Pay to see the Muzungu

This was our last full day in kigali until September when we come back for our debrief and so we decided to be rebels and leave the compound during the breaks that we has between Kinyarwanda lessons. I have to say as well i had an advantage during the lessons since i am fluent in both languages that they speak in Rwanda and so i helped my friend and fellow team member Lauren with her Kinyarwanda. She was one of the best students as well i have to say amongst the english volunteers..

Once we had escaped the compound and were wondering around the neighbourhood, we came across these free range chickens having a nice little promenade around town and when we stopped to get pictures of them the man who owned them then tired to charge us money for that honour and so i  cheekly told him that he would also have to pay me money to see my Muzungu's.We all had a nice little laugh before moving on.. but it soon became apparent that  whilst Rwandans love having their pictures taken more often  than not they will try to charge you for that privilege. 

We also came across some children who were on their way to collect water for their families and who were very happy to take some photos with us and tell us about their everyday life and the struggles they come across everyday due to not have easy access to water. Its was nice to see how cheerful and thankful they were and without them having told us it would have been impossible to tell the hardships they had had to endure.

After church we went to town to the biggest supermarket in kigali and upon arrival to the compound i found everyone in the middle of a photo shoot and so me being me i decided to join in.

How Beautiful is Bellas dress?

After a cheeky escape to an italian restaurant we went to the market to try and find some cheep quality fabrics but seeing as how it was a sunday and not a normal market day, all the stalls were near enough empty.

I am going to sleep now though since i have a long day tomorrow but hope you are enjoying your weekend so far and

I will talk to y'all soon

Issie xox

Genocide Memorial

If you know anything about Rwanda you will probably know about the terrible time the country and people went through during the 1994 genocide and the following side effects both on how the UN resolves suspected genocide and also how a country is able to recover.

Upon arrivals, we saw the messages written on string from family member os the victims as well as the names of some of the people who perished in the genocide. Never again was one of the messages that we kept seeing there and this immediately reminded me of what the allied world leaders said after WWII.

Sadly they are still finding bodies twenty years later and still trying to find burial grounds for them and so here at the memorial there was an open grave where you could see the caskets . Already at the burial site there were 250,000 bodies buried there and the man showing us around said he never expected the numbers would reach such height but what are you to do when the world goes mad and they start doing disrespectful things.

The sunsets in kigali are some of the best in the world i think. Everyday no mater where we were , we looked out to this amazing golden sunset.

I will have to talk to y'all soon/ I have to go to bed now since i have to do my community work tomorrow at 6.30.

T'alk to y'all soon

Issie xox

Bridge to Tanzania

By day two in kigali we were all pretty close by then and had managed to form small little families within the 60 or so people around. It was unexpected and also nice at the same time to see how the ICV's (In Country Volunteers) and UKV's (UK Volunteers) quickly just became V's. Some even started making love connection which would have 10 weeks to blossom. The seeds were just getting planted.

As for the days we spent the day doing team building exercises so we could get to know each others strengths and weaknesses and so that once we arrived to our different projects there would hopefully be no nasty surprises.

Lauren aka Billy no mates.

All 60 of the volunteers got together for a postcard picture.

In the afternoon we were given the mission of building a bridge within our groups that could be used by both humans and vehicles. Although our team didn't come in first we managed to work well together to build a bridge that theoretically would connect Rwanda and Tanzania. This also meant we came in second place.

Meet my team- Reuben-My Irish Hubby, Lauren- My Scottish Lass, Eme- The House Mother, Patrick- The Wannabe Gangster,Lys- The Little One, Paddy- The Brighton Lad, Emmanuel- The Wannabe Joker, and Me- The Special One

We then  had to draw our fellow team member and as you can see only a select few had any real taler but nevertheless it was fun and interesting since we got to find out some cook information about each other. Can you spot the team in the pictures about.

Lauren, Vicki, Reuben, Gabs, Fled, Paddy

Dinner time was both exciting and excruciating since it was fun to decompress and talk about the days events but also all we had to look forward to was carb central. Every type of carb you can imagine ended up on our plates be it sweet potatoes, fried potatoes, chips, Yam, Rice, Pasta. For those of us who had had dreams of losing weight whilst in Africa it soon become apparent that we probably wouldn't be able to fit into the clothes we had going back.

At the end of the day we shared our hopes and dreams of the coming placement.

 whilst it was all very interesting and fun by this time we were also starting to feel like cooped up chickens since we went really allowed out of the compound to explore Kigali as much as we wanted. Whilst the arguments given were understandable you can still imagine the frustration of 60 or so young people cooped up after 9 in a new town.

I hope this reaches you in good faith and i will talk to y'all soon.
I need to go set up for the yoga class i am holding but have a lovely time/day wherever you are in the world.

Issie xox

Arriving in kigali

So the time finally arrived for us to make our way to Kigali, Rwanda to start our projects and there were about 15 super excited english volunteers making their way to Nairobi, from Heathrow and then from there we would make our way to Kigali. It was a long and somewhat tedious flight seeing as how very few of us managed to actually get any sleep and the plane food was well... the typical inedible plane food.

Once we arrived in Kigali around 9.30 am, we made our way to League about a 15 mins drive away from the airport. Issie being Issie didn't even realise that you are not allowed to talk any pictures of government properties and a special no no to the airport.

We had to make our way over to Moucecore we were we going to spend a lot of time travelling back  and forth to for the first week whilst we were getting to know all 60 of us taking part in this project. 30 UKV'S (UK Volunteers) and 30 ICV'S (In country volunteers). We were spilt into 8 teams going to 7 different cities to work with our two partners. A.E.E (African Evangelical Enterprise) and RDIS  ( Rural Development Inter-Diocesan Service).

After dinner we had time to walk around the place and explore a bit and also appreciate the Land of a Thousand hills. The scenery was so beautiful as you can tell from the pictures.

We had a few jumps of joy to celebrate the fact that we had arrived here safely and also that the people we were working with here in Rwanda we so awesome and interesting. We all come from different backgrounds and yet here we were in the same place united in the same cause.

It was also Vicki's birthday on the same day that we arrived and some of the people in her team actually managed to surprise her with a birthday cake. Over all it was a fantastic start to our placement in to Rwanda.

I will be talking to you all soon but what with the poor cuts and lack of internet i dont know how often or regular the postings will be.

Talk to y'all soon. and p.s. say a little prayer for us in Rwanda for the work that we are doing here. Long may we continue to make a difference.

Issie xox