Vous avez l'heure, nous avons le temps.

Muraho,

Arrived in Kigali at last! On arrival, I came to realize that the taxi driver who was supposed to pick me up at the airport, wasn't there at all. No worries, I'll arrange a taxi. Wait... I didn't get an address! I'm not going to lie, I got a bit worried, but after a short phone call with one of the Sisters, I received some landmarks which should've helped the driver. Landmarks? What landmarks? The guy had no idea where to go to, and I was just enjoying the view from the backseat. Eventually we did arrive at the convent and I was warmly welcomed by Sister Steven and Sister Restituta. I got a small tour in the building I will be staying at and I got to meet a Belgian intern who will be my neighbor for the next three weeks. I was really happy to see someone my own age and she already gave me some very useful advise on daily Rwandan stuff. 

After settling down in my student's room in the heart of Kigali, I thought it was time to get things going... Boy, was I wrong! The only thing I got done my first day in the city was arranging a Rwandan SIM card and do some groceries. Wasn't feeling very accomplished. Because there isn't a lot to do and I can't seem to help out the nuns either because they all have their own assignments, I decided to do some sightseeing, starting with the Kigali Genocide Memorial. A tough one to begin with, but it's probably one of the most important things to visit, or at least I think it is. 

Getting there, my haggle "experience" was of good use, they don't mess around! Instead of taking a taxi, everyone advises you to use a motorbike, which is a lot cheaper (but hell of a lot more exciting too). The only little problem is that most of the drivers don't seem to understand a lot of French or English, except the numbers of course. So when you ask them something, they just smile very politely. Oh well, it could've been worse. 

© I. Inisheer

I was a bit apprehensive of what I would get to see at the KGM, but eventually I was very surprised by how immaculate the memorial was. Not only concerning the looks of the exhibitions but also the extended content. Walking through the museum, you get the whole story, from A to Z, from Nazi Germany to what Rwanda has become and aspires to twenty years after the genocide. I had been doing a lot of research concerning this matter before arriving in Rwanda, but when you find yourself at the core, receiving information and images you've never seen before, stories that haven't been told on the TV screen, ... It hits you pretty hard. While walking through "The Children's Room", some of the locals started crying. "Name: Filette; Age: 5; Best friend: Her brother; Favorite food: rice and chips; Cause of death: Stabbed in the eyes and hit with machetes." I can assure you, it's something you don't just walk past. 
Everything is still being maintained perfectly, flowers on the graves, beautiful gardens, wonderful assistance by the Memorial workers, etc. When I left, there was even a "Walk to Remember", saying "Remember - Unite - Renew", each person laying down a rose on the mass graves. It may be "just" a museum, or "just" a memorial, but it's something that won't leave your mind any time soon. 


As I'm writing this post, my window is standing wide open, letting in the most wonderful sounds of Rwanda I've heard so far, i.e. the singing of a huge crowd in the distance, clapping the night away. Unfortunately, no one is able to tell me where it comes from, so I'll just enjoy it from afar. I'll get to know the area better when the time comes. 


Muramukeho. 

New adventure, new eyes.

Dear all,

On Thursday the 23rd of April I'll be leaving for the land of a thousand hills, Rwanda.

I'll be volunteering at Gahanga, a local center for children and adults, just outside of Kigali. Some of them were abandoned at birth, others at an older age, due to their physical and/or mental disability. Normally I'll be working as a caretaker, but there are always a lot of other possibilities if things change. For example: some of the children, if they are able to, go to a nearby school and the ones who aren't are being educated in a room at the local center itself, so maybe I'll be teaching a bit as well. Also, there's a woman who has already worked out a program which would create a farm on which they would be able to provide vegetables, fruit and meat for all the residents and caretakers at Gahanga. My West-Flemish farmer roots may be of some use here!

The center is being lead by nuns, but not the same nuns with whom I will be staying for the next couple of weeks. The Sisters Bernardinnen in Kigali have been so nice to give me a place to stay during my volunteering. I'm really looking forward to meeting them.

As I've been very busy preparing for my trip, I got to see a lot of generosity from family, friends, colleagues, even people I've never met before. We've been collecting a lot of materials such as pens, pencils, paper, booklets, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, clothes, toys, teddybears, etc. to give to the local school Mana Mfasha, the local centre Gahanga and SOS Children's Villages. This is the ideal way to thank ALL of you for taking the time to go through your stuff and to see if there was anything you could miss. Thank you! We'll try to fit everything in our luggage, but I must admit, this is going to take me a lot of Tetris skills.

That's about it for my first Rwanda-blogpost. I'm too excited to continue. I'll keep you all updated once I've arrived in Kigali.

See you soon.