders’ elections are scheduled to begin this Friday, 4 February 2011 at the Umudugudu level throughout the Country. Every Rwandan at the age of voting and who has the rights to vote has been called to be at the designated site by 7am that day. It is expected that people will be done late in the morning and go back to work.

The elections will continue in the indirect way to choose those who go upper in the structures up to the District level, and all voters country-wide will be called to vote again for the District Advisory Council on February 21st.

It is expected that these elections will go smoothly and fast. But, please remain cautious about your safety and avoid any interference in this important action for Rwandans.

Please check with your supervisor and the counterpart to know whether you should go to work. Otherwise stay at home, at least for the morning.

Again, these attacks are very infrequent. They may pick up a bit as April approaches and they may continue until the end of June. No one should be worried or scared, but merely cautious and, as the US Embassy has advised, vigilant.

Rwanda is an awesome place to work, live, and visit. If my previous blog entries haven't made that clear, then the fact that I have willingly chosen to continue my service in Rwanda should. However, there is just as much danger here as any other country in the world. Even Chicago, the city that I will always, ALWAYS call home, is no more or less dangerous than Kigali. So, to potential volunteers and travelers my message is clear: Visit, Have fun, but BE SAFE.

Two Years

2011-01-28T10:08:00.004+02:00

This weekend marks the end of two full years in Rwanda...and the beginning of a third.

I am currently in the process of wrapping up my life in my village. I am saying goodbyes to people; organizing my farewell party for the nurses with whom I have been working; coordinating the graduation ceremony for my English class; and enjoying my last "Big Brother/Little Brother" time with Rutambi.

I am also in the process of completing my Close Of Service (COS) paperwork. I have to do a few reports about my work, my site, and, especially, my health. In fact, the week after next I am going into the capital to have a three day-long physical exam. They are going to test EVERYTHING. That's good, though, because I need to be medically cleared to officially finish my PCV service AND to start my third year.

Speaking of my third year, I was able to sit down with PC Rwanda's APCD (Associate Peace Corps Director) during my COS conference in Gisenyi earlier this month. Our conversation focused a lot on my duties as the very first, official PCVL for the PC Rwanda program.

So, as you know, I will be moving from my village in Rubona (in the East Province of Rwanda) to a little border region called Rusizi (in the West Province). They want the PCVL out there because it is so remote. It takes 8-10 hours to get from Rusizi to Kigali, the capital, where PC Rwanda HQ is located and, thus, the nearest staff member.

The position will be for a full year. I will be in the states all of April to visit and I will return to Rwanda in early May to begin my work. I will still have volunteer status, but I will be part of the full-time staff as a para-professional. It sounds like most of my time will be in the West and South Provinces of Rwanda fielding volunteer questions, comments, and concerns. I won't bore you with too many specifics; everything that the APCD and I spoke about regarding the position's duties can be summed up in two important objectives: Site Development and Volunteer Support.

Site Development means prospecting and preparing sites for future volunteers. This includes traveling around Rwanda and introducing myself and Peace Corps to prospective host communities; and meeting with local government officials, authorities, and prospective partner organizations (NGOs, NPOs).

Site Development also means surveying each prospective site for possible safety and security issues. These duties include, but are not limited to, researching and evaluating: the community's need for a volunteer, the community's receptiveness to having a volunteer live and work with them for two years, the volunteer's housing situation, and the volunteer's proximity to food, water, and health care. This is all just a taste of how I will be 'developing' sites for new volunteers.

Understand, however, that I do not have the rubber stamp of approval on all this. I collect and compile the data; I do not actually approve the sites myself. I give my recommendations, but PC Rwanda professional staff have the final say.

Volunteer Support is also a broad sounding objective too, isn't it? But it is just what it sounds like. Once volunteers are placed at their sites, I will be visiting and contacting them regularly to make sure the volunteers are safe, healthy, and meeting programming objectives. This may mean lending knowledge and experience regarding cultural integration or programming; or it may mean assisting volunteers with issues regarding safety and security in their workplace, homes, or personal lives. This will also mean that I will have to do some PC Rwanda policy and procedure enforcement, but in my conversation with the APCD I was told that the PCVL position wasn't to be one of a 'PC police officer' or, at the other end of the spectrum, any kind of errand boy for the volunteers. The PCVL in Rusizi is to act as a resource for the volunteers to receive meaningful advice and prompt, efficient assistance.

All-in-all my conversation with the APCD was very exciting. This kind of work experience will be very helpful to draw upon as I continue my career in foreign service and international development. I was very happy to hear that my expectations and his expectations of the position were pretty much the same. Next week I have some time with the Director of PC Rwanda and I look forward to speaking with her about the position. I am sure it will not vary much from what I have already been told.

Anyway, I am very excited to be continuing my service in Rwanda. I loved my experiences in Rwanda as a PCV. Recently, however, I have been feeling like it is time for some kind of change in regards to taking on more responsibility and work. Therefore, I am very much looking forward to starting my new position.

Most importantly, I have been feeling like it is definitely time for me to visit home. Speaking of which, I come home in two months! See you all soon!

Mail Call

2011-01-11T12:25:00.007+02:00

Just a quick post...
I am on my way to my Close of Service (COS) conference in Gisenyi so I gotta be quick.

Christmas and New Years were fun.
Phase 3 of the Rubona Water Project has been completed (picture of the new sink in the women's hospitalization ward).
I have my COS conference this week (more to come).
I do not have more information about my 3rd year extension (more to come). I'll probably have a lot of specifics about it after this conference.

The most important thing I wanted to post here was to remind people to STOP sending packages to me. If you send them now, I will not receive them before I leave Rwamagana. When I leave Rwamagana in March I am closing my P.O. Box and when I return to Rwanda in May I will NOT have the same mailing address because I will be on the other side of the country. Please do NOT send anything until I post my new address.

With that said, THANK YOU to everyone who has ever sent me anything: from the biggest care-package to the smallest letter of encouragement. From the bottom of my heart, Thank You and God Bless You!

Camp BE

2010-12-22T10:22:00.002+02:00

Last year I was a councilor for a project called Camp GLOW. You may remember the blog entry I posted in April 2010; it included this website:

http://campglowrwanda.wordpress.com/

Well, we just finished another Camp GLOW. Though I was not a facilitator for this year's Camp GLOW, I was chosen to be a councilor for Camp BE. Camp BE is just like Camp GLOW as far as curriculum is concerned, the only difference is that GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) is a girl's camp and Camp BE (Boys Excelling) is a boys camp.

I don't have any pictures to post yet and there is no 'Camp BE Rwanda' website to refer you to as of right now (this was PC Rwanda's first Camp BE), but all of this is coming soon. However, like I said, both camps were pretty similar and the same subject matter was taught last year. I encourage you to take a look at the website I have posted above if you are interested in learning more about what happens at these week-long events.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Third Year Service Gets the Green Light

2010-12-14T08:33:00.005+02:00

(Pictured here: Rwanda. West Province is in pink. Rusizi is the part of the West Province in red.)

Notification:

"Hi Emmett and congrats! You have been officially selected to be the PCVL [Peace Corps Volunteer Leader] in Rusizi [West Province, Rwanda]." - APCD Peace Corps Rwanda.
Message dated Monday, December 13th 2010 7:58am.

Some Notes:

Rusizi is a district (akarere) in Western Province, Rwanda. Its capital is Cyangugu, the major city of the Rwandan south-west and the district contains large parts of the former Cyangugu Province. The district lies at the southern end of Lake Kivu, where it empties into the Rusizi River (after which the district is named). Rusizi's capital, Cyangugu, is one of the three major Rwandan lake ports of Lake Kivu (along with Kibuye and Gisenyi) and it contiguous with the much larger Congolese city of Bukavu. The district also contains the western half of Nyungwe Forest, a popular tourist destination, being one of the last remaining forest areas of Rwanda and home to chimpanzees and many other species of primate.

Phase 3 begins soon

2010-12-03T09:29:00.001+02:00

http://appropriateprojects.com/node/452

http://appropriateprojects.com/node/454

Climbing Mt. Bisoke

2010-11-19T09:58:00.009+02:00

Pictured here (from top to bottom):

*Our hiking group begins the trek up Mt. Bisoke

*The crater lake at the top of Mt. Bisoke.

*Nehemie gives a speech at a party to celebrate the health center and its new supervisor. (Pictured here from left to right: the executive secretary of Rubona Sector, the mayor of Rwamagana District, the mayor's wife, and the supervisor of the health center in Rubona)

*******

Volcano National Park is one of three national parks in Rwanda and it is probably the most famous. Located in the Northwest region of Rwanda (in the country's North Province), it shares a border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and is home to a collection of endangered fauna, such as forest elephants and mountain gorillas.

Hikes through the mountainous jungles to track the gorillas exist for tourists and nationals. These tours, however, were a bit out of my price range. What was more affordable for me was a hike up Mt. Bisoke.

Located in Volcano National Park, Mt. Bisoke stands at approximately 3, 700 meters. It is one of five volcanoes (all of which are dormant) present at the park; Mt. Bisoke is the third largest. Of these five volcanoes, two have crater lakes at the top; Mt. Bisoke has the largest of the two.

There were seven of us that Saturday morning, the 13th of November. We set out at about 6am from the house we were staying at for the weekend. We were able to get a free ride to the park office, but once we were there we discovered that we needed another vehicle to take us into the park itself. Calls were placed and negotiations were made and by 10am we were well into our hike.

The park office assigned us a guide and arranged for porters and armed officers to meet us at the beginning of the 'trail.' I have now visited all three of Rwanda's national parks; each time we were assigned a guide, but this was the first time that we were assigned porters and an armed escort.

Our guide told us that we MIGHT see elephants and gorillas on our hike, but probably not. We didn't see any animals at all, actually. He also told us that because it was rainy season it would be about 4-5 hours up the volcano and 3-4 hours back down. Again, his predictions were correct.

The hike up was exhausting and, after reflecting on the experience, it was probably a bit dangerous, too. The rainy season left the trail in ruins; it was really one big mudslide. Some places were pretty steep and rocky, too. We all made it to the top safe, but some wrong footing could have easily left some of us with broken bones.

*
I felt bad for our porters, guide, and escorts. Each time we stopped for a small break, we (the westerners) took something out of our bags to snack on or drink. I could tell that we seemed like a bunch of huge fatties to them - eating and/or drinking something every 20 minutes. I could tell they just wanted to keep going. We offered them food and drink, but they took it in a way that insinuated that they weren't really hungry or thirsty at all; they just took the gift to be nice. They also hardly broke a sweat, which made me feel that much more out of shape because I was huffing and puffing all the way up that damn trail. Man, I gotta quit smokin'.
*

Anyway, we made it to the top by about 1:30pm, ate lunch, saw the crater lake, and walked back down. The view was beautiful and the crater lake was really neat. We couldn't walk around it, though. We had to stay on the Rwandan half of the volcano; the other half was on DRC territory.

For me, the walk down was probably the most difficult and the most fun part of the experience. Slipping and sliding down the trail, we mocked our falls and laughed at our mud-covered clothing.

My situation was a very specific sort of comic relief, however. A few hours into our trip up Mt. Bisoke, I split my pants. As I retreated down the mountain, I noticed that the split had taken on a life of its own and ran almost the entire middle seam from front to back, exposing my 'Ghostbusters' boxers. It was about that same time (noticing the split in the crotch of my pants and the thick layer of mud collecting around my knees and ankles) that I realized I had foolishly only brought one pair of pants with me for the weekend - the pair I was currently wearing!

Some people had no clothing malfunctions and less problems with the terrain, however. The seven of us were grouped with three others (2 Belgians and a Swiss) that were also hiking Mt. Bisoke that day. One Belgian in particular took great pleasure in running down the volcano's trail without getting so much as a puddle splash on him. I tried to keep pace with him but I was less graceful and soon fell back. My slips kept him entertained for the brief time I was sloshing down the trail with him, however. I never fully fell, but I caught myself from doing so several times; each time was followed by his giddy laughter and a witty remark in French.

We made it to the bottom before dark, headed home, cleaned up, then went out for a much needed drink. Now, not only did I not bring another pair of pants, I also did NOT bring another pair of shoes. I did bring pajama pants, though, so I wore those out. My boots, however, were caked in mud. Luckily the person we were staying with had another pair of shoes - girl's tennis shoes, but shoes none-the-less.

It was a great trip with a great group of friends. I want to visit Volcano National Park again to see the gorillas. I don't know when I'll have the money to do so, but when I do return, I will be sure as hell to remember to bring a proper change of clothing.

What I have been doing the last two years: An excerpt from my third year application

2010-11-12T12:21:00.001+02:00

Describe the most important things you accomplished during your two years of service.

Providing Americans with a better understanding of Rwanda is an accomplishment of which I am most proud. I have a blog (www.reebinrwanda.blogspot.com) and I update it with pictures, personal experiences, and current Rwandan news; I also post pictures on Facebook and I even started the unofficial Peace Corps Rwanda Facebook Group, which provides information about Rwanda and Peace Corps to new/potential volunteers and to family and friends of current volunteers. These electronic forums allow friends, family, and other interested parties to connect with me in a private interface where they can ask questions and acquire information.

Furthermore, I have a WWS contact (Lincoln Township High School); I have regular communication with Club Interact, a volunteering and community service club that is sponsored by the high school. I am also in contact with a special education school where my friend's mother is a teacher. In addition to communicating with students from these two institutions, I frequently write letters to my family, my friends, and my church community describing my experiences.

All of these groups have told to me that I have played a large role in helping them not only understand Rwanda better, but Peace Corps as well. Many of these groups, in turn, have provided me with support, both financially and morally, to be successful in Rubona, Rwamagana my current site of Peace Corps service.

Providing Rwandans a better understanding of Americans has been a successful objective for my secondary projects. After the first three months in Rubona, I created a pen-pal exchange between neighborhood children in Rubona and the schools with which I am partnered in America. I also have a pen-pal exchange for my adult English class; these pen-pal relationships are between my adult Rwandan students and my adult family friends in Chicago. Fostering these relationships has given my neighbors in Rubona a better understanding of my family, my friends, and the culture of America.

The adult English class I teach four nights a week from 6pm to 7pm also provides me with a venue to discuss American culture with my neighbors. Together we study health topics in English; these topics have included personal hygiene, how to recognize and avoid risk behavior, and the nature of the human body. Every other English lesson, however, is about American history or culture. These lessons may highlight a state or city or they may be about a particularly notable American, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. When the lesson is about one of these topics, we discuss why this person, city, or invention is important to American culture and history.

As a result of creating pen-pal relationships between neighbors and friends and sharing information about America in the classroom, my integration into the community of Rubona has been easy and enjoyable. Through respect, effective communication, and presence at site, I have received an excellent reputation among community members.

I not only enjoy a high level of integration within the community of Rubona, I am also well integrated into the Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) community. I participate in events with fellow volunteers and I have built positive and mutually beneficial friendships and professional relationships with my peers.

I attribute my successes to both village community integration and PCV peer community integration to being reliable, responsible, reasonable, and having a positive attitude; I also overcome fears and apprehensions very easily, which allows me to be more open to new experiences, conversations, and points of view.

Just as sharing American culture with my community has helped me integrate, integrating into my community has helped me perform my primary assignments successfully. I am a trusted member of Rubona’s community and my ability to mobilize and motivate neighbors and health center staff is a direct benefit of this achievement.

As a community, we conduct personal hygiene and work place cleanliness trainings and tutorials. Working with the health center staff members on these projects, specifically, has given them a strong sense of empowerment and accomplishment. The nurses and staff of the health center, in turn, are serving their patients with more efficiency and with greater pride in their work. As a result, a higher level of patient care is being practiced, which is giving the health center more credibility among the community members it serves.

Through our trainings and tutorials, Rubona has made great strides in educating people about disease communicability and prevention. What has made the most sustainable impact, however, has been raising funds to provide Rubona’s health center with running water. With these sinks, hand washing stations, and showers, the community members I teach are putting into daily practice the lessons they have learned. More importantly, because these fixtures are permanent structures, the community will be able to continue their personal hygiene and work cleanliness exercises and tutorials well after I have gone.

My Days Are Numbered

2010-11-12T12:06:00.003+02:00

"The Senior Staff decided to move your COS (Close of Service) date from 14 April 2011 to the week of 24-30 March 2011."

About 20 more weeks until I take that big plane home.

If you are sending packages, please DO NOT send them to me after January 2011.

Still waiting to here about my third year application.

Will keep you posted when I know more.

Personal Hygiene

2010-10-18T11:17:00.004+02:00

Pictured Here:

Before and after pictures of the newly installed sink in the Operation Room. The other half of 'Phase 2' installed a sink and pipes in the Maternity Ward.

Earlier this month was 'International Teachers Day' and my village had a ceremony for all of the teachers. It was great; we ate, we drank, then we went home.

As I was walking home, I received a text from Madison, another PCV. We texted back and forth until I reached my house. I sent another text to her as I was walking to my outhouse. Well, it is dark in my outhouse and I frequently activate my phone's flashlight ability and balance the phone on my door in order to 'do my business' with some light.

Just as I set my phone on the door and was about ready to...um...uh...you know. Madison texted me. My phone (which was on vibrate because of the ceremony) buzzed once, fell off of the door frame, hit the floor, bounced, then went right into the outhouse hole. Nothin' but net.

I got a new phone and a new number the next day.

In other news, 'Phase 2' of the water project in Rubona is officially finished. I just had a meeting with Jenny, the PCV in Rwamagana city who has been helping me with the grants, and we are starting 'Phase 3' this week. 'Phase 3' will concetrate on getting sinks and the appropriate plumbing installed in the men's and women's hospitalization wards. (These wards, like much of the health center, currently have only buckets of water available for nurses and patients to use.) The grant is pretty much finished, we just need to send it in and wait for the confirmation of approval.

In related news, I received a generous donation of soap, shirts, and shoes from Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. In an effort to keep this blog short, I won't go into great detail regarding the village, BUT I will encourage you to check out the website:

http://www.asyv.org/home.html

Because they gave me 100 bars of soap, I figured the best day to distribute these materials would be on October 15, also known as 'International Hand Washing Day.' So, I invited some PCVs and some ASYV volunteers to help me give tutorials about hand washing at my house on that day. I also invited students from the adult English class that I teach during the week nights to come and translate for us.

Everything went great. Lilly, a volunteer from ASYV, and Tom, a fellow PCV, joined me on Friday to give the tutorials. I had recruited about 15 other volunteers from the village to help us out, most of them being my students from the adult English class. Together we taught almost 100 people: how to wash their hands; when to wash their hands; what to use to wash their hands; and why to wash their hands. Villagers that completed the lesson successfully received their choice of a shirt or shoes. The event last only three hours, but it served almost 100 people; if I had more shirts and shoes to give out, it could have easliy lasted another three hours and served another 100 people.

That is all for now. Peace.

Language Lessons Lead to Love

2010-09-25T13:53:00.006+02:00

(Pictured Here: Verene [wearing the red blouse] and Callixte [wearing the grey suit and the red tie] at the Nzigiye Sector Office on their wedding day.)

Yesterday I attended the civil wedding of Callixte and Verene. The ceremony took place at the sector office in Nzigiye, a neighboring sector of Rubona (the sector where I live and work).

Civil weddings are pretty tame; at least, the ones I have attended are pretty low key. They generally take place at a sector office where the head of the sector conducts the marriage ceremony, which usually includes from two to eight couples. Each couple takes turns making the marriage official through the state of Rwanda - the public officials presiding over the group ceremony take the couples' finger prints and have the couples sign some legal documents and swear some oaths.

Civil ceremonies are generally attended by local family members and friends. This doesn't sound like it would be a lot of people, but because up to eight couples can get married at once, the room at the sector office can fill up quickly. These ceremonies, though modern in nature, are traditional in the sense that the civil wedding itself takes place in the sector where the wife's family lives. There is also a reception held afterwards; depending on the family's economic means the reception could be at a hotel or at the home of the wife's family. If the reception is held at the later location, you will probably find more traditional food and drink - these are the best receptions, I feel.

The dowry and the church ceremony usually come after the civil wedding, though not necessarily right away. I have been a part of some ceremonies where the civil marriage happened on a Saturday and the next day was the dowry and church wedding. However, I also know some couples that have had their civil wedding months ago and are still saving up money, and vacation days from work, in order to properly celebrate at a church. The order of these events really all depends on each couple's economic situation and work schedules.

I may have explained a lot of stuff about civil weddings in an earlier blog entry, but I am too lazy to sort through them to check. At any rate, I wouldn't normally even write about a ceremony that, though very important, is so bland. However, this particular civil wedding had a very interesting back story. Well, interesting to me, at least, because Callixte and Verene are both students in the adult English language course I teach on weekday evenings.

Verene is a bio-technician in the lab at the health center I work at and has been a great friend of mine since the day I arrived in Rubona; she has been registered in my class since it began. Callixte is a neighbor who has also been a student of mine for almost two years now. I am pretty sure they knew each other before the class began, but I was told that they really didn't get to know each other more personally until they started studying together. Apparently, they have been 'cultivating the love' (dating) for a while now and have decided to take the next step and get married.

I am not taking credit as a matchmaker or anything. I just think its cool that my English class played the role that it did in their love story.

Verene and Callixte, I wish you many years of wedded bliss. May God bless you both.

Check it out!

2010-09-16T18:50:00.000+02:00

http://appropriateprojects.com/node/352

'Phase 1' and 'Phase 2'

2010-09-10T14:20:00.003+02:00

The health center in my village officially has running water!

Thank you for your hard work, Jenny!

Before I had left for Malawi, Jenny (a PCV in Rwamagana city) and I began working on getting running water in the Birthing Room, the Lab, and in the main Consultation Office of the health center in my village. Jenny had done the leg work of completing the grant and getting the money and I was 'overseeing construction' - which means I was to make sure that the construction work actually got done at the site.

Before I had left on my trip, the construction was well on its way; when I returned, it was all finished. The nurses are so happy with the results that they have asked Jenny and I to find more money to get running water to the Operation Room and the Maternity Ward. I helped Jenny with the grant application for this 'Phase 2' project and now she and I are waiting for the answer, which should arrive any day now.

If/Once Jenny and I get the money, we'll be able to get 'Phase 2' construction started and begin getting money for 'Phase 3.' I would like 'Phase 3' to focus on getting running water to the two other Consultation Offices on the other side of the health center grounds, the Bathrooms, and the two Hospitalization Wards. I may have to split 'Phase 3' into three parts, which means the Consultation Rooms would be 'Phase 3,' the Bathrooms would be 'Phase 4,' and the Hospitalization Wards would be 'Phase 5'...or something like that...

...sorry, now I am just typing my stream of consciousness.

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for us!

The one when Emmett goes to Malawi

2010-08-27T09:56:00.021+02:00

Pictured Here: (From Top to Bottom)

* Brandon takes a coconut to the face in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

* Trena, on the train from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya, Tanzania, takes in the view.
* Nora hangs out at 'Big Blue Star Backpackers,' the lodge we stayed at in Nkhata Bay, Malawi.

* Me, Emmett, sips some 'Shake-Shake' - a local alcoholic drink in Malawi.

* Malcolm looks out over Lake Malawi in a dugout canoe.

* Kate gets some must needed rest while waiting for a bus in Mzuzu, Malawi.

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Malawi Trip: Play-by-Play

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Saturday, August 7th

The trip began. Malawi does not border Rwanda, so we had to go through Tanzania. Personally, I had no problem with this; I still had my Tanzania Visa and I wanted to see more of Dar es Salaam anyway.

We knew that going to Malawi through Dar was not the most time efficient move, but we knew that if we went to Dar, we could then get a train to Mbeya (a Tanzania/Malawi border town). Excited about the prospect of taking a train through South Tanzania, we didn't have a problem with going the long way around.

The bus we got on that morning was going to take us directly to Dar. It was going to take like 36 hours nonstop to get there, but it was going to get us there. Some of us took the same bus to get to Dar when we visited Zanzibar late last year, so we knew what we were getting into. (When I say 'we' here I mean me, Malcolm, and Brandon, so the girls just had to trust us.)

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Sunday, August 8th

The bus had left very early Saturday morning. We got into Dar around 11am on Sunday. The bus ride was kind of a blur. All I remember was falling in and out of sleep very often, going down some very bumpy roads at a ridiculous speed, and, consequently, praying for my life - so, I pretty much had the same experience that I had last year when I took the bus to Dar.

