Bring out the tissues...

On a more somber note, we had our orientation yesterday and visited the Genocide Memorial Museum in the city. We had a lovely morning tea with the coordinator Claire, where she explained some of the program details, rules, customs, and program fee breakdown. She assured us about the dress code; that as long as we don't wear mini-skirts or anything too provocative, people would be fine with our clothing and we shouldn't feel disrespectful. It was great to hear her point of view about volunteering and how far the programs have come since they started receiving volunteers in 2009. She also talked about her openess towards volunteers beginning new initiatives and suggesting improvements for their specific programs. Amy and I were definitely excited about this, since we had heard from past volunteers about the challenges of the program we are participating in (Gender Based Violence). She also described some of the challenges that we may face such as poor motivation, lack of communication, poverty, violence, abandoned children, HIV/AIDS, and many other issues. We had to hold back tears as she described why some of the kids are orphaned...some because their parents died of AIDS, some are genocide survivors, and others were simply abandoned; one boy in particular was found as a baby by authorities in a dog's mouth. She explained their struggle not having any family, not seeing any future for themselves, and the lack of preparational training for them when they leave the orphanage.
After learning more about Faith Victory Association, Rwanda, and the programs we'll be working in, we visited the Genocide Memorial Museum. At first it was like any other museum, describing the different turn of events leading up to the genocide, the political climate, pictures, and video interviews with survivors. As we continued through the exibitions, there was a chilling section containing thousands of individual pictures of people killed during the genocide, truly putting faces to the numbers. They also had skulls, bones, and clothing from people who were killed, some of them crushed and stained. It was interesting to see that without the tribal affiliations, which were imposed by the Belgium settlers, the people of Rwanda would have lived in perfect harmony. Instead, a system of hatred and hierarchy was imposed that eventually led to the genocide where colleagues, neighbors and family members murdered each other. The most emotional part for me was pictures of children that had been murdered and small descriptions of their favorite foods, personality, and how they were killed. These beautiful, innocent children who were leading happy, healthy lives, shot in the head, beat with a club, or slashed with a machete. It is truly unimaginable. Outside they have planted beautiful gardens to surround the mass graves, where about 300,000 of the over 1 million bodies are buried. Although we've had such an amazing time in this Kigali so far, today served as a reminder of why we are really here, what Rwandans went through during the genocide, and the issues they still struggle with.
xo Cait

More About Kigali..

For the next two months while we are working here in Rwanda we will be based in the capital Kigali. In many ways it is a surprisingly sophisticated and advanced city by African standards but one of many contrasts. Motorbikes, old pushbikes, local buses crammed full, latest model range rovers, the occasional rickshaw and many motos (motorbike taxis) all share the mainly red dirt roads. Horns toot regularly as traffic winds in and out, avoiding pot holes and often other roads users which may or may not be going down the wrong side of the road. The streets are incredibly clean and litter free. Road works and constructions are underway throughout the city as it continues its regeneration projects to transform the city back to its former glory and attempt to keep up with modern times. It’s hard to tell at times if buildings are in the process of being pulled down or in fact being constructed. Shanty slums with corrugated iron roofs dot the hills and a handful of modern skyscraper buildings can be seen in city skyline. Using brooms made of sticks and with babies strapped to their backs women can be seen dusting the sidewalks and gutters, children in school uniform walk hand in hand down the road, and men and women alike balance anything and everything on their heads as they go about their daily lives. It’s hard to comprehend that 15 years ago piles of bodies lined these same streets.

            We moved into the volunteer guesthouse yesterday which is about a 15 minute moto ride away from the city. By western standards the house is basic but well above what we were expecting and had prepared ourselves for. There are 7 bedrooms in the house each housing 2 volunteers, 3 very basic bathrooms with cold showers and toilets (minus toilet seats), a lounge with a few couches, a dinning room and kitchen (although all the cooking is done over coals in a cooking hut out the back). The house is inside a fenced compound and has a courtyard and vege garden out the back. There are 2 house staff which do the cooking, cleaning, maintenance and security. Cait and I are sharing a bedroom which has 2 beds, mosquito nets, bedside tables and a standing wardrobe. We unpacked last night and are both feeling settled in our new home. It was great to meet the other volunteers who come from all around the world - France, USA, Australia, Norway, New Zealand, UK and Cambodia. We have our orientation and training on Monday and start work on Tuesday. Today we have splashed out and are sunbathing poolside at Hotel Des Mille Collines ("Hotel Rwanda"). Again it’s hard to believe the atrocities that took place right by this pool not so long ago.

Axx

Primus and toilets

After day two in Rwanda, I honestly feel like we've been here for weeks. I feel much more comfortable here than I imagined, although of course we get plenty of people staring and saying hello, but slowly getting used to that. Yesterday we met a few more vvolunteers and went around town with them. One of the guys whose been here for a while took us on a really long walk around the city, through shops and across to the other side of the city to get a better idea of where everything was. I bought a purse (my ugly day pack I brought along from home just wasn't cutting it anymore), and had to shop around before I found someone that would go down in price. First they started at 25,000 RWF, which is about $40 (and it was a made in china bag), so had to pass by that one. Ended up getting a nice, cheap black one that even fits my laptop for 10,000 RWF or about $16...and it even had the word 'delight' imprinted in the side...pretty fancy. Anyway, we ended up at this awesome cafe thats literally in the middle of the woods/rainforest/jungle, has private bungalows, couches in the grass, and seems to be built into the land. They had the most delicious smoothies (mango, pineapple, coconut, and passion fruit) that were so huge they ended up being our lunch. It was a very relaxing afternoon, and luckily they had wireless internet (although very slow) but enought to get our first blog entries posted. We met another American guy there who works for the Red Cross as a geographer, studying rainfall and predicting floods all over East Africa...pretty cool, and he had been here for about a year with no plans to leave. Last night, we found this little bar across the road from our hotel where we had our first Primus (Rwandan made beer) that is semi-comparable to Budweiser, and they came in these magnum bottles, so we just chilled out there and enjoyed for a while. Our waiter, Moses, spoke pretty good english and taught us how to say Cheers in Kinyarwanda (local language) and a few other useful phrases that we've already forgotten. Unfortunately we had to 'break the seal' after the Primus, and went to use the worst smelling toilet in the world, one where a bucket of water is used to flush. Words cannot describe this smell, but Amy and I shared my scarf to breathe through while we tried as quickly as possible to get out of there. As we were about to leave after the traumatizing bathroom incident, a nice older man sat down next to use and encouraged us to stay with another beer. We were going to head home but decided, why not. He also spoke english pretty well, but french even better, so luckily a fair amount of my french from high school (Thanks Ms. Jones) came back to me. Ended up that he is a major in the Rwandan military, and introduced himself as "Major Innocent", and was at the bar because another member of the miltary is the owner. He told us some crazy stories about his travels while working with the President Paul Kagame, how he went to Australia (closest he got to NZ, sorry kiwi's), how he's been to America and met Hillary Clinton when she visited here. After telling us about some current military activies in neighboring countries, he assured us that Rwanda is the safest place to be. We're not positive that he was legitimate, but made for a really interesting evening! After peanut butter sandwiches for dinner, we were asleep by 9pm, and cozy as can be under our mosquito nets.
xo Cait

Muraho Kigali!

So after 42 hours travel time (Amy), and 24 (Cait), we were (no surprise) exhausted by the time we arrived in Kigali. When I arrived at the border patrol, the man asked me if I was volunteering, and of course I answered yes. He told me that I needed a visa (which I didn't apply for as advised by the embassy and the organization). Oh crap, now I'll be deported or detained. Luckily he let me in anyway, but told me I should get the organization to get a work visa for me. After asking the coordinator here, she said, oh no, he doesn't know what he's talking about. I guess someone in uniform doesn't necessarily mean qualified. I did have a warm welcome from the driver though, who held up a sign with my name on it. After speaking french to him for about 5 minutes, he told me he only spoke a little English and Kinyarwanda (the local language). Oops. Anyways, managed to get to the hotel, after passing some armed guards at the airport, and the room was definitely better than expected. Amy and I each had a twin bed, mosquito net, and even a connected bathroom with toilet, sink, and shower (by shower I mean a small square plastic platform to stand on and tiny shower head that drips cold water)-at least it's better than a bucket of water. After venturing into town today, the poverty, development, and way of life is becoming a little clearer. Our program coordinator took us on a public bus, which did not have the most pleasant smells or comfortable seats, but is definitely the affordable choice (other than walking) at about 20 cents per ride. The city was busy, bustling, dirty, confusing, and thrilling. It was jam-packed with all types of stores, vendors, and people selling everything you could imagine. We went into the 'mall' where we met up with another volunteer at a coffee shop to hear his take on this new place. After describing his difficulties and successes with volunteering here, he took us to this incredibly western looking grocery where we bought a Kinyarwanda/English dictionary, some peanut butter and crackers, and cheap cell phones ($17 for the phone, charger, and start-up minutes). After our adventure in town (mom and dad, don't worry), we took moto's home. They are like motorcycle/taxis where the guy carries an extra helmut, you just hop on the back and hold on while they weave in an out of the foot and car traffic. A very exciting end to our day. When we got back, the cook here at the hotel made a delicious dinner of rice, fries, green beans and carrots, lentils, and beef in some sort of stew. Amy and I probably only ate half the plates, and mentioned it feels strange to be throwing away food in a place where there are so many people going hungry. At any rate, we had a pretty awesome first day out in Kigali, and are both thoroughly excited about making this place our home for the next 2 months.

More pics coming soon :)

First days in Rwanda..

It is so good to finally be in Africa..after so much planning and then travelling for nearly 42 hours on 5 diffrent flights. The landscape flying over Africa on route from Dubai was unlike anything I had seen before, nothing but flat golden sand for thousands of miles that had rake like patterns spaced evenly apart, the sand later changed to a dusky pink, followed by a dark terracotta color and then a marble like pattern of many sand colours. It was almost incomprehendable to see so much land with absoulutly nothing else but sand.
Standing at the luggage carrousel in Nairobi I started to feel slightly worried when my bag hadnt come through and even more so when the only bag that was left was identical to mine but not mine. I resigned to the fact the my bag wouldnt be accompanying me to Rwanda but hopeful that I would see my bag again. I headed over to terminal 2 to catch my next flight only to find that the check in had closed and there was no way they would make an exception. It all worked out ok and I was able to get a ticket for a flight to Kigali at midnight which was flying via Burandi. The passenger who had taken my bag back to his hotel later returned to the airport to swap it for his one and I was reunitied with my bag while waiting for my next flight. At last I was in Rwanda, incredably tired but so happy to finally be here and to see Cait again. We stayed up talking until 3am.
Our first day yesterday was great. We met Claire, the volunteer coordinator from Faith Victory Association (FVA), this morning and visited the FVA offices, a short walk from where we are staying. Claire is lovely and so friendly. While we were at the offices there was a young local teenage girl trying to enrol in the school run by FVA. Claire explained that this girl had lost both of her parents and had no where to live and while FVA were doing everything they could to help make attending school possible that there simply isnt enough money for FVA to fund all children who come to them asking to be able to attend school. Cait and I both looked at each other, knowing that we were both thinking the same thing...what would cost us so relatively little could make such a significant differance in this one girls' life and future. It is so much more confronting and real seeing these people and stories in real life, it is not possible to change the tv channel or to continue on with the day quickly forgetting the story you have just heard. This would be the first story in my time in Africa that my heart would break over.
This afternoon we headed into Kigali city, about a 10 minute journey from the guest house on a local van sized bus, with Claire and around 12 other locals. I sat next to a little girl called Arfia, who sat looking at me with these big beautiful eyes and huge smile. She sat staring at me facintaed for the entire journey. She whispered to her Mum who then let me know that Arfia was so happy to see me. While we were in greeted by many people as we walked around town with Claire, with many of them thanking us for coming to their country. Claire left us in town to buy some supplies and gave us instructions on how to get home and assured us that the many "motos", which could be identified by the green vests worn by the drivers, were not only the best way to get back home but also safe. I was hoping she was right as I climbed on the back of a bike and we weaved in and out of traffic, half petrified and half exhilrated. I was relieved to see Cait waiting at the agreed destination as we had lost sight of each other while on the bikes. Day 1 in Africa has now come to a close and I am looking foward to the adventures and experiences that the 178 days ahead of us will bring.

Axx

5 days to go...

So I wanted to write a little reflection, before Amy and I left for Africa. How did we get ourselves into such an adventure? Why Africa? And why volunteering?

Ever since my college days of Sociology classes like Social Movements, Sociology of Gender, and Women's Studies, I've been interested in the developing world. After learning about the genocide in Rwanda, genital mutilation in some Muslim cultures in Eastern Africa, and countless villages and families that have little or no access to health care or education...I had made my mind up to volunteer. Unfortunately my college budget was exhausted, so I was unable to finance the volunteer work when I finished school.

Fast forward 3 years, and my friend Amy and I are sitting in New Zealand on a Wednesday night watching Grey's Anatomy at her house. After a couple glasses of wine, and a commercial about Africa; the discussion began. We realized that it had been a dream of both of ours to travel to Africa to volunteer, even more specifically to work in the fields of women's rights, health, and education.

After Amy discovered Global Volunteer Network online, we set about deciding on a specific country to travel, and which projects appealed to us. We even printed out "Are You Cut Out For Volunteering" worksheets and asked ourselves all the tough questions. This even involved looking ourselves in the face (using a hand-held mirror) while asking questions like "what are the worst possible conditions you could live in?" So after discussing all the questions, some embarrassing, some soul-searching we decided to commit. So here we are (a year and a half later)...5 days to fly out, and I couldn't be more happy about the semi-impulsive decision that we made that night.

Raffle Drawing

Congrats to all the winners of the raffle on Saturday!! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email me on caitlinfparsons@gmail.com

Through the raffle I was able to raise just over $2,000 towards volunteering!! Thanks to everyone for your support--it's now under a month until the adventure begins!