Week 7 - The Gift of a Green Pumpkin

We were all feeling a bit sad this week as we had to say goodbye to our facilitator, Jean-Marie, who had to attend a 2-week training course in Uganda. Though on the upside, we have had the opportunity to meet our temporary facilitator - Rose. Or, as she is sometimes nicknamed, 'the new Jean-Marie'! This could perhaps be taken offensively, however Rose has a great sense of humour and has taken it well.

Some of the highlights from this week include meeting a lady called Sofia, who was so excited about getting her energy-efficient stove built that she was dancing and smiling from ear to ear. It's amazing how something that requires only a few hour's work on our part can make such a positive difference to someone's life.

We also had the chance to see how cassava is processed into flour and some of us even got to help in the process (to the amusement of many). One day, before we left Nyagisozi, some people from the village gave us a huge, green pumpkin that they had grown which was really kind. The Azizi staff cooked it for us the next day and it was 'byiza cyane' (very good)!

Wednesday morning was a bit different from usual - normally we go to Nyagisozi either making stoves or kitchen gardens, however this morning we did some office work for RDIS. Some of the things we needed to do included:
- translating a case study from Kinyarwanda to English
- proof-reading a report that was soon due to be sent away
- proof-reading a longer document
It was interesting to have a bit of a change in the work we were doing and we all felt by the end of it that we had really helped the staff at RDIS. Getting to read through some of the paperwork also gave us some more insight into the work of RDIS beyond what we were doing with them. After a few hours of reading and thinking we were a bit tired, however RDIS kindly fuelled us with plenty of bananas. *phew*!

On Friday, our day off, we had the opportunity to visit a nearby orphanage called Urukundo (meaning 'love'). It was really nice to meet the children there, who were all so cheerful and lively. They had fun practising their photography with our cameras! Many of them had extremely good English - in fact, one boy refused to speak any Kinyarwanda with us! Later in the day some of us went to watch a football match between two local school teams from Muhanga which was interesting. Joel made us all laugh as he cheered extremely enthusiastically when one team scored, despite the fact that we were seated in the opposing team's fan section...

Teaching at the English Club, though still challenging, has been more and more successful now that we all know our students better and have learnt about which teaching methods work best. It is really inspiring to see just how motivated our students are to learn English and to see them improving.

Visiting Urukundo

Joel and Allen helping sieve the cassava flour

Sofia and her new stove

Week 6

WEEK 6

Meet Ms. Makuru ...the Pirate of Rwanda :)  

Amakuru again beautiful people !

Our week started off with a beautiful sunny Monday, Honore’s  brain working at its peak ! With Rhianna complaining her names didn’t have Kinyarwanda version , Honore  discovered Rhianna’s middle name , Mclure, had a Rwandan version; MAKURU, literally meaning “What’s new ?“. Since then everybody is been calling her MAKURU which she seems to hate and love at the same time :) 

We attended morning devotions with partners , it is always a pleasure, and rushed to the field where the team split up into two to make our first stoves of week 6. Splitting up is always fun as the two groups be racing to see who finishes first and who’s got the best stove. Fact be fact, MATESO’s stove is always the dream stove J . When it comes to  quality and  aesthetic, Emily and Rhianna are the team perfectionists ! It will always take more time to smoothen a stove than to make one from the scratch !

Aline muddin' it right !

Dream stove ! 

Enthusiastic and ready for another productive day , Dear Tuesday came as bad news , as the team woke up to find angry uncle rain knocking on  the AZIZI(our  accommodation) doors ! This meant being stuck with nothing to do all morning  as we couldn't go to the field ….Gosh, you should have seen the disappointment look on everyone’s face. Nonetheless , we tried to make our day a little  productive by using the afternoon to go cement the stoves we had finished in the previous week.

Mr Wednesday and Ms Thursday  were so dear to us , as we were able to go to Zion school in a beautiful sunny day. This time classes were a little different , to our surprise the kids were in good mood and were able to concentrate for a whole hour and a half . That was wow to us ! Allen , Emily and Joel decided to make the most out of this as they knew this was as rare as a miracle ! Geez , it felt so gooood! 

With a more relaxed Friday as it is our only day off , we were more than ready for Saturday, which happened to be the last of the month. In good spirit , we joined the community in UMUGANDA ( community work ).  The community was so amused to have us helping and of cause as always  the UK volunteers enjoyed some audience of  locals curious of how MUZUNGUs (Whites ) hold shovels and hoes ! As we came to the end of Umuganda , we tried to go home to be stopped by a local authority pleading us to attend the community meeting that always takes place after Umuganda. The community was keen to have us attend the meeting with them …so we decided to do so. A number of subjects were touched , to mention ; Teen pregnancy , Hygiene and sanitation , Election registration and so on . We left in good mood and said goodbye as this happened to be our last UMUGANDA with the community.