We made it out of the Dar bus station and checked into our rooms at the local YMCA. We unloaded our gear and explored the city a bit. We didn't get much exploring done, though. It was Sunday AND Ramadan was starting in another couple of days, so a lot of places were closed. However, it did feel great to finally be off of that bus!

**********

Monday, August 9th

We spent the day hanging around Dar and planning the rest of our traveling specifics to Malawi - the end destination being Nkhata Bay, Malawi. An important part of this planning was buying tickets, which required money, of course.

Here was my situation: I had about $400 American dollars that my folks had given me, but I still had about $200 Rwandan Francs to convert into Tanzanian Shillings. I did not convert my Francs into Shillings at the Rwanda/Tanzania border because I thought that the exchange rate would be better in Dar.

When we got to Dar, I learned that I made a big mistake. There was ONE place in Dar that could exchange Francs into Shillings and, guess what, they were not buying Rwandan Francs that day. We spent the better part of this day running around town, trying to convert Francs to Shillings. We must have went to 20 different For-Ex offices. Brandon and I even went to the Rwandan embassy in Tanzania to find someone to help us out. It was a long shot, but we were that desperate.

Every For-Ex gave us the same answer: 'No.' And when Brandon and I went to the embassy we didn't get any help. The embassy was closed in celebration of the presidential election happening in Rwanda. The guard merely wished us luck and sent us on our way.

I was so hell-bent on getting my money changed over this day, that I didn't get to enjoy the city. I was kind of upset. I mean, how can a country that borders another country not be able to convert its currency!? I can convert Shillings to Francs anywhere in Rwanda, which is what I should have done in the first place, I guess. Anyway, after an exhausting day of running around, we had dinner at a 'Subway' that was close to our rooms at the YMCA. The meal was delicious.

**********

Tuesday, August 10th

We spent Tuesday morning looking for a place to exchange Francs into Shillings. Before we started the adventure, however, I had resigned myself to the fact that I was not going to be able to convert my Francs.

This trip was not starting well for me; instead of having $600 for this trip, I now only had $400. Was it even possible to do this trip with only $400? I was going to find out.

After briefly searching town for a place to change money, we made our way to the train station in Dar. We hung out at the station for a few hours, got on the train at about 5pm and started for our next destination: Mbeya, Tanzania.

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Wednesday, August 11th

The train was great. We reserved a second class car that fit the six of us pretty well. The beds folded out from the wall and the train staff provided us with some blankets and sheets. This was a good thing because Tuesday night was pretty cold, actually. On a side note: we were told that the train went through one of the national parks in Tanzania, but it was too dark to see anything when we went through it.

We arrived in Mbeya on Wednesday afternoon. We got off the train and got public transport to the Tanzania/Malawi border. We crossed the border into Malawi that afternoon and made it as far as Nkaranga, a Malawi town a few hours South of the border.

Once in Nkaranga, Malawi we got a place to stay and went to dinner. After dinner we called it a night.

**********

Thursday, August 12th

It wasn't until the next day that one of our party members realized that she had left her purse at the restaurant. An employee at the restaurant had brought the purse back in the middle of the night. Nothing was missing...except for $350! We went back to the restaurant to investigate where the missing money went, but our leads were not promising. Luckily she was able to get some money wired to her a few days later, so it wasn't a horrible emergency, just an expensive inconvenience.

We left Nkaranga well rested, but a little bitter about losing some of our funds. We pushed on farther South, however. We caught public transport to Mzuzu, Malawi and from there we caught another bus to Nkhata Bay, Malawi - our final destination!

Just a quick geography note. Nkhata Bay is right on Lake Malawi and is about half the distance between the Malawi/Tanzania border and Lilongwe, Malawi's capital city. I provided a map on the previous blog entry; you might be able to find Nkhata Bay's location.

We arrived into Nkhata Bay just after dark. We checked into our lodge, 'Big Blue Star Backpackers,' and hit the lodge bar immediately. We spent the night drinking and, let me tell you, we needed the release. At this point we had been on the road almost nonstop since Saturday morning; we were exhausted! We made great time, however; we got into the Bay a full day earlier then we thought we would. So, to celebrate this small achievement, we had a drink or two.

**********

Friday, August 13th

We didn't really do much on Friday. I don't know what everyone else did, but I slept in. After catching up on sleep, I did my laundry and walked into town to explore the market.

I was really blown away by our arrangements at Nkhata Bay. The backpackers lodge was really cool. It was right on Lake Malawi and the lodge had space for tents, if you wanted to camp, and it also had dorm rooms and smaller bungalows. The bungalows were the most expensive arrangement at about $7-$8 a night; we rented three of them.

The lodge also had a full bar, restaurant, kitchen, beach, computers with Internet access, and a lounging area (complete with T.V., cable, DVD player and DVDs). All areas were open to the guests. They also had canoes, rafts and snorkeling gear to rent for free; it was great.

**********

Saturday, August 14th and Sunday, August 15th

Honestly, these day were really the same. We just hung out and relaxed; nothing crazy to report. We did meet some Peace Corps Malawi Volunteers on Saturday and on Sunday one of them took us to a local beach.

**********

Monday, August 16th

This day was pretty eventful. I ate my first Chambo (a type of fish) and had my first drink of Shake-Shake (a local alcoholic drink). Both were delicious. Well, the Shake-Shake was pretty bad for the first couple of sips, but, like all alcohol, it doesn't taste as bad the more you drink.

The backpackers' lodge organized a boat trip that day that took us to another beach further down Lake Malawi. The boat trip was cool and the beach was beautiful. When we had first arrived to Malawi, it was very cold and very windy. Monday was a bit warmer and definitely not as windy. Therefore, the conditions were great for going out on the lake.

The conditions were also great for feeding the Fish Eagles. These are just what they sound like - big Eagles that eat fish. I had seen Fish Eagles at Akagera National Park in Rwanda, but I had never seen one as close as I had this day.

We were out in the boat and one of the local guys that was maneuvering the boat told his partner to cut the engine. So we sat in this boat for a little while and the one boat guy began putting two little fish on each end of a stick. He then began to whistle to the Fish Eagles, calling their attention. Apparently, feeding the Fish Eagles is something that is done pretty often by the employees of the backpackers lodge. The Eagles are 'trained' to come at this call because they know that they are going to be fed.

It was pretty cool. Once a Fish Eagle was spotted, the guy whistled very strong, then held up the stick with the two small fish on either end and threw it a few yards from the side of the boat. The Fish Eagle would see the fish, dive down from the trees, and snag the fish-stick (literally). The bird would then fly back to the trees and eat its gift. It was really cool to see them up close; they have an incredible wingspan. We fed them as we were going to and coming from the beach.

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Tuesday, August 17th and Wednesday, August 18th

These days were fun, but they consisted of pretty much the same activities: eating and drinking. Ha! I ate so much fish these two days and I drank so many Carlsberg beers - I know I gained weight on this trip.

Just a side note: Carlsberg is really the only beer you can find in Malawi; the company has a 99 year production lease or something like that. One of the PC Malawi guys was explaining it to me, but by then I had too many Carlsbergs and I couldn't keep up with/remember much of the conversation.

**********

Thursday, August 19th

This was our last full day in Malawi. What did we do? We ate, drank, and hung out on the beach, of course. This time, however, we borrowed the lodge's raft and stayed at the lodge's beach. In the afternoon we went into town and bought more Shake-Shake and Power. Power is a popular hard alcohol and it is most commonly sold on the street in little packets. We went into town and bought two full bottles of it along with some drinks to mix it with. That was a great afternoon/evening.

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Friday, August 20th and Saturday, August 21st

I woke up that Friday morning feeling a bit sick...okay, okay...hungover. At any rate, we packed up our gear that afternoon and checked out. Well, all but one of us. Brandon decided to stay another day or two and hang out, but the rest of us needed to get back.

We left Nkhata Bay and made it to Mzuzu that afternoon. The bus we were to take from Mzuzu was suppose to leave at 12 midnight, but it didn't show up until 2am! It was soooooooooo cold waiting at that bus station for all those hours...so damn cold. But we survived.

We made it out of Malawi on Saturday and we were pretty much taking the same route we took to get to Nkhata Bay, but in reverse. We would have done it exactly like that too, but we got stuck in Mbeya, Tanzania. The train we were going to take that afternoon from Mbeya to Dar es Salaam was delayed until the next morning. So, we had two options, really. We could sleep at the train station and take the train back to Dar the next morning OR we could stay the night in town and take a 10-12 hour bus to Dodoma. We chose the second option.

Dodoma is Tanzania's capital city. It is North of Mbeya and closer to Rwanda than Dar. In fact, if we went to Dar we would be going a bit in the opposite direction. We thought that maybe this was for the best. Skipping Dar, we thought, would shave some time off of our trip back too.

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Sunday, August 22nd

We left Mbeya and went North to Dodoma, Tanzania. This bus ride was pretty cool because it went through one of the national parks and we did see some animals, specially Giraffes, Baboons, Warthogs, and Antelope.

We made it to Dodoma with no problems and we were thinking we could get a bus from Dodoma to Rusumo, the border town of Rwanda/Tanzania. Wrong. We got to Dodoma and could only get a bus to Kahama, a city closer to Rwanda but still 5-6 hours East of Rusumo. This bus to Kahama, however, didn't leave until the next day, so we stayed the night in Dodoma.

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Monday, August 23rd and Tuesday, August 24th

Exhausted reading this thing yet? Try living it.

Anyway, we made it to Kahama and spent the night. On Tuesday we got up, took a bus from Kahama to Rusumo, and took a bus from Rusumo to Rwamagana. The End.

***********

Notes:

Though I felt as though I spent just as much time in Malawi as I spent getting to and from Malawi, it was still a pretty awesome trip. The transportation wasn't all that bad, really. The fish in Malawi was delicious, the beaches were beautiful, and the people were very chill. I would totally visit Malawi again, though I want to go with more money in my wallet. I only spent like $400 total - that includes travel and everything. I was never able to change those Francs into Shillings. I didn't even try to convert my Francs into Kwacha (Malawi's currency); I knew it would have been a lost cause and I wasn't about to waste any more of my trip worrying about it.

I know it seems like all we did was eat, drink, and travel, but some stories you just can't translate onto a blog. The story just doesn't make sense unless you were there and a part of it; I tried writing some of them out, but they didn't come across as funny or as entertaining as they were for us. I suppose that is because I am not that strong of a writer.

Just another update before I sign off: the construction at the health center is finished apparently. I heard through the grape vine that the health center in my village now has running water in three of its facilities. I have heard that everything went so well, that they want to get the rest of the health center set up with plumbing. Giddy up!

Malawi, Kickball, and Construction

2010-07-30T12:58:00.003+02:00

The vacation request was just approved! Going next week! Malawi, here we come!

On another note, the kickball tournament last weekend was fun. It was very well organized and it was great to see PCVs from the different training groups.

Construction has begun at my health center; they should have running water in the lab, the maternity ward, and one of the counseling rooms by the end of August!

Brandon has let me borrow his harmonica and its 'How to Play' book. We'll see if I can make more of a contribution to the band besides singing.

I still haven't received my photos and video of the white water rafting trip on the Nile River. Once I do, you'll know.

More to come soon!

Uganda

2010-07-22T09:26:00.011+02:00

Pictured here:

The Nile River and July 4th dinner.

Groast 2 took place on the 4th of July weekend at Tom and Malea's house. It was a great time; we drank, ate a bunch of food (not just goat), and Brandon brought his guitar and we sang some songs we have been practicing.

The next weekend (July 9th), a bunch of us went into Uganda - the country directly North of Rwanda. We traveled from Kigali straight through to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The trip was like 9 hours - not all that bad, really. We hung out in Kampala that first night after we arrived. We had Mexican food and it was freakin' spectacular. I had not had Mexican food in almost two years, so I ate ferociously.

The next day (Saturday) 'Adrift,' the company we hired to give us a tour down the Nile River, picked us up from our hotel in Kampala and took us to the rafting outpost. The drive from Kampala to the outpost was a couple hours; the trip was okay. Uganda's weather is very similar to Rwanda's, but the landscape is different; specifically, there are no hills in Uganda like there are in Rwanda. So, the scenary was kind of bland.

We arrived at the outpost and got our stuff stored in our rooms at the lodge. We changed our cloths and immediately prepared to hit the rapids; this was going to be an all day event.

Just a couple of quick notes. The source of the Nile is actually in Rwanda (or so say the Rwandans I know), BUT the white water part of the Nile (where the river gets really serious) starts in Uganda.

Also 'Adrift' does have a place where people can bungee jump into the Nile; seriously, like into the Nile. They can adjust the cord so that you can touch the water if you want. Anyway, Tom and I were signed up and ready to do it, we even paid our money, BUT the guys at the outpost said that we couldn't do it as soon as we got there, which is what we were told initially. They said we would have to wait until tomorrow afternoon to do our jump. Tom and I had scheduled some activities with the rest of our traveling party the next day (Sunday). We didn't want to wait around all of Sunday to jump; we wanted to see some more of Kampala AND we still needed to figure out how we were going to leave Uganda on Monday. We begged and pleaded to jump as soon as we got to the camp, but they said it would be too much of a time crunch.

Tom and I think we'll hit up the bungee jump another time. Rafting was a blast and we both agreed we want to do it again with the same company - 'Adrift'. Anyway, we decided that we'd try to organize another outing to Uganda, but next time we will make sure we have plenty of time to do more stuff. We totally want to raft the Nile again, and we want to bungee jump over it, but we also want to see Lake Victoria (the largest lake in Africa) and I want to go on a safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park. I heard that in this park you can see lions and elephants; Akagera National Park in Rwanda has these animals, but I haven't seen them yet. I heard that in Queen's Park in Uganda, you see them all the time.

Sorry, I got kinda side tracked there for a minute. Anyway, we got ourselves all geared up and we hit the river with our raft guide, Big J. There was eleven of us in the boat - Big J, me, my 7 other traveling companions, and a couple from Estonia. The Estonians were pretty cool. Apparently, they were both actors in a horror movie being filmed in Uganda; they had some spare time and the director let them have some R and R.

For the first hour or so, Big J kept us in still waters and reviewed with us what to do if/when certain things happen - what to do if/when you fall out of the raft, what to do if/when the raft flips, and so on. He introduced us to a couple of the kayakers that would be ahead of us in the rapids; he said that these guys would be plucking us out of the water if/when we fell out of the boat. Once the safety demonstrations were finished, we hit the river.

White Water Rafting the Nile River was amazing. We rafted a bunch of baby rapids (class 2s and 3s) but we hit five different class 4s and as many class 5s. There were some class 6s on our run, but we dodged them because they would have killed us. Seriously, Big J, our guide, said that he had done them in a kayak, but never in a raft full of inexperienced rafters. He said that even in a kayak, a class 6 rapid is not something an experienced rafter does every day.

It was a lot of fun, though. In the morning, I was sitting on the middle of the raft, across from Tom. We flipped over once in the beginning during a class 4 or 5 rapid, I can't remember. The last thing I remember before we flipped was that it looked like we were falling into a huge washing machine - like it was the belly button of the world, or something. Anyway, we were tossed over and I was trapped under the raft for a bit, but I was able to free myself and grab a kayaker.

Once we made it through the rapid, we just got back on the raft and kept going. Later that day Big J told us that he flipped us intentionally, 'just for fun.'

In the afternoon, we stopped at an island and had lunch - probably the best lunch I have ever had in my life. After lunch, Tom and I were asked to take the front two seats on the raft; we accepted the positions. We got in the boat and hit some more rapids.

The front seat was awesome! And sitting across from Tom the whole trip down river was really an experience in itself. After the flip we had in the morning, I started trying to time my breathes so that if/when we flipped the next time, I would have a lung full of air; thus, preventing another near-death experience. So the whole time we were hitting the rest of the rapids, I was holding my breathe in intervals, but Tom was screaming at the top of his lungs, 'It's wet! It's wild! I love it!'

The afternoon was fun. There was this one rapid that was a waterfall; it was a class 4 or class 5 and it began with a 12 foot drop - that was a fun one. At the end of the day there was this loooooooooong class 6. Big J pointed it out and said, 'Okay, guys, let's paddle to shore as fast and as hard as we can!' We had to get to shore, pull in the raft, and walk it further down river, past the class 6. At the end of the class 6 there was a class 5 (they said it was a class 5+, I don't know if those exist or not, but whatever). Once we got past that last rapid, we were finished. And right where we finished (on the shore) there was a BBQ with cold beer and roasted meat waiting for us. It was a delicious ending.

'Adrift' was a great company - very well organized. I felt safe and I had a great time while I was on the river. I totally want to go back and bungee jump, though; I hear that its pretty cool. They used to let people do the bungee jump naked. If you did it naked, then you didn't have to pay. My eyes light up at the possibility of doing something cool AND doing it for free. Big J noticed the look on my face and said that they don't do that 'offer' any more; he said too many people were doing it naked and they weren't making any money. Damn.

Anyways, the facilities were pretty nice too, though they were swarming with Vervet monkeys. The guides themselves were characters. Seriously, they were fun, knowledgeable guys.

After rafting, everyone showered and hit the bar. We got seats, ordered food, and watched the World Cup match between Uruguay and Germany. After the first half of the match, one of the guides turned down the television and announced that the video was ready at the other end of the bar.

Oh Yeah! I forgot to tell you, 'Adrift' had people taking pictures and video of us from the shore the whole day. They made discs for everyone to buy. My picture disc and my video disc have not come in yet, but when they do, I will post what I can on here and on facebook.

The video was great; it was very well done. After that, we finished watching the game and went to bed. We got up early the next day (Sunday) and headed back to Kampala. Once in Kampala, we went to the big market they have (I wasn't impressed), we hit up a mall (a real mall, like in the states), and ate some really good Indian food. That night we saw the World Cup finals match at a bar.

The next day (Monday) we woke up super early, got on our bus, and went back to Kigali. We were a few hours into our trip home when we heard that bombs had gone off in Kampala Sunday night during the World Cup finals match. An Ethiopian restaurant and a Rugby bar had been suicide bombed by Somali terrorists and about 60-70 people were either dead or wounded. Later that week we received a message from PC stating that travel to Uganda was prohibited until further notice.

We made it back safe and sound. And that was our trip to Uganda.

As far as future trips and events are concerned, this weekend I am going to a Kickball Tourney in West Province Rwanda and the guys and I are still trying to finalize everything to go to Malawi in August.

As far as work is concerned...well...its work - same routine, different day. Its great and I love it, don't get me wrong, but there is really nothing to write about that I haven't already written about.

I am still helping out at the health center, though we aren't seeing as many patients now as we were a few months ago. This is because its dry season now (seriously, it has not rained in months) and malaria outbreaks die down a bit during this time. The staff at the health center are doing just fine. No news there.

Oh yeah! There is news. Jenny, a volunteer in Rwamagana city, and I are working on a grant to get running water to the health center in my village. Jenny did a lot of the leg work because I don't have a computer or Internet access. She just told me that we got the money too; we need to get the money to the health center so they can hire local contractors to get the work started.

The adult English class I teach in the evenings is still in session. Everyone is doing well. Participation has dropped, though. This is mostly because everyone is so involved in the presidential election that is happening in August. There are a lot of community meetings happening in the evenings to prepare for the event.

Rutambi and his family are doing okay. Rutambi's English is getting better every time we meet. He is on vacation from school now, along with his brothers and sisters, so we get to hang out a bit more now-a-days. And, most importantly, his family is still giving me free bananas...

...and I'm still eating them.

Yolanda's Visit

2010-06-13T09:09:00.014+02:00

Pictured here from top to bottom.

Top: Yolanda teaches 'La Loteria' game to my evening adult English class, which, temporarily, was the evening adult Spanish class.

Second down: The tea fields of West Province.

Third down: A racecar flooring it down the main street of my village.

Fourth down: Zebras from Akagera National Park in East Province.

Fifth down: Umulisa, a nurse at the health center, prepares for her civil marriage in Kigali. This ceremony was held about a week or two before Yolanda came to visit.

These past few weeks have been pretty busy. It is time for an update, my friends.

Yolanda came to visit me in Rwanda from 05/28/2010 - 06/12/2010. Before I begin telling you what we did, I want to thank everyone that made this trip possible for her. Thank you to the friends and family members that encouraged her to visit. Thank you to the people who gave money to Yolanda to help my community. Thank you to my fellow Peace Corps volunteers who helped me to welcome Yols and show her a good time. Thank you to the people of Rwanda, especially those in my village, that opened their country to us. And, of course, thank God for our safe travels, clean water, and delicious food. God, thank you for putting Yolanda in my life; she is a great friend and has blessed every life she has touched.

Yolanda's visit.

Yols arrived on the night of 05/28/2010 at Kigali International Airport. We took a taxi from the airport to a restaurant called 'Heaven' to have a beer and to grab a bite to eat. 'Heaven' is a pretty expensive tourist place, but I encouraged her to enjoy it while we were there. Once we got to my village, we would be in a whole different world.

From 'Heaven', we went directly to the room I reserved for us at St. Paul's (a hostel located in downtown Kigali). I could only get one night, though; these summer months are a popular time for tourists to visit Rwanda and St. Paul's was booked for the rest of the weekend. This was no problem, though, because the next day we would be on our way to Akagera National Park in the East Province.

We met up with Malcolm in Kigali the next day, then traveled to Rwamagana city and stayed the night with Brandon. The day after that (Saturday), we all went to the park and made camp. Camping, as always, was a blast. One friend in particular, Miles, really made the evening a memorable one...hilarious guy. Hilarious.

I didn't think that going on a safari the next day, right after camping, would be the best idea. After camping (and drinking - let's be honest here) you're tired, you smell, maybe your back hurts from sleeping on the ground, and so on; all you want the next morning is a shower and a cup of coffee. You do NOT want to get up at dawn to travel a bumpy road to see animals. I tried it before in January and I just remember falling asleep in between animal sightings. I had fun, but I missed the view.

After camping, we packed up our gear and Yols and I made our way to my village. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of that week consisted of touring the village, visiting some neighbors, and giving her a sense of what life is like for me and the community. Yolanda was great about everything; she even helped out at the health center AND she taught Spanish to my adult English class in the evenings.

Everyone that met Yolanda loved her. The only problem she and I had in my village during the trip was explaining to my neighbors and co-workers that Yols and I were NOT married, nor were we dating. They just couldn't understand why a woman would travel so far to visit a male friend. I figured we would run into this kind of confusion.

In Rwandan culture, men and women visit eachother, but they generally don't stay over night if they are not family. If a man does stay the night at a woman's house (or vise-versa) and they are not related, it is implied that their relationship is sexual. Before her visit I even explained to my students and the staff of the health center that Yols was a friend...ONLY a friend. They said they understood, but when they met her they began to bombard us with questions regarding 'our relationship'.

Some people even thought we were married and that our marriage contract was for only two weeks; many Rwandans think that Americans sign marriage contracts for various amounts of time - 2 weeks, 6 months, 5 years, and so on. When the contract is up, the two people split up and marry other people. (We have our incredibly high divorse rate in America to thank for this little piece of misinformation.) It was bearable the first week, but people just kept pushing it and I was getting a bit frustrated with the questions and comments towards the end of the second week.

Moving on.

Before Yols came, she asked that we accomplish three things while she was visiting; she said that if she was able to do these three things, she would consider the trip to be a success. These activities included seeing a market (we finished that one right away), going on a safari, and attending a wedding.

Like I said before, going on safari is difficult if you were partying the night before. So, I decided that on Friday, the 4th of June we would rent a car, get up super early, and go on a big game safari in Akagera. We did it and it was awesome. We couldn't get close to the giraffes like I did before, but we got some great photos of zebras and hippos.

Oh yeah, I have a side note for you all. So the last time I went on safari I listed all the animals I saw (I am not going to do that here because I pretty much saw the same animlas), and there was some confusion about the type of giraffe I saw. Well, I got the answer for you. The giraffes in Akagera are Maasai Giraffes. These giraffes are actually not native to the area; they were brought in from Kenya.

Yeah, Yols and I had a VERY knowledgable park ranger accompany us on our tour; he was full of bits of infromation about the park and its animals. The most exciting pieces of information (to me, at least) was that the park is planning on introducing Black Rhinos to the area AND the park rangers want to start giving night tours so people have a better chance at seeing the predators.

Anyway, after the safari, we returned to my village and began making preparations for the wedding the next day. The wedding was for Emmanuel and Nikuze; Emmanuel is an accountant at the health center that I work at. I invited a bunch of Peace Corps volunteers and friends from other organizations to come out to my village that day, see the wedding, and hang out; I got a couple of takers.

