Last Day Craziness

It has been a whirlwind trying to complete all my tasks before leaving and it did not help to have car trouble on the way home from the Mountain to see the Gorillas and Golden Monkeys. All of us will post more on that incredible experience while we are in Nairobi.

I needed to go to the bank to deposit the $2800 in checks for the Hope Center and it took me over 90 minutes plus it will end up costing about $90 in fees and the funds will not be available for 30-45 days. I have all the wire transfer information so it will be easier in the future. While I was doing this and running to the Embassy to sign the $4000 grant for textbooks before I left, Betsy and Luanne went to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. Since I was not able to take them, they had another unique experience in a local cab…and they thought my driving was bad!

I will miss all the wonderful people I met here and facilitating relationships between NGOs. It is amazing that it takes an outsider to help point out synergies and opportunities for collaboration.

Betsy's Insights

Susan has done amazing things in Rwanda. I am sure that it comes as no surprise that she moved beyond her original plan and has helped many others with their dreams. The Center of Hope is but one, and it was a moving experience to go to the school and meet Maria, the founder and director. This amazing woman created a school with no idea how it would be funded but knew she had to help the children of Rwanda, many who are orphaned. I was struck by how she understands the emotional component of helping these kids succeed. With the loss of so much family and so many friends in the genocide, they lack the confidence and positive outlook on life that usually exists in young folks their age. My big worry is about the school’s continued funding. Maria needs to align with partners in Rwanda that can support her mission, and also file for the charity status she needs, for US citizens to comfortably contribute to the school (we all want our charitable giving tax deduction).

On another note, we are now on our African travel adventure. Yesterday we left Kigali for the mountains to go on our Mountain Gorilla trek. On the way, we stopped at the farm and store of Gerard, who established a program to help the local villages learn to farm and then have a vehicle for selling their produce to him, which he sells at this store. This seems to be a meeting place for the community and we were fortunate enough to arrive just in time for a traditional Rwanda dance performance by a group of young Rwanda men and women. We were the only Muzungo (white folks) present among the crowd of 100+ people. A few minutes into the performance, one of the male dancers came over to us and tried to pull us in to dance. Susan and Luanne begged off but I love to dance so had another very special experience. All the little children were giggling – not sure if it was because they had never seen a Muzungo dance or if perhaps my dance resembled Elaine’s, from Seinfeld. We were happy to arrive at the guest house after a bit of a stressful drive on bad country roads. I have driven with Susan many times over the years, but I must tell you she has now developed her skills to a new level. She can now come within an inch of clipping another car, bike or pedestrian with confidence. She really fits right in with fellow Rwandan drivers.


Visiting the Gorillas - what an amazing, once in a lifetime experience. There are several Gorilla families residing in different areas of the Virunga range and the park strictly manages all human contact. With only a limited number of visitors allowed each day, we had to get our passes in March to be able to visit today. Once we hiked in, we got to spend one hour with the Gorillas. I think this now must be part of their daily routine and just like people, may or may not be in the mood for visitors. My Gorilla family was acting a bit illusive today, while the family Susan and Luanne met practically invited them into their living room. Viewing them near or far, is an awe inspiring experience. It makes me incredibly grateful to the guides, Gorilla trackers who follow the Gorilla families all day as their protectors, and the park rangers with the AK-47s, for preserving this natural gift.

Hope Center

We met Maria and travelled down the terrible road to the school. They have completed some major improvements since my last visit and were doing the finishing touches on the masonry work. Much to our surprise, we walked into a decorated hall with three place settings to honor us. We visited the culinary and salon classes and reviewed the strategic plan with Maria while the students completed preparations for our special meal (since we were not expecting a meal at 3:00 PM, we had a big lunch at Happy Rwanda).


We presented Maria with the checks totaling $2800 and she said that would provide the needed funds for four months. She also had more good news from her meeting with REACH; she will have an intern that will be paid by that organization and one of her first responsibilities will be local fundraising. She will also help Maria to upgrade her Board to include a banker, a hotel and restaurant owner and someone form the Ministry of Education.


The time I have spent working with Maria and Philbert has been very rewarding and I hope to continue my support through email and fundraising efforts in the US. It was hard to say goodbye to both of them because I will miss them as people and working so closely with them.

There will be much more about the day’s activities from Luanne and Betsy when they post their impression of visiting the school, meeting Maria and the staff and enjoying a meal with the students.

Road Improvements too late for me

Over the past week they have been digging ditches for street lights on the major road leading to my house…if only this had been done four months ago. Luckily I never hit any pedestrians, bicycles, motos, or other cars but I had some very close calls!