Working hard.....

Playing "Cheat" with Isimi and Emelyne .

Dear Sunday was even more fun, as after church we had a pleasure to have two beautiful ladies ; Isimbi and Emelyne , both from the previous cycle , over for lunch. Quite fun chatting with them as they shared their experiences  in RDIS-Muhanga  with us and their action at home stories. It is always a blessing having people as such over  .

Prayer Requests:

1.       Nepal and Edward’s Action Nepali children

2.       Burundi political unrest

3.       Emily’s cough

4.       Aline’s cold .

5.       MATESO’s Master’s interviews .

Till Next…..

The Rwandan Genocide: 21st Anniversary Commemorations in the Muhanga District

 On April 6^th 1994, President Habyarimana of Rwanda, President Ntaryamira of Burundi and several senior government officials were killed when their plane was shot down on approaching Kigali international airport, the country’s capital (Holzgrefe & Keohane, 2003: 15). This event sparked off the most horrific and deadliest genocide since the Holocaust of the Nazis during the Second World War, in which an estimated 800,000 to 1 million people were killed in a carefully planned massacre that lasted 100 days from April to July.

In the years since, the Rwandan people have commemorated the Tutsi genocide every year for a one week period between the 7^th and 13^th of April. However, for many the genocide is remembered for the whole 100 day period. On April 7^th (2015), President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame lit the ‘flame of hope’ at Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, Gisozi. This flame will burn for 100 days.

During this period of genocide, many people attend public meetings in local areas and attend events at memorial sites across the country. The vast majority of those who attend have been directly affected by the genocide, remembering their loves ones and close relations who perished during this catastrophic and immensely shocking period in 1994.

Although there was no specific theme to mark the 21^st anniversary commemoration, the genocide events were held under the ‘Kwibuka pillars of Remember, Unite, Renew, with a special focus on combatting genocide ideology and denial…’ (Musoni, 2015)

On Tuesday 7^th April 2015, the opening day of the commemoration period, Paul Kagame gave a passionate, heart-felt speech at Amahoro National Stadium in Kigali. Our Muhanga ICS team listened to this speech as well as some speeches from local government officials at the Muhanga Youth Centre. This was a very emotional time of mourning and remembrance for everyone present.  

On the Wednesday 8^th our group assembled at the RDIS Hall for a meeting with locals from the area. During this meeting the facilitator spoke of how the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) stopped the genocide and prevented further losses of lives of innocent Rwandans. The challenges the RPF faced, such as limited weapons, food and transport were also touched on. The inability of the UN soldiers to act and prevent genocide was highly criticised by most of those who participated in the meeting’s discussions. The audience was also invited to get involved with the meeting, participating in questions, comments and sharing some personal experiences.

On the Thursday afternoon, we attended the Binunga village genocide commemoration meeting with our RDIS facilitator, Jean-Marie Vianney Sindikubwabo, who delivered the main speech. The meeting’s main focus was looking at how Rwanda has recovered and achieved so much since the genocide. One survivor from this village gave a moving testimony on how he has forgiven and reconciled with his neighbour who killed his own children during the genocide. They were sitting next to each other during the meeting and now have a good relationship. This one testimony demonstrated the power and importance of forgiving one another, no matter how grave and painful the crimes committed may be. For Rwanda to successfully move forward and develop, fostering the values of forgiveness and reconciliation in Rwandan society are absolutely paramount. Today, genocide victims and perpetrators work side by side as a country mourns and remembers this terrible chapter in its history.  

On Friday there was a genocide commemoration meeting at Muhanga football stadium. Symbolic and comforting songs were sang by church choir groups, some church pastors spoke on Bible verses to relate to the genocide and there was a workshop which discussed how genocide can be prevented from happening again. The main themes of forgiveness and unity were particularly encouraged. The Rwandan government has been keen to focus on positive things such installing street lights in communities, health insurance for all citizens and Umuganda, monthly community service for all those 18 years and over. There are also many Rwandans who still live outside the country, whom the government intends to help to further enhance the unity which is expressed across Rwanda.

C.S. Lewis once said, “To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

References:

Holzgrefe, J.L. & R. Keohane (eds), 2003. Humanitarian Intervention: Ethical, legal and

political dilemmas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Musoni, Edwin, 2015. “21 years later, Rwanda remembers.” The New Times, published on April 7^th. Available at: http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2015-04-07/187642/ (Accessed 21^st April 2015)

The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame

Church choir at Muhanga football stadium

Genocide Memorial Meeting in Kigali

Weeks 3 and 4

appetising!