The wedding was to begin at the local Catholic church at 2pm, or so said the invitation. Yols and I went to the church at 2pm that Saturday afternoon (06/05/10) and no one was there. I totally should have figured that we would be on 'Africa Time', which means the wedding wouldn't begin for another 3 hours. So we returned home to wait. During those next couple of hours Malcolm, Brandon, Chrissi, and Kate showed up; an hour after them Miya and her friend arrived.

We had a couple of beers at the bar that Rutambi's dad runs/owns and spent some time catching up and hanging out. Well, it started getting late and I heard from some of my neighbors that the wedding was over but the reception was still in swing at the groom's house. Jean-Marie was in town and he was happy to walk our group to Emmanuel's home. The reception was fun and when it was finished JMV walked us home and we all made dinner - a delicious stew of everything we could find!

On a side note, JMV told me that he has a new job in Kigali. I forget the name of the organization, but they are flying him out to South Carolina for a week of training. He is VERY excited.

The next morning we woke up to the sound of hundreds of people in front of my house. We all went to my front gate to see what the deal was. We soon learned from Rutambi that a Rally Race was taking place this weekend. Racecars were flying down the the dirt street through the main part of town and turning left on the street towards Rwamagana city - so pretty much right in front of my house! We stood out there for a couple of hours and watched the cars go past; we got showered with dust.

Another side note. It was a very exciting day for Rutambi because he got to see racecars, meet my friends, AND play video games for the first time ever. He was VERY excited. So excited, in fact, that he asked his dad to give us a gift - a whole vine of banana bunches!

After the race died out, we had lunch, and said goodbye to our guests. Yols and I then began to clean the house from top to bottom. Everything was covered in dust!

The following few days Yolanda and I helped out at the health center during the day and taught Spanish in the evenings. Yolanda was a great teacher. She taught them numbers, greetings, and the 'La Loteria' game, which is kind of like the Mexican equivalent of 'BINGO'. The game is a great learning tool because there are pictures that explain what the words mean. We gave out notebooks, pens, pencils, and crayons to the winners. We had a bunch of stuff left over at the end of the class, so we just gave the rest of the items out to the teams that didn't win. The class enjoyed it very much.

The class loved her. Seriously, they loved her; they pooled their money together and bought her some going away gifts. They were so happy to meet her and learn some Spanish from a native speaker.

On Wednesday she said goodbye to my village and we traveled to the West Province to visit Kate at her site near Nyungwe National Park. We spent a day and a half walking through tea fields and the jungle. We didn't see any animals, but we did get an awesome tour of a tea factory from Kate's host mom. We also made 'umugali', a traditional bread made from casava, for dinner with a delicious meat sauce. It was pretty awesome for our first time making it.

On Friday (this past Friday), we got on a VERY crowded, very hot bus and headed North from Gisakura, Kate's site, to visit Mark at his site. Mark's birthday was last week and he invited us to go to Lake Kivu for his birthday. Kate, Yols, and I took him up on his offer and went to see him and the lake. We met up with a bunch of Peace Corps volunteers at Kibuye, had some beers, and watched Mexico and France tie their opponents in the World Cup.

The next day (yesterday) we got up early, went to Kigali, finished packing everything up, and said our goodbyes at the airport.

All-in-all, I think the trip went well. We got to do everything on Yolanda's wishlist and we didn't have any sicknesses or unpleasant events. Yolanda did get all chewed up by mosquitoes, though (yeah, sorry 'bout that, Yols), and there was a time or two we thought we were going to drive right off the side of a cliff when traveling from Kate's site to Kibuye...but we lived.

Yeah, it was great. I tried to write down everything I could remember, but I am sure I missed something somewhere. I will probably be updating this entry as I remember events and such. Yols, help me out here. What am I missing?

Super Quick April/May Updates

2010-05-08T11:00:00.008+02:00

My friend Yolanda is coming to visit me at the end of May for two weeks! Karibu Sana kandi Murakaza Neza, Yols!

A new class of Peace Corps Rwanda Trainees are now officially Volunteers! Congratulations, new PCVs!

My boss at the health center was recently elected the MAYOR of Rwamagana District. There are 30 districts in Rwanda; he is one of only 30 mayors in the country of Rwanda! Nuko Nuko, Nehemie!

Dieudonne, whose wedding I attended a while ago (a picture of him with his bride is on an older blog post of mine), has recently been appointed the new supervisor for the health center in my village. Felicitacion, Dieu!

I'm now 28! Bon Anniversaire!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love and miss you! Hurray for Mom!

Going to Uganda in July to raft the Nile.

Possibly going to Malawi and Tanzania (again) later in the year.

Life is good.

Camp GLOW-Rwanda

2010-04-10T11:15:00.001+02:00

Check it Out.

http://campglowrwanda.wordpress.com/

A Controlled Explosion

2010-03-28T13:55:00.003+02:00

As I was writting my last blog entry, a landmine went off.

The internet cafe that I frequent while I am in Rwamagana is right next door to the city police station. I was there on Friday writting about how Rwamagana and my village are so peaceful, when I heard a very loud explosion; the air pressure changed, the windows shook, and there was a faint smell of smoke. No one in the cafe made a move in panic or fear; they merely looked up from their computers and went back to typing after a minute. Not knowing what to do and with no specific knowledge about what just happened, besides there being a very loud noise, I did the same.

Later that day, I found out that the city police practiced a 'controlled explosion' of a landmine. Judging from people's reactions, I assume this is a very routine procedure. That is all the information I got on that. Not much of a story, I know; just something I had never experienced before.

The Groast, The Gauntlet, and My Indestructible Friend

2010-03-26T10:24:00.011+02:00

(Pictured Here: 'The Iron Cross')

Things here are going well. I am still going in and out of being homesick; I'm told this is a natural phase for all volunteers. I'm pushing through it, though. I've been reading a lot - and I mean A LOT. It has helped me keep my mind off of things - specifically, America.

My best friend in my village was moved to another health center; I think I mentioned this in a previous entry. Now he and I get together every other week or so, but it is just not the same as joking around with him all day in the lab while we work. When we hung out earlier this month he had some bad news to tell me. He was working in his new village, testing people for HIV, when he accidently stuck himself with one of the needles. It turns out the needle with which he stuck himself was one used to test a person that ended up being positive for the virus. He got on emergency ARVs right away, but it will still be a few months before he knows whether or not he is positive.

He is taking his situation very well, though. He is telling everyone about what happened to educate them. He told me the same time he told the other lab technicians; he wanted to make sure that we continued to take all the proper safety precautions so that this doesn't happen to us. Please pray for my friend.

In other news, next month is the 16th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Peace Corps Rwanda has asked us to stay out of Kigali unless we have written permission. This is because of a few incidents that happened there these past few weeks. I will not write about anything specific here; they are all incidents I am sure you can look up on the internet. Nothing to be worried about, though. Apparently, incidents like these happen every spring in the major cities of Rwanda. I do live close to the East Province capital, but nothing has happened in Rwamagana. And my village...my village is just as it was 6 months ago. No problems.

Staying out of Kigali for a while is fine with me, though. That place is so expensive compared to my village. The only thing staying out of Kigali is preventing me from doing is posting pictures, which should be coming some time in April.

I should have written this entry like a month ago, but I just haven't had the energy for it. I have a pretty set routine now as far as work, teaching, and life in general goes, but this past month I always found a reason to not write. I think a part of it was that I didn't want to come off sounding depressed or anything, though I think that is EXACTLY how I'm sounding. I am not depressed, however. I am very much enjoying my time and work in my village. So much so, in fact, that I am considering extending my service for a third year. Nothing is for sure yet; I'm just researching all of my options.

What has prompted me to write this entry, you ask? A delicious event I attended last weekend at Tom and Malea's house (PCVs in Kibungo) - 'The Groast.' Goat + Roast = Groast. That's right, we roasted a whole goat. It was awesome. Tom hired someone to bring the goat over to his house Saturday morning and slaughter it in his backyard. The people that skinned the goat kept the head, hide, and the guts (though we got the kidneys, which tasted pretty good). Tom then strung the goat up on this contraption he made called 'The Iron Cross.' This 'Iron Cross' was used to prop the goat over a pile of hot coals.

It took like five hours to roast the whole goat, but it was worth it. This goat, though a bit gamy, fed like 20 people. We even had leftovers the next day; Tom, the master chef that he is, put the bones in a pot, added a little onions and noodles and, baby, we had ourselves a stew goin'.

Let's continue the good times, shall we. I sat down and thought of some humorous things that happened to me recently.

1. I was teaching my evening English class before I left for Zanzibar a few months ago and a bat fell through a hole in the ceiling. I stopped class to investigate it, ignoring my students' request to ignore the bat and continue the lesson. Well, on the third poke, it proceeded to fly around the classroom like that scene from 'The Great Outdoors.' Fun times.

2. Another time (before I had left for Zanzibar), I was walking home after my evening English class with some students (I usually get walked home by at least 3 or 4 of my students after every class) and I walked in a puddle. Wait. Puddle is the wrong word here. It was on its way to becoming a pond. And I didn't just step in it, but WALKED through it - calf deep, baby. I saw the puddle, and I wanted to get out of the way, but my legs just continued to move. I walked through the whole damn thing. As I walked, I thought to myself, 'Oh my goodness! I've lost control of my legs!' My students thought I had 'become a foolish man.' They had a good laugh.

3. You know how I know I need another vacation? Because just this last week I said hello to a goat. I was walking home, after my morning's work, through a part of the village I like to call: 'The Gauntlet.' 'The Gauntlet' extends about a quarter of a mile from my front door to where the shops end and the residential houses begin. Most people like to refer to this area as 'The Market' - where goods are bought and sold, but to each their own. 'The Gauntlet' is nothing bad, mind you, it is merely the area of the village where I get attacked from all sides by friendly neighbors wanting to greet me - especially children on their way to or coming back from school. 'The Gauntlet' is normal to me now, but when I first moved in it was a bit overwhelming.

Anyway, I was greeting everyone as I was walking home and I saw a goat mixed into the crowd of people. I saw the goat and my brain announced: 'Goat = Eat. Do not greet!'' Well, it was too late, I was already greeting the goat and asking it about its day. I turned quickly to make it look like I was greeting someone that was approaching me, but the damage had been done and the neighborhood kids saw a white man trying to talk to their dinner. I need another vacation. HA!

4. Rutambi is awesome and he always makes me laugh. At least once every week he comes over to my house to visit me and to practice his English. Usually these visits begin with a surprise. He sees me walking 'The Gauntlet,' runs over to my house, and is let in by Emmanuel, the guy I hired to watch the house and take care of it while I am out. Rutambi then finds a good place to hide in either my yard, one of my storage houses, or my kitchen. As I walk into my yard and pass said areas, he jumps out and yells, 'Hello! Emmett, my friend!.' Which usually scares the crap out of me, even though it has happened so many times that I should be expecting it by now. He thinks it is hilarious.

Wait a second. I don't know if I have ever written about Rutambi before. Meh. I am too lazy to look through my old entries to check, so I'll introduce him here. Rutambi is 12 years old and a son of my neighbor across the street, Tharcisse. Tharcisse (I think that is how you spell his name) owns the best bar in my village, which also happens to be across the street from my house (SCORE!). He is a very nice, very well respected man in my village. Rutambi, which apparently means 'unbreakable' or 'indestructible' in kinyarwanda (what an awesome name!), is very intelligent. He speaks English VERY well, studies very hard, and catches onto social cues very quickly. He wants to be president of Rwanda some day and, let me tell you, this kid could pull it off.

Anyway, just yesterday I was telling him about how I have been tired lately because my sleep has been so restless. He asked me why and I said it was because I am a little homesick; I miss my friends and family. He proceeded to try to make me feel better by naming people in the village that are really happy I am here and then he thanked me for all the time I have spent with him studying English. I was kind of blown back by how he articulated himself in English and how heartfelt his response was.

Before I could even respond to what he had said, he changed the topic back to dreams. He said that he had a bad dream recently, too. He said that in his dream he beat up one of his favorite action movie stars, John Rambo, in hand-to-hand combat. He said people chased him through the jungle to try to catch him. When they had him cornered, however, he said that he then became 'HUUUUGE with muscles and everyone ran in fear because [he] was doing kung fu so, so good.' Hearing his rendition of this dream was hilarious. He told it with such vigor and in such great detail; I was captivated. When he finished, which was after several minutes, he paused and smiled devilishly. Then he asked me if I believed him. I said yes as I laughed. Then he began to laugh heartily while saying, 'No, no, my friend. I lie!'

Oh Rutambi, you got me again!

Super Bowl, Homesickness, and a Safari

2010-02-01T14:48:00.013+02:00

(Pictured Here: A giraffe chillin' and some buffalo grazin'.)

Saints 31, Colts 17

How do I know this score?!

Because I saw the game, baby! That's right, son! A few PCVs and I found a bar in Kigali that was showing the game.

Watching this game, however, was a labor of love. Because the game was on ESPN Live, we didn't get to see the commercials. Also, the kickoff was at like 1:30am and the game didn't end until like 5am! AND I had to get up at 7am in order to get to the Peace Corps office in time for my mid-service physical exam. Meh. I regret nothing.

The game was awesome, though I totally spoiled it for everyone at the bar by totally calling Manning's interception that, as you know, decided the fate of Super Bowl XLIV. Take THAT for stealing the Super Bowl from the Bears three years ago, Manning!

On another note...I know that in my last entry I said I would get some reflections posted, but January was not the right month for me to be writing reflections. I had my first real bout of homesickness in January...well...not so much in January, but ALL of January. With that said, I really didn't feel like writing anything.

I did force myself to write one evening, but I wasn't happy with the reflections I wrote. I really wouldn't expect reflections from me any time soon. Talk to me when I get back to the states; I'm sure I'll have some good stuff for you then.

I will admit that watching the Super Bowl cheered me up, though. Going to Akagera National Park last weekend, however, really cheered me up. This was a trip I had been wanting to go on for some time now and when we got back from Zanzibar, we decided to make it happen.

Soon after our return from Tanzania, a handful of us got together and thought it would be a good idea to celebrate our official 'One Year in Rwanda' anniversary by doing some camping and going on safari. On Saturday, January 30th we camped out at the park and the next day we went on a six hour safari. We saw:

Baboon

African Buffalo

Plains Zebra

Impala

Topi

Antelope (Sable or Roan? I couldn't get a good look.)

Hippopotamus

Vervet Monkey (This guy had BLUE genitals...what is the evolutionary advantage there?)

Warthog

Crocodile

Fish Eagle

Marabou Stork (Ugly as sin.)

a bunch of other Storks, Ibises, Spoonbills, Rollers, and Weaver Birds (I'll spare you the full list.)

...and...

Giraffe (Maasai or Rothschild's? The jury is still out on this one too.)

We didn't see any lions, leopards, hyenas, or elephants; the carnivores are more active in the evening and the elephants were farther North in the park. If we had another day or two, we could have easily seen these animals. The way I figure it, I have a good reason to go back to the park. Who am I kidding?! Even if I saw all the animals in the park twice, I would still totally go back to camp again. Camp...in an African Big Game Park?!...Um?!...Yes!

Everything was great. The only bad part was that we were getting chewed up by horse flies, and what we think were tsetse flies, toward the end of the safari. Horse flies don't scare me much, but tsetse flies, carriers of East African Trypanosomiasis (African Sleeping Sickness), are another story.

I do not know the exact risk of contracting this illness from exposure to tsetse fly bites in Akagera Park, but it does exist. It was still an awesome trip. I regret nothing.

Zanzibar: There and Back

2010-01-04T10:46:00.015+02:00

(Pictured here [from top to bottom]: a Zanzibar door; a Red Colobus Monkey; a Zanzibar beach; the face of a building from Stonetown.)

The trip to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania was a real adventure. We left very early from Kigali on December 19 and arrived in Dar es Salaam very late the next day. The bus trip was over 30 (thirty) hours long, but the view was great. Tanzania and Rwanda have very different terrain. In fact, 20 (twenty) minutes after we crossed the Rwandan border into Tanzania, all the hills disappeared; Tanzania is very flat.

Apart from the terrain, I noticed many other differences. I immediately noticed the weather change, for one thing. Rwanda has a very high elevation and we were driving down to sea level, so the heat and humidity rose very quickly. Rwanda is also the most populated country (per square kilometer) in all of Africa; as we drove through Tanzania I noticed that people were not living on top of each other like they were in Rwanda. In fact, there were even times as we were driving that I didn't see a single house or person. Rwanda is also full of bananas; a characteristic not shared with Tanzania.

We arrived in Dar on December 20 and immediately changed our American Dollars to Tanzanian Shillings. Then we caught a ferry across the channel to the archipelago of Zanzibar. The ferry ride was awesome; it was less of a ferry and more of a cruise ship or something. The ferry had air conditioning, flat screen televisions, and very comfortable seats. The ferry ride lasted about 2-3 (two to three) hours.

Once we completed all of our paperwork to enter Zanzibar (there was so much paperwork at every step of this trip!), we met with our host, a friend of a friend that agreed to let us stay at his place for two weeks. His letting us stay at his place for free was awesome news; we found this out about two weeks before we left for the trip. More awesome news was that his house was just outside of Stonetown, which hosts an interesting portion of Zanzibar's shops and architecture.

We received not very awesome news, however, after we exited the ferry and met our host. Specifically, he told us that Zanzibar was currently without power and had been for a few weeks. Our host told us that the government was making promises that the power would be back on within a week; he was hopeful, but sceptical. The power never came.

So the house we stayed at was awesome, but because of the lack of power we didn't have electricity or running water. In order to take showers and wash cloths, we scooped out water from an underground tank that our host had on his property. I have washed cloths by hand and have taken bucket baths SEVERAL times before, so this was no problem for me. The problem was that the house was a sweat box! There was no crosswind, so the house was full of heat, stale air, and mosquitoes...my God, the mosquitoes! Sleeping was difficult, I soon found out as I lay on a couch covered in sweat and swatting at the mosquitoes that always seemed to bite me right as I was dozing off to sleep.

This didn't affect my mood, though; nothing could dampen my spirits. Well, almost nothing. I did receive some bad news while on the bus ride from Kigali to Dar es Salaam. Jean-Marie, my secondary counterpart and best friend in my village, texted me to let me know that the director of the health center we work at had transferred him to a health center in another village; the village was only like 30 (thirty) minutes away, but he would have to move. This news did not please me at all; I didn't realize how close friends he and I had become until he told me this news. I felt a legitimate sense of loss when he texted me his goodbyes and wished me safe travels.

Putting this bad news behind me, the group and I spent our first day in Zanzibar looking for a good beach. On the way to a beach that our host had recommended, we stumbled upon the Mbweni ruins. These ruins were the site of an old church, an old factory, and many more structures. We explored them for a while and pressed on towards the beach.

The beaches of Zanzibar are bitter-sweet, as we soon learned. We went to many, many beaches and I won't make this blog entry longer by describing each beach adventure, so I'll sum them up. Zanzibar beaches have an incredible low tide. This is cool because you are able to walk around and find a lot of aquatic life. We saw hermit crabs (land and water), clams, starfish (Brandon found one bigger than his head!), sea cucumbers, fiddler crabs, and different kinds of smaller fish. We also found a jelly fish. Well, it found me...at least my leg. (That hurt like hell.) We also found a TON of sea urchins, which I began to loath towards the middle of our trip. I stepped on one and got a thorn in my foot. Malcolm got hurt the worst, though. On New Years Eve he stepped on one and got his foot covered with the spiny protrusions! He is currently getting them pulled out by the PCMO in Kigali.

The night of the first day we visited a place called the Forodhani Gardens. We went there several times after the first night; again, I won't describe every visit in detail, but I'll sum them up. Forodhani Gardens reminded me of the 'Taste of Chicago,' but for Zanzibar. The Gardens is set up in a large courtyard area every evening and there are about 30 (thirty) tables set up in this area. Some tables sold biscuits, breads, and even sugar cane juice (delicious!), but most of the tables were hosted by fishermen; these tables showcased their catches for the day. We walked up to the tables, told them what we wanted, and they cooked it on a grill behind the table. It was great; we ate lobster, crab, muscles, shrimp, squid, octopus (side note: according to some fishermen, eating octopus gives men incredible sexual powers; of course, this was explained to us in much more vulgar terms, but its an interesting bit of cultural information, none-the-less), shellfish, shark, eel, barracuda, tuna, white fish, and so much more...for real cheap too!

Most of our time was divided between hanging out at the beaches and walking through Stonetown. Stone town is very cool; again, this is where the bulk of Zanzibar's shops and cool architecture reside. The streets of Stonetown were narrow and motorbikes and bicycles honked noisily and zipped past us as we wandered the streets. The smell of deliciousness filled the air as we walked past curios displaying exotic spices and items from Kenya, Tanzania, the Middle East, and India. Zanzibar doors, covered in 4-6 (four to six) inch spikes, lined either side of the narrow roads. (Side Note: These spikes are a characteristic of architecture found in India. Apparently, Indian palace doors are lined with these spikes to prevent intruders from overtaking their palaces with elephants. There are no elephants in Zanzibar and, even if there were, the streets would be too narrow to allow an attack on any curio via elephant.) Shop owners greeted us in English and Swahili (the native tongue of Zanzibar and all of Tanzania, for that matter) and invited us in to view their wares, try their teas, and purchase their spices.

We shopped at these curios for quite some time. Though most of us had limited funds, we agreed that having a 'Secret Santa' Christmas would be pretty cool...and it was. Malcolm drew my name from the hat and got me a real cool Tanzanian soccer jersey; I picked Tom and got him this cool Masai weapon; I forget its name, but it was club-like. Christmas was fun, in spite of it being the hottest Christmas ever for me and being half way around the world from my family.

Two days after Christmas, by this time there was like 12 people (all from different NGOs and NPOs) in our host's house, we decided to take a 'spice tour' as one, big group. Being on the 'Spice Island' we couldn't leave without experiencing this attraction. The tour was of a 'spice garden,' a king's palace, the slave caves, and the local beach; we also had lunch included in the tour.

It was amazing; our guide drove us out to the countryside and led us through a 'spice garden' and pointed out the various spices and fruits that grow in a typical Zanzibarian 'spice garden.'

Wait, wait, wait!

Not only did he point them out to us, he let us eat some too! We tried fruit like jackfruit (which tastes like a cross between pineapple and banana), coconut (straight from the tree), pineapple (no biggie), starfruit, lichee fruit, and more. And we tried spices like vanilla, cinnamon, lemon grass, nutmeg, cardamon, and many more. After walking the garden we ate at a local place and continued our journey to see the king's palace, the caves where Arab slavers contained the African slaves they caught, and the local beach. The attractions after lunch were okay, but I thought the best part of the tour was in the morning: walking through the gardens and eating everything our guide suggested we try.

The next day Tom, Malea, Miya, and I visited the Jozani-Chwaka Bay National Park and took a park tour. This tour included a walk through the forest, monkey tracking, and a visit to the mangroves; we could have also seen sea turtles for a few dollars extra, but we were tired after those three attractions and we really didn't have the money. At any rate, the walk through the jungle was beautiful and the mangroves were pretty cool. What I liked best were the monkeys! Zanzibar has a very special breed of monkey called the Red Colobus; apparently, they are found only in Zanzibar. We tracked them down alright, but there wasn't much tracking involved at all! As soon as we started walking towards where the monkeys are usually spotted, we stumbled upon them instantly. There must have been 30-40 (thirty to forty)!

Two days after that tour, we took a tour of the old Anglican Church, which, before the church's creation, was the site of the slave trade market. We toured the church, the tunnels underneath the church, and we saw the memorial built for the slaves that had passed through this area. I would recommend this tour if you are interested in Zanzibar history and want to spend some time out of the sun; this tour doesn't take much time, though. If you have some time and are interested in outdoor activities, however, the two previous tours I mentioned are the best bang for your buck.

The next day was New Years Eve; we visited Kendwa Rocks...a beach resort...I bet you thought I was going to talk about another tour, right? Nope. The tours are done. Anyway, Kendwa Rocks had, by far, the best beach ever. In the evening there was a big NYE party, but I did not partake. I know, I know. Laaaaaaaaame! But I was so tired! I had eaten an awesome meal and I just wanted to rest. The room I was in had a fan (the resort had a generator, so they had some power), a nice bed, a shower, and NO mosquitoes. I read a bit, listened to some music, and passed out. That is how I rang in 2010.

