Sunday by the Pool in Kigali

Hmm, sounds like a good book title ;)

Had a lovely day today. D left around 10:30, he's off doing some more security, so I get the house to myself for three whole days! Woopie! :))

Very excited about that. I had a lovely lazy morning tippety-tapping up some more S101 article, mostly on English grammar and growing Voodoo Lilies :o/ I'm a bit miffed with the site, though. It runs about as fast as paint dries. It took me three hours to upload one article! *yawn* Not geared for the low bandwidth approach, and something squiffy is going on with their word count. Articles have to be a minimum of 400 words in order to publish. MS Word said 430, the website editor said 417. Then, when I hit 'publish', it said it couldn't because it was only 393 words! Err.. hello? I'd written to them about this months back. Oh, well.

Still, three months down, 30 articles, and I've almost made my first fiver. Well, I ain't in it for profit *rolls eyes* Good thing my writing skills are in demand elsewhere.

Today was all about relaxing. Slobbed out until Jo came to pick me up in her very suave VW Polo. We headed down to Nyarutarama again, had a swim in glorious sunshine, and a bite to eat. Met up with her Chinese friend, Cindy. Kirsty and Mel also turned up. It was a right VSO fest. Totally relaxed and chilled-out by the time I got back at around half-four. Some veeeery easy on the eye Rasta guys running about in swim shorts. Bonus.

Don't feel in the least like going back to work tomorrow. There's an absolute heap of things to do, all pressing and urgent, and I haven't done any prep. Slapped wrists. But I will dive right on in there when the alarm goes off on the morrow.

For now though, yay for sunny days by the pool. Yay for friends. Yay for cute Rasta guys in shorts, and yay for having the house to myself for a while. Yay, yay and yay to it all.

Butare Deaf Theatre

The Spirit of Deafness

 

Fantastic day yesterday. Starting from the beginning...

I've been in the office most of the week due to the Sign Language approval. I've taken a back seat and locked myself in my office as I'm neither Deaf nor Rwandan, so don't really feel I have the right to say anything. Karen's had a little talk to the American students visiting from Gallaudet. They have been up from Gitarama to take part in the process. Their original attitude was: 'well, we have a degree in linguistics so they need our help'... hmmm. Dangerous ground. Two Australian academics, Jan Branson and Don Miller, wrote a very interesting paper on Nationalism and the linguistic rights of Deaf communities: Linguistic imperialism and the development of sign languages, which basically looked into the issue of the top-down approach to standardising sign languages. 

Anyone who is interested in reading it can find it through Google Scholar, or drop me a line. I studied it for a Sociolinguistics paper whilst doing my MA in Language & Communication Research at Cardiff. Fascinating subject. 

The Americans have made some useful input so far, suggesting we include photographs of the signs as well as words, so that rural Deaf people who can't read and write can still make use of the dictionary. That's easy to do for iconic signs, which make up pretty much 95% of our dictionary at the moment, but it could be more difficult as we branch into abstract signs later on. These are concept signs such as 'attitude', 'management' and 'ideology'. For the time being, though, it's a very useful suggestion indeed. We will have around 250-300 signs in the first edition. That's about an eighth of the total of the British Link Dictionary, but it's a place to start from - strong foundations on which to build.

Wednesday was a bit of a tough day. We've had a three and a half hour shake-down from Amanda and Emilliane at the RNAD office. The previous quarterly report that we submitted was well below par. Receipt numbers relating to the wrong receipts and figures that weren't always correct. There's a lot of work to be done. It's difficult to know what to do as, keeping in-line with VSO's 'participatory approach', it isn't my job to tell them what to do. It's my job to ask them how they think they should do it and drop a few hints. The problem being that my colleague is an absolutely lovely guy, but not much cop when it comes to reports. I've tried a few things, such as explaining procedures (which are then ignored), writing very easy on the eye step-by-step instructions - even getting them translated into French - which are then left in a draw... I'm not sure what else to do but get heavy-handed and say 'you MUST do this'. He's in his position because he's the President's brother. Since the last head of organisation ran off with all the cash, he doesn't trust anyone else to do it.

It's a big dilemma. My colleague, with all due respect, is not the right person for the job. My solution to this has been to budget in our next project application for an Office Manager and an additional Project Co-ordinator. My thinking is to retain the current person, to keep the office open and check supplies/deal with bills/general administration, but to take one of the volunteers and spend some time each week training them up specifically in project management, planning, monitoring and reporting. I've got my eye on the women's representative who is sharp as anything. Hopefully we could then transfer that responsibility over to someone who is trained to do it, and encouraging them to take on an apprentice of their own and train the rest of the organisation.

