1. Many Rwandans have been told that in America, marriages are a contract with a defined beginning and end. For instance, you can sign a contract for a 2 year marriage. After 2 years... it's over.
2. For some reason, many Rwandan parents tell their children that Muzungus (white people) eat children. So it's not uncommon to find children afraid of you.
3. Old Rwandans love canes. Old women (abakecuru) and old men (abasaza) almost always have a cane it seems. Most the time its just a nice walking stick but sometimes it will be a special cane that Rwandan kings once sported.
4. The culture of Rwandans has been affected strongly by several things. I can't give the full story right now. I will dedicate a full post to that subject.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
MY PRIMARY PROJECT!!
My primary project is the construction of a YOUTH CENTER in Rwamagana. My office currently sits on a pretty large piece of property which will be used for the youth center. I am very excited about this project although it will take time. I am applying for grants now and trying to get this project started ASAP. I want the center to be a comfortable, safe, and fun environment for youth to express themselves with confidential access to information and counseling that can keep them safe and HIV free. I am planning on it having several counseling rooms for VCT (voluntary counseling and testing- for HIV), and general reproductive health counseling. I am also hoping that with a collaboration with the organization called Books for Africa, the youth center will also have a public library which is something that doesn't currently exist in Rwamagana. I also want it to have a gaming room, and maybe a cinema room for showing films and giving presentations. Of course, I will need proper funding to accomplish this so it will be built in phases. I think that something like this would be invaluable in my community.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
August Continued
The rest of August flew by after having in-service training which was only catalyzed by copious amounts of Rwandan coffee and not a drop of rain. I took a short trip with friends to Rusumo Falls which is on the border with Rwanda and Tanzania. It was beautiful. The bus ride turned out to be a truly cultural experience. It was over 3 hours in a small bus (these are called Twegerane "we squeeze together" buses. Guess why. It is the size of a VW bus and fits 19 people not including babies, luggage and livestock.) that took the most random stops imaginable including one for 20 minutes that involved the loud Congolese music, dancing, eggs, peanuts and an empty bus. Yes, the driver got out and danced.
At Rusumo, we walked along a bridge between Rwanda and Tanzania above the waterfall. Then we hiked up to the top of hill and got a great view of everything from there including Tanzania.
I had a very important meeting with my organization. 1) My primary project is building a youth center in Rwamagana, 2) they want to move the national headquarters to Rwamagana, and 3) they want me to design it. So I took out the little knowledge that I had on drawing a floor plan and just drew it. And that's August.
At Rusumo, we walked along a bridge between Rwanda and Tanzania above the waterfall. Then we hiked up to the top of hill and got a great view of everything from there including Tanzania.
I had a very important meeting with my organization. 1) My primary project is building a youth center in Rwamagana, 2) they want to move the national headquarters to Rwamagana, and 3) they want me to design it. So I took out the little knowledge that I had on drawing a floor plan and just drew it. And that's August.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Cultural Notes #5
1. When ordering a drink at a restaurant you are always asked if you want the drink warm or cold. Yes, people do order warm water and fanta.
2. Rwandans try to give you the answer that they think you want. Not giving an answer is disrespectful. So… suppose you want to get to a specific place. Oh, let’s say… the post office that just randomly moved from the building it used to be in and left no notice (I wish I was making this up). You ask a person on the street where the post office is… they think. “It’s down that road”, she says. You walk, and find nothing. So, naturally you ask another person, who just points you back down the same path. This will continue until you find a person who actually knows. However, most Rwandans don’t navigate the way we do. They may even work at the post office but won’t be able to tell you if it’s on the left or the right. They think of places in terms of the surrounding area or history. For instance, its past Mujyambere’s house, behind the place where there used to be soccer field.
(Lesson: be patient)
3. Babies are named on the eighth day after they are born. Names always have special meanings that are known. For instance, the name Mukobwajana means you must give a dowry of 100 cows to marry her. Or Gahungu, little boy. Or Ngendakumana, “I go to god”. Sometimes children are named for events happening around the time of the birth, which may or may not be good. However, children now have the right to change their name if it causes problems. It comes in handy when your name means small bad girl (True story, she had her name changed after she personally confronted the mayor. She is only 9 years old.). My friend’s name is Matata. In Swahili this means many problems/worries. I’m afraid to ask why. However, Christians get Christian names eventually. But people don’t have middle names.
2. Rwandans try to give you the answer that they think you want. Not giving an answer is disrespectful. So… suppose you want to get to a specific place. Oh, let’s say… the post office that just randomly moved from the building it used to be in and left no notice (I wish I was making this up). You ask a person on the street where the post office is… they think. “It’s down that road”, she says. You walk, and find nothing. So, naturally you ask another person, who just points you back down the same path. This will continue until you find a person who actually knows. However, most Rwandans don’t navigate the way we do. They may even work at the post office but won’t be able to tell you if it’s on the left or the right. They think of places in terms of the surrounding area or history. For instance, its past Mujyambere’s house, behind the place where there used to be soccer field.
(Lesson: be patient)
3. Babies are named on the eighth day after they are born. Names always have special meanings that are known. For instance, the name Mukobwajana means you must give a dowry of 100 cows to marry her. Or Gahungu, little boy. Or Ngendakumana, “I go to god”. Sometimes children are named for events happening around the time of the birth, which may or may not be good. However, children now have the right to change their name if it causes problems. It comes in handy when your name means small bad girl (True story, she had her name changed after she personally confronted the mayor. She is only 9 years old.). My friend’s name is Matata. In Swahili this means many problems/worries. I’m afraid to ask why. However, Christians get Christian names eventually. But people don’t have middle names.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
In-Service Training (IST)
On August 1st I left Rwamagana to Kigali. Stayed one night then continued my journey to Kibuye (note: the road is extremely winding with steep canyons and insane bus drivers. I literally heard the tires screech on every turn). Kibuye is a fairly large town in the Western Province on the coast of Lake Kivu, which makes up most of Rwanda's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We stayed in a nice hotel that overlooks the beautiful emerald green lake. Opposite you can see green islands and a short peninsula. The lake is large and looks and sounds like the ocean. All of the volunteers came. We had some celebratory drinks that night and enjoyed the amazing set up.
The next morning I awoke to the sound of singing far off in the distance. I went outside and saw a couple fisherman in a hand made boat rowing full speed across the lake. It was beautiful to see and reminiscent of Rwandan life hundreds of years ago. The singing was incredible and carried across the entire like without a bit of interference. Both fisherman would exchange songs that sometimes have very fast lyrics but incredible melodies. The fact that they sang so well while rowing full speed was even more impressive.
We stayed there for the entire week beginning at 7 am for breakfast to dinner at 8 pm. We had guest speakers, presentations from fellow PCV's and much more. One presentation was about "Kangaroo Mother Care". This is a technique that people are implementing in countries with out resources like incubators for low-birth wieght and premature babies. In it, mothers (and fathers) are taught to carry the baby chest to chest. This way the babies body temperature is kept constant and other benefits too. I was asked to provide the father/baby example. Trust me... there are plenty of pictures that you will see.
I swam in the lake every day and 3 nights. One of the nights was a full moon. On Wednesday, we all took a boat ride to Amahoro island (a tiny island about 10 minutes ride with a bar, volleyball, and food). On Friday, I paid a small price to go water skiing! This was my first time water skiing and I am happy to say that it didn't end in more stitches on my face. In fact, I somehow managed to get up and go around lake for about 15 minutes before I was too exhausted to continue.
It was great to reunite with all of my new found friends. I had a great time.
Amahoro (Peace)
The next morning I awoke to the sound of singing far off in the distance. I went outside and saw a couple fisherman in a hand made boat rowing full speed across the lake. It was beautiful to see and reminiscent of Rwandan life hundreds of years ago. The singing was incredible and carried across the entire like without a bit of interference. Both fisherman would exchange songs that sometimes have very fast lyrics but incredible melodies. The fact that they sang so well while rowing full speed was even more impressive.
We stayed there for the entire week beginning at 7 am for breakfast to dinner at 8 pm. We had guest speakers, presentations from fellow PCV's and much more. One presentation was about "Kangaroo Mother Care". This is a technique that people are implementing in countries with out resources like incubators for low-birth wieght and premature babies. In it, mothers (and fathers) are taught to carry the baby chest to chest. This way the babies body temperature is kept constant and other benefits too. I was asked to provide the father/baby example. Trust me... there are plenty of pictures that you will see.
I swam in the lake every day and 3 nights. One of the nights was a full moon. On Wednesday, we all took a boat ride to Amahoro island (a tiny island about 10 minutes ride with a bar, volleyball, and food). On Friday, I paid a small price to go water skiing! This was my first time water skiing and I am happy to say that it didn't end in more stitches on my face. In fact, I somehow managed to get up and go around lake for about 15 minutes before I was too exhausted to continue.
It was great to reunite with all of my new found friends. I had a great time.
Amahoro (Peace)
Saturday, August 8, 2009
July
July began with 2 holidays. The 1st was Rwandan Independence day (1962) and the 4th was Rwandan Liberation day (liberation from genocide that is in 1994). I was in Kigali for the most part during these holidays but didn't do anything special. Taught English all month. Everyday was different and varied from complete success to complete failure. It's hard teaching English.
I took 2 long bike rides. One in Kibungo for 3 hours with my friend Tom. 2nd, I took a ride to lake Muhazi from my apartment (abt 2 1/2 hours). Very cool. On a ride back from work one night I hit a large rock in the middle of the dirt road and flew off the bike managing, somehow, to land on my feet. My white pants were undamaged but my bike was carried home by a couple nice Rwandans guys. I fixed the bike the next day. I'm learning more about bikes here than ever before.
Gave a presentation on family planning (in English w/ a translator) to "model couples". Model couples are trained by an organization called PSI (Population Services International) who do great work in Rwanda and elsewhere. They are married couples who practice family planning. They are trained in family planning methods and other related topics so that they can teach their communities not only by evidence, but by example.
I read "An Ordinary Man". The autobiography of the man who inspired the movie "Hotel Rwanda".
Little by little progress is made.
I took 2 long bike rides. One in Kibungo for 3 hours with my friend Tom. 2nd, I took a ride to lake Muhazi from my apartment (abt 2 1/2 hours). Very cool. On a ride back from work one night I hit a large rock in the middle of the dirt road and flew off the bike managing, somehow, to land on my feet. My white pants were undamaged but my bike was carried home by a couple nice Rwandans guys. I fixed the bike the next day. I'm learning more about bikes here than ever before.
Gave a presentation on family planning (in English w/ a translator) to "model couples". Model couples are trained by an organization called PSI (Population Services International) who do great work in Rwanda and elsewhere. They are married couples who practice family planning. They are trained in family planning methods and other related topics so that they can teach their communities not only by evidence, but by example.
I read "An Ordinary Man". The autobiography of the man who inspired the movie "Hotel Rwanda".
Little by little progress is made.
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