Jul 4, 2023
July 1 was Rwanda’s national day and July 3 was Liberation Day here, so that made for a long weekend. I hightailed it up to Uganda with my marking under my arm. (I got most of it done!) Response volunteer Penny advised me to skip Kampala, so I changed plans and went to Lake Bonyonyi, just an hour away from from Rwanda. I had some relaxing days as there weren’t many other guests at my resort, which is kind of odd because it’s high tourist season. Lake B is beautiful and dotted with little islands, one of which is Punishment Island (interesting name and more interesting story behind it). My guide Antony and I canoed around it and visited a small hospital and a school, speaking with one of the teachers there. The strangest thing was how cold it was there! This morning when I checked around 8 a.m., it was 56 degrees. The first morning I was there was even colder. Hard to imagine feeling chilly around the equator, but it was.
Jun 28, 2023
I am waiting for Peace Corps to accept my early close of service date, moving it up from September 12 to late July. The reason I want to leave before one calendar year is up is that there will be absolutely nothing for me to do at school once the Year 1 and Year 2 students leave during the second week of July. My Zimbabwean colleagues return home on Friday, July 14. After that, the school will just have Year 3 students, who I don’t teach, and their Rwandan tutors preparing for their finals amid the construction site that is our school now. As I get ready to leave Rwanda, I want to slowly give some things away. My nearest PCV neighbor, Sandra, came into Kabarore for lunch today and I gave her my toaster. (I don’t think toast has really caught on in Rwanda, so she was the only one who would appreciate it.) My friend Denis, a Ugandan who teaches at a local high school, is one of the only people here who is the same size as me, so he will get a lot of the pants and shirts that can be worn to school. My furniture will be donated to TTC Kabarore for them to sell to raise money for a chicken coop. The goal is go home with leaving as much as possible here, but I hope to pick up a few Rwandan baskets to take home.
Jun 28, 2023
The essence of Peace Corps is people realizing that we are one human family. Our school secretary, Mrs. Donatha, gave birth to her third daughter, Atete Mugume, about a month ago. My colleague Claudine took me over to her house to see the baby. While there I had a nice chat with Donatha’s husband, the principal of the primary school that is across the street from where I live. They served us soft drinks and super-delicious roasted peanuts. Her husband’s school is the Gatsibo Community Model School but there is a plaque on near the entrance that names it the “Chinese-Rwandan Friendship School” as it was built with Chinese money. Her husband went to China as part of the program of building the school, so we had a nice chat about that and other things while the ladies played with the baby. Claudine took a picture of the baby, Donatha and me. Turi kumwe – We are together!
Jun 26, 2023
I really enjoyed learning about students’ names in Thailand as it gives a great insight into the culture. Likewise, there are some wonderful names among my students here in Rwanda. The Rwandan naming protocol is unique in my experience – children are given a new last name from either their father or mother. Many students have “ishimwe” or “imana” (God) as part of their last names. In fact, I have four students in one class with the last name “Ishimwe” and none of them are related. The students’ first names have a very strong French influence. Here are some examples: Yvonne, Jean Norbert, Honore, Jean D’Amour, Claudine, and Delphine. The Bible also is a source of names and I have a Moses, Samson, Esther, Ezechiel and several students name Emmanuel. There are also some students first names that unique or strange to me, such as Somewhere, Bongo, Lovemaker, Hornella, Elissa (a boy), Allen (a girl), and Pacifique (both a female and male student have this name). There are some names which (I presume) reflect African heritage, such as Najeti, Djazila, Teta, Tidjara and Shemsa, too. Interesting!!
Jun 26, 2023
Many things about Rwanda impress me. Among them are their talented professionals. Rwanda’s civil engineers have turned a mountainous and rocky country into a functioning system of roadways with good drainage. Equally impressive are Rwanda’s architects. Kigali is a beautiful city with many buildings that catch the eye but none more so than the Convention Center. It’s got a unique design and is lit up at night in amazing colorful displays.
Jun 23, 2023
Rwandans love beans. I eat them just about every day for lunch at school. Before coming here, I never ate this kind of bean. During training, when my colleague John said that he ate beans and rice every day at his teacher training college, I didn’t believe him. I do now. The Rwandans pull the bean plants from the field and pile them high. Then they thrash them with whatever implement is around to separate the beans from the pod. Then they separate the beans again. I’m not sure why, but perhaps to save some for seed. It’s a very time consuming process but they do it in groups, so that makes it fun. Today we had beans mixed with carrots for lunch, but usually “doh-doh” (a slightly bitter green, like spinach) is mixed in.
