Week in Ruhengeri

Yes, I am an idealist. In the world I like to see, aid money is used to provide aid. To my more cynical readers, none of this will come as any surprise to you. And, when I’m honest with myself, it didn’t to me, either. But, that doesn’t mean I’m okay with it.

Last week, there was a workshop on internal savings and lending groups for the organizations involved with Higa Ubeho and the Peace Corps Volunteers who are working with them. The workshop was held in Ruhengeri, a large town in the mountains of Rwanda’s North Province.

Here’s a look at some of the expenditures related to the workshop:

-The workshop took place at La Palme, a very nice hotel in downtown Ruhengeri.

-All attendees (around 45) stayed at the hotel. Each person had their own room, though the rooms were meant to hold between two and four people. The cheapest rooms cost $60 per night.

-We attended breakfast and lunch buffets at the hotel.

-We were given an assortment of drinks and snacks twice each day.

-Each person was given 7,000F (about $12.30) for dinner each night – more than enough for us to not only eat, but to buy expensive Western food and also splurge on drinks or dessert.

-People attending the conference came from all over Rwanda, and transportation costs for most totaled 3,000F (about $5.25) to 5,000F (about $8.80). Yet, we were each given between 10,000F (about $17.50) and 15,000F (about $26.30) to “cover transportation.”

So, over the course of the week, I received 36,000F (about $63.15) in cash, on top of the provided amenities - while I was learning about people who work hard to save 150F (about $0.26) each week to contribute to their savings/lending group. It breaks my heart and makes me a little sick. I’m going to try to think of something useful to do with the 15,000F (about $26.30) I had left over, because that is obviously the very least I can do.

As an American living in Africa, yes, I thoroughly appreciate having the luxury of hot showers, CNN, pizza, and free Internet every once in awhile. But, this clearly went overboard, and I shouldn’t even have to point out that this should not be considered an acceptable use of “aid money.”

I hope our Rwandans counterparts who attended the workshop with us benefited from it and gained knowledge and skills they will be able to use to help others. But, couldn’t we have accomplished that without so much lavish expenditure, and used the money that would have been saved to pay school fees for more children affected by HIV/AIDS (one of the purposes of Higa Ubeho)?

First Week at Site

Well, I’ve been in Nyagatare for just over a week now, so here are some first impressions and a look at what I’ve been doing.

As I mentioned before, my assigned organization is the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda. Here in Nyagatare, the church has three employees who do community development work – one in charge of health projects, one in charge of education-related projects, and one (who is officially my supervisor) in charge of cooperatives and business development. (In the complicated world of development aid, it’s sometimes kind of hard to know what exactly is going on. But, from what I can tell, the church’s education and business work is partially under a nation-wide USAID project, and the health projects are under Population Services International, a well-known NGO based in the U.S.) Anyway, I’ll be working with those three employees, as well as the church’s pastor.

Unfortunately, my house was not ready when I arrived last week. So, for the time being, I’m staying at the church’s guesthouse. But, I did get to see the house! Like many other Volunteers’ houses, it’s much bigger than I need. It has three bedrooms, along with a sitting room, a storage room, and (believe it or not!) an indoor bathroom (though I’m under the impression the water doesn’t actually run, so I’ll probably be getting most of my water from the communal spigot in my area). The kitchen building, along with a shower room and latrine, is out back. My favorite thing about the house is that the yard is filled with plants, flowers, and vegetable gardens! I really wanted to garden here, and, since I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m thrilled that I won’t have to start from scratch! Also, like many houses in Rwanda, mine is completely fenced in – I hate how things feel so closed and walled off in many parts of this country, but most Rwandans seem to think you’re only safe with a fence/gate surrounding your house. Anyway, staying at the guesthouse and having the opportunity to hang here has allowed me to meet with a lot of people, which has been great, but I’m anxious to move into my house and get settled!

Most of my time since I arrived in Nyagatare has been spent getting to know the town and making visits to other sectors (the administrative equivalent of counties, I guess, only much smaller). One day last week, we had some visitors, a couple from Switzerland, who were representing a church in Lausanne that has a partnership with the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda. I went along when my supervisor took them to visit a church and cooperative in a rural part of Gatsibo (the district south of here). We looked at their crops (evidently they were good – maybe someday I’ll be able to tell!) and talked to them about their women’s empowerment projects and income-generating activities.

Another day, I went to a very rural part of my district with one of my co-workers, the head of health projects, for a training session. He led the session, which was for half of that sector’s community health workers. (Every umudugudu– the smallest administrative division, which can essentially be a neighborhood in urban areas or a village in rural areas) – has at least three elected community health workers, including one male, one female, and another who focuses on maternal and child health. These workers are volunteers, and their main responsibilities are to treat very basic health problems and to conduct community-based health education programs. This idea of having health workers in ever area appears to be a really great idea, and it seems like more countries should adopt it.) Anyway, the training was on “Behavior Change Communication and Social Marketing,” a fancy term for health education and outreach. Basically, it was about how the community health workers can educate their people in their umudugudu about malaria prevention, HIV prevention, and water sanitation. The entire meeting took place in Kinyarwanda, which made it a difficult but very useful listening exercise!

Another recent outing was with Cecile, an agronomist from Rwanda’s Ministry of Agriculture, who regularly comes to Nyagatare for work. I met her while she was staying at the church’s guesthouse, and we quickly became friends. She invited me to accompany her on her inspections, so I tagged along and we went all over the district, inspecting crops and meeting with farmers.