The next day, our trip to Zanzibar was officially finished. We packed up our gear and took the ferry back to Dar es Salaam. We knew someone in Dar, so we stayed at her place for the night. She showed us a little of the city, but we mainly just hung out at the mall. That's right, baby! Dar's got a mall! I felt like I was back in the States...air conditioning, ice cream, a fast food place, everything! Hell, they even had a real movie theater! (I became sooooo home sick that day.) So we all took in a movie...'Sherlock Holmes'...very entertaining, I thought...a bit long, yes...but I was eating popcorn in a legitimate, air conditioned movie theater...I didn't want the movie to end!

When we got to her place, which was also air conditioned, we watched CABLE T.V.! Cable, man! I still had to sleep on a couch, but it was the best couch ever. Her apartment complex even had an elevator...an elevator! (Again, I was really, really home sick that day.)

After a good night's rest, we got up early in the morning and began the 30 (thirty) hour bus ride back to Kigali. The trip back was horrible. Not because we were leaving, though that did suck, but because the bus was in shambles and the driver was crazy. On the way from Kigali to Dar, the bus ride was good. The seats were nice, the driver knew how to drive, and the bus even had a television...we watched music videos and the great JCVD flick 'Bloodsport'...in English! The way back was NOT on the same bus. We seriously thought we were going to die a couple of times. Anyway, we made it to Kigali safe and sound.

Once I got back to Kigali, I immediately started working on loading pictures to facebook and writing on my blog. And that was my trip to Zanzibar...

ALSO! It has almost been a full year since I have started Peace Corps. I'd like to do a 2009 reflection entry at the end of this month or some time in February. Keep a look out for that...

Zanzibar, Tanzania...here...we...COME!

2009-12-18T10:51:00.007+02:00

(Pictured Here: Africa.)

Leaving tomorrow...VERY early in the morning...27 hour bus ride from Kigali, Rwanda to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Once we arrive in the city, we will take a ferry to ZANZIBAR!

Once we arrive, it is going to be sandy beaches and Indian Ocean sea food for two weeks, baby! I encourage everyone to google Zanzibar, Tanzania; it has a very interesting history AND the pictures are beautiful.

In other news, the PC trainees swear in tomorrow and become official PC Rwanda Volunteers. Congrats to my capable comrades.

It has been kind of a slow week here; busy with preparations, but slow as far as interesting stories and events are concerned. Anyway, please do keep us in your prayers as we PCVs are traveling these next few weeks. Happy Holidays to all and God Bless!

PCT Site Visits, a Close Shave, and GLOW Camp

2009-12-08T15:50:00.006+02:00

(Pictured Here: Dieudonne and Mugeni walking down the aisle.)

November 2009 closed out strong and December 2009 is looking AWESOME! This is becoming a great end to a great year.

Thanksgiving was pretty cool. A bunch of us PCVs got together and cooked at the Peace Corps office in Kigali. We had all the fixings: sweet potatoes, a turkey, and even apple pie for desert. Good times. Good times.

After Thanksgiving (on Sunday, November 29) I attended the wedding of two nurses, Dieudonne and Mugeni. As weddings go, it was pretty standard. Don't get me wrong, it was fun and it was AWESOME to see my two co-workers marry each other, but the wedding itself was normal and followed the same formula as the other weddings in which I have participated. However, I only attended the religious portion of this wedding. I missed the dowry ceremony, which took place earlier in the month; I couldn't afford to go to Gisenyi again, the site of the dowry ceremony.

Later that week, Peace Corps began scheduling some of the current trainees to visit me at my site. Their objectives were to live with me for a couple days, ask me questions, and get a general feel for living in rural Rwanda. I had three different trainees come at two separate times to visit me and each visit lasted about three days and two nights.

The visits went great, I thought. The trainees that visited me were good guys and I am sure they are going to do very well in Rwanda. These site visits are not standard practice, however. Usually, trainees are sent out to their sites for a week to see where they will be living and working for the next two or three years. Because these trainees have yet to have their sites finalized, Peace Corps Rwanda decided to send them to current PCV sites for a couple of days instead.

I am very happy these site visits happened. Not only did I get to know some of my colleagues a bit better, but our exploration of the countryside led to a few interesting stories. Most notable, I suppose, is the hair cut adventure that Scott, Kevin and I had last week. The long and short of it, quite literally, is that I had my long, golden locks shaved COMPLETELY OFF...I am talking to the scalp, people...bare skin! Ah! So the story goes a little like this...

...Scott and Kevin came to the Rwamagana country side (last Monday afternoon), where I live. I got their things in my house and we rested for a bit. After brief introductions, I asked them what they would like to do first. Kevin mentioned that he wanted to get a hair cut. Scott and I agreed that this was a good idea for us all, as we were all a bit shaggy looking. I was excited about this expedition because I had never had my hair cut in my village; I always went into Rwamagana city and convinced PCV Crissy to cut my hair. I have received hair cuts by Rwandans before...most Rwandans don't know how to cut white peoples' hair...I never really like the results...ha! HOWEVER, I did need a hair cut and I knew that I would not see Crissy for another two weeks, as she was leaving for Ethiopia the very next day. I figured I would just suck it up and get another Rwandan hair cut.

Kevin, Scott, and I walked next door to the barber shop. Though we only traveled a few yards, we already attracted a sizable crowd; it was time to see the white man get his hair cut! After briefly negotiating the price for our hair cuts, I volunteered to go first. I figured that Kevin and Scott would see me get my hair cut and decide if a Rwandan hair cut is what they really wanted; I just wanted to make sure they knew what they were getting into.

So I took a seat in the chair and I began making small talk with Kevin and Scott...you know, just shootin' the breeze...trying to be a good host. Well, I was looking at them while I was speaking and I was NOT paying attention to how my hair was being cut. When I did get a glimpse of the left side of my head, where he was shaving, I noticed how much hair he was actually shaving off...I became a bit startled to say the least. Every time I have had a Rwandan hair cut, my hair was cut very short, BUT I still had some hair on my head; I figured that this time would be no different. WRONG! This hair cut was to the freakin' scalp! He was sheering me like a sheep!

At that point in the hair cut, I had two choices: I could have him do the same shaving job to the right side of my head and have some sort of bowl cut or something OR I could just get it all shaved off. Well...I just let him shave everything off and now I am bald. I have only now really started getting used to how it looks and feels. It sure is a lot cooler, that's for sure, BUT I look like a giant baby! I really don't care for the look and neither do my neighbors in the village; they openly laughed and mocked me...kind of a humbling day. The whole thing was still pretty funny, though.

Cultural Lesson Learned: Make sure the barber has a guard on his sheers before he begins shaving!

The next day was December 1, World AIDS/HIV Day. The health center I work at organized a village-wide party at the local group school to educate people about the disease and celebrate healthy living. The party was great! It began with some speakers and short sketches organized by the cooperatives run by HIV positive villagers. Later in the evening a live band came and played for a couple hours. This live act was complete with drums, electric guitar, and bass guitar; the first live band of this kind that I have seen in Rwanda. They were great! We danced in this little classroom for almost two straight hours. It was soooooo fun! After the dance party, the nurses got together with me, Kevin, and Scott and we had a couple of beers and goat brochettes. It was so well organized and so much fun.

After I dropped off Kevin and Scott in Kigali on Wednesday of last week, I went straight to the Red Cross Center in Kigali to help my fellow PCVs in organizing and executing the Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) Camp. The Camp hosted 80 girls, ages 14-20 years, from all over Rwanda for about a week. The Camp's purpose was to encourage and empower these girls to be leaders in their schools, communities, and, after graduation from secondary school, in all of Rwanda. The Camp had notable speakers talk about public health and nutrition, workshops about leadership and teamwork, and a bunch of fun events such as a dance party and a talent show.

I could speak more in depth about GLOW Camp, but it would seriously take like two or three blog entries to describe the week and what happened....it was AWESOME! AAAAAAAAAND, it was totally and completely organized and executed by PCVs; I didn't do much to help put this GLOW Camp together, but I did help execute it. I was a facilitator and I was in charge of escorting a specific group of eight (8) girls from session to session; I even taught a few health sessions to the girls myself. It was blast. I just got back from it and I am in a state of exhausted enthusiasm, if that makes any sense. I probably should have waited to write this blog entry, but I am going to Tanzania next weekend and I still have a bunch of things to do before I can go on this vacation.

Random Side Note: PCVs in Kigali found a place that is open 24hrs; it sells beer, Gyros, and other fast foods! This news is so incredible, you don't even know.

Well, that has been my life since the last entry. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as my friends and I trek through Tanzania. Peace!

Hot Springs, Circus Performers, and...a Never Nude?!

2009-11-19T14:30:00.010+02:00

(Pictured Here: Rwandan Circus Performers in Gisenyi.)

Wow! These past few weeks have been very busy; since IST, the time has just been flying by.

Since my last entry, Halloween has come and gone. A group of us decided that it would be cool to get together in Rwamagana and celebrate. Rwandans don't recognize this fun holiday, so we were on our own; we came up with our own decorations and costumes. It was rough. We didn't even have pumpkins! We had to carve green peppers. Ha! Okay, well, we didn't HAVE to do it, but Brandon thought it would work...it sorta did.

The day before the party, Brandon and I decided to visit the market in Rwamagana and see what we could buy to create our own costumes. I ended up buying a 'fighter pilot' jacket I found. I decided I would slick my hair back, wear aviators, and chew gum...thus, 'Iceman' from 'Top Gun.' Brandon bought a bunch of Rasta clothing and decided to go as 'Rastaman.' Emily got REALLY creative with her costume and created a whole butterfly outfit which turned out really nice.

Malea and Tom came into town the day of the party and visited the market themselves. Malea already had a costume (a tourist), but Tom was still searching his heart, and the used clothing piles, for just the right costume. Tom settled on buying two blouses, one of which looked suspiciously like a cape, and wore them in such a way that his appearance resembled that of a street walker...I mean, a night walker...or...a walker of the night?...arg...he looked like a vampire (not a prosti-dude) is what I am trying to say here.

Malcolm attended the Halloween party too. He, like Tom, also took risks regarding his costume. Malcolm came dressed as a 'Never Nude,' a very fictitious and hilarious psychological affliction made famous by the show 'Arrested Development.' Kara and Crissy (overhearing Brandon's disgust for 'those girls back home that dress as 'sexy cats' every Halloween') dressed as 'sexy cats.' Brandon foolishly thought he would finally attend a Halloween party that had no 'sexy cats' in attendance...wrong!

It was a really cool night; the weather was perfect, the food was great, we had a fire going, and there was plenty of beer to be had. (AND...we had 'sexy cats!') Good times.

In work related news, the HIV/AIDS mobile testing units have finished their rounds. We tested almost 2,000 people, which is awesome; those people testing positive with HIV have been put into our counseling program and have started their ARV treatments. Some of these people have even joined some of the cooperatives (established by the health center) to raise money to help fund their treatments; these cooperatives mainly raise and sell goats. These cooperatives also serve a social function: as a support group for themselves and as an awareness group for schools, churches, and such. The newest health campaign was started this week: getting children vaccinated for Polio...so far, so good.

Switching gears and traveling back in time, the last two weekends were pretty cool. On the weekend of November 6, Brandon got the urge to explore the country a bit. He asked me and Malcolm if we were interested; we said 'yes.' The three of us decided to go to Gisenyi. Gisenyi is a Rwandan border town (next to the Democratic Republic of the Congo [D.R.C.]) in the Northwestern part of Rwanda; Gisenyi is on the Northern beaches of Lake Kivu.

We arrived in Gisenyi on Friday night. The next day we began to explore the city. We immediately stumbled upon a group of Rwandan circus performers juggling and doing gymnastics. We stood around and watched them practice their performance for a while. After a good hour or so we went to see the DRC border...it was alright...it was nothing as cool as seeing the Tanzanian border, though. (The Rusumo Falls were very cool!)

We were getting hungry. We decided we had to see ONE MORE sight before we ate lunch. This ONE sight was really the reason why we decided Gisenyi, of all the places to visit in Rwanda, was the best place to visit this particular weekend. Why did we think this? Because in the travel guides it says that Gisenyi is home to volcanic hot springs that, according to the residents, have mystical healing powers. We couldn't resist.

So we got to the hot springs and...they were cool, but...they were small, like puddles. I was thinking they were going to be these huge pools of warm water in the middle of some lush, jungle-like setting. I thought we were going to swim and I would be cured of the chest cold that I had been nursing that week. Wrong. The 'hot springs' were little, bubbling puddles of warm, sulfur-smelling liquid. They were neat, don't get me wrong, but I totally let my expectations run wild on this one...so, I was let down a little. Meh...it was still a fun trip, though.

The next weekend, the three of us (Brandon, Malcolm, and I) set out to the Southern part of Rwanda to visit some of our fellow volunteers and the new Peace Corps trainees at their training sites. We didn't have time to check out anything else, but, apparently, there are a bunch of art and historical museums in the town where the new training is being held; I saw the museums in Butare while I was completing my training, but I haven't seen the ones near the new training sites. Malcolm, Brandon, and I decided we would check them out the next time we were passing through that area.

Back to a work related update; the schools are on break now. My class is PACKED again! This time, however, it is not loaded with the 'movers and shakers' of the community as much as it is loaded with high school students on vacation. I still have a lot of older students, though.

My students are asking me for a break. I couldn't agree more. I really hope I don't jinx myself by announcing this, but me and a few of the volunteers are trying to get a two week trip to Zanzibar going next month. Zanzibar is a small 'island' off of the coast of mainland Tanzania, in the Indian Ocean, and I hear its awesome. The trip planning is going well; I am happy to announce that I have the tickets reserved and ready to go. Man! I can't wait! I really hope this works out. I'll keep you posted.

The October Post

2009-10-23T13:32:00.018+02:00

( Pictured Here: Christine, Mediatrice, and Rosine [from back to front] test villagers for HIV at a local school.)

The October Post: Let's see what I got for ya this month...

I got my kitchen roof fixed...that's all done and paid for. The new one is holding up just fine.

Oh yeah! I wanted to mention something else regarding cultural norms about alcohol. Specifically, Rwandans have a big fear about being poisoned; all drinks (alcoholic or not) are opened in front of you to prove that nothing was put in the bottle. This is not news to me, really. I remember being in college and people telling me not to consume drinks that I didn't pour myself or that haven't been in my possession the entire night. In Rwanda, they are really serious about this...REALLY serious.

I have a friend at the health center I work at and her mother passed away about two months ago. Her death was drawn-out and painful; she was barely taking in any water and she was not eating at all. The community and her family (even her daughter, my friend and a lab tech at the health center) were convinced that a jealous neighbor poisoned her. They took her to hospitals in Kigali and Rwamagana, but the medical staff couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. It wasn't malaria, or T.B., or advanced AIDS, or anything else for which they tested her. The only conclusion people could come up with was that she was poisoned. (I don't know what the doctors said specifically; however, I had a pretty strong pulse on the community's perspective and they were were saying 'poison, poison, poison.')

What seemed to have complicated her treatment program (from my perspective) was that, according to the community, she had a specific poison that led to instant death if she was hooked up to an I.V.; so, she never got an I.V. Moreover, I know she was taking medicaion from the doctors she visited, but she was also taking medication from a local medicine man. I asked my friend what was in the drugs the medicine man was giving to her mother and she didn't know. I insisted that we find out; my friend's reply was that, 'he'll never share his secrets.' I tried another angle; I suggested we try to figure out who might have poisoned her. If we know the person who might have done this, we could figure out what poison was used. Depending on the poison, maybe we could alter her treatment to counter its effects somehow. My friend's response was that, 'we'll never know who it was for sure.'

My friend's mother passed away at the hospital in Rwamagana...she was 46 years old. (I didn't know the funeral was that same day, so I was unable to participate.)

9. Do NOT accept a bottle that has not been opened in front of you AND be sure to keep the bottle close to you as you consume its contents.

What are some other things that happened? Oh yeah! So, the Peace Corps Medical Officer (PCMO) for Rwanda was at a medical conference in Thailand and she was having a discussion with a representative from the US ARMY (I think it was the US ARMY; it was definitely one of the branches of the US armed forces) and, naturally, the topic of tropical bugs and illnesses came up. Well, she mentioned my experience with jiggers and the representative was very interested in having the photos she took of my feet; the rep wanted to have them on file to teach new recruits about local ailments and such. Anyway, the PCMO asked me if the rep could have the pics and I said yes, of course. I wish I had taken pictures myself, but it was just so gross. Maybe I'll get the ones that the PCMO took and post them so you can take a look.

Let's see...what else...what else...

Well, we have more volunteers in Rwanda as of this month. We have about 35 'newbies' and they are being trained to be English teachers. I was able to spend some time with them in Kigali when they first arrived. They seem very nice and they are very excited to be in Rwanda. I am sure they will be successful in Pre-Service Training (PST) and go on to be great volunteers; heck, about fifteen (15) of them are volunteers from Mauritania, so they have played this game before.

Wait.
Volunteers from Mauritania? What?
Let me explain.

Sometimes a country that has Peace Corps volunteers becomes a little too unsafe; so, Peace Corps pulls out. When Peace Corps pulls out of a country, the volunteers in that country are given a choice to complete their COS (Close of Service) or continue their tour of service at a post in another country. Well, Mauritania (a rather large country in Northwestern Africa) closed about two months ago and fifteen (15) of this country's PC volunteers decided to continue their service in Rwanda.

In other news, the remaining Peace Corps Rwanda volunteers that I graduated with are organizing a bunch of different projects. Jessica is spearheading the 'Books for Africa' campaign which is doing really well. A handful of the other volunteers have been working hard at coordinating a G.L.O.W. (Girls Leading Our World) camp to empower Rwandan young women (high school aged). I am helping them with what I can, but I have decided not to take any serious leadership roles in these awesome projects. Things in my village are just too busy for me to be of any real help to my PC cohort.

Two weeks ago there was a national campaign for vaccinating children. The nurses at my health center were divided among the various make-shift health posts throughout my community; they spent the entire day vaccinating children and updating the childrens' growth charts. Because some of the nurses were spread throughout the villages working with the community health workers to get these kids vaccinated, the staff at the health center was nearly cut in half. I decided I would be of better use if I stayed at the health center and helped counsel patients - my standard 7am to 5pm day.

These next few weeks are going to be pretty busy too. Just a few days ago, the health center began visiting different village 'health posts' in my community to test people for HIV. (I don't know if this is a national campaign or just something the health center came up with on its own; I forgot to ask.) I have been put into the 'HIV Testing Mobile Unit' weekly rotation with the nurses to help record data and do some counseling; so, I will be doing that once a week for the next two weeks.

My first 'HIV Testing Mobile Unit' rotation was actually Tuesday of this week and it was...interesting. The nurses and I got a late start to the testing site because we had guests in the morning, so the staff meeting went a little long. Anyway, once we got to the site, we were able to test 107 people. That part of the experience was really cool...people wanted to be tested, which was good. After we analyzed the results, however, I became very...well...sad. Eighteen (18) of the 107 people tested were positive. (I wish I could tell you statistics like these are uncommon in my area.) We registered them in our counseling program and got them started on ARVs.

I do wish I had brought my camera to get some photos of the nurses working hard, but I suppose I can do that next week.

Anyway, that has been my month or so...

Man, I just read through this and I was wrong...a lot has happened over this month...(*side note: my stupid 'Check Spelling' application on the blog won't work for some reason so this entry is probably full of spelling mistakes and gramatical errors. Meh.)

Okay, I got a funny story (well, sorta funny) that I can close with. Kara, Brandon, and I were coming back from Kigali a few months ago; we had a meeting or something, I can't remember. Well, we got into the matatu (a swahili word used to refer to the taxi-vans) and Kara and Brandon took seats near the front. I sat in the back. (I like the back...right next to a window...its great...I don't have a good reason for this, I just like it.) The seat I had was in between these two big guys sitting next to a third big guy...I mean big. Behind our seat were bags of someone's goods...you know, bananas and stuff like that. Needless to say, we were cramped. I mean we were shoulder to shoulder, which is pretty standard seating when a person is sitting in a matatu, but I was being crushed between these guys. Anyway, instead of sitting with my shoulders up to my ears and burying my chin into my chest for the whole trip, I decided I would put my right arm behind the seat to give me more shoulder room.

About fifty minutes passed and most of the ride to Rwamagana from Kigali was finished. At that point I was looking out the window to my left and my right hand was casually toying with the bags behind the seat. All of a sudden, I felt a horrible pain in my hand.

I haven't been stung by a bee since I was in gradeschool. Well, the streak is over, baby. I never saw the bee that did it, but it stung like a dirty *expletive deleted*! Well, I was so shocked by the sudden surge of pain in my hand (which quickly shot up my wrist) that I brought my arm up without thinking. This reflexive action was executed in no careful manner; I swung my arm up so quick and with so much force that I totally slapped the guy next to me in the back of the head! (Ah! Sorry! Sorry!) Now I know why we were trained in Kinyarwanda! I was able to talk my way out of the physical beating that I was about to encounter as a result of this inadvertent provocation; not that I had practiced this scenario in training or anything. He was actually really cool about it; he seemed to understand that when a big ol' African bee stings you, it freakin' hurts!

A Mighty Wind

2009-09-24T11:39:00.011+02:00

(Not Pictured Here: The roof to my kitchen/storage unit!)

Two weeks ago I received a phone call from Malcolm, a PCV stationed in Kigali. He asked me if I wanted to go with him and Taylor, another PCV, to a party in Cyangugu. I was very hesitant to go. I wasn't worried that Cyangugu was an hour away from the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) or that I would literally have to ride through a rain forest to get there; I was worried about the distance I would have to travel from my village.

I live in the East and Cyangugu is at the far Southwestern tip of the country. Rwanda isn't that big, I know, but I knew that if I went, I would be spending the better part of a day in a crowded car or bus. Moreover, I heard that traveling through the rain forest is a rough ride and makes people carsick; PCVs from the West have told me many stories about people vomiting all over each other. Needless to say, I was having my doubts about going. Malcolm did counter all my expressed reservations with the 'you only live once' card. (In the game of traveling, this is a trump card.) I quickly changed my mind and agreed to meet Malcolm and Taylor in Kigali to take a bus together to Cyangugu.

The ride was very long, but it was very scenic. I was 100% correct about what was going to happen; someone threw up. It was gross; I'll spare you the details but Taylor and Malcolm were sitting right next to the girl when it happened. I don't believe anyone was 'hit' in the ordeal, but it was pretty gross. ALSO I was 100% right about spending the entire day in a crowded car/bus. By the time we arrived at the party, I personally had spent TWELVE HOURS in transit. The trip was fun, though. We stopped at this one place that sold street meat, corn on the cob, peanuts, and bunch of other things. I had a little of everything; it was great.

The party was being held by an NGO (NGO = I will give them some anonymity here); a bunch of other PCVs from Rwanda were invited. These NGO people were the best hosts and hostesses in the world. They knew that their headquarters was a bit out of the way from our arrival spot, so they actually drove out of their way to come pick us up so we didn't have to hire a taxi. All we had to do was call when we got off the bus; we did so and they told us it would be thirty (30) minutes or so before they got to us. With that amount of time on our hands, we all agreed we could go to a 'bar' and have a beer.

I have learned many things about ordering alcohol in rural Rwanda. For example:

1. Only men are allowed to drink in public. A woman can drink alcohol in public; however, if she does it often she will develop a very bad reputation...specifically, she will be seen as a prostitute.

2. Children aren't suppose to drink alcohol, but they do; I have stumbled across a few drunk grade school students once or twice. They are not served in any of the bars, but who is to stop them from drinking at home, where there are gallons and gallons of homemade banana beer.

3. Children cannot be served in a 'bar,' but they can work there. Heck, if it is a family owned bar (and most of them are), they are expected to work there. When I mean work, I mean work: taking orders, closing tabs, and managing the place when the parents are out running errands.

4. There are really only two comercial domestic beers in Rwanda: Primus and Mutzig. I really don' care for either one, so I hardly drink anymore. There are many foreign beers, but they are expensive.

5. Beers come in 'small' and 'big' sizes. The 'small' size is what you generally see in America. The 'big' size is about 40 oz. The 'big' size is really the 'normal' size here. If you order a beer and don't specifically say 'small' or 'big,' they bring the 40 oz one out. If you order a foreign beer, which only comes in 'small,' they will assume you want the amount comparable to a 'big' beer and bring out two 'smalls.' I have ordered an Amstel many times and have been brought two; I always forget to say one only.

6. Ordering an orange Fanta is pretty much telling the entire room that you are a virgin. Apparently, Orange Fanta = Virginity. Naturally, orange is the best flavor in the world, so I have had to endure many jokes because of my taste for this delicious beverage.

7. If you are ordering hard liquor, be prepared to buy the entire bottle. No shots served here, baby; bottle service only.

These are really the big seven cultural notes I have made regarding alcohol.

Okay, back to the story...and the eighth lesson I have learned about Rwandan cultural practices pertaining to alcohol consumption.

So Malcolm and I are drinking a 40 oz Primus each and Taylor is drinking a Fanta. We are enjoying being on solid ground and not being around people about the throw up...just waiting for our ride. We figure we have got twenty (20) minutes to down our drinks before our ride comes. WRONG! Our ride pulls up almost immediately after we order! Apparently, our arrival was anticipated and our ride left before we called.

At this point, it was pretty easy for Taylor to finish her Fanta, but Malcolm and I each still had to finish much of a beer that we didn't really enjoy. No words were said; Malcolm and I just looked at each other and began chugging our beers like college Freshmen. BIG MISTAKE! The crowd in and around the bar began to make noises of disapproval and shook their heads with disgrace. One elderly man even began to lecture Malcolm, thinking he was Rwandan, in Kinyarwanda about how chugging beer in public is bad form. We said our awkward apologies, gave our bottles to the disgruntled barkeeper, and jumped into the truck that had been waiting for us to finish.

8. Under no circumstances is one allowed to chug a beer in public!

Anyway...

The party was great. The hosts gave us a place to stay and a ton of good food; they had a movie projector and a ping-pong table; they even had a dog AND puppies. I know this may not sound like big news, but Rwanda has almost NO dogs...NONE...I see no dogs as pets and no stray dogs at all. My dad raises and breeds Beagles for hunting and various gaming competitions, so the Reeb house has always had at least one dog since I could remember. It was weird to be in the presence of 'man's best friend' having not been around one for almost eight (8) months.

At any rate, I cannot rave enough about how well our hosts received us; seriously, it was good stuff. We had a dance party the night we arrived, they took us to a private beach on Lake Kivu the next day, we went swimming...and the food...my goodness the food! Good times. Good times.

When the party finished on Sunday (it was a long party, baby) we all left for site. Malcolm, Taylor and I traveled together and experienced yet another person throwing up...gross. I was the farthest away from Cyangugu and it took me all day to get back to Rwamagana city...I spent the night in the city and returned to my village Monday morning.

Upon returning home Monday morning, I noticed that everything was in the order I had left it; everything was just fine. I decided to take it easy that morning and not go into work right away. I just wanted to unpack, eat, and read a little bit. I did all three; it was great.

The weather was normal. It was great reading weather for me, actually. I get this cross breeze when I leave my windows open and I always keep my doors blinded with this light colored sheet, so during the day my house has this soft, sleepy light. It is really relaxing in the late mornings and early afternoons, especially after eating a big meal. I take a nap at least one hour every day after lunch, in fact. On top of the eight (8) to nine (9) hours of sleep I get every night, I would say that I am becoming very well rested here.

At any rate, I was relaxing and about to nod off when a mighty wind blew through the streets of my village. This wind shook the entire house! It caused so much noise! For a minute, I thought a huge truck had had some kind of speeding accident. I looked out my window and saw nothing out of the ordinary; so, I started reading again and fell asleep.

About an hour later (around 12:30pm) I woke up and walked outside to use the restroom. The first thing I saw was a man on my neighbor's roof. Then I looked at the roof next to it...my kitchen/storage unit roof. It was gone! Flat out disappeared, man! For a very brief moment I had this ridiculous idea that someone had took my roof. I was going to call out to the man working on my neighbor's roof, but I stopped myself from making any kind of scene. I looked over my fence and realized that a small crowd was hanging out by the well, waiting for me to come out of my house; they wanted to see how I'd react; we Americans, after all, are very loud, dramatic, and pushy.

I tried to look natural as I started looking around for...my roof. I couldn't find it. Ha! I got changed and began walking to my landlord's house to tell him about the situation. Well, as soon as I walked outside my gate, there he was talking to the neighbor whose house on which my roof had landed. Apparently the mighty wind had taken my roof to the house just next to mine; that's where all the noise had come from.

Within a week, the roof was fixed; you can see the pictures on my facebook page. At the end of the week, my landlord told me the new roof, the repairs to the neighbor's house, and the addition to the bathroom roof, cost a total of 109,000 Rwandan Francs (just under $200.00 American dollars). He asked if Peace Corps could help with some of the cost; Peace Corps agreed. So this past week I have been trying to arrange a meeting with him to negotiate the amount of help Peace Corps is willing to provide.

Arranging a meeting has been pretty difficult, however; thus, this situation has yet to be formally resolved. My landlord doesn't speak English very well and I don't know enough Kinyarwanda or French to negotiate landscaping fees and charges. So, I asked Jean-Marie, a good friend of mine at the health center, to help me translate. He agreed...for the price of two Mutzig beers, which I readily bought for him...and he readily drank...I still have yet to sit down with my landlord, however. Whenever I am free, he is not; whenever he is free, Jean-Marie is not. I am pretty much ready to this thing at any time, but the other two parties appear to have strongly conflicting schedules. Meh...it'll all work out...it always does.

Rusumo Falls and Wednesday

2009-09-05T14:00:00.007+02:00

(Pictured here: Rusumo Falls)

Rusumo Falls was very cool. A few PCVs (Brandon, Tom, Malea, and Anna) and I decided to take a day trip to the Rwanda/Tanzania border (Rusumo) to check it out a few weeks ago. We couldn't cross into Tanzania because Peace Corps has very strict regulations regarding crossing borders; we needed clearance weeks in advance in order to step into Tanzania. Anyway, I posted a few pics on facebook...check 'em out.

In other news, the Director of Peace Corps Rwanda has asked each of us to write a story for the Peace Corps publication 'A Life Inspired,' a collection of short stories written by volunteers in the field. I have been trying to get something to him these past couple of weeks, but I am not happy with my drafts. I write something out, I edit it, and I am just not happy with what I produce. It would really be cool to have a story in this widely disseminated text, but I don't like anything I write. Maybe I will submit an old blog post...I dunno...I'll keep you posted. (I have been doing a lot of writing these past few months and, let me tell ya, I have a much deeper appreciation for writers and their craft!)

The classes are going well, though attendance is shrinking. I think my newness in the community is wearing off...*sigh*. On the plus side, I am getting along with my community members well and I am having to explain my presence less and less, which is okay with me. I have been giving my welcoming speech since April; I have had that thing memorized since May...in Kinyarwanda!

*Maybe I should post two blog entries, but its easier for me to publish them as one.*

I heard about gacaca in training. Gacaca is the community-based court that was used in pre-colonial days and has recently been reinstated to process cases and trials concerning the genocide of 1994; the courts also hear the cases of people that are accused of minor offenses. There were so many offenders during those 100 days in 1994 that it would take a few high courts a lifetime to convict everyone that was involved. In response to this problem, the government revived the traditional community courts throughout the sectors to convict and assign punishment to perpetrators, thus speeding up the judicial process.

The gacaca court for my sector is generally held at the sector headquarters every Wednesday. These past few weeks, however, the court location has changed to the health center's front lawn. That means every Wednesday I get to see five (5) to eight (8) different court cases. When I say see, I really mean see...ONLY. I NEVER approach the open-air court proceedings any closer than I have to and I do NOT ask about what is going on during the trials; I keep my distance as much as possible.

Generally these proceedings begin in the afternoon and finish in the early evening; they are attended by the judges (4 or 5), the accused (5-8), the witnesses (varying in number), and community members (also varying in number). The stores remain closed Wednesday mornings to recognize the importance of the trials to be held that afternoon, but the crowd of community onlookers is never very big. The court cannot give out extremely harsh punishments, like death, but they do give out long prison terms and such.

(This style of judgment, gacaca, has its defenders and criticizers. I will not get into the philosophical discussion, but one of the defenders' arguments for this style of court and punishment distribution is that most everyone accused of taking part in 1994 will have had their case heard and, if guilty, will have served some sort of punishment for their crime. The officials in my sector say they will be finished with all local gacaca cases regarding the crimes of 1994 very soon.)

This last Wednesday was different than other Wednesdays, however. The crowd was rather large and instead of five (5) to eight (8) cases being heard, there was only one (1). When the trial started in the afternoon, I could tell it was important because a hush had fallen over the staff of the health center, which is usually loud and active regardless of what is going on. Nurses quietly treated patients, then went back to their office windows to watch the proceedings.

Curiosity slowly sunk in its fangs...I had to know what was going on, though I had a pretty strong hunch. I walked up to five nurses watching the case unfold from the window of the insurance office, the best office in the health center to hear and see the event. In a very hushed voice I asked the group what was going on. In broken English they revealed the story of the man whose case was being heard. Apparently he was one of the worst perpetrators in my sector during the 100 days of suffering in 1994. He confessed to his crimes and had been in custody at a local jail awaiting his trial. I will spare you the details of the trial...for many reasons. I will admit that I almost cried while the nurses were translating the testimony of the witnesses and the confessions of the criminal.

The trial went much later than normal. The nurses told me it was because of the amount of offenses committed...over 100...the accused said he lost count at 100. *slowly shaking my head* The judges needed more time to process the testimonies and confessions and agree upon the punishment. The judges were considering the strictest punishment a gacaca court was authorized to give...life imprisonment.

I didn't stay for the ruling. I didn't ask about it the next day. I didn't pry to find out more about the court system and its history. That is not to say I was not curious, but it wasn't the time nor the place to ask. What I do know is that I didn't recognize him; I never recognize the people that are on trial and nobody ever talks about them specifically, like they know them.

I know how this must read; not very uplifting. I had to mention this, though. It was an important day for my community; I had to write something about it.

...weddings...IST...fun times...

2009-08-10T10:05:00.008+02:00

(Pictured Here: Official Dowry Inspector and Comedian Extraordinaire)

The weddings were really cool. I would go into greater detail about them, but my feeble writing skills would not do them justice. HOWEVER, I would like to share a cool experience from each of the weddings.

I arrived 30 minutes late to the first wedding I attended, which was actually like two hours early! African time is much different then American time; so, I did a lot of waiting. (Don't worry, this isn't the cool story I wanted to share with you; just a side note.)

Hold on. Before I get further into my stories here, let me give you some background information about Rwandan weddings. The wedding begins at the house of the bride's parents. This first part of the wedding, the 'Dowry Ceremony,' comes before the Christian ceremony and is very traditional. During the Dowry Ceremony (bolding this term makes me feel like I'm writing a social studies book) the members of both sides of the family meet and discuss the terms of the wedding, which have been agreed upon before hand (so the discussions are pretty much for show). The main dialogue is between the father of the bride and the father of the groom, the heads of the two families.

The groom sits, waits, and watches as the parents and family members discuss. All the while, the bride is waiting in the house of her parents. Once all pleasantries have been exchanged, the father of the groom presents the father of the bride with the dowry. The dowry is generally a cow (though some families take money instead of livestock). If the dowry is accepted, then the bride can leave the house, be presented to the groom, and the marriage ceremony can officially begin.

At the first wedding I attended, a cow was the official dowry. Before the cow was presented, however, this random woman stood up, walked to the back of the house, and brought back some dried grass and banana leaves. She then started to burn them in a small pile next to where we were sitting. There was no flame; she was, obviously, trying to produce smoke only. The smoke began to rise, the crowd got silent, and the cow was led from its stable to the site of the dowry ceremony.

Once the cow arrived, an elderly man stood up and walked towards it. (When I say elderly, I mean ooooooold.) This guy was dressed traditionally (for his age), he moved with the support of a walking-stick, and walked a bit hunched over. He slowly moved up to the cow and began scrutinizing its appearance. He began inspecting the dowry gift to make sure it was an acceptable offering to the bride's family; the smoke had been produced to make the scene seem more mystical, so my sources tell me.

This guy was HILARIOUS. To be honest, I had no idea what he was saying. Ha! He spoke quickly and with a high, crackling, old-man voice, which totally added to the experience. He was cracking what I can only assume were jokes while he was inspecting the cow; he had everyone doubled over in laughter. Again, I really couldn't make out what he was saying, but laughter is contagious...so I was laughin' it up right there with everyone.

So he finishes his inspection; he suddenly stands straight up and begins waving his hands and walking-stick in the air; speaking loudly and straining his voice. Everyone begins to laugh even harder and clap crazily. The dowry inspection was a success!

Now we flash forward one week...

...the second wedding followed the same format, except money was the dowry.

Instead of two hours early, however, I was like three hours early...you would have thought that I learned my lesson, but that part of American culture (showing up at the time that an invitation requests you to arrive) has been hard for me to change.

Anyway, so we get to this wedding and it goes through the same motions as the first one. HOWEVER, after one of the longer conversations between the heads of the family, everyone sat and got quiet. Then the father of the groom stood up and made a few words...VERY passionately! He then clapped his hands once very loudly and began to dance...then EVERYONE on that side of the family started dancing. It was hilarious!

Everyone was dancing without music for like a minute, then the DJ put on some tunes. Apparently the dowry was the topic of the previous conversation...and it was approved. The scene was awesome, though. It was like something out of a Rodney Dangerfield movie...everyone just started dancing and music came on...seriously, if the DJ started playing Journey's 'Anyway You Want It,' I would not have been surprised.

Anyway, those are my wedding stories...kinda weak, I know, but that's all I got.

I just got back from In-Service Training (IST) at Kibuye, in West Province near Lake Kivu. I had a great time; it was awesome to see everyone. I posted some pics on facebook, of course. The only bad thing that happened was that I got a staff infection in my nose, so it got really big and red (that's what she said)...on top of that, my nose was sunburned! OUCH! I am recovering just fine, but for a little while I looked like I was transforming into 'Bozo'...I called the experience 'The Great Clowning!'

Teasers

2009-07-20T19:21:00.004+02:00

(Pictured here is Thacienne from her dowry ceremony held on July 26th, 2009. [Picture added to blog entry on July 31st, 2009.])

Ah! Busy, busy, busy. I haven't much time to type in full detail, but I'll give you some teasers:

-Saturday (07/18/09) I experienced my first Rwandan wedding...pretty cool, to say the least...

-I am the Master of Ceremonies for a Rwandan Ministry of Health/U.S.G. conference tomorrow in Kigali...

-Sunday (07/26/09) I have another wedding to attend...

-I was just notified that I have been selected by Peace Corps to help in the training of the new volunteers in the coming months...

-In-Service Training is coming soon...I get to present my work to my fellow volunteers in two weeks...I am thinking about doing five minutes of stand-up comedy too...we'll see...

So much to do; so much to prepare for...pictures to come on the next entry...pics on facebook soon...

Peace Out,

E.

For Pen Pals

2009-07-09T13:42:00.005+02:00

(Pictured Left: My bed...in the background are the broken frames...*sigh*)

Thank you all for your packages, letters, and emails...keep 'em comin'! I updated the 'For Pen Pals' section of this blog a little; it needed it.

I am in Kigali again this week handing in some reports and getting some work done on the internet. Nothing to new is going on, really.

EXCEPT this one thing. So one day during this week I fell asleep on the couch. I got up at like 4am and made my way to my bedroom. I stretched out on the bed and was just about to fall asleep again when I fell through my bed's supports! I fell through the supports and right onto the floor! It was like something out of a sit com, really. I haven't gained any weight and I don't jump on the bed or anything...I have no idea how this happened. Anyway, when I return to site this weekend, I need to get my bed fixed. *sigh* Wish me luck.

Liberation Day

2009-07-04T18:35:00.006+02:00

(Pictured here are some of the children from my health/English/art youth class enjoying the supplies that have been given to us by my generous friends and family in the states.)

Happy Fourth of July! Today is the birthday of the United States AND it is the day that the genocide ended in Rwanda. 'Liberation Day'! Today, therefore, is a big day for Rwandan Nationals AND U.S. Ex-pats. I hope everyone is having a great day!

I am so sorry for not writting sooner; I have been super busy AND the internet has not been working at the hospital, at which I have an office.

Before I get into the bulk of my entry, I'd like to say that I am officially done with my CNA...well, I am done with the first draft, but that is the hardest part, right? Also, I got some GREAT packages from Lockport Township High School and one of the school's most awesome clubs, Club Interact. This club is part of Rotary and its goal is to promote community service and internationl understanding. Thank you, LTHS and Club Interact for the great teaching supplies! I have already put them to great use and I am sharing the extras with my fellow volunteers here in Rwanda.

I don't think I have mentioned this before, but LTHS is a partner with me here in Rwanda through Peace Corps' 'World Wise Schools Match'. This program partners a school in the U.S. with a Peace Corps volunteer; doing so, enables the school to learn more about Peace Corps and the country in which the volunteer is serving. I was very fortunate to be partnered with LTHS! I actually graduated from Bolingbrook H.S. and I remember competing against LTHS students when I ran track and X-country for BHS. Anyways, they are a great group and I thank them for their packages and their support.

Okay, so on to the bulk of the entry. I realize that not everyone that can read this entry can access my facebook page to check out my photos. I have been posting photos as fast as I have been taking them and a couple weeks ago I posted a bunch of my house. HOWEVER, I realize many of you cannot see them. Therefore, I have included below a letter that I have recently sent to another American partner of mine, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Bolingbrook. (St. Francis is my home parish in the states and I have stayed in contact with them since I have left. They are currently collecting supplies for me as well. Thanks, everyone!) Below is a letter that I recently sent to them; the letter is about my house and a bit about my life here in Rwanda. Check it out!

(If you can check my facebook, take a look. I posted more pics just now.)

Work here is going well. I am integrating into the community very well and I am beginning to get into a routine. I suppose ‘routine’ is not the best word to use; there is nothing really routine about my days here. Hahaha! I would say that I am becoming acclimated to life in Rwanda. Yes, ‘acclimated’ is a much better term to use. Haha!

Life in Rwanda is much more different than life in the United States. In the states, I had a routine that would only be affected by small things like missing a bus or getting stuck in traffic. These inconveniences, though annoying, would only delay me a few minutes to an hour at the most. In Rwanda, however, the time it takes to rebound from these ‘smaller’ inconveniences can take hours or even a full day.

For example, my daily activities depend mainly upon the weather. Case in point, today I expected to go into town and run some errands until I had to teach my health class tonight. However, as I look out the window right now, I see that it might rain. (As you are reading this letter, Rwanda has entered its dry season; however as I am writing to you, Rwanda is still in the thralls of its rainy season.) I dare not walk or ride my bike to town (eight kilometers one way); getting caught in the rain far from home is dangerous for many reasons no matter where you are in the world. I can take a taxi into town, but if it rains while I am in the taxi, the road becomes dangerous (the roads in my area are not paved and get muddy very quickly). If I take a taxi and the rain does not begin until I am in town, I am still presented with a problem because no taxi will drive when the roads are wet and muddy. Sometimes it rains for a few minutes and sometimes it is all day; depending on the situation, I might be stuck in town for the night and, therefore, will miss teaching my class.

After thinking through the several possible scenarios, I have decided to stay at home and run some errands here in my village. HOWEVER, the rain even affects my chores at home…especially my laundry. I do not have a laundry machine or any kind of appliance that would help me in my efforts to clean my cloths. I use a bucket of water, soap, and my hands. I hang my cloths on a line outside, so they can sun-dry. However, because it is rainy season, catching the sun becomes a full-day activity sometimes. I generally end up draping my damp cloths all around the inside of my house to dry while it rains outside. (Draping cloths around the inside of my house looks a bit comical; I don’t have much space, so from the outside it appears as though my house has become a market for selling ‘American Eagle’ and ‘A&F’ clothing. Haha!)

Please do not misunderstand me, I am not complaining. It doesn’t rain all the time here and even when it does, I don’t mind it. Also, I know I said my house is small, but it is a great house; I have no complaints. It is rustic according to American standards and relatively modern for Rwandan standards.

I say my house is ‘rustic’ for American standards (or for Bolingbrook standards, at least) because it lacks most Western luxuries. My house is one story and has four rooms: a bedroom, a storage room, a living room, and a dining room. I do have a kitchen, where food is prepared and stored, and another storage area, but these rooms are outside of the house in an adjoining structure.

The ‘shower’ and ‘toilet’ are outside the house too, father away from the other rooms. The shower and toilet are two separate rooms, but have been joined under the same roof in a singular structure; they have been combined to form one unit, separated by a wall. The shower is an area of space in which I take a bucket of water and wash myself and the toilet is a hole in the ground that is a few meters deep.

Though the house is rustic according to Bolingbrook , IL standards, it is pretty standard, almost modern, for Rwanda . I have electricity, when it is not storming, so I have been able to have some light, charge my cell phone (yes, they have cell phones here) and camera, and listen to the radio. I could even buy and use a television or a refrigerator, but these items are so expensive that the appliances would not be worth the investment.

The structure of the house is concrete, but the adjoining kitchen and storage area are mud-brick constructions. Every part of my house, even the shower/toilet area, is covered with a tin roof; this may not seem like a big deal, but I have seen some houses that are using dried banana leaves for roofing. My fence is, I think, the coolest part of the house; it extends all around the property line and is made of bamboo shoots that have been strategically planted to form a living barrier.

I don’t feel like I am doing my house justice in its description here. Hahaha! I enjoy writing, but I do not pretend to be a great writer. I have posted a few pictures on facebook; feel free to visit it, see some pictures, and hear more stories.

Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers!

Imana ibarinde kandi ibahe umugisha.
(May God keep you and give you blessings.)

Amahoro (Peace),

Emmett V. Reeb, III

P.S. Ah, ha! It didn’t rain today after all; my cloths can dry in the sun! Thank God for small gifts!

'They have arrived to assist, and we appreciate that.'

2009-06-15T12:39:00.003+02:00

Okay, so I know that every PCV in Rwanda is posting the same thing on their blog this month, but whatever. The President of Rwanda spoke about his country's renewed relationship with Peace Corps...I thought it was cool, so I have included it below...just like every other PCV in the country. Ha!

I know I haven't posted anything in a while, but that is because things have been pretty tame. Moreover, I have been working on my Community Needs Assessment (CNA) whenever I have had the chance to get on a computer. Today, I took more of a breather to do more fun stuff on the internet; so I am catching up on all my personal work.

Check my facebook for photos!

Published by the Huffington Post.

Pres. Paul Kagame President of the Republic of Rwanda

Posted: June 9, 2009 04:51 PM

A Different Discussion About Aid

The United States of America has just sent a small number of its sons and
daughters as Peace Corps volunteers to serve as teachers and advisors in
Rwanda . They have arrived to assist, and we appreciate that. We are aware
that this comes against the backdrop of increasingly scarce resources, of
budget discussions and campaign promises, and of tradeoffs between defense
and domestic priorities like health care and infrastructure investments. All
that said, I believe we need to have a different discussion concerning the
potential for bilateral aid.

The Peace Corps have returned to our country after 15 years. They were
evacuated in 1994 just a short time before Rwanda collapsed into a genocide
that killed over one million people in three months. Things have improved a
lot in recent years. There is peace and stability throughout the nation. We
have a progressive constitution that is consensus-driven, provides for power
sharing, embraces diversity, and promotes the participation of women, who
now represent the majority in our parliament. Our economy grew by more than
11% last year, even as the world entered a recession. We have chosen
high-end segments of the coffee and tea markets in which to compete, and
attract the most demanding world travelers to our tourism experiences. This
has enabled us to increase wages by over 20% each year over the last eight
years -- sustained by, among other things, investment in education, health
and ICT.

We view the return of the Peace Corps as a significant event in Rwanda 's
recovery. These young men and women represent what is good about America ; I
have met former volunteers who have run major aid programs here, invested in
our businesses, and I even count them among my friends and close advisors.

Peace Corps volunteers are well educated, optimistic, and keen to assist us
as we continue to rebuild, but one must also recognize that we have much to
offer them as well.

We will, for instance, show them our system of community justice, called
Gacaca, where we integrated our need for nationwide reconciliation with our
ancient tradition of clemency, and where violators are allowed to reassume
their lives by proclaiming their crimes to their neighbors, and asking for
forgiveness. We will present to them Rwanda 's unique form of absolution,
where the individuals who once exacted such harm on their neighbors and ran
across national borders to hide from justice are being invited back to
resume their farms and homes to live peacefully with those same families.

We will show your sons and daughters our civic tradition of Umuganda, where
one day a month, citizens, including myself, congregate in the fields to
weed, clean our streets, and build homes for the needy.

We will teach your children to prepare and enjoy our foods and speak our
language. We will invite them to our weddings and funerals, and out into the
communities to observe our traditions. We will teach them that in Africa ,
family is a broad and all-encompassing concept, and that an entire
generation treats the next as its own children.

And we will have discussions in the restaurants, and debates in our staff
rooms and classrooms where we will learn from one another: What is the
nature of prosperity? Is it subsoil assets, location and sunshine, or is it
based on human initiative, the productivity of our firms, the foresight of
our entrepreneurs? What is a cohesive society, and how can we strengthen it?
How can we improve tolerance and build a common vision between people who
perceive differences in one another, increase civic engagement,
interpersonal trust, and self-esteem? How does a nation recognize and
develop the leaders of future generations? What is the relationship between
humans and the earth? And how are we to meet our needs while revering the
earth as the womb of humankind? These are the questions of our time.

While some consider development mostly in terms of infusion of capital,
budgets and head counts, we in Rwanda place equal importance to
relationships between peoples who have a passion to learn from one another,
preparing the next generation of teachers, administrators and CEOs to see
the exchange of values and ideas as the way to build the competencies of our
people, and to create a prosperous nation.

We will do this because we see that the only investment with the possibility
of infinite returns is in our children, and because after a couple of years
in Rwanda , working and learning with our people, these Peace Corps
volunteers will be our sons and daughters, too.

Rwamagana - My House and some of the Village

2009-05-29T17:32:00.016+02:00

(Pictured above: My shower and bathroom unit; Pictured right: A neighbor's kitchen/storage area; Side Note: Some of the poorer people in the villages still live in these mud-brick structures.)

In other news:
*I am all healed up and going strong;
*I sorta kinda have an office at the district hospital, which is only a 90 minute bike ride (one way) from the health center at which I work and teach...yeah, I don't think I'll be visiting the office much...hahahaha;
*I just found out that my sector has approximately 19,000 people, BUT it has only six certified Community Health Workers (CHWs) helping the nurses at the health center educate people on HIV and AIDS...AND it has NO CHWs assisting the nurses in educating people about proper nutrition...yeah, I think I just found my primary assignment for the next two years: to train community leaders to become CHWs for HIV, AIDS, and nutrition;
*Today, Kate openly admitted that she wants a hug from me the next time we are together. If you know Kate, this news is totally crazy. I saved the text for proof.
*I am in Kigali again for meetings; the partner agency put me up in a hotel and I got to take a stand-up shower today! The water was ice-cold, BUT it was awesome...especially considering that I have been taking 'bucket showers' for like six weeks straight;
*Also, I got to watch TV at the hotel too...the shows were all in French, but it was still cool to watch TV;
*My radio at home is awesome...I have fallen in love with the 'Voice of America' station...

That's all I got for now...I hope all is well on your side of the ocean...more to come soon.

Jiggers: Nature's Pain in the Foot

2009-05-21T12:27:00.010+02:00

(Pictured Here: A giant earthworm, possibly 12-15 inches long. This picture was taken before going into the jungle. I have included it here because both this picture and this blog entry showcase creepy-crawlers.)

Alrighty...I posted a few more pictures on facebook (Washington to Kigali to Butare to Kigali - part 2). I was also able to get some videos posted too. Yeah, a very productive day.

Why so productive, you ask? Because I have been in Kigali for two straight days and I am enjoying the fast internet connection at PC HQ. I will probably be here for a little while longer too, BUT before I get into that I want to give a 'shout out' to two people that have decided to move on from PC Rwanda and pursue other opportunities. These two people are remarkable individuals; they are great people and good friends. I wish them well on their journeys and I look forward to hearing about their future endeavours.

(...then there were 30...*queue dramatic music*)

These past couple days have been bitter-sweet:
I have seen two friends leave (bitter...our group is smaller by two people);
I have got to hang out with Mupe (sweet...he is such a pleasant person to be around);
I have had to leave my site for a while (bitter...I love Rwamagana);
I get to stay in Kigali (sweet...Kigali is as close to America as I am going to get for the next two years);
I learned that P.C. Rwanda may be receiving a new crop of volunteers before the year is out (sweet...these volunteers may be English educators);
I learned that my house and my feet are infested with Jiggers (BITTER).

Wait! Jiggers?! What?!

I will spare you the details...just google 'Jiggers,' there are plenty of articles about them. I had them pretty bad, but nothing like the horrible pictures that you may find on the web. I had about 50 or so and it took about 8-9 hours over the past two days to pull them out...ah, um, uh let me rephrase that...the better verb to use here is 'to carve'...yes...the past two days I have been in the nurse's office getting them CARVED out of my feet. Yeah, ouch!

Anyway, my feet are okay...a bit tender because of all the poking and prodding, but they are okay...there should be no scaring...so far, no infections...no problem...if I had waited, however, there could have been trouble...big trouble.

I noticed them over this past weekend. I thought they were warts, so I called the PC Medical Officer (PCMO) and told her that I may need some 'Compound W'...no biggie...I was going to come to Kigali on the weekend of the 23rd to get a package and do some paperwork at PC HQ, so picking up the medication would be no problem. HOWEVER, the next day I noticed more of these 'warts' AND they started to burn and itch. I called the PCMO and asked to come into PC HQ in Kigali and have my feet looked at. She agreed...her diagnosis was 'Jiggers'...big, ol' African-sized 'Jiggers.' Grooooooss! The PCMO called her second in command and together they began the lengthy process of carving them out.

*Side Note: I must take this time to commend the medical staff of PC Rwanda. They have been, and are, working so hard to keep me, as well as the other volunteers, clean and healthy. They are great people.

'Jiggers' are transmittable from animals to humans and from humans to humans. I have been visiting a lot of people, so I caught them from one house/hut or another. Anyway, I have not looked at the feet of my neighbors, so I don't know from which domicile I contracted the little buggers. At any rate, I am glad I caught sight of them when I did; if you check the web, then you can see what long-term damage these things can do to someone...not pretty.

I disclose all of this information willingly...not to scare you (you shouldn't be scared...I am fine and in very high spirits) or to give you a bad impression of Rwanda (not everyone has these bugs). I am giving you all this information because there ARE several people in my village that are burdened with these insects AND these people do not have access to the kind of medical care that I do.

I ask that you pray for those people that are being tortured by these bugs and have little or no medical support. Extracting all these things is a long process and it is a bit painful, trust me. Moreover, getting too many of these suckers over a long period of time can be deadly to body parts. Keep the people that suffer from these insects in your prayers AND thank God that this is not a great medical concern in the states.

ALSO, keep the medical staff in your prayers too...the PCMO and her assistant spent hours working on me. People with a medical background, let alone doctors, are few and far between in Rwanda. They work hard to save limbs and lives every day. Keep them in your prayers.

Finally, if you are considering Peace Corps service, learn from my experience. If I have learned anything thus far, it is that keeping yourself as healthy as possible is KEY...especially your teeth, hands, 'special areas', and FEET.

In a country where traveling on foot is unavoidable, having strong, healthy feet is important. Contracting 'jiggers' can be prevented: wear closed-toed shoes; keep your feet clean (and I mean CLEAN, people...spend three times as much time cleaning them as you would any other part of your body); and inspect your feet at least daily. I was doing these things and I STILL caught these little terrors, BUT I acted fast and that has made all the difference.

I am going to spoil the surprise for all 'Peace Corps Hopefuls' out there; if you are in the Peace Corps, you will catch something...some kind of bug or flu or something...regardless of the precautions you take, you will be sick at least once...I promise you...BUT you need to be ever vigilant and take all the preventative measures that you can...AND once you are sick, get treated as early as possible, otherwise the consequences may be dire.

Anywaaaaaay, that's what's new with me. I am in Kigali for a little while and I should return to Rwamagana soon. When I get back I get to bleach my ENTIRE house, wash all my cloths, and begin recovery treatment...fun, fun, fun.

I'm sorry this entry was such a downer, but I hope it was educational and/or helpful to someone. I promise my next blog entry will have only good news. Hahahaha! So long, all. Amahoro!

Pictures! Finally!

2009-05-16T11:21:00.010+02:00

(Pictured Here: Rwanda's beautiful countryside landscape. The hills get MUCH bigger than these...more to come...)

This entry is going to be short because I am spending most of my time today trying to upload pictures. Check my facebook page for the pics (Washington to Kigali to Butare to Kigali). The captions are not as funny as I would like them to be because I have a very limited amount of time today. Also, I have some videos to upload too, but I will do that later...I'll give you the heads up when I post them on facebook.

ANYWAY...in other news, everything is going just fine. I am well on my way with my CNA and my PC reports...the 'English class' has become an 'English club,' and it is still very strong; I have over 100 students now! I have cut down my lessons to only 4 nights a week for like an hour at a time. It just gets too exhausting to teach every night after working at the clinic the whole day...PLUS I am trying to start up a health club with the children on the weekends, so I want some time to prepare lessons for them and get that project off of the ground.

I do have a funny story for you, though.

Okay, so two weeks ago (after I wrote my last blog entry) I went into the main market of Rwamagana with a couple other Peace Corps volunteers. (The market in my village is pretty small, so I go into the main, city market every once and a while to stock up on supplies...and see my fellow PCVs, of course.) Malcolm (another PCV from the East Province) was going to be in town visiting the Rwamagana crew (Brandon, Crissy, Kara, and I) and he told us he would meet us at the market once he was in town.

Once at the market, Brandon, Kara, and I picked up a couple of things and regrouped in the front of the market where Malcolm was waiting. We were about to leave when two little girls walked up to us. (These girls had their heads down and were speaking to each other, so they didn't see us.) As they turned the corner to walk into the market and, by consequence, into our little PCV group, one of the little girls lifted her head. As she was about to walk right into me, she looked up, and gasped in surprise! She jumped back a good yard or two with a look of pure terror on her face.

The little girl stared at me with such an intense look of fear, that I couldn't help but try to calm her down...I took a step towards her to introduce myself and as soon as I made a move to take a step, she made a move like she was going to run. I decided it best to stand my ground and not scare her any more than she already was.

At this point, Malcolm, Kara, Brandon and I were having a good laugh about her reaction to me. She watched in horror as we spoke with one another in English. I turned to the terrified girl and said a few words in Kinyarwanda to try and calm her a bit...this did not have the effect I was looking for. She did not respond to my greetings; in fact, her level of terror only increased! I could see on her face that she had a singular thought running through her head, 'Either this white man speaks my language OR I am understanding English right now!!! AH!'

She was not screaming out or crying at all, she just had a look of surprise on her face for 10 straight minutes. It was as if her body was stuck in 'flight-or-fight' mode.

I felt really bad for surprising her, but I couldn't help laughing. She just stood there, silently freaking out...and only at me for some reason. Rest assured that my PCV companions were laughing this whole time too...AND not just a chuckle, but deep, side-splitting laughter, which attracted attention from many people in the market.

Remember, I said there was two girls, right? Well the second girl just stood there staring at us as we talked to each other and her friend (or sister). She was curious about us, yes, but I felt as though she was not fearful in the least bit...she actually seemed kind of anxious to begin her errands in the market. She was just standing there waiting for her friend (or sister) to stop freaking out so they could leave. Neither of them said a word. They stayed in their places, silently reacting to us until we four decided it was time to move on.

I felt bad for laughing at the situation, but her reaction was so priceless...even today, I recall it and I can't help but smile a little.

Anyway, rest assured that I am not scaring every person I meet. The people I am meeting are being very kind and helpful. To be honest, I don't think this experience (Peace Corps Rwanda) could have started off an better.

Enjoy the pictures and, as they say in Rwanda, 'Imana ibarinde kandi ibahe umugisha.' (May God keep you and give you blessings.)

...water bottle caps make pretty awesome candle holders...

2009-05-02T13:50:00.007+02:00

Swearing-in took place on Wednesday, April 15th at the U.S. Ambassador's house; there were many great speeches given by Peace Corps representatives and Rwandan government officials. The ceremony lasted into the early afternoon.

(Pictured Here: Official Peace Corps Volunteers for Rwanda!)

(Ah! I miss training! Ha! What a great experience! If you talk to some Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, a lot of them will say that training was pretty intense and not ver fun. I don't know about them, but training was great for me. I had a blast, met many great people, and learned so much.)

Anyway, the ceremony was great and it even made the news! AND, not just the Rwandan national news, but the BBC!

I must admit, however, that the last few weeks of training at the convent were rough. I was really starting to feel the need to leave and get started on my assignment in Rwamagana.

Well, I got my wish. Here I am in Rwamagana and I am sooooooo busy with work. Not only do I have my assignment, but I have paperwork for the Peace Corps due soon too.

The CNA:

I moved into my house in Rwamagana on Saturday, April 18th and since then I have been working on my Community Needs Assessment (CNA) report for Peace Corps. The CNA is a great tool for me to figure out my place in the health center and the larger community.

I know it just sounds like more paperwork, but creating a CNA report is actually very interesting; it reminds me of what I was doing in my anthropology studies at UIC. Specifically, this report needs to outline evertything about the community...and I mean EVERYTHING!

In three months time (that is when it is due to Peace Corps), I need to detail the following aspects of my sector: history, geography, population statistics, education, health, communication, transportation, social issues, natural resources, organizations/groups, community infrastructure, government instititutions and programs, and much more. I even need to create a map of the sector...a full map detailing the important places of the sector and the sector's relation to neighboring communities..and how do I acquire this information, you ask? Well, there are no libraries, so I get to go around town and talk to people, observe interactions, and live life in the sector, baby!

It sounds scary, but it isn't as bad as it sounds. Merely conducting the CNA will not only acclimate me to my surroundings, but it will acclimate my neighbors to me. (Again, MANY people have never seen a white man before...so me walking around their town is kind of strange for them.) At any rate, Peace Corps volunteers have been completing CNAs since 2003 and they have found them very helpful...the communities in which they are conducted find them useful too! Many communities, in which a Peace Corps Volunteer may work, do not have libraries, so CNAs act as a valuable source of information for community members as well.

With two weeks of information under my belt, I have already collected sooo much data. The report only has to be 5-10 pages, BUT I feel like I could write a book! I have to present my findings at 'In-Service Training' in about 10 weeks. ('In-Service Training' is when all 32 of us will get together and review how our first 3 months at site have gone; the report acts as a summary of our 12 weeks of work; the reports are collected and included in a country report to Washington...so I hear.)

Wish me luck as I continue my CNA!

The English class:

During the first three months of my assignment, I am really only suppose to concentrate on completing my CNA. Well, the community had a different idea. Hahahahaha!

During the first week of work at the health center, I shadowed different staff members and assisted in various tasks, such as distributing medication, assisting in HIV counseling, and I even did some accounting/insurance work. The first full week was fine...it was actually a bit slow, but I focused on my CNA and got a lot of it done.

This past week, however, has been CRAZY! Since I moved to my sector here in Rwamagana, people have been asking me if I am going to teach English and, if so, when I am going to start. I kept saying, 'soon, soon.' Well, they were a bit more excited about learning English then I thought...let me tell ya about it.

I was sick on Monday of this week and I didn't go into work at the health center. HOWEVER, when I returned to work on Tuesday morning, one of my counter parts at the center gives me this list of people's names and says, in broken English, 'The sector director wants me to give this to you. He says that your class will be here at the health center from 5pm-7pm every weekday...starting today. I look forward to the first lesson this evening.'

I looked at the list...the director of the sector had recruited the health center staff (nurses and medical technitions), the primary and secondary school staff (teachers and head masters), and the local goverment officials to be my first students in the English class...the list had 70 names on it.

Yeah, I was a bit shaken, to say the least. Luckily for me, I had planned an English lesson over the weekend. HOWEVER, I was not expecting the class to be so large. Yikes! BUT! Then I say to myself, 'Self, there is no way that all 70 will show up.' Well, I was sorta right. On Tuesday, I had 44 students, but on Wednesday I had 55. On Thursday, however, I had over 70 students! (Friday was Labor Day for Rwanda; no work, no school). People were packed into this classroom...it was so crowded that some people were standing outside and participating through open windows! It was amazing to see such enthusiasm and dedication!

The class is great, but with 70+ people in attendance, it has many problems. Specifically, I need materials! I need materials to share with the class because some do not have pens, paper, etc. AND I need teaching materials for myself. This class and its size has kind of caught me off guard; I am doing the best I can for now, but I am appealing to you, my friends and family, to help me out and send some stuff...if you can. At the very least, keep the class in your prayers as our lessons continue.

I do want to make this disclaimer. It is true that I am NOT a PC TEFL Volunteer and that I am a PC Health Volunteer. HOWEVER, this is what the community wants AND it doesn't mean that my English classes can't also teach them the importance of washing their hands, brushing their teeth, using mosquito nets, getting tested for HIV, etc., etc. Heck, my students are the community leaders. That means that the rest of the community turns to my students when they have questions. In the interest of being as effective as possible and creating something sustainable, I can't think of a better group to educate about healthcare. In this way, I don't have to go to each house and teach the same thing 100 times; I can teach it to the leaders in the sector and they will spread the lessons through their various social networks themselves...

...I dunno...we'll see how this all works out. The class still has some problems. With 70+ students, there are people at several different language levels. Some people are near fluent and others don't know the English alphabet. I'll get it all figured out.

The Rest:

Oh, man! I have so many stories already and so much more to describe to you! I have been writting like crazy! Hopefully things will calm down soon...I'll get into a rythm here and I'll get more time to catch you up. Here is a taste of some stories to come.

The House...

...I love it! It has a cool bamboo fence and it is crawling with lizards that eat the bugs...those lizards provide more entertainment then you think...

...no running water, heat, or air conditioning, though...and, oh yeah, the electricity went out during a storm a couple of days ago. You know, water bottle caps make pretty awesome candle holders...

The Community...

...everyone is VERY nice and VERY welcoming...yes, I do get a lot of stares, but once you start talking to them, those stares quickly turn to smiles...in fact, I met one guy named Isumail; he pronounces his name as 'E Smile'...hahaha...I have made many friends so far...

The Neighborhood...

...I live across the street from a 'bar' (not like a bar in America...hahahaha...I will describe it one of these days, its pretty cool...), next to the open-air market, 5 minutes away from work (the health center), and 10 minutes away from church...HOWEVER, it is a 90-120 minute bike ride from my house to the next biggest town...getting mail and checking internet often may be rough...BAH!

The Catholic Church...

...they think I am a priest...hahahaha...

...the Bishop of Rwanda is white and speaks Kinyarwanda fluently...he celebrated mass last week...it was really awesome to hear and see...

The Health Center...

...the center is great...it consists of 20 staff members, half of which are nurses...the staff is so much fun; they are a great group of people, really; they work so hard every day...

...approximately 2-3 babies are born each day at the center...I will have to describe a birth to you one of these days...

More to come...Amahoro!

Then there were 32...

2009-04-13T15:19:00.002+02:00

It happens...

...people leave...

...the Peace Corps is not for everyone AND a lot can happen in 27 months.

Statistically, 33%-50% of us will not complete our two years of service for one reason or another.

Originally, in D.C., there were 35 of us...

...we left D.C. as 34...

...today we are 32.

We have recently experienced our second and third loss, though they left as one.

Our thoughts and prayers are with them in their travels home and in their future adventures.

As for the rest of us...

...we pack...

...we prepare...

...and we pray...

Dramatically Yours,

Emmett 'The King of Drama' Reeb, III

April Fool's Day, Final Exams Week, and Three Months of Mourning

2009-04-09T14:08:00.013+02:00

(Pictured Here: Random fanny pack photo.)
These two weeks have been busy. I want to touch base on some 'Topics of Interest'.

Topic of Interest: 'April Fool's Day'

'April Fool's Day' is not celebrated in Rwanda, BUT that did not stop the 34 of us from teaching our Rwandan trainers how to celebrate this glorious day devoted to practical jokes. First of all, one of us (Brittany) hid the class bell which is rung at the beginning and end of each class. (Well, the bell is less of a 'bell', really, and more of a tire rim from a truck...AND it is not really 'rung' so much as it is hit several times with a rock.) Anyway, one of us hid it and I was blamed immediately...unjustly so.

(I will confess that I do enjoy 'ringing' the 'bell' even when there is no class to be had. People come out of their rooms with books in their hands and confused looks on their faces...it annoys everyone else, but I get a big kick out of it. We are so well trained. Hahahahaha!)

Anyway, we also switched up our classrooms to confuse the trainers. There are nine trainers and, therefore, nine classrooms. We are divided among these nine classes according to language level and learning style. On April Fool's Day, however, we divided ourselves up randomly. Anyway, it was a fun day and it was a blast teaching the trainers about practical jokes and American humor.

The Training Director, Mupe (as we like to call him), got REALLY into it and started calling people into his office and telling them they were in trouble. Mupe is Congolese and has a VERY serious look to him; so, when he calls you out, your heart sinks. HOWEVER, Mupe also has a VERY strong sense of humor. He thought it was hilarious that we were freaking out when he was calling us into his office for a 'serious discussion'. (Side Note: He beat me in Chess that week too...twice. I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE, MUPE!)

Topic of Interest: Nyanza Orphanage

I returned to the Nyanza Orphanage last week. This was the orphanage to which I gave the oral hygiene lesson a few weeks ago. I returned last Thursday with some other volunteers to teach the older children about HIV and AIDS. This lesson went well, but explaining the specific medical terms in Kinyarwanda was VERY difficult. It was fun, though, and the students, I feel, learned a lot.

Topic of Interest: Language Final Exam

I took my final language exam on Saturday. What a rough test, let me tell ya. The exam was an hour long and it was ALL oral. My test was scheduled with Alphonse, one of the trainers, for 8:30 am on that Saturday. The test was structured as a conversation that touched on six topics/scenarios. We spoke about each topic/scenario for about ten minutes or so; NO ENGLISH ALLOWED...yikes!

I performed better than I thought. In fact, not to brag, but I was one of five people, out of the 34 of us, that received the level of ADVANCED on the test. (SWEEEEET!) After calculating all of our homework and tasks done in the language, I think like eight out of the 34 of us are going to receive an overall level of ADVANCED for the language portion of our training.

Topic of Interest: Peace Corps Final Exam

I took my final exam for ALL of Peace Corps training on Wednesday. It took two hours to complete, but I feel like I did strong. I know I have received a 96% on the Health Tech portion of the test and I am pretty sure I got 100% on the Medical portion of the test. Anyway, I get all of my final scores tomorrow when I meet with the Training Director, Mupe, and the Assistant Country Director, Biba, for my final 'training interview'. I feel strong; I am not nervous at all.

Topic of Interest: Next week in Kigali

I leave Butare early next week. I have to spend this weekend packing up and getting ready to ship out to Kigali; I spend all of next week there. In Kigali, the capital, we will shop for some supplies and enjoy each other's company while we still can.

Oh Yeah! I swear-in on Wednesday, too! That's right, I am technically NOT a Peace Corps Volunteer yet. (You remain a trainee while in training and if you pass all of your tests and receive strong recommendations from your interviews with PC staff, THEN you are recommended for service as a full PCV.) Anyway, the swearing-in ceremony is going to be held next week. I am looking forward to it; it should be quite an experience.

Topic of Interest: Three Months of Mourning

Tuesday, April 7th marked the official beginning of Rwanda's 'Week of Mourning'. On April 7th 1994, the genocide began and within the first week over 100,000 people were murdered. The genocide lasted 100 days and claimed the lives of between 800,000-1,000,000 people (the numbers vary depending on the information source). From Tuesday, April 7th until Monday, April 13th all of Rwanda remembers those that lost there lives, but the next three months will also be full of community events dedicated to remembering those that were killed.

In Butare, the week is taken very seriously, I know. On Tuesday of this week we joined the citizens of Butare in a walk across the city. The walk lasted about 30-45 minutes and ended at one of the mass graves. There was a Catholic prayer service held in honor of the men, women, and children that were killed in the city 15 years ago.

(The people that attended the event had to number in the hundreds. The crowd was silent, even walking through the streets. There was no talking and no laughing; there was very little crying even...every person seemed to be in deep thought...in deep recollection.)