We have had a very exciting and varied couple of weeks. We have not only broadened our agricultural knowledge through learning how to construct a kitchen garden, but we have expanded our culinary tastes through sampling a Rwandan delicacy, fried flies. Emily and Rhianna were convinced that these flies tasted like sorely missed bacon, but perhaps this was just out of desperation. We also celebrated the end of Honore’s university exams with a wild party which included banana cake, banana juice and Honore’s dancing debut.

Our work in the communities has been split between finishing the energy efficient stoves and making kitchen gardens.  It’s probably fair to say kitchen gardens are a lot more physically demanding than making stoves. Our first attempt was fairly slow as we were getting used to the new techniques and methods. Perhaps most challenging was cutting down trees and carving them into wooden posts and pegs using a small, blunt machete.  Wildly swinging at a tree and hoping for the best was our initial tactic, to the amusement of the villagers. Joel and Ed were most successful with this and are slowly becoming accepted by the villagers as fellow tree fellers.

You are probably wondering – how exactly do you build a kitchen garden? Well, here’s a little rhyme to make things clearer…

Clear a space in the soil

(this requires significant toil),

puncture the earth with holes,

and then insert wooden poles.

Consult with Honore

‘cause he knows the best way,

to wrap the poles with sack.

We've really got the knack!

Use rope to tie it tight

pull with all your might!

Repeat for level 2,

then you’re half way through.

Shovel soil into the spaces

And don’t splatter on-looking faces. (*cough* Allen *cough*)

Sprinkle manure on the top,

and look forward to the crop!

the team with the second kitchen garden

Thanks Allen for the mud make-over!

On a more serious note, kitchen gardens are important because they allow people to grow a wider variety of crops all year round. This provides people with the ingredients for a more balanced diet. The crops grown in the kitchen garden can be watered using unclean water as by the time the water reaches the roots of the crops it has already been filtered by the soil. We have made friends with two boys from the village, Peter and Ernest, who have been helping us to make the kitchen gardens and we invited them to come to our lessons at Zion Hill school so they can improve their English. We were so excited when they turned up for the lesson, albeit 2 hours late, and we are looking forward to teaching them again next week!

a finished energy efficient stove in use!

We have also been working in the RDIS office by proof reading important documents and writing a questionnaire on the benefits of energy efficient stoves. We also completed the stoves we made last week by covering them in cement, a task which the perfectionists in our group loved!

We would like to say a big thank you to our friends and family for their continued support and prayers!  We have seen answers to the prayer requests we posted last week, specifically about the weather. Despite rain clouds gathering, the rain held off and we felt the first drops only when the last shovel of soil had been added to the kitchen gardens!

Easter In Rwanda

PASIKA NZIZA!  - HAPPY EASTER!

Good Friday

Our first experience of Easter in Rwanda was very different to what the UK volunteers are usually used to. We were invited to a Good Friday service at Zion Hill Church (which actually resembles a hill like Mount Zion in Jerusalem!) by our RDIS facilitator, Jean Marie, a Rwandan preaching legend who with his abundant enthusiasm, brought the church service well and truly to life with a captivating sermon. The UK volunteers all had help understanding the sermon from the in-country, Rwandan volunteers, so between us we could work out most of what was being said. Not only did we have a fantastic sermon, but also witnessed and took part in Anglican worship like we have never witnessed before. Within moments of a member of the congregation getting up to lead the worship, did we find ourselves dancing and singing together with most of the church at the front. Even the white-robed Anglican pastors joined in the joyous worship!

                                   

Easter Saturday

We woke up early on Saturday morning to embark upon a hike in the hills which dominate the Rwandan landscape.

After a short, but back-breaking and very bumpy journey to the start of our walk, we joined many locals who every week gather at the hill’s summit to pray and worship in the midst of the stunningly beautiful Rwandan countryside. We were lucky enough to experience some clear skies on our walk, which gave us great opportunity to take some incredible pictures, spend some quality time together outside, and relax on our day off. We also took some time to pray together and worship as we stood amazed at the beauty of God’s creation. 

 

Easter Sunday

Our morning was spent at the English Church service at Gahogo Anglican Church. We celebrated the resurrection of Christ firstly by leading the worship, and then hearing the story of Mary Magdalene discovering that Jesus had risen from the dead.  Our contribution to the service was increased further as, quite to our surprise, Emily was asked to read a bible verse, which involved donning the white robes and joining the pastors at the front. The service was closed by sharing communion together.

Our Easter meal wasn't the traditional roast that some of the UK Volunteers may have been hoping for. Instead, our conversation and fellowship made up for the slightly flavourless main course of beans and rice. Fortunately the day was saved by Rhianna and Emily whose apple crumble was out of this world, (out of this country maybe) as the Rwandans were surprised and slightly disappointed at the idea of cooked fruit!

For the UK volunteers, we found that cutting out the western traditions at Easter, mainly Easter eggs and over eating, was a good way to reflect on what Easter is really about and we found time over the weekend to appreciate the gift of Jesus dying for us.  The Rwandan volunteers also had a slightly different Easter as they were dragged out on a hike (‘who does that!?’ to quote our team leader Mateso) and made to eat strange food.

Week 1 - Stovin' life

We have just finished our first week of work in Muhanga! Monday was spent in meetings with RDIS and being shown the different projects which they are involved in. On Tuesday the work began! We travelled to the rural village of Nyagisozi where we learnt how to make energy efficient stoves. This involved collecting bricks and stoves (muscle work-out!) and carrying them up steep winding paths to small mud houses.

Energy Efficient Stove Recipe

Ingredients:

Mud glorious mud! (freshly mixed by Emily and Rhianna’s bare feet)
8 mud bricks
25 bricks
2 clay stoves
a pile of sand
some small rocks
(note: Honore’s expert mud mixing skills and Joel’s eye for engineering are also very useful)

Method:Throw freshly mixed mud in a 1m x 0.6m rectangle. Add all 8 mud bricks in uniform rows, filling the gaps between bricks with small rocks. Cover in mud. Add a layer of bricks on top, filling gaps with stones and cover in mud again. Position both stoves on top and surround with 2 layers of bricks. Fill the gaps with sand and rocks. Then finally, you’ve guessed it, cover with mud. Leave to dry and return a week later to cover with cement. Tah-dah!

Carrying materials African style!

Muddy hands 

The finished product

The finished 4th stove

By the end of Wednesday we had become professionals in the art of stove making! Energy efficient stoves retain heat meaning they require less fuel. This benefits the environment and the family, as pollution is reduced and less time needs to be spent collecting fuel and cooking.

On Wednesday afternoon we had our first lesson teaching at a local school. Honore and Ed taught the advanced class, Aline and Rhianna taught the beginner adults and Emily, Joel and Allen taught the Primary 1/2 class. It was a challenge for all of us! Trying to use methods of teaching that are appropriate to age can be difficult (for example, ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ might not go down so well in a class of adults). Also keeping a class, of any age, engaged for an hour and a half can be quite tricky!

After thorough preparation, our second lesson on Thursday afternoon was much more successful! Though it was still difficult to fit everything in to the time we had, everyone agreed that the lessons went much better with a plan! It’s early days yet, but with time we will get to know the adults and children we are teaching and hopefully will continue to become more competent teachers!

And finally – Umuganda! Yesterday was the last Saturday of the month, meaning that communities throughout Rwanda meet to do community work. We joined in and helped to clear weeds from Muhanga’s genocide memorial site. The locals found our efforts quite entertaining and soon we had a large crowd of amused spectators!

We’re praying that next week’s weather doesn’t prevent us from working on our projects, that we continue to be challenged and that we continue to grow closer as a team. 

It's an Azizi Life!

This post marks the start of team RDIS Muhanga's 10 week adventure with Tearfund ICS.  We've nearly spent one week living the Muhanga life!

We arrived in one very humid Kigali for our in-country orientation training which lasted for four days. After much anticipation, the Rwandan volunteers and the UK volunteers finally met and we all bonded instantly. This made it very hard to say goodbye so soon after meeting each other when the teams left for their separate projects. We're looking forward to meeting them again in Kigali to share our different experiences!

During the hour's journey from Kigali to Muhanga we were amazed as the cityscape morphed into the beautiful rolling hills of Muhanga Province. On arrival at our guest house Azizi Life, we received an incredible welcome from the lovely staff and were excited at the luxurious prospect of hot showers after a week of an unreliable cold trickle!

Our first few days were spent exploring Muhanga, including visiting its vibrant market where we were bombarded by unfamiliar smells, strange stares and mutterings of 'muzungu, muzungu'. We also had our first experience of attending a local church called Gahogo Anglican Church, where we received another enthusiastic welcome. We've also been invited to help lead worship there this Sunday.

So far we have been getting closer as a team and we have already shared many funny moments. To name a few -  Ed's daily political "banter", being asked whether or not we're "single and searching" during introductions at the school, a certain team member's failed attempt at frying an egg *cough* Joel *cough*, Allen's ground breaking use of paracetamol for cleaning irons, Honore's distasteful "Oh no" when we placed a pot of good old macaroni cheese in front of him, hilariously competitive games of uno... The list goes on!

'til the next post!