A few random encounters!

1. Walking into a bank, sitting down and asking what percentage of people have accounts, who takes out loans, what for and for how much. I can imagine walking into TD Banknorth, they would think that I was crazy to ask for these numbers. Just to add a little humor; the bank manager took out his lap top, opened this spread sheet, started highlighting things and clicking which as we know just does absolutely nothing. I was watching him, he just kept doing that over and over, scrolling down the page and writing in numbers where he felt like it. After 20 minutes he pointed to the number and said, "62." I am not sure where he got that number or what it was representing but I wrote it down. It was obvious that he had just made it up.

2. Walking back from the office the other day, I had to go to the pharmacy to buy Malaria Medication. The lady was talking to someone in front of me so I waited my turn. Soon someone walks in from outside and says to me, "Hello! The lady wanted me to ask you why you were not telling her what you want, but you are just standing there." I laughed cause there was someone in front of me. I then tried to explain Malaria medication to her, she was like, "what kind of sickness do you have!" I said, "no it's to prevent malaria!" She thought I was crazy, I wrote down "Doxycycline" and the man finally understood. I said I needed enough for sixty days. He brings out a box of 8 and he said, "you can just buy the whole box." I said, "Oh how many are in it?" "8" he said. "Oh I need enough for two months like 60 days!" and he said, "Yes you can buy one box." I said, "OK I need 8 boxes!" This went on for a few minutes and finally I had what I needed and I paid him and walked out.

3. On the way home a man was walking with me, as do many Rwandans when they see a white person, they just begin talking to you like you are old friends. He turned to me and said, "Good Morning! Welcome to Africa! Where are you coming from?" I said, "Thanks I am coming from the United States, but I just came from Uganda!" He was overexcited and said, "Oh well, Thank you for coming to Rwanda!" I said, "Your Welcome! It is my pleasure!" Then he said something about his birthday and I said, "Oh is your birthday today?" He said, "no it's tomorrow!" i said, "Tomorrow is your birthday?" He said, "Well, its today or tomorrow!" I think he may have wanted a present or something. Nevertheless I was still excited because he was the first stranger that had welcomed me to his country as opposed to just staring.

Communication here is so funny! It makes me laugh all the time, you are never sure what someone is saying to you or if they quite understood what you are saying to them. We have a week left of Practicum and then we start more classes and the last leg of our trip! I can't believe it's here already!

I just wanted to say that I am refreshed! I have a renewed excitement for being here and I am still amazed at the opportunities I have for growth here!

"Muraho!" GREETINGS!

"Uri guseke iki?" "Why are you laughing?" I finally learned what will become my favorite phrase here in Rwanda if I can learn to let it role off my tongue easy enough. It is what I am most commonly thinking as people pass me on the street and start laughing to see a white person. I would love to be able to respond with something funny in thier own language so they can really laugh.

Today on the bus I finally got my opportunity to ask a nice young Rwandan woman why she was laughing. She gazed over at me from across the isle and I smiled. She laughed nervously putting her face in her hands, so naturally I laughed to seal the awkwardness. We had several exchanges exactly like this one until she finally said, "why are you laughing?" (In English of course otherwise I would not have understood her.) I said, "I was wondering why you were laughing at me? I am only smiling and you are laughing!" She just kept laughing and the man next to me began to translate for her. He said, "in her country when you are laughing at someone it means that you are pleased with them.!" I said to her, "Je suis content!" which means - "I am happy!" in French.

A few minutes later we were exchanging stories and numbers, and emails. Caritsa is her name and the girl next to her, unrelated, is Stella! We all became friends just from a simple smile to offset an awkward stare! Turns out Stella is becoming a nurse and is only 20 years old - I told her about my sister Lucy who is a nurse and she was excited to hear it. Caritsa has one daughter. When Danielle and I arrived in Kigali, Caritsa helped us find a taxi and accompanied us to where we were staying because she wanted to see it and make sure we had gotten there safely. Stella called me this evening to say "Goodnight!" What a pleasant bus ride and now I have two more friends! I love how God works, He truly is amazing!

I also got a Kinyarwandan lesson from the man sitting next to me as well. I just wanted to say... "Imana Iragukundu!" which means "God loves you!"

comments on this internship

Rwanda reminds me of a big patchwork quilt with all the farms as the different squares, the picture doesn't quite capture it. I think it will give you an idea though, just imagine the hills keep rolling, the quilt gets bigger and the designs keep diversifying. It has been an honor to spend every day of this week in these hills meeting people and talking to them about their community. Wow what depth of majesty is this creation!

These were the girls I wrote about previously whom I gave the pen to. We spoke with community leaders and church leaders, as well as visited many homes. I can not even explain how uncomfortable it made me to ask these questions to the people including: "What are the main sources of your income and how much do you make every day?" Or "how far do you walk to the nearest water source?" or "do you clean your water?" The answers were all the same. We would hear, "it's difficult to say how much money we make because whenever there is any money at all, we spend it on food or cloths." They said the main source of income was there crops but many times there was not enough harvest to feed the family daily, let alone to be sold in the market. They spoke of not enjoying the two hour walk to the market carrying vegetables or the same walk in another direction to fetch water. Many times they can not find enough fire wood to boil and clean their water, so they mix their clean water with dirty. It was no longer just facts we were gathering from the leaders, it was actual lives that were telling us the same difficult truth. We very quickly canned the survey and it was much nicer to chat in their homes.

I must say it has been a very difficult week. I have been struggling being here and finding my role as an American who lives a very different life than these people. Difficult questions rise as I contemplate the information I find out and the poverty that I see. Crying just thinking about the pain these people feel. You may say, "Well they don't know any different," but I still can't reconcile the fact that most children only eat one time every day. How can a person get used to that hungry feeling in his belly? It is so hard to keep myself from just handing out my lunch every day, fighting with the fact that they already expect white people to come and just hand them stuff and this action only encourages this mentality. While on the other hand I can't handle eating when they are not - or coming home to a big meal, I loose my appetite just thinking about it. Yes maybe they don't know what it feels like to have a shower head and running water, maybe they can live without those things, but you need meat and protein to survive and small animals are really lacking in this area. I can not even begin to put myself in their shoes, so I can not dare to say what they can and can not live without.

I don't even know anymore what is the correct response. Help me Lord to be here for the purpose in which you have sent me, and not to expect anything different.

Picture explanation

I just wanted to make sure you all knew that even though the blogs listed are from Rwanda, the four pictures below are from Uganda. The one with all the girls is in Kampala on January 30 when they made me a cake and sang to me after dinner. The others are from Tororo, Uganda when I visited the village for the weekend.

First Survey and Meeting with Community Leaders

February 20, 2009

Today we conducted our first survey at the place where the sector leader's office is. We were able to meet all the leaders of the different cells in the district of Muhanga, including the two communities we will be spending time in: Cyeza and Takwe.
There were at least 150 to 200 people standing and sitting in groups on the community lawn all morning long for a five-minute meeting with the leader. I am proud to say that the leader of the entire sector was a woman about 29 years old. She was going to appoint a member, who is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, to speak on behalf of the rest. They all lined up and cheered when she came out to speak to them. She spoke to them with authority and they respected her. She has the highest position in her district; she is in charge of many people's lives and safety and a great woman for it I might say. We were honored that she invited us into her office and allowed us to take up her time and talk.
It's amazing the way people work together for the good of the whole community. I can't imagine all the counties in even just southern NH coming together, meeting on a lawn and cheering when the governor came out to greet them and speak, without even a microphone, giving him that much respect.

We spoke with a community member for about an hour. The interview went quite well considering Marceline - an FH CDP officer, often struggled with the English to explain. God really conducted the survey because I don't believe there was any miscommunication.

I am excited to visit several households next week and talk with the children.

I held another baby – and spoke with a few more young girls who were standing nearby, fascinated for some reason. They warmed up to me and gave me multiple hugs after I gave them my water bottle. They were extremely thirsty because they drank the whole thing right away. I was sitting waiting for my “moto” (small motorcycle taxi) driver to come and take me back to the FH office, when she came over to me all timid and asked in a faint voice, “Where's the pen?” I said, “Pen?” and made a witting motion. She said, “Yes!” I pulled out a pink, sparkly pen and gave it to her – she was overjoyed. I said, “Miridwe!” which means goodbye in Kinarwandan and walked away. I realized I should have given them some paper and the other pen that was in my bag because she doesn't have school supplies.

The children that are sponsored in the CDP communities are given school supplies. Although FH chooses the families which are the poorest among the poor to be CDP children, and the entire family is taken care of through sponsorship, it makes me sad to think that some children don't have school supplies.

Job Description and Practicum Site

February 17, 2009

I am leaving tomorrow for my three-week internship in the southern province of Gitrama. This is a long update, but I feel that I need to give you an adequate description with examples of what Food for the Hungry does here and what I will be doing. Also, it might be awhile until the next update as I don't know when I will have internet again.

Danielle and I will be doing needs assessment and community study in many different communities. Just to give you an idea of this CDP (Child Development Program) in Rwanda: It is about building community through sponsorship from countries all over the world. There are 15 CDP centers in Rwanda. The biggest center has 1174 children they are responsible for in different communities. Rwanda is divided into four provinces, 50 districts, 145 sectors, 4000 cells, and 100 villages which are broken up into households. The total population is nine million.

We are working with some Food For the Hungry (FH) field staff in creating a Community Transformation (CT) Plan which focuses on developing the strengths of an entire community. What I will do is: spend time in the community, observe how people are living their lives and what is missing. The way we will do this is by surveying them. For example observe the school buildings- are there classrooms? Why is the number of children attending school so low? Do they have adequate space and resources for an efficient learning environment? Are their physical needs being met? Do the families have money to pay the school fees? Above all, FH is seeking to find out if the resources are there for the children to have the opportunity to improve their lives. “If the families, churches and leaders are meeting the needs of the children, then we as FHI Rwanda are meeting our goals,” quotes Ernest the CDP Officer here in Kigali.

FH will use the descriptions that we write about the communities to continue their work. Once they have assessed the work and measured the progress, they are able to leave the community and move to more developing. What are measurable indicators? We know we have transformed these communities when for example the schools have a safe water source for the children to drink from. They train Care Team Leaders from the community who will be able to sustain the progress when FH leaves.

I am so excited to be apart of real, positive change in these people's lives and for my life to be changed in the process. I have been studying communication: community development, conflict in communities and interpersonal relationships, power, journalism, media and speech writing and many more applicable subjects. The amazing thing is that now I will get to experience and observe, first hand, how these things are helpful in a situation such as this. I feel very humbled and unaware, after talking to the field experts that I will be assisting; it will be interesting to see what parts of my education will be highlighted through this work. I know as I am immersed in this culture that my heart will be drawn to these people and helping empower them to own their own poverty in their community and encourage their strengths.

There are children that run all through these offices and I am thrilled to be able to interact with them as well. I am looking forward to learning so much from these community members; meeting people and enjoying their way of living. I am so honored to have the opportunity of being a part of this work for even a short time. I hope that I can be productive with my time and once again take the most of every opportunity to soak up all that I can about this culture.

AHHH I can't believe I'm Here!

Arrival in Kigali, Rwanda!

February 16, 2009

So today we drove to Rwanda! I realize after ten hours on the bus and two hours at the border filling out immigration papers and walking a few kilo's, without any direction, in a very unorganized fashion across Uganda to Rwanda; that here I am. This will be my new home for the next nine weeks. It feels like the first day all over again.

I am greeted stepping off the bus by a mob of young men asking if I want “a special.” I look behind and the others are not there. I am sure I don't want the special even though I don't know what it is, I don't want to find out. I think they may be talking about taxis??? After the rest of the team joins me, we wait awkwardly with our bags for the man whose only description was no different from every other man there – a young, black man with no facial hair, and driving a white bus. Driving to where we will be staying I'm hugely impressed with the city of Kigali. It’s clean, and not as crazy as Kampala.

Let me try to explain the “Taxi Park” of Kampala which was my main downfall of the city. First of all a “taxi” is a sort of mini van with fourteen seats squished in and that are not what you call sturdy vehicles – most of them are falling apart. There are three parks – a new one which Ugandans call the old one sometimes; an old one, which may be referred to as the new one or the old one depending on who you ask; and an old, old one which many people don't even know exists. As you can see, they are not clearly named, communication is difficult and remembering directions is close to impossible. I would just rather be dragged around by a Ugandan who knows where he is going.

I was and still am very intimidated by Kampala's Taxi Park. It's a huge area of dirt with a million taxis stuffed – parked or driving – in every which direction with different stages labeling where they should be going which is not always true. You are supposed to know and in order to catch it you must chase it or you will be skipped over and pushed out of the way.

I don't know how to explain the amounts of people in this place, not to mention all the vendors along the way. A few girls actually got a pedicure done in the middle of the park just for an experience and because it was 2000 shillings which is about a dollar.

While trying to find your way, you are running around, avoiding being smashed as you squeeze in between two taxis which are idle or run away from the ones speeding up when they see you crossing the street, stepping in what you hope is just mud puddles but it's not likely, all while politely trying to greet each person that acknowledges the white person with a smile. They are just happy to see you, they don't know your utter disparity and lack of knowledge as to where you are going – or maybe they do and it's humoring them. It's frustrating and difficult, but after you have successfully gotten around in the Park, you feel a sense of accomplishment until you try to go again.

I only got lost in the Taxi Park once by myself the day I was beginning to thank God for my good life because I didn't think there would be a way out until a very nice man, who sensed my desperation, graciously led me exactly to where I needed to be. I said, “Thank you very much!” and he said, “You’re very welcome,” and walked away. Wow, a miracle!