During this week, all of Butare shuts down after 12 noon; people don't even walk the streets between the hours of 3 pm and 6 pm. The mornings are meant for work and the afternoons are meant to visit family and friends and/or attend various talks and/or movies (concerning the genocide, of course) that are being held at local, public forums. In an effort to respect the culture, its people, and the great loss suffered, the trainees have been respecting this 'Week of Mourning' in a very similar fashion. Specifically, we have classes in the morning, but after lunch we hold no class. Instead of afternoon class, all the classes congregate in the larger lecture hall here at the training center/convent and we watch movies in English that describe or recount the events that happened in Rwanda in 1994.

I answered a reader's question just now about Holy Week. Yes, the country is mostly Catholic; yes, Holy Week is very important in Rwanda. HOWEVER, this 'Week of Mourning' really dominates people's minds and actions.

Topic of Interest: Internet Situation

At any rate, that has been the past two weeks for me. I don't know what my internet situation is going to be next week in Kigali. I know that Peace Corps has many activities planned for us; hopefully, there will be some free time. At any rate, I go to Rwamagana at the end of next week and begin my assignment. With that said, I would not expect very frequent blog entries from me as I get myself settled in my new house and community...probably like one or two a month...I dunno, we'll see.

As always, you are in my thoughts and prayers; please keep the people of Rwanda in yours as well, especially during these next hundred days. Happy Easter! Amahoro, inshuti zanjye. (Peace, my friends.)

The Health Lesson and The Graduation

2009-03-27T14:48:00.009+02:00

The past couple weeks have been pretty standard...pretty uneventful. My days are filled with language lessons, health tech sessions, and meetings about how to stay healthy and safe in our communities for the next two years. I have about three more weeks of training and then I begin my project in Rwamagana. I am very excited.

I have had some free time, but it has not been a lot lately. Though the last two weeks have been pretty tame, I have still been pretty busy. Yesterday, Thursday, myself and six of my fellow trainees visited an orphanage to conduct our first health lessons...in Kinyarwanda. I had not visited this particular orphanage before. It was about an hour North of Butare; as always, the trip there and back was scenic.

(Pictured Above: A 'Muzungu' from America tries to speak Kinyarwanda to two and three-year olds. Also Pictured Above: Children laughing at the 'Muzungu' as he fumbles his Kinyarwanda.)

The seven of us arrived at about 10 am to begin our lessons; we were an hour late. This did not seem like it was too much of an issue to anyone because everyone knows how unreliable public transportation is in Rwanda. There are three main modes of public transport: 'imodoka' (small bus or car), 'imoto' (motorcycle...another word for motorcycle is 'ipikipiki'), or 'igare' (bike). The cars are really like very small busses...kind of like mini-vans, really. They pack these things FULL of people and do not leave until the car is COMPLETELY packed...sometimes this takes a while, at least that has been the case for every one of my experiences with an 'imodoka'; therefore, there is no bus schedule, really. This is the transportation I usually take for longer distances...for shorter distances, I do it the old fashion way and walk...walking is free, safe, and very healthy, so it wins.

Motorcycles are the quickest way to get around locally, I hear, but they are also the most dangerous. You wave an 'imoto taxi' to you, he gives you a helmut, and you jump on the back. (Special Note: Because riding motos is so dangerous, it is forbidden by Peace Corps to ride on one. I am not condoning this mode of transportation. Breaking Peace Corps policy, especially endangering yourself or others, is grounds for administrative seperation and, therefore, immediate termination of your Peace Corps service.)

Bikes are the same kind of concept as motorcycles, but you do not get a helmut and you travel slower. Therefore, they are generally used for shorter distances and are MUCH cheaper than riding a moto. Taking a bike looks like a pain for both the rider and 'pedal master', as I like to call him. Because Rwanda is so hilly, when you go up a hill, both the rider and the 'pedal master' get off and walk. Bikes and Motos are good to get to the hard to reach areas, I am told. The cars and busses drive on the main, paved roads only and the bikes and motos travel on both paved and unpaved (off-roading) roads. The government is trying to keep bikes and motos off of the main, paved roads because it is unsafe.

Anywaaaaaaaaaay, we had been preparing all week for these health lessons. We had three trainers with us; we were being graded on our language and presentation skills. The seven of us decided earlier in the week that we would divide the health topics and the classrooms between us so that we could maximize our time with the children and staff. This is how we divided the duties: Kate and Katie decided to work with the cooks to discuss the nutritional value of the meals at the facility; Edison and Sonia created a lesson that taught children about proper nutrition and educated them on how to say certain body parts in English; Meredith and Jessica prepared a lesson that demonstrated the importance of handwashing; being the 'odd man out', I presented a lesson by myself.

My lesson stressed the importance of oral hygiene; specifically, the children and I reviewed how to brush their teeth, what they need to use to brush their teeth, how often they should brush, AND what foods they should eat, and not eat, to keep their teeth, tounge, lips, and mouth healthy and clean.

Each lesson went very well. Personally, I did not realize that the children were going to be so young (2-4 years old), so I had to restructure my lesson on the spot. I had written my lesson in an advanced level of Kinyarwanda; the children were not at that level in their language skills, however. 'Childproofing' my presentation was not a problem; in fact, it made my lesson even easier for me to teach. Christine, one of the trainers, was with me and she gave me some advice on how to work with the children and tailor my lesson plan to their language level.

When we finished our health lessons we were able to play with the children in the schoolyard; there was about 30-40 of them total. This was my favorite part of the trip. The kids liked to be twirled, chased, tickled, ect. It TOTALLY reminded me of when I was in highschool and my youngest brother, Andrew, was very little. Playing with the kids on Thursday reminded me of the fun Andrew and I would have when we were younger.

After some time with the little ones we went into town to eat lunch. After lunch we returned to the orphanage to work with the older children. We want to return to the orphanage next week to give the older kids a lesson in reproductive health, so we thought we would use the afternoon to ask them a few questions and see what they already knew...we conducted a 'needs assessment' activity, if you will. It turns out they knew a lot...not everything, but a lot.

Anyway, before I leave 'The Health Lesson' portion of this blog entry, I want to tell you about something that made me laugh yesterday. Okay, remember a few entries before when I was talking about how people get some small amount of pleasure when I say 'hi', 'good morning', ect, ect in kinyarwanda. Well, when we arrived in the town that the orphanage was located, it was immediately clear that the people there were NOT used to seeing white people. Lots of stares...let me tell ya.

I was greeting people when I exited the bus, as usual, and I greeted this one young woman who responded by giving me a look of what I can only describe as terror...pure, honest terror. We could all tell that it really freaked her out that I said anything in Kinyarwanda. It sounds mean, but her face was PRICELESS. Hahahaha. I am laughing just thinking about it now. It gave us all a good laugh; I am sure I just caught her off guard.

THEN as we were walking up the road from the bus stop to the orphanage, we passed this elderly woman...very elderly...I mean you could tell this woman has seen it ALL. Anyway, I walk past her and I could tell she has seen a white person before...I could see it when our eyes met; she was not impressed...anyway, I greet her with a 'Muraho' (Hello) and she busts out laughing like it was the funniest thing she has EVER seen in her liiiiiiife. Hahahahaha. Seriously, she stopped walking and was doubled over with laughter. Hahahahaha. (Somehow her reaction was as equally hilarious to me as the woman I had scared with my perfect kinyarwanda skills.) I am sure I caught her off guard too. It was just really interesting to get such extremely different reactions from two different people in such a short period of time. Needless to say, the seven of us and the three trainers laughed all the way from the bus stop to the classrooms that morning.

Okay, back to business. We spent the entire day at the orphanage. (The staff and the facility were great; keep the staff and the children in your thoughts and prayers.) When we returned, I was EXHAUSTED. We had a health test as soon as we returned too...it was rough. Once the test was over, we went out to celebrate Malcolm's birthday. Luckily for us, Rwandan night life is not very active, so bars and eateries are pretty empty. HOWEVER, because these places are not used to having people eat and drink this late (lunch is the main meal in Rwanda) and in such a big group, it takes FOREVER to order food...I mean, it takes like three to four hours, people. It was the same last night...meh, it was still fun. If my experiences are teaching me anything, it is to be patient.

Friday, today, we were invited to watch the graduation ceremony at the National University in Butare. Most of our trainers finished college a few months ago, but the ceremony was today. Our trainers are host country nationals and they are all in their mid/late twenties or very early thirties. It is NOT common for Rwandans to receive a college education; most people usually don't even finish secondary school (high school). When someone does graduate from college, however, they are generally in their late twenties or older. This is because there are a lot of breaks in their studies; these interuptions are caused by many things...mainly because of issues regarding money/tuition; needless to say, this ceremony was a big deal for everyone involved.

The ceremony itself was pretty standard...as ceremonies go. It was very similar to graduation ceremonies at colleges and universities in the U.S. The ceremony was outside in the soccer field, the graduates wore caps and gowns, the chairs were packed with proud family and friends, and there were about three to four hours worth of speakers. Seriously, the ceremony made me feel like I was back in the states; most of the speakers even presented in English. This fact did not surprise me at all because all of the courses are taught in either French or English and the government is making a big push towards phasing out French and becoming Anglophone.

There were some difference, however. I must admit this. Most of the differences centered on people's clothing; specifically, traditional Rwandan garb for females consists of colourful wraps and head-dresses. Many of the mothers were wearing this style of clothing at the graduation and it made the ceremony a joy...seriously. It was like our own little fashion show; 'people watching' is awesome, let me tell ya. I am coming to appreciate it more and more as each day passes. Anyway, the younger females were wearing dresses, scarves, and suits; pretty standard clothing from a Westerner's perspective.

The older men looked very Western in their clothing styles too. They were wearing suits, ties, shirts, etc that you would see in the states at any occasion. The younger men, however, had a different taste in clothing. They wore Western-styled cloths, this is true, but the style that was popular in the '80s and '70s. It was like going back in time, I'm tellin' ya. The ties were bright colors and were tied in full-windsor knots, so they looked very short. Shirts with flashy colours, big collars, and even bigger cuffs were all the rage at the ceremony...it was 'fresh', as they say here.

Please do not misinterpret me, though. I am in no way making a negative judgement on their style of clothing. The clothing is colourful and flashy, yes...maybe a bit dated for Western eyes, BUT it is conservative and respectful. There is NO flashy jewelry, everyone wears a belt, and no one is underdressed...EVER...unless you cannot afford fancy cloths.

Not to get off the topic here, but there are unwritten dress codes for men that can afford to dress well...at least in the major cities...it is probably a bit different in the rural areas. Anyway, I have been told that: I cannot wear just a t-shirt ('umupira')...I have to wear a collared shirt ('ishati'); I cannot wear jeans with holes in them...I must wear nice, stainless jeans or dress pants (unless I am doing outdoor work); I cannot wear shorts...I must wear dress pants or jeans (unless I am doing something sportive).

Having a professional, respectable appearance is a big deal. If you are wearing anything less, you will get weird looks and those close to you WILL comment on your clothing (and/or the fact that you need to shave)...trust me. Wearing these kinds of cloths, and taking care of yourself in general, shows that you respect who you are with, you respect the situation you are in or the event you are at, AND it shows that you respect YOURSELF. Honestly, this has been a big change for me; I am so used to wearing a t-shirt and shorts in this kind of weather AAAAAND a 5 o'clock shadow is no big deal in the states, right? Well, it is here. Anyway, I must admit that the fashion here is growing on me; I may come back to the states wearing some big cuffed dress shirts and some shinny (yes, shinny) jeans...who knows.

Back to the graduation...
The ceremony, a big event, is a time for picture taking and video taping, yes? Well, I did see SOME cameras and such, but not as many as I thought I would. This shouldn't surprise me, though. 'Electronic Stores' mostly sell only cell phones (and getting film developed here is VERY expensive). There may be a camera or two, even a television, in a shop/store, but they are VERY expensive. These items are the same price as they are in America, mind you, BUT people here are NOT making America money. Cell phones are very popular for those who can afford them, but other electronics are few and far between.

My host family has a television, but they keep it under lock and key; I have seen them bring it out ONCE. The director of the Health Clinic I will be working at in Rwamagana has a television. When I was staying with him at my site visit a couple weeks ago he had it out in the living room. His house was the largest house I have seen since I have been to Rwanda. Anyway, the television programming consisted of a few channels; RTV (Rwanda Television) is the most popular channel. The programming consisted of soccer matches, of course, and the news, which was shown three consecutive times in three different languages; first the news was reported in Kinyarwanda, then in French, then in English. It was the same stories and the same video feeds, just different reporters presenting the information in a different language. The news presentation style was very similar to that of BBC in that it was very world orientated, not just Rwanda.

Some of the other television channels programmed soccer matches (the most popular sport here) and volleyball games. There were some cartoons, but they are in French. There were a lot of public service announcements in Kinyarwandan too; these were scrolled down the screen and you could read about what was going on in each Province, District, Sector, and such; it was really neat. These announcements definetely made me feel like Rwanda sees itself as one large community working towards common goals; specifically, the goals of prosperity and solidarity.

There was also another channel from Cameroon and they loved it, which kind of threw me for a loop. I mean, the station itself wasn't anything spectacular, but it was just really cool to see that Rwandans have a genuine interest in what is going on in the world around them...not just in Africa, but the ENTIRE world. (Side Note: It is really cool how traveling opens your eyes to rest of the world. Countries stop becoming places you just hear about; you begin to attach people, events, and/or experiences to these places...the world becomes, somehow, more real...you feel more connected.)

A final note on electronics and such...there are no IPods, computers are even less frequently seen then televisions, internet connections are almost exclusively found in cafes, television programming has a lot less comercials...and videogames...what are those?

Okay, I got off topic again. All-in-all, the graduation ceremony was great. There was even some traditional dancing, which is always fun to listen to and watch. It was great to be invited to such a special, meaningful event for our trainers. They are good people; I will miss them when I leave Butare in three weeks.

Saturday is going to be fun too. All the trainees are hosting their resource families at the convent/training center for a 'thank you brunch'. I have not been able to see my resource family much this week, but I am looking forward to seeing them tomorrow and playing volleyball with them on Sunday.

Well, I better be on my way here. More to come soon...amahoro.

Welcome to the Jungle (continued)

2009-03-15T16:37:00.009+02:00

(Pictured here: The East Side Crew!)

I apologize for my delay in posting this entry and concluding my story; I had to leave in a bit of a rush last time. (Well, I am always playing 'beat the clock' whenever I'm in an internet cafe.) Anyway, I wanted to finish 'Welcome to the Jungle' last weekend, but the power went out in Butare for almost three straight days. It is not uncommon for cities in Rwanda, even major ones like Butare, to loose power for extended periods of time. Let's see how much I can get through today.

Special Note: Before I finish 'Welcome to the Jungle', I want to touch on my site visit.

'Ego Ko!' (Wow!) It was a big week here. I spent all of this past week visiting my project site. That's right, I found out where I am going to live, work, and play for the next two years. I have been stationed in the East Province of Rwanda in the district of Rwamagana. (Pictured Above: Some of us stationed in the Eastern Province are throwing up 'East Side' and celebrating the news of our placement.)

Province? District? What does this all mean, Emmett?! Let me break it down for you. Rwanda is divided into five 'provinces': North, South, East, West, and Kigali-as the nation's capital, it is its own province. Each 'province' contains, roughly, four to six 'districts'; each 'district' is then divided into 'sectors'; each 'sector' is divided into 'cells'; and each 'cell' is divided into 'villages'. Rwamagana is the Western part of the East Province...just two hours East of Kigali and two hours West of another Rwandan National Park, which I will visit soon (that's right, I'm going back into the jungle).

All 34 Peace Corps Rwanda Volunteers are spread out among the five provinces of Rwanda. We are working in schools, hospitals, and health clinics. I have been assigned to volunteer at a sector-level health clinic...I spent all of last week there...it was great! The staff and the community members are kind, respectful, eager to learn English, and eager to teach me Kinyarwandan, French, AND Swahili.

Needless to say, the week was pretty packed. My time was divided between meeting neighbors and staff, touring of the sector, and working at the clinic. I was also able to get a better idea of my project and even see my house. Everything went really smooth; I am excited to begin next month. Today, however, I am back in Butare. I still have a few more weeks of training to go before I move to my site and begin my project.

I would LOVE to tell you more about the sector, the people, the health clinic, my project, and my house, BUT I am going to save those stories/descriptions for later blog entries. TODAY we are going back in time...back to what we started...back to the jungle...

'Here is the trail'
The begining of 'the trail' seemed open, but that was only because our new guide had some free time to cut more brush out of the way while he was waiting for us. After one minute of walking, we realized that the trail was pretty much being made as we were heading towards the family of Colobus. It was rough! The ground was covered with dead/decaying flora; it was very soft, a bit muddy, and very slick.

Rwanda is 'The Land of 1,000 Hills'. This is a very appropriate tag line for the country, especially in the West and North provinces. The hills there are more frequent and intense; this is mainly because these regions are volcanic. Anyway, the 'trail' we were on was straight down a relatively intense hill; I mean, this hill just kept going.

Because we were walking down-hill and on wet earth, naturally, a few people slipped, but no serious injuries were sustained. I sort of slipped...funny story, okay, so I am walking down the hill and the 'trail' carved out for us takes almost a 35° angle down; it was almost like a straight drop. Anyway, I get down and then I turn to help Bryna (she was the volunteer behind me). Well, as I am turning, I lose my balance for a bit. My body is trying to counter this fall, so I am flapping my arms and shifting my weight, BUT my pack is too heavy and it pulls me down on my back.

The scary part was I didn't know what I was going to fall onto; luckily for me it was a thick, low level of brush. The fall was painless, but I was stuck. The position I had ended up in and the weight on my back prevented me from getting up on my own. I tried to move side to side to get something going, but that was only digging me deeper into the brush. SOOOO, I was like a turtle stuck on its back until Bryna came down and righted me. Naturally, she was laughing pretty hard...not only at my slow-motion fall, but for my feeble attempt to right myself.

Anyway, after 30 minutes of walking or so, we finally came across the Colobus family. The guide started to tell everyone to hush as we approached the trees in which the Colobus had made their home. We were silent, except for the crunching of moist brush under our feet. He pointed up and through the mist and dark green of the jungle we saw a family of six to eight Colobus. I took alot of really cool pictures; not just of the Colobus, but of the jungle too...walking through the mist was just AMAZING. I took some cool video of the Colobus playing and jumping around. It is hard to see them through the mist, but hopefully the audio picked up their calls, which sound less like monkey calls and more like bushpig calls.

Anyway, we watched the Colobus for another 30 minutes or so and then the guide turned to the group and motioned that we should head back up the trail, take lunch, and call it a day. The walk back up the trail we had created was uneventful, BUT exhausting!

When we reached the top of the hill and came out of the trail and onto the main, paved road, we pretty much flopped down, opened our packs, and started eating ravenously. It wasn't a couple minutes into our lunch that we noticed we had a 'follower'. One of the more brave L'Hoest's monkeys followed us back up the hill, smelled the food, and tried to rob us!

It rushed at a pack that was on the ground, but the main guide was on the spot and put himself between the monkey and the group of us. Threatened and a bit scared, the monkey retreated to a tree just out of the guide's reach, but close enough that we could get some AWESOME pictures and video of it.

Another funny story...I saw the monkey, dropped my lunch, and ran for my camera. I started taking mad photos of this thing and getting some good video. As I am videotaping this monkey, I totally lose track of were I was in relation to my pack. Well, the monkey, as smart as it is, saw that I had dropped my lunch and that I was busy taping him; so this monkey, as I am taping mind you, makes a run at my food! Out of complete and total reflex, I picked up my walking stick and started making very caveman-like noises...not on purpose, mind you, it was just my first reaction to regress to my animal instincts and defend my food...I was starving too, so that monkey wasn't getting anything, let me tell you. Anyway, my cave-man grunt/babble and my stick waving sent the monkey into the forest for good...unharmed, but with an empty stomach, I am sure. Everyone thought my reaction was a big joke, BUT I totally saved everyone from the monkey trying to steal our lunches. They wouldn't have thought it was so funny if the monkey was sucessful, right? Hahahaha!

Anyway, it was obviously an awesome time and I would totally do it again...and I plan on doing so. I still have two more Rwandan jungles I want to visit and several more throughout Africa, so I am sure there will be more jungle adventures to come.

Just a couple of quick notes before I sign out:

Quick Note: I bought a 'Go Phone'. Cell phones are popular here and I thought I should get one in case of emergencies. Moreover, I may need to hear your voice once or twice each month or so...

Quick Note: I have learned from my family that some packages, letters, and such were sent to Kigali. I have yet to receive them, but it sounds like it takes a month for things to reach here. At any rate, be aware of that. Also, I will be moving to my site soon and my mailing address may change, so check my blog for updated mailing information.

Quick Note: I received a Rwandan name! Impressed with my social nature and my ability to assimilate into the culture, the language instructors in Butare have named me 'Ngirinshuti' ... 'I have many friends' or 'the friendmaker'.

Quick Note: Thank you, everyone, for your emails, facebook messages, and blog comments. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Amahoro! (Peace!)

Welcome to the Jungle

2009-03-04T17:15:00.006+02:00

(Pictured Here: The Jungle! [Picture added to blog entry on 11/19/2009])

I have a couple pieces of information to pass along, then I would like to talk about my three hours in an African Jungle (in Southwestern Rwanda).

Piece: I met with the Peace Corps Rwanda Training Director this week. He calculates that my language skills are considered 'middle intermediate'. I need to be at 'high intermediate' (one level up) in about five weeks in order to be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer and begin my project. Neither of us thinks this is going to be a problem, so we agreed that I should shoot to obtain the level of 'high advanced' before training is complete. He also thinks that I am having no problems assimilating to the culture; I agree. Good stuff; very encouraging.

Piece: Speaking of beginning my assignment, I find out where I am going to be placed and what I will be doing at my site on Friday. Needless to say, I am very excited. I don't have much information about this now, BUT I find out on Friday and they send me out to the site next week...for the whole week. At site I will meet my new coworkers, find out where I am going to live, and get a tour of the 'umudugudu' (village). Again, I am very excited.

Piece: I visited an HIV and AIDS health clinic today. The clinic, though small in size, provides a multitude of services for its patients. The site provides professional therapy, prevention and education programming, and it even has a testing laboratory. This clinic is right down the street from the health clinic I visited last week. Please keep the staff and patients of these clinics in your thoughts and prayers.

Piece: I also visited an orphanage today. Much like the community health clinic and the HIV and AIDS health clinic I visited, the orphanage is a great facility full of caring staff. HOWEVER, just like the clinics, the staff of the orphanage is very small in number. There are six orphanages in Rwanda that are run by a specific order of nuns. There may be more facilities, but I was only told of these six; each of these facilities accomodates over 100 children. There are obviously more orphans than that in the country; I have already met a few on the street. Please keep the staff and children of these facilities in your thoughts and prayers.

The Jungle: In a word...beautiful...

...the second most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. Yeah, and I almost didn't even go. Hahahaha. The night before was our mid-service training party. It took place in the form of a talent show. What did I do for my talent? Malcolm, another trainee, and I decided to do some spoken word...'Def Poetry Jam' style. We had to follow this AMAZING song and dance show some other trainees organized. Seriously, they were awesome. Our act was not meant to be a follower to that, more of an opener. At any rate, we performed, it went well, and it turned out to be a laaaaaate night at the bar for everyone.

Anway, I woke up the next morning to knocking at my door. It was Brandon, another trainee.
'Emmett, get up. It's time to go to the jungle.'
Hahahaha. I dunno...it was funny to me. I was REALLY going to an African jungle today. Anyway, I got up, dressed, ate a quick breakfast, and met everyone at the bus.

As soon as the bus started moving I immediately thanked myself for responding to Brandon's knock and forcing myself to get up. The bus ride to the national park was two hours. It was a beautiful drive AND Kate (thanks, Kate) let me listen to her IPod all the way there. I hadn't heard American music for more than five minutes at a time since I have been to Rwanda. It was awesome...I pretty much listened to 'Say It Ain't So' by Weezer for like an hour. Hahaha. I reflected...almost cried...good song...good memories.

So we showed up to the park and I could tell right away that we were no longer driving through the country side, but that we were driving in the jungle. The road in the jungle was paved and gave great evidence that man existed, but the view told a different story; specifically, the view stated that man was no longer in charge once he left the road.

We exited the bus and paid our fees. It took a little while to get things started, but we soon met with our guide. He gave us a brief overview about the flora and fauna of the jungle, then we set off. (There were just over twenty of us; we were worried that we would scare everything off...we soon learned that this was not the case.)