When I’m not busy with other things, I spend most of my free time walking around town, greeting people, talking to anyone who’s interested in talking to me, and trying to become a familiar sight to people in my community. It’s been really great to meet people, and I’ve had some interesting conversations and gotten to practice a lot of Kinyarwanda and use some French. The day I arrived in Nyagatare, I was walking through town when a girl came up to me and said, “Hi. How are you? I’m Angela. What’s your name? I saw you, and you’re the only white person I’ve ever seen here, and I really like your pants, so I knew I had to talk to you.” (As a side note, I was wearing jeans, as was she, so I’m not sure why that was so interesting.) Anyway, she was extremely friendly, and we got along right away. It turns out she’s a student at the technical university here, so she took me back to the student-housing building she lives in and introduced me to her friends. We spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and getting to know each other, using (since some of the students are from Rwanda, but many are from Uganda or the DRC) a mix of Kinyarwanda, English, and French.

Since my primary responsibility as a Volunteer these first couple months is to integrate, get to know people, and assess my community, all this counts as me doing my job! It’s like taking three cups of tea.

Week in Kigali

Before leaving for site on May 11th, we spent a glorious week in Kigali. Here’s a slightly belated re-cap.

The first purpose of our time in Kigali was the Swearing-In ceremony, during which we officially became Volunteers. The ceremony was at the American Ambassador’s (Stuart Symington) house, which is beautiful. Also in attendance were a handful of current Volunteers, several Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who now live in Rwanda, representatives from some of Peace Corps’ partner organizations here, and some other officials from the Rwandan government and the Peace Corps. The ceremony consisted of speeches from the Ambassador, the Peace Corps Country Director, a woman (!) from Rwanda’s Ministry of Health, and some Volunteers. At swearing-in ceremonies in Rwanda, a few Volunteers give speeches - some in English, some in French, and some in Kinyarwanda. My good friend, Nora, and I gave the one in French, in which we basically thanked the many people who have helped us up to this point and reminded everybody that we’re here to serve where and how we have the opportunity to (something I need to keep reminding myself!). The ceremony ended with the oath – we raised our right hands and swore to protect, defend, and support the Constitution of the United States, etc. Following the ceremony was a reception featuring fantastic food, including cake!

The ceremony was covered pretty heavily in national media. An article and color photo appeared in the following day’s issue of the New Times, one of Rwanda’s primary newspapers. The ceremony was also on TV, and when I say I’m American or that I’m with the Peace Corps, people frequently say that they saw us on TV. Because of the Volunteers who spoke in Kinyarwanda, people also often say, “Oh! You are with Peace Corps – you speak Kinyarwanda! I saw you on TV!”

During the few days following the ceremony, we went all over Kigali, shopping for items for our houses. The best places to shop here include the main market, the two muzungu supermarkets (Nakumatt, a Kenyan chain, and Simba) and other stores known mainly by the nationality of the people who own them or the products they sell – the German store, the Indian store, the Chinese store, etc. I purchased the basics – plastic buckets and basins, laundry soap, pots, dishes, silverware, a frying pan, a kerosene stove, sponges, plus peanut butter, Nutella, and spices – and figured I can easily make do until my next trip into Kigali.

The other highlight of the week in Kigali was sampling some of the many great restaurants the city has to offer. There’s Heaven, which is run by the wife of the director of Access, one of our partner organizations – happy hour there is buy one, get one free, including draught Müutzig (draught beers are a rarity here)! Shokola (Kinyarwanda spelling of chocolat – though I’m not really sure why the restaurant is called that), serves amazing Middle Eastern food (I had vegetable couscous, and, after trading bites of each other’s meals, everyone agreed it was the best dish!) on a veranda and in individual cabanas. Unfortunately, my friend Kelly discovered part of a red fingernail in her ice cream (I’m not kidding) – yet the restaurant was so amazing, I still recommend it, and I’m sure she does, too. There’s also Zaffron, an Indian restaurant (East Africa is known for having great Indian food because there’s such a big Indian population in most countries in the region), which has a similarly great atmosphere. That night is the only time I’ve ever had Indian food I really loved – paneer tikka masala, Indian cheese with vegetables, and garlic naan. I also tried Ethiopian food for the first time, at Lalibela (a restaurant named for Ethiopia’s Churches of Lalibela). Lalibela has a similar outdoors setting, and the special that night was a buffet featuring all the staples of Ethiopian cuisine, so I got to try all the essentials, including injera and tibs. Plus, Lalibela is located at the One Love Club hotel, and part of the proceeds from the hotel and restaurant go to an NGO that supports disabled Rwandans. Bourbon Café is another key muzungu establishment in Kigali – it’s a coffee shop/restaurant that serves all manner of coffee and tea drinks, smoothies, pastries, salads, and sandwiches. Plus, you get free wireless with a purchase! (Interestingly, the people who own the two Bourbon Café's in Kigali are in the process of opening up two more locations – New York City and Washington, DC!) All these restaurants are extremely expensive by local standards, but quite cheap by American standards. Most of my meals cost 4,000-6,000 Rwandan francs (about $7-$10.50) for meals that would probably cost $20 in the U.S. Okay, I’m done rambling about all the great and exotic restaurants in Kigali. I don’t know if they’re really as good as I’m making them out to be, or if they just seemed really exciting after weeks on end of Rwandan food, but I think maybe Kigali really does have an underrated dining scene!