My name is not muzungu.

Muzungu! Give me money, muzungu! Muzungu, give me a balloon! You want a taxi, muzungu?! 

Oh boy, the life of a caucasian in Kigali. I must say that in the streets of Kigali you don't get to see a lot of tourists, so imagine when you get out of the city center... I can't and will never get used to the constant staring either when passing the locals but that doesn't make them any less friendly at the end of the day. Mastering some of the simple greetings already puts a smile on their face, appreciating the effort of addressing them in their native language, asking them how they're doing, etc. 

After working at Gahanga, the home for disabled children, I now have been working for two weeks in a school called Mana Mfasha. Initially, I would have been working there as an English and French teacher, but I quickly realized that this wasn't of a lot of use in the long run, meaning that I would just be taking up all the hours of the local teachers who clearly love to teach themselves. The principal and I then decided I would coach the teachers instead as a lot of them don't have a degree in teaching. They didn't start or weren't able to finish their teacher training because of the sky high costs it involves which they weren't able to afford. The school houses five classes: 1st, 2nd and 3rd nursery school and 1st and 2nd primary school, each class containing about 15 to 20 pupils. I've been observing some of the teachers, writing reports about what they're doing and what can be improved (cf. the didactics mostly). After two weeks of observing I created a file in which I put all the reports I've written so far. When arriving in school on Thursday, all of the teachers and the principal gathered on the playground and they were going through all my comments. I felt a bit uncomfortable thinking the principal wasn't too pleased about what I wrote, but I couldn't have been more wrong. All the teachers wanted to know what I had written down and wanted to learn as much as possible from what I advised/suggested in the file. I thought it was really admirable to see how they're very serious about their job and how they really want to improve themselves as teachers. That afternoon, we also arranged a teachers' meeting in which the teachers could ask me questions or if they wanted some more information or more details about what I suggested, one of the subjects being corporal punishments. I already explained to them that this was a cultural difference which wouldn't go away overnight as it's something that's being used all over Rwanda, but I tried to let them see it from another point of view, letting them know there are a lot of other ways to get their message across without scaring the kids holding rulers throughout the lesson. After a lot of discussing and explaining and putting it into context, the principal let me know that he would want to abolish the corporal punishments as soon as possible. I think I couldn't have been more happier that day, just knowing he would simply think about it would have already made my day. 

Apart from the teacher coaching, I've been having a lot of fun with the kids as well. Already in 1st nursery, they are being taught in English and in French. I couldn't believe my ears! By the time they arrive in 2nd primary, the pupils are already able to communicate in English and in French (next to their mother tongue, Kinyarwanda). Also, when the French lesson starts, the kids spontaneously start talking in French, even talking to each other they would be using French. Such motivated and enthusiastic kids, it's inspiring. 

When leaving for Rwanda, we got to assemble a lot of materials which we could donate to the different causes, such as Gahanga and Mana Mfasha. After a few days of observing, I brought some balloons to school, about 20. The kids were ecstatic until the point where there were no more balloons. "Muzungu... give me a balloon." Some of the toddlers were really giving me disappointed looks, yikes. So the next day I brought balloons for every one of them, blowing up about 90 balloons before their break got me a bit dizzy but the smiles on their faces were so worth it. They didn't let go of their balloon for one second unless the teacher explicitly ordered them to put them away during the lesson. Even when the balloon snapped, they didn't mind cause then they would use the latex to create airplanes or catapults out of their writing materials. The creativity is beyond me. Also the gratitude for giving them a pen and a pencil is something I'll never forget. All day kids came up to me to thank me for it. It felt unreal at times. 

After visiting a lot of the memorials in and around Kigali, as well as the other sightseeing opportunities in the city, I also got to go to the Akagera National Park to do a safari. I had never done anything like it, so I was curious as to what I would get to see. After a three hour drive to the park, we arrived at the Akagera Game Lodge and my oh my, did those beds look comfortable! We even had hot water to shower with and a balcony with a wonderful view. A little bit of luxury, I welcomed it with open arms! The first day we did half of a safari and in the evening we did a sunset boat trip. I loved every bit of it. No cars, no mototaxis, no people in general, just nature and wildlife. Well, no, let me be completely honest, the mosquitoes and the horseflies sure knew how to annoy the hell out of me, but I guess nature is nature and you have to take it as it comes. My legs and arms look like a lunar landscape, but it's definitely worth it. It's really hard to describe being in the park and seeing the animals in their natural habitat, so I just added some of the pictures to give you an idea.

And what the evenings are concerned, there isn't a lot of stuff to do here as a single traveler to keep busy at night apart from having dinner somewhere and enjoying the scenic views of the thousand hills lit up by little lights. I have visited the movie theaters here to see what it was like. Very modern, although most visitors don't seem to get the concept of watching a movie, being relatively quiet and enjoying the movie, that is. No, no, chattering the night away! Didn't bother me as much as the movie itself though, "The Longest Ride", which was one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Oh well! #firstworldproblems