Back state side
So I've been back in the good old USofA for 19 hours now and all I can say is how much I'm missing Rwanda. Every time I leave, I miss it more and more. This was only my third time there, but boy oh boy was it just as amazing as the first time I was there.
What made this trip stand out was being a tour guide for 6 Americans who'd never been to Rwanda before. Being able to share this wonderful country and amazing people with them was great. I guess in the back of my mind I had worried, what if they don't fall in love with the country the way I am . . . what if they find the trip boring . . . what if they're not impressed with the red colour of the soil or the beauty of the people, but luckily for me, every one of our travellers LOVED the trip!
I will try to upload a few more photos later this week for you all to enjoy, but no promises about when that will be as the jet lag has not kicked in yet . . . fingers crossed it won't at all, but I sorta know that's not the way jet lag works (LOL)
Thanks again to all my US travellers who joined Vicky & me in Rwanda for the past 8 days. For those of you who didn't join us but would like to know more about the work we do, please visit www.itafari.org
Labels: rwanda
basket weaving photo
My attempt at weaving a Rwandan basket . . . takes this lady 1 week to make a small one - would have taken me more like 3 months!!
Labels: photos, rwanda, travel, travel blog
Another Photo update from Rwanda
300 cupcakes + 300 sodas + 275 children = amazing day!
Loving their cupcakes & Toucan straws thanks to Mies!!
Ives, me and Alice
The "gang" at Claudine's house
Itafari's country director, Christophe and Itafari president/co-founder Vicky
Labels: photos, rwanda, travel, travel blog
Sunday Sept 4th Update
So I'm having trouble uploading photos, but I will continue to try. Today we spent the morning at Christ Gospel Church in Kimironko with Pastor Francis. Then we had lunch at Chez Lando in Remera. The late afternoon was spent at Claudine's new house with everyone enjoying Fanta l'orange sodas :) Now we are back home (Iris Guest House) and will leave for dinner in about 30 minutes - we're going to Khazana Kahzan. In the mean time I will post this blog & try to get a few more photos added so you can see all the beautiful places I have been!!
Labels: rwanda, travel, travel blog
my dear brother Arthur & I trekking the gorillas
hold up your straw if you love it
Labels: photos, rwanda, travel, travel blog
Party for the Children
Sorry it has been nearly a week since I last wrote, but my days have been hectic, yet wonderful! We have done many things!
Tuesday our visitors arrived. Wednesday morning we went on the city tour of Kigali and in the afternoon we went into the Eastern Province to see some cattle and rice co-operatives. Thursday we went to Kigali Parent's School in the morning and taught some classes. Thursday afternoon half of the group left with Christophe, Arthur and me. We drove to Musanze for the night so that we would be close to the gorilla trekking starting point. Friday morning we left at 6:30am to go watch some traditional dancing followed by trekking up the volcano to see the gorilla family. Today we had a party for the sponsored children.
Tomorrow we go to Millennium Village near Nyamata which is an all day event. Tuesday we will go to visit the women who weave the baskets at Gahaya Links before getting on an airplane and headed home :(
Labels: rwanda, travel, travel blog
Photos from August 29th
my friend Arthur's house, should be finished by November - sooo beautiful!
this is what I look like after a 10 minute walk home in the rain from the city centre to home
Labels: photos, rwanda, travel, travel blog
Sunday August 28th Photos
Boys Choir from the Congo singing at church this morning
My niece Tracy with her Grandma Vitsy and her new teddy bear
My beautiful Rwandan niece Tracy with her new dress
G'ma Vitsey showing Tracy how to use the flip video
Self portrait with Susan in the background
Tracy loving the video feature with Vitsy
Labels: photos, rwanda, travel, travel blog
Presidential Suite
Living room (note the Summit Base water bottle & chocolate covered pretzels)
dining room
kitchen
pantry
stairs to 2nd floor
view from our balcony
bedroom #1 (note the Norwich University flag)
Labels: photos, rwanda, travel, travel blog
Second Day in Rwanda – Aug 27th
Second Day in Rwanda – Aug 27th
Last night we had a fabulous dinner with our dear friend Arthur. He became Vicky’s son 6 years ago when they met and so it only made sense that he became my big brother, since he is 9 months older than me J Arthur and Vicky met 6 years ago when he was translating for her on her first trip to Rwanda. I met Arthur 3 years ago this October on my first trip to Rwanda. Arthur is a real go getter; he went to Belgium to get his masters in International and Development Economics a few years ago and now works back here in Kigali. We had a great catch up with him and look forward to seeing him again on Sunday afternoon. Samputu never arrived so at 10:30pm, we politely told Arthur we had to go to bed as we had to be up for a 7am start!