The digging was done with picks and shovels (just like the fiber optic cable) because manual labor is less expensive than bringing in machinery. It will be interesting to hear how long it takes for them to be turned on considering the problems with their power grid.

Some things that still boggle my mind are entering a 20 digit code for “Cash Power” and a 22 number code to add extra minutes to your cell phone. They are experimenting with paying for your cell phone minutes at the end of the month through an automatic deduction from your bank account but a very small % of people have one.

Luanne and Betsy asked me what I will not miss about Rwanda and I immediately said driving!

First Impressions

It was so interesting to experience Kigali for the first time again through someone else’s eyes. When we drove up to the market we were surrounded by at least 20 screaming young men with their faces pressed against the windows wanting to help us shop or watch the car. They saw three white women and dollar signs; Luanne said she felt like Paris Hilton. We were there to help Hillary buy presents to take back to Boston tomorrow. We spent time browsing those aisles and of course we bought things as well. She had lots of presents to buy so I took Luanne for a tour of some of the other parts of the market; Luanne’s amazement made me smile.



We met for lunch across the street for one of the African buffets that include at least 5 starches some vegetables and either meat or fish. This one had soup a well but I was not interested in eating hot soup after spending over an hour in the stifling market. We were all impressed when we were presented our own box of dessert that included one small banana!


After a nap, we got dressed for dinner at the Deputy Chief of Station's (2nd in command of the US Embassy) home. Ann and Karl were great hosts and the dinner was one of the best I have had in Kigali but it was the conversation that was most enjoyable. Ed, the Political Officer also joined us so there was lively discussion about many African issues including: AIDS, corruption, US policies, the drought, healthcare and the list goes on.

Luanne saw more rural sights on her way to visit schools in the Nyamata district while I completed work on two projects.

We had dinner at Republika and she met the wonderful Solange and a few of her sisters who were also there for dinner. I made one last visit at the gift shop and bought myself another necklace (I have really gotten into jewelry here) and a t-shirt I know David (my brother in law) will like.

My volunteer work is completed. We will pick Betsy up late tonight and the last remaining thing to do before our adventures will be to deliver the very generous donation from Seventh Generation and the Community to the HOPE CENTER Friday afternoon.

Luanne's first experiences

Luckily she made all connections and arrived on time last night. After six hours of sleep, she walked the neighborhood with me and got a feel for the community I have lived in for three months. I took her to the FOREX in downtown Kigali to change money and most of what she brought was old series bills so I am hopeful it will not be a problem in Kenya.

She was impressed with my driving skills and was amazed when I drove her through downtown streets to see the hustling crowds and small business. We almost had to make a stop at the hospital because my friend Erin had found a worm that borrowed into her foot that caused swelling and an infection. She was able to find the medicine she needed at a Pharmacia and did not need a prescription. Luanne was disappointed she would not expereince the emergency room in Kigali...

The rest of the day is busy with the Market and dinner with friends. I hope she can stay awake!

Gisenyi

Beautiful bougainvillea surrounded us as we entered Paradise (hotel on the shore of Lake Kivu) this weekend. It had the best customer service of anyplace I have visited in Rwanda and the Mucho, the owner/manager set the perfect tone for his staff.

It was a very peaceful spot a short distance from Goma. The contrasts between the two are immense. One is a small sleepy town and the other is a center of commerce; one is beautiful and the other is still recovering from the volcanic eruption and everything is covered in black lava dust; one has a few policemen and the other has armed troops from the UN and the DR of Congo to fight rebels. You get the picture and why the State Department warns against going to Goma but Hillary Clinton will be there on Tuesday to meet with the President of the DR of Congo.


I spent time reading in my little hut on the beach, and watched native dancers around the fire pit on Saturday evening. It was a very relaxing spot and I am glad I had a chance to visit before I left Rwanda.


Getting there and back was another story; I rode the bus because my car had problems and the owner had them fixed over the weekend. Yes, you heard correctly that I took a bus willingly! After taking my motion sickness meds, I met my friend at the bus terminal and sat in a single seat by the window, all was well until we made the second stop in Kigali when all seats were needed so they had these pull down seats for the aisle. We lucked out and had one of the 10 overweight people in Rwanda sit between Hillary and I. Needless to say we were very uncomfortable because she was double the size of the space which meant the three hours seemed like an eternity. That is why the peaceful open space of Paradise was so welcomed.

The trip home was not as bad but as I was getting ready for the fashion show I received a frantic call for the young women hosting the event and 45 minutes before it started she said she would have to postpone it because they did not have the proper permits…only in Africa!