The guide was a tall, dark skinned man. He spoke English very well, but with a notable African accent.
'We take the main road to the trail. On the trail we see the Colobus monkeys.'
His voice was deep. He wore black boots and a dark green uniform, just as dark as the jungle itself. We began walking on the main, paved road. A few minutes after being on the road we ran into our first African creature; specifically, an earthworm over one foot long. I got a picture to prove it. It had rained earlier in the day and had forced the worm out of the ground. Luckily it survived the long stretch of road and we were able to witness this jungle creature on our journey.

Anyway, taking pictures of the worm took us a little while. We did it until the guide was getting noticably anxious; he wanted to move up the road, which meant it was time to continue. We kept walking up the main road, stopping briefly to take pictures of the jungle and the mist that covered it. This mist is no joke, people...it is very real and very thick.

The view was awesome. In fact, at one point the guide pointed out that we could see Lake Kivu from where we were standing; it was just past the mist covered hill to our right. Could a more general statement ever be made in 'the land of 1,000 hills'...I don't know? Anyway, we looked past the mist covered forest and saw the glimmer of a vast body of water...Lake Kivu...past Lake Kivu, we saw the DRC...that's right...Congo. I didn't realize that we had gone that far West to get to the park, but we did.

At any rate, we continue walking for about 20 minutes or so and we start asking ourselves:
'Okay, where is this 'trail'? When do we actually get to go into the jungle?'
I tried to stay as close to the guide as possible. He kept talking to someone through his walkie-talkie in Kinyarwandan and I was trying to pick a few things up...just a few words to figure out what was going on without having to actually ask him. Just as I was about to ask him where the trail was located, another guide came out of the jungle onto the main road. Seriously, he came out of nowhere. The jungle moved a bit and then he appeared; it was pretty cool.

As he came from the jungle, I noticed that he was wearing the same uniform as our guide. So I put two and two together...this guy was on the other end of our guide's walkie-talkie. He was sent into the jungle earlier in the day to find us a Colobus monkey family to observe; machete in hand, this new guide waved us over.
'Here is the trail.'

Hahahahaha. There was no trail in the 'formal' sense of the word. This new guide was our trail. A more correct statement would be that he was our 'trail-maker'. I thought to myself, 'AWESOME. This is really happening. Welcome to the Jungle.'

I hate to leave you all at this point in the story, but I have to go eat dinner and I am running out of time. I have so much more to tell you all about...and not just about the jungle. Please do keep commenting on my entries. Let me know what you would like to learn and I'll pull my notes together to create and/or expand upon some more Cultural Notes. The conclusion of 'Welcome to the Jungle' is coming soon. Until then...'Amahoro' (Peace).

Thanks, Beckz!

2009-02-28T14:53:00.022+02:00

(Pictured Here: Our classrooms in Butare. [Picture added to blog entry on 11/19/2009])

Ah! I had another language test this morning. It was a bit more difficult than the last. I have not gotten the results back, but I have a feeling that my place near the top of the training class may be slowly slipping from my grasp. I just need to work harder, that's all.

Anyway, the test was rough. It was only ten minutes long, but it was the loooongest ten minutes of my life. Ha! The language instructors brought some of their friends in to have 'conversations' with us in kinyarwanda. There was no study sheet for this conversation exam. During the exam, you could try to take control of the conversation and shift it to topics you knew a lot about, but the instructor and his or her friend did a REALLY good job of staying in control.

At any rate, when I met with my instructor and her friend, they immediately turned on a tape recorder and began conversing with me in Kinyarwanda. They were asking me about what I did yesterday and I was instructed to respond to everything accordingly. Easy, right? Wrong! The past tense of this language is the hardest tense! The infinitive form of a verb is completely transformed once it is conjugated into the past tense...and these verbs are hard enough as it is, trust me!

Heck, the language itself, though beautiful when spoken properly, is very difficult. Do you know how to say 'Where is the bathroom?' Well you spell it like this, 'Urwiyuhagiriro ruri hehe?' Come on, man! That is impossible to pronounce! Haha! And sometimes I REALLY need to use the bathroom, BUT I want to be polite about it...some things have to be sacrificed in an emergency and, in this case, politeness goes out the window. Instead, I raise my hand and announce, 'Ndashaka kunnya' (I want to poo). This phrase is much easier to remember and say, trust me; plus, I get some laughs. Ha!

Okay, I got off topic...speaking about things in the past is NOT my forte in this language. I understood everything during the test, but my reaction time was slow and I am pretty sure I butchered the hell out of the verbs I tried to conjugate...hahahaha! Oh well, I think my language instructors are planning another test next Saturday. This time I won't say, 'Byerekane!' (Prove it!). I think I will go ahead and keep my pride in check this time and NOT give them a reason to make my tests harder. Haha!

This week was pretty tame. I am excited about tomorrow, though. Some of the team and I are going to a national park to finally see some monkeys. That's right! I have been in Africa for a full month and I have NOT seen a monkey yet! The nationals say that the monkeys pretty much stay out of town and hide in the more rural areas of the country. With that said, one of the team members came up with the idea to visit this park, so we are doing that all day tomorrow.

Okay, onto some cultural facts I am learning. Before I go any further in this entry, I want to thank Beckz for an awesome idea. Specifically, she and I were talking about blog entries this morning and she gave me a great idea. Each Trainee in our group has a language/culture training manual. She suggested that I use some of the "Cultural Notes" in the book to describe some of Rwandan culture and language. With that said, I am going to use a few of the CNs and tie them into some of the experiences I have had over the past few weeks. Thanks, Beckz!

Cultural Note:

In Rwandan culture, people like to hug each other cordially during greetings; the strength and length of the hug depends on the degree of familiarity of the people who are greeting each other.

Emmett Note:

Rwanda is the land of a thousand hills AND of a thousand hugs! Another thing that people like to do is use their left hand to hold their right arm while they are shaking hands. Doing this is a sign of great respect. I love doing this when I meet people on the street. It gets a couple of giggles; they like that I know how to properly greet a person.

Cultural Note:

In Rwandan culture, families are normally large and extended. They are not only comprised of the father, the mother, and the child(ren), but also extended family members.

Emmett Note:

This is not the case for my 'resource family'. I did visit them once when they had a relative passing through town, but I have not met any of their extended family. They do have a houseworker, however. I don't know YET how houseworkers are viewed by family members, BUT employing someone to do your cooking and cleaning is a pretty common practice in Rwanda. There are NO refrigerators in the typical household and ALL family members work if they can, so it is more of a time saver to hire someone to help with the cooking, housework, and baby-sitting. The houseworker at my family's house is about my age, I think. He is a nice, young man; he is well mannered and always has a smile on his face.

I have heard that my living allowance will be more than enough to employ someone to help with the housework and cooking at my permanent residence. I know that Peace Corps Volunteers have employed houseworkers in the past to help them with chores, but I also know that a lot of people have conflicting views regarding this practice. With that said, I am going to research this a bit more before making a move one way or another. Hiring someone to help me with my language skills is something I am interested in, however...we'll see.

Cultural Note:

In Rwanda, it is very important to know if the newborn is a male or a female because of the importance given to a male child. Today, things are changing little by little because of the promotion of gender policy in Rwanda.

Emmett Note:

Families are also getting much smaller. There is a big push to encourage families to have three children or less. The country is predominately Catholic so clinics and such are encouraging citizens to exercise several different kinds of family planning and behavior modification; specifically, abstinence and condom use. Abortion is illegal in Rwanda.

It is a great badge of honor to have many children. Child birth is supported whole-heartedly, by everyone. However, the process of child birth, especially in the smaller villages, is complicated because, many times, the nearest clinic is not very near at all. Moreovoer, there are some traditional practices that complicate the process of birthing a child. I don't know specifics about these practices yet; the little information I do have was given to me by a local nurse and she didn't get specific.

The birth of a child is very important, but the naming of the child is just as important. The parents will wait a few days or a week after the birth of a child to give it a name. This is a common practice in several cultures; this is mainly because if the child was born weak it may die during this period of time. HOWEVER, if the child is born strong and without complication, it will most likely live past this critical period.

At any rate, the naming day is cause for a great celebration. All naming input is taken from family and friends by the parents. A name is decided upon by all parties and the child is formally included into the family and the community. I have yet to attend a ceremony of this nature; time will tell if I will be afforded the opportunity to attend and maybe even have my input considered! Emmett is a strong name, that is all I am sayin'. Ha!

I visited a clinic on Wednesday, got a tour, and was able to speak to one of the nurses for a little while; that is how I got most of this information. The clinic I visted serves 100 people a day with a staff of 12 people; half are health practitioners of some kind (nurses, doctors, etc.) and the other half are administrative or janitorial staff. The facility was GREAT. I could tell that the staff are dedicated professionals. Please keep the staff and patients in your thoughts and prayers.

Cultural Note:

In Rwandan culture, wedding ceremonies are attended by both invited AND non-invited guests. The invited guests have to give some contribution like money, beer, etc., BUT the non-invited guests do not have to give gifts.

Emmett Note:

Wedding crashing is the norm here! Awesome! I have not gone to a wedding yet, BUT a few of my teammates have...invited and uninvited. I will wait to describe a Rwandan wedding until I see one for myself. I do want to share with you the fact that kissing between the bride and the groom at the wedding is not practiced. In fact, kissing in genereal is not practiced (publicly, at least) by Rwadans at all...ever. One of the trainers here said that he never once saw his parents kiss in front of him. Honestly, this doesn't surprise me. Rwandans are very conservative; conservative in regards to American standards, at least.

Another cool note is that for a man to wed a woman, he must first buy a cow and offer it to the bride's family. This cow should be of high quality. If the cow is accepted, the bride's family agrees to the man's proposal and the marriage is allowed to conitnue. Though this seems to be a common practice today in Rwanda, the 'bride to be' gets the final say (in most cases) regarding whether or not she wants to marry the man.

Wow! I just scrolled through this thing and realized how much I wrote! Hahahaha! Sorry, I just have so much information to pass along. I need to cut it off here though or else I will be here all day and spend all of my amafaranga! Hahaha! More stories and cultural notes to come. Stay Tuned!

Resource Family

2009-02-21T14:02:00.008+02:00

(Pictured Here: My Resource Family's son, Bruno. [Picture added to blog entry on 11/19/2009])

It has been quite some time since I have blogged...sorry, everyone. BUUUUT I have this Saturday afternoon free, so I thought I would spend some time, and some 'amafaranga' (Rwandan Francs), at a local Internet cafe to catch you all up on things...

...here we go...

These past few weekends my cohort and I have been visiting various cultural centers and genocide memorials throughout the southern part of the country. Last weekend proved to be a particularly powerful experience. We visited a memorial located at the mass graves of an estimated 50,000 people...close to one million men, women, and children died in the genocide of 1994.

I don't mean to start my entry off on a down note, BUT I really took some time to think about whether or not I was even going to mention any of this at all. To be honest, I don't know how much I should talk about the memorial, the genocide, or the local courts (gacaca) persecuting the genocidaires. I don't want my descriptions to be misinterpreted...in fact, as I write this entry, I feel as though I should be very brief on this topic and quickly move to the next. With that said, just know that my experience last weekend was very powerful. I appreciate our trainers' efforts to educate us on ALL aspects of Rwandan history and culture: the centers, the memorials, the nature walks, and the personal accounts.

Okay...on to lighter topics...I am about one third done with training. I had an exam last week in three areas of language: basic conversation; naming objects; and describing my family and friends...I received two 'excellents' and one 'very good'...I am happy with my score. I have another test next week. I don't know much about this test except that it will be conducted by members of the community and NOT by my language instructors...the instructors promise that this next test will be challenging. I said 'Ni Byo?'...a subtle way of telling them to 'prove it' in Kinyarwanda. Hahahaha!

Oh yeah, so a couple weeks ago I was matched with a local family here in the Butare area. This family is my 'resource family'. Most Peace Corps Trainees live with 'host families' while they are taking language courses and such. I have not been afforded this opportunity, which is totally fine, BUT I really wish I did live with a host family. Specifically, I wish I lived with my resource family.

When I wrote my last blog entry, I hardly knew the family, so I didn't mention them; we had just met a few days before I wrote the entry. Since then, however, I have had several opportunities to spend time with them. Specifically, I visit them every Tuesday and Thursday evening, after my last language class. It is about a 30 minute walk to their house; they are right off of the main, paved road. The family is very small, but still pretty young. The mother and father have to be around my age...I suspect they might be just a few years older, if that. They are both teachers; he teaches technology and math at the university and she teaches at a school for the blind and deaf. They are amazing people...not just because they speak 3 languages almost fluently, but because they are SO helpful and welcoming.

On Tuesday and Thursday evenings, I go to their place and we review some of the more difficult concepts of my daily language lessons. Sometimes we review my lessons over some fresh bananas, passion fruit, and/or avocados picked from their trees. Their instruction is fun, but my favorite thing to do at their place is to play with their son....this kid is hilarious, well mannered, AND he is super smart; he is only four years old, BUT he has a very extensive vocabulary in Kinyarwanda, French, AND English...well, extensive vocabulary for a four year old...I am impressed. Anyway, he likes to teach me Kinyarwanda too and is proving to be a very good instructor. I can definitely see him following in his parents' footsteps.

Sundays with the family are the most fun. After mass on Sunday, I play volleyball with the them and their friends. The league plays at a boarding school down the street from his house; playing at the school is great for many reason. Not only do I get some much needed physical exercise, but I also get to exercise my conversational Kinyarwanda. The students from the school come out and watch us play...they get a big kick out of watching the 'Muzungu' (white man) play volleyball...

...this leads me to a tangent I want to explore. Specifically, I find it very interesting that so many people have never seen or met a white person before....I knew I was going to get stared at a lot, but this is craziness...hahahahaha! Seriously, people will stop what they are doing and just watch me. I will go for walks into town and the surrounding villages and people will just stare at me...not menacingly, but out of pure curiosity.

Most times, however, it goes beyond staring. I have walked past houses, churches, and schools and people will run outside to see the 'Muzungu'...hahahaha! Most will just run out and stare, but the most curious of the children will run up to me and strike up a conversation...(hand holding is big in Rwanda...when you are speaking to, or are traveling with, someone it is a very common practice to hold their hand; this takes place regardless of age or gender...this is one of the cultural practices that I am getting used to seeing, but am not really getting used to doing.) Anyway, so these little kids will run up and hold my hand, talk to me in broken English, teach me some Kinyarwanda, and provide me company all the way to my destination.

My favorite thing to do to onlookers is surprise the hell out of them with my language skills. Specifically, when I catch people staring I like to wave at them and say, 'Muraho. Amakuru?' (Hello. How are you?)...then they shake their heads out of surprise, like I just woke them from a day dream...hahahaha...they get this look on their faces that says 'Did that Muzungu just say something in Kinyarwanda? What the hell?'...hahahaha...once they realize I know some of the language, they smile, laugh, and say, 'Muraho. Ni meza. Murakoze;' (Hello. I am fine. Thank You.)...those people not in a hurry will stop me to have a conversation...others walk on, but continue to look over their shoulder in amazement. Hahahaha! I love it!

Anyway, I know I got onto like four tangents there, but the point that I was getting at is that the students at the boarding school that watch me make a fool of myself playing volleyball every Sunday give me much of the same reaction when I speak with them. It is great, though; each time I say hi to someone and they smile, laugh a little, and respond in kind, I know I am brightening his/her day...to quote Cameron, '...and a good time was had by all.'

Well, I must be off now...friends and family, I love you all...to those of you freezing out in the Midwest, please know that my sunburn has faded to a nice tan...oh, wait...is it still snowing in Chicago? Hahahahahaha! Until next time...peace out.

Has it really been two weeks?

2009-02-10T21:56:00.005+02:00

(Pictured Here: Kigali. {Picture added to blog entry on 11/19/2009})

It is hard to believe that two weeks ago I was in D.C. I can't explain it, but I feel as though months have passed already...it sounds weird, but I mean it in a good way. At any rate, I have survived the 17 hours worth of plane rides and my SEVERAL shots. I am now into my second week of training, which is going VERY well.

I am having a blast! The Peace Corps trainers are Rwandan nationals; they are extremely knowledgeable and are representing their culture and language very well. My classmates are equally as fun and interesting; we are quite the cross-section of Americana. The people of Butare, the city in which I am training, are very kind; they are very eager to learn English and they are even more eager to teach me Kinyarwandan. It is unfortunate that I am not using my French as much as I was expecting, BUT Kinyarwandan is holding my interest just as much as my French studies...AND Kinyarwandan is proving to be more of a challenge, which I appreciate!

I don't have my notes on me right now, but here is a taste of the language for you:

Nitwa Emmett. Ndi umunyamerika. Ndi umukorerabushake wa Peace Corps. Niga i Kinyarwanda. Ndashaka kuba umwarimu.

Translation: My name is Emmett. I am American. I am a Peace Corps volunteer. I study Kinyarwanda. I want to be a teacher.

My stories for you at this point in time are pretty tame; my days (6 out of 7, anyway) are filled with language, health, and safety classes; these classes are very helpful, but they afford me minimal contact with the locals. However, there is an hour in the afternoon and two hours in the evening that are available for us to explore the city. A few of us get together during this time and check out local shops, the market (which is craziness! Ha! Yeah, those open markets you see in the movies...it is totally like that!), maybe go for a drink, or we play volleyball...nothing crazy.

The countryside is BEAUTIFUL! Everything is so green; the hills are rolling and alive with flora and fauna; and the weather...my goodness the weather! Rwanda is the land of eternal spring! It is sunny, but not too hot...it rains, but only long enough to refresh the air and restore the vegetation's healthy, green glow...there is a breeze, but it is NOTHING like the unforgiving Chicago winds...ha! The breeze here is just strong enough to cool you off and (God help me, its true) the breeze is always at your back, gently moving you to where you need to go.

So yeah, so far so good...the only complaint I have is the internet, which is slow and unreliable. With that said, I will get some pictures up on my facebook page once I get some more free time and a more reliable connection...be on the look out. I hope everyone is doing well and I'll speak with you soon!

Meet and Greet in D.C.

2009-01-28T01:06:00.006+02:00

(Pictured Here: Me with Rwanda's amb. to the U.S.)

I got into D.C. last night; registered at the hotel; checked-in with the Peace Corps; got a quick dinner with Rick; and then went to bed. Busy night!

Today I got to know the rest of the group. There are 34 of us (7 males, 27 females; 2 married couples; everyone is in their 20s or early 30s) and everyone is REALLY fun and interesting. This morning we had some preliminary training that outlined the policies and procedures of the Peace Corps, then we went to a "Meet and Greet" in the afternoon at Peace Corps HQ. Pictured here are photos of me at the event. I was able to snag pictures with the Director of the Peace Corps and the Rwandan ambassador to the U.S! The Peace Corps Director had some AWESOME stories and the Rwandan ambassador and his second in command had some GREAT advice. I was nervous to talk with them at first, but, in true Emmett fashion, I lightened the mood by telling a couple of jokes...it worked! Humor transcends cultures, I'm tellin' ya!

Tomorrow is the BIG day! In the morning we get tons of vaccinations. In the afternoon, however, we get to start traveling the world. The next entry I post should be full of pictures of Brussels, Kigali, and Butare. I cannot post many of them on this blog, BUT if you have stumbled onto this blog and want to see the pictures, then feel free to send me a facebook friend request...granted you have facebook. Facebook allows me to create better photo albums, so I am using that application. Soooo...check my facebook page soon!

Anyways, all is well; I'm really excited, but I miss you all. More to come...

Thank You

2009-01-25T18:12:00.007+02:00

Thank you for coming out!

I know it was VERY cold (well below zero, I think) and my directions to the pub were...well...pretty poor, BUT for those of you that braved the weather and the labyrinth of stores and bars that is the Bolingbrook Promenade...THANK YOU! It meant a great deal to me that you came out to see me off.

Seriously, preparing for this trip has really shown me how blessed I am. I have a loving, supportive family and my network of friends is full of great men and women that challenge me to be a better person. I am truly rich. Thanks again, everyone, and God Bless!

Learning as I go

2009-01-08T18:59:00.017+02:00

Okay, so I am learning as I go here. A member of the Peace Corps Rwanda team has graciously posted a list of blog/website regulations that I must abide by during my tour of service.

I can leave the flag of Rwanda up here, but some other stuff had to go. I'm not taking any chances on this, friends; I am sure you understand. Keep the questions coming and I'll do my best to answer them in future blog posts or through applications I add.

Taurus: Yearly Overview

2009-01-04T03:01:00.014+02:00

As of today, it has been exactly one year since I was interviewed for the Peace Corps and was nominated for service in sub-Saharan Africa. This past year has provided great learning experiences, BUT I am sure 2008 will pale in comparison to the years I have ahead of me. Let's see what this next year has in store for me, shall we?

(Okay, so I'm NOT big into these things (horoscopes); HOWEVER, I cannot help but read them when they are advertised on yahoo's main page. As usual, it speaks in VERY general terms...but it sounds cool. I wanted to post this so at the end of 2009 I could revisit this entry and see how well yahoo's crystal ball was working...I added a few comments too...sorry if I spoil the entry by doing so, but I couldn't resist...this thing was too serious by itself...I had to rip into it a bit.)

Year 2009 Overview

It's time to celebrate yourself, Taurus (*muffled giggling*)! You are pouring yourself into your life's mission and rejuvenating yourself with abundant thinking, which attracts great things to you. You're diligently creating a public arena where opportunities will emerge for you to be a teacher or messenger. Engagements for speaking, writing and sharing your thoughts will open up. Other people will be inspired by your enthusiasm and insight, and will support you in accomplishing your goals.

Taurus's excitement radiates more than ever this year, bringing with it a magnificent energy the world has been lacking. As you embrace the power of your heart and spirit, you are allowing yourself to transform and align with a universal energy source. You discover the space for your creativity to flow and abundantly bring the truth of your being into the world (*do hippies write these things or what?*). Your focus on your connection with a higher purpose brings out the best in you and refines your self-expression.

You appreciate all the expansive shifts that are taking place in your life, and you are learning to break up routines and old patterns of rigidity. This allows you a new level of awareness and acceptance of your ultimate purpose. Pay attention to what has heart and meaning. Express your truth and you will advance. You will find avenues to bring your talents and belief systems to philanthropic endeavors. By the end of the year, you will be able to slow down a bit and find more time to enjoy the new you that you have created.

Year 2009 Career

You will be moving overseas this year. Any worry or anxiety you may feel will be overshadowed by your excitement. This new adventure will be filled with many perilous dangers. Have no fear! You will soon build the time machine you have always wanted, but, ironically, never had the time to build. You will then be able to travel to the year that the candy "Jujyfruits" was created and inappropriately rename them. This will not make you a millionaire, BUT preventing Skynet from becoming self-aware and taking over the world will! (*Okay, I made this paragraph up just now...who says I can't write for "The Onion"?!*)

(*I think Tony Robbins wrote this next paragraph*) You will discover new ways to regenerate your finances this year, as you let go of blocks and fears that are holding you back. Rethink your belief that you have to work hard for money (*note to self: if this is true, then punch dad in the face for lying to you for over 20 years*); as you evolve spiritually, you will find that this thinking no longer serves you. As you step into your creative flow, work and finances become much easier for you. You realize that you're able to manifest a dependable income when you just allow your talents to flow. As you learn to do what excites you, your enthusiasm will overflow and new opportunities will come your way. Trust that your ideas will tap into profitable avenues. When you stop placing restrictions on yourself, you will be able to move ahead and gain amazing benefits.

You enjoy giving outwardly and being in the public eye, and your life-long pursuit of developing your creative talents now has a new venue for manifestation (*note to self: research comedy clubs in Rwanda and begin booking your tour dates*). As you embrace your power, opportunities open up for public speaking, writing, performing and sharing visionary ideas with others. Through your work, you will most likely be helping people to achieve their own creative connection and a higher purpose in life. Your integrity and energy is shifting, and others are inspired by your wholeness and beauty.

The fruits of your work relationships will increase by leaps and bounds this year. Any endeavors you undertake will be very profitable, expansive and satisfying. As you open up to the creative avenues before you, you will earn bountifully, so surrender to the blissful adventure of walking down a satisfying career path! (*BOOYAKASHA!*)

Okay, I promise the next blog entry will deal more with Rwanda...I promise, I promise, I promise...maybe.