At 7am Vic and I met in the restaurant for a quick breakfast because at 7:30am we had to leave to go to a meeting about our Child Sponsorship program. This normally would not be such a rush, but today is umuganda (In Rwanda, there is a mandatory community service day from 8:00am to 11:00am, on the last Saturday of each month called Umuganda meaning community service. The day is called umunsi w’umuganda, meaning “contribution made by the community” which is designed to be a day of contribution and building the country by citizens themselves. By law all able bodied persons above the age of 18 and below 65 are expected to participate in volunteer community work. The start of this practice goes back to colonial times and is still practiced today. Participation in Umuganda is usually supervised by a manager, or Umudugudu chairperson who oversees the effectiveness and efficiency of community participation. On this day, business activity halts, public transportation is limited, and people are seen everywhere working. People participate in cleaning streets, cutting grass and trimming bushes along roads, or repairing public facilities or building houses for vulnerable persons. People with particular skills offer their services for free on this day. For example, doctors may offer free medical examination. The benefits of Umuganda are not merely economic. The day is intended to build community involvement and strengthen cohesion between persons of different background and levels. One such a benefit is that people can access authorities to articulate their needs and voice opinions on various issues. The labour cost from Umuganda contributes to national development programs. By reaping the rewards of the volunteer labor and by having more capital to invest in the country, Umuganda has contributed to the growth and development of the Rwanda.) So as you can see from that definition, we had to be OFF the roads by 8am!! Along the way we were stopped twice by police who wanted to check our IDs and know why we were on the road. Through Christophe, our Country Director, we were able to explain we were on our way to a meeting. Both officers were very understanding and let us go. (side note: last year when I was here I had booked a flight for the last Saturday of the month and learned how hard it is to get to the airport, we went through 7 check points, each time all the muzungus (white people) showing their passport and plane tickets in order to be allowed to pass)
We made it to the meeting on time and I handed over the M&Ms to Pastor Francis & his wife Dorothy to give to his four children. They love M&Ms so I brought a large bag over for them to share. Our meeting went for four and a half hours. At which time Vicky, Christophe and I left to go to the MTN Centre to get some much needed lunch. We enjoyed traditional African food, beef, plantains, rice, sweet potato, beans, carrots & green beans.
After lunch, we drove back home to the Iris, where Vicky & I rested for a bit waiting for another meeting which then got cancelled . . . neither of us wanted to admit it but we were sort of relieved, we needed an calm afternoon – Vicky took a nap and here I am writing blog post and skyping with Caylin and looking at Mies photos of her Spartan Race. Gosh I love the internet and technology; I can still follow what’s going on in the USA even though I’m thousands of miles away!
Okay I’m off to take a few photos of our apartment which hopefully I will be able to upload later tonight so you can see how sweet our “presidential suite” is!!
Labels: rwanda, travel, travel blog
Photos
So I have to be honest, we've been in so many meetings and catch ups with friends I haven't been taking that many photos, but here are 3 taken over the past few days which I hope you'll enjoy....
Here is a view of the tv screen in the Brussels airport woman's bathroom . . . interesting place for a telly if you ask me
This photo's really just for Vicky, she loves apple juice when flying with me, but this time she was sleeping, so I got one in her honour & decided to document it . . .
Lovely lunch today at the MTN Centre after a 4 hour meeting about our Sponsored Children's program. clockwise we have green beans and carrots, beans, beef, rice, pomme frites, sweet potato, and plantain.
Labels: photos, rwanda, travel, travel blog
Our First Day in Rwanda
When I was little I always dreamed of having a “princess bed” which in my mind would be a canopy bed with flowing curtains on all sides. In case you’re wondering it never happened. But on my first night here in Kigali, I was able to climb under my mosquito net and pretend I was in a “princess bed”. Funny how a net which could save me from malaria can in my head turn into something royal, lol.
Vic & I woke up around 8am this morning, after falling asleep to the loveliest noises of rain on the roof last night! We had breakfast here at the hotel followed by organizing the lap top for Christophe and making a few phone calls to set up appointments for this weekend, before our travellers arrive on Tuesday night.
In making phone calls we discovered that Vicky's dear friend, Charlotte's daughter, Charlene, is in the hospital. So we immediately make plans to go to King Faisel Hospital. Her daughter is 1.5 years and has been throwing up & had diarrhea since Tuesday, but the doctor doesn't seem to know what is going on - they suspect something viral. It was very sad to see her looking so under the weather. While we were there her son, Chelle (4yo) started to throw up as well, so I have to hope & pray that they both get better soon! If they are still ill on Sunday we will go back and visit.
In the afternoon we went to visit with our good friend Rita who is the Executive Secretary of the Association of Micro Finance Institutions in Rwanda - very lovely woman and we planned to see her on Wednesday again.
Tonight we will see my friend Arthur for dinner, hopefully at Indian Kazan - I know it's not very Rwandan, but I LOVE this place & it's walking distance from our hotel, not that matters since he has a car, but still, Vic and I really love it there!
Then after that apparently Vicky's friend Jean-Paul Samputu (musician) is going to stop by for a visit. I've never met him but I'm excited to meet him.
I took a video of the guest house and our apt this morning and then when I went to upload it I learned that it was going to take 700 minutes, so I'm giving up on that and hoping that a few photos will suffice. Of course I did not taken any of our lovely accommodations when it was sunny out, so you'll have to wait.
Labels: rwanda, travel, travel blog
arrival into Kigali, Rwanda
Once again excited to report that Vicky and I are safely "home". We were greeted at the airport by Christophe & Pastor Francis - how lovely it is to be welcomed back by familiar smiling faces & big hugs!
It is amazing that after 16 hours of flying on 3 different planes over 3 different continents and every single plane was on time and my luggage arrived safely as well - Gosh I <3 American Airlines and Brussels Airlines!! Another great part about the past day of travel has been that since you all know how much I "love" flying with turbulence, is that every flight was super super smooth as well. And super big bonus was the fact that the last flight from Brussels to Kigali, there were many free seats so Vicky got 4 seats and I got 2 seats (cause I had to have a window seat) and we were able to spread out and relax, even though Brussels Airline doesn't have individual tv screens!
We called John to announce our safe arrival then drove "home" to the Iris Guest House. Where we learned we'd be staying in the presidential suite and that it is! When you walk in, you enter our living room behind it is the kitchen, off to one side is the dining room and half bath. Upstairs there are 2 bedrooms each with their own full bathrooms and a balcony.
We've been here for 4.5 hours, have unpacked, drank a Fanta L'orange, eaten some pomme frites,added minutes to our Rwandan SIM card, connected ourselves to the internet, and next step will be getting a good nights sleep.
Sara signing off from Kigali . . .
Labels: rwanda, travel, travel blog
Brussels, Belgium
I am happy to report that Vicky & I are safely in Brussels, awaiting our final plane journey to Kigali which should be leaving in about 1.5 hours. Vicky found me on the bus which was transporting us between terminals - timing is everything they always say :)
We've had a great time catching up & are anxious to get this last leg of the trip over and done with. Though I cannot complain as many of you know how I dislike flying, okay it's not the flying I dislike so much as the turbulence, but I am happy to report first two flights were relatively bump free, making me a happy camper thus far.
I look forward to sending you an update later tonight from Kigali . . . that is if I can stay awake that long! It's nearly 10am Brussels time which means on the east coast of the USA it's nearly 4am. Thank goodness I got 4 hours sleep on that last flight or I might not be so chipper right now!
I will sign off now, feel free to leave comments - I love seeing who's following my blog :) Oh and don't worry I've got my card reader so I'm looking forward to blogging with photos!!!
Labels: airplanes, rwanda, travel, travel blog
Rwanda Revisited for Third Time
So tomorrow I leave for my third trip to Rwanda . . . I went first back in October of '08, then again in January of '10 and now in August/September of '11.
I will try to update daily with what we're doing, assuming that I have time and a strong internet connection :)
If you'd like to know more about the foundation for which I work for check out the Itafari Foundation
Labels: rwanda, travel, travel blog
INH side effects take their toll!
Well aside from total exhaustion by 8pm, I'm doing fine & only 160ish days left on these lovely INH pills! Mornings & evenings are my greatest down fall, but I'm good to go during work hours, which is a plus.
Don't have to worry about the lack of alcohol I'm allowed because really I'm not awake long enough to want it (lol) I'm not planning any more trips either, cause I think weekends away really knock me out - learned that the hard way this past weekend. I flew to Frankfurt Friday night, was in bed by midnight & up at 6am for our all day Rhine River Castle & River Tour, in bed by 10pm & slept till 10am, in bed by 11pm Sunday, yet Monday I was horribly tired all day long - no matter how much caffeine I had I just couldn't get on track. So I'm sticking with my one weekend a month plan - I had considered adding a few road trips in but I'm saying oya (sounds like oh yeah but means no in Kinyarwanda) for now. Doc said maybe after a month or so my body will get more use to this & energy will come back or might get even more exhausted, I'm hoping for the increased energy, but either way I'll manage - I mean if people in Rwanda can have TB without medicine & probably have
malaria on top of it - then I can suffer through 6 months of antibiotics, right????
I've been chatting with my mate Nim who's going to Rwanda in September, hence the "oya" reference above - I've been teaching her little words I remember - she's so excited & I'm soooooooooo jealous! She's going with Rwanda Aid, a UK based organisation - I'm intrigued to hear her stories!
Here is a funny story about my fight on Friday from Heathrow to Frankfurt, where I learned I really need to get myself some business cards! Who did I randomly get to sit next to???? None other than a woman named Mary Oloo who is the director of Umbrella Widows & Orphans in
Kisumu, Kenya. Everyone else on the plane was German or British & we end up seated together - what are the chances?!?!?! She gave me her business card & was told me how she was on her way to
Germany to meet with future volunteers who will go to
Kenya for a year & help teach hygiene, English, basket weaving, cooking, pottery, etc. She said the next time I go to Rwanda, I will have to come & visit her for a week & teach about hygiene - I said yego (sounds like yeah-go - Kinyrwanda for yes)!
I'm hoping to have some photos to share with you soon, but I do have visitors arriving tomorrow for a week & between the fact that there will be 5 of us in my one room flat & that I have to work, I'm not sure if I'll actually get them posted in any sort of timely fashion, sorry!
I might be able to find a few from when I was stateside & get them up later today - fingers crossed!
Labels: germany, rwanda, travel
Save the Date - September 26, 2009
Hello my lovely readers, please save the date - mark calendars/diaries, import info into computers/iPhones, etc -
September 26, 2009. We'll be hosting an event in New York for the Itafari Foundation. In case you missed my daily Rwanda updates
click here and scroll down a little bit so you can read abo
ut all 21 days of our adventure! You can also see the Itafari Travelogue for details & photos!!!
I know many of you don't live in NYC, but it's not that far of a drive & considering I will have flown over 2000 miles and the president of the Itafari foundation will have flown over 2300 miles I think you can make the drive for such a good cause!
Click here and be sent to the events page of the Itafari website, save the link so you can be kept up to date on the events going on. I know some of my readers are west coasters and so you probably won't be making the September event, but there are some in your area as well so keep checking back to see when Momma Itafari will be near you!
This event will be wonderful, I just know it! There will be baskets from Rwanda on sale and you can speak with the President or me about our experiences in Rwanda last October. There are
goats to be bought, which is always a fabulous gift for friends & family! If goats aren't your thing, there are children to be sponsored, bricks to be purchased for a high school in Kigali, micro loans to be given, or just any amount of cash will help out immensely! I know these are hard times, but remember you have a roof over your head, you're eating 2+ meals a day, your parents were not murdered in front of you, and you have access to some of the best health care in the world - these are all luxuries which not everyone in Rwanda has.
Labels: itafari, rwanda
Rwandan "kingpin" jailed!
I was just reading on BBC's website about how the former Army Colonel BAGOSORA has been convicted and and given a life in prison sentence by the UN's tribunal for the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. I think this is a good thing - I know they're not going to be able to find everyone who did wrong, but at least they're doing something!
To read more about it
click here. As most of you who read my blog know about 1 million people were killed in Rwanda's genocide. It was decided that Col BAGOSORA and 2 others organised, trained, and armed the interahamwe militia, a Hutu paramilitary organization (kinyarwanda word meaning "those who work together") which were at fault for the majority of killings. These men were responsible for making a list of both Tutsis and moderate Hutus, aka anyone who did not agree with their vision for an more ethnically "pure" Rwanda.
Some other interesting facts about Col BAGOSORA's trail is that it took 409 days, used 30,000 pages of transcripts, there were 242 witnesses heard, and 1,600 exhibits - I'm not even sure OJ Simpson can claim those sorts of numbers!
If you're interested in doing more for Rwanda, visit
Itafari's website, buy a goat, sponsor a child, support a local business, or buy a Rwandan basket - you won't regret it!
Labels: itafari, news, rwanda
Where where you on April 5 1994?
Can anyone remember what happened on April 5, 1994?
Some of you might remember this as the date in which Poland's application for accession to the European Union was written, but probably not cause that didn't make headlines news for very long.
Others might remember it from what I recall as "breaking news" as the day in which the lead singer of Nirvana killed himself. I remember the day rather well actually because my best mate Kristen was in tears when she told me that Kurt Cobain had died. I remember thinking she was over reacting at the time, but none the less tried to comfort her in the only way we at our age of 16 knew how. Seeing as I had just gotten my driving license 2 months earlier and since I'd borrowed my mom & dad's
Lumina APV van that day, Kristen & I drove around town with no real destination, just thinking we looked cool cause we were driving (BIG deal when you've just turned 16!) and blasting Nirvana music!
And to my amazement, I don't recall hearing on the news or in the classroom anything about what was going on in Africa. Now some of you may recall more details about this day than I do, but I think my generation was a bit side tracked with one of our favourite musicians have just killed himself. I just wonder how I completely missed the fact that in Rwanda a genocide had been going on for FIVE days & yet I never had heard a thing about it. I was in a good school and obviously history was taking place all around me, yet our teachers never mentioned it, on Sunday when I went to church we didn't pray for victims of the genocide -
how did I miss this? Within 100 days nearly 1 million people died & for me the worst thing was that I wasn't sure how Nirvana was going to cope - that seems a bit petty compared to what was REALLY going on in the world!
As today is my "Thanksgiving" dinner, I felt it necessary to watch,
Sometimes in April which sort helped to make me even more thankful! That might sound a bit sadistic, but I still feel that even though we're all thankful on Thanksgiving, we are normally thinking about "issues" we're having in the US - like thankful we could get a new car this year, thankful we're able to go to Hawaii on holiday, and we breeze over the things like being thankful to have a roof over our heads, clean drinking water, etc.
Today I am thankful:
- I have never had to experience first hand the acts of a genocide
- none of my family was raped, mutilated, or killed in a genocide
- I did not have to live in a swamp for nearly 100 days waiting to be saved without food & drinking only the dirty contaminated water which had rotting dead bodies floating in it
- that America has elected a new president who I hope would never sit back like our government did in 94 and let some like the genocide in Rwanda go on!
Okay enough of that - I have to get back to cooking for the 13 people who will be showing up today to eat & learn about American Thanksgiving.
In case any of you are feeling generous today, please drop by
Itafari's website & consider purchasing a goat for a child headed household in Rwanda, a brick to build a secondary (high) school in Kigali, or give any monetary amount you can spare today AND remember to be thankful that you have the freedom to choose to give or not to . . . not all have that choice in the world!!
Labels: donations, itafari, rwanda, thankful, thanksgiving