I really have to sit down and think this all through, but I've already got a lot on my plate re-submitting the budget for our next project and starting a filing system (other than the bottom draw) for our office.

Thursday continued the tough theme with the monthly Disability Partnership Forum. Second month in a row that I've been the only one from our organisation there. I need to do something about this, too. I ended up going head-to-head with a rather important figure who leads one of the main disability organisations. They'd just got a new project going with the World Bank and, as part of it, the government had asked for a 'list of jobs disabled people can do'. The problem being that, in creating a list of jobs disabled people can do, you're also creating an invisible list of jobs disabled people can't do. "No, it was meant kindly," was the reply, but many things in this world are meant kindly that can result in damage. The Queen of Spain, I believe, only felt it necessary to enslave people who would benefit from being slaves because she felt it would be a preferable way of life to their native homelands.

Besides, are you going to write a separate list for every type of disability? If a guy with no hands can't pick up a bucket of rocks to build a house, does that mean a Deaf person can't build a house either? If a blind person can't be a blood tester in the medical research lab., is a woman in a wheelchair also excluded? 'Disability' is a huge term.

My main concern, however, was that in providing this list to local authorities, it would override the first logical step of equal opportunities: asking the disabled person what they feel they can do. Why bother asking when you can consult the handbook? ;) Saves time and human resources.

Anyway. This was partly responsible for turning a two hour meeting into a three hour one. It became somewhat heated, but it had to be said.

I'm also thinking of starting a campaign on the fact that the Council in Kigali have just built a load of new bus stops, even one directly outside the VSO office. Not one of them is more than a couple of feet from the curb. There isn't a chance of getting a wheelchair past any of them. And this after they just passed the first disability legislation last year. Helloooo... lights on, anyone home?

But on the up side :)

I received a parcel on Thursday which was fantastic. A while back I wrote a promotional article for Celtx, free movie writing software that I'm a huge fan of. They were so pleased with it that they sent me out some promotional goods: a fitted T-shirt and lovely jacket, and a load of things off my 'please send me' list, including a colouring book, crayons, stationary, and four flash drives!! Absolutely fantastic. Huge thanks to them. Plus a really sweet letter thanking me for my article, forum posts, and contributions to Celtx. It said they liked my scripts and to keep it up :) I was well happy.

D got a bit of a beating up, though. He just wandered off with one of the flash disks. He seems to have developed this attitude that what's in the house is also his and he doesn't need to ask. That really irritates me. He's done it with DVDs and other things, too. I explained in no uncertain terms that this has to stop. I've also written him a list of things to do this week, including developing a sample portfolio of work and submitting it, with his CV, to at least five graphic design houses in Kigali. So far I've seen precious little effort to actually get steady employment, and I'm fed up with it. He asks for transport money and money to pay for this and that - he needs to get a job. It's been three months now and he hasn't sorted himself out. Time to go. The July 31st deadline is going to be strictly enforced. Nice guy, we'll remain friends, but I'm fed up now. Annoyed to the point that I don't even find him physically attractive anymore. Time to admit that it isn't working and start having fun again.

Friday, however, was most fantastic. An absolutely brilliant day - VSO outing to Butare.

Antonia is a long-term volunteer who's been here for three years now, working at Butare Deaf School in the South. She and Karen were responsible for approving my application for the placement with RNAD. The things you only learn when you get out here :op Anyway, she's decided it's time to head home. Very sad, but wish her the best of luck.

As a grand finale she set up a Deaf theatre extravaganza at the theatre (yes, you read that right!) in Butare. It was phenomenal.

We left Kigali at around 11am in the VSO truck: Bosco driving, Amanda, Emilliane, Florence, Martine, Mel, Chris and myself. Chris, Mel and I had to squeeze into the boot seats. It was such good fun and we spent the two hour trip to Butare chatting and catching up. Martine was teaching Florence French, and we were mostly singing show tunes. We stopped in Gitarama to pick up Karen who, it transpires, knows all the words to every song every written!

We got to Butare, cutting it fine, and grabbed a quick melange (courtesy of VSO) in a café. Then we dashed up the road. Seven members of RNAD had also made the trip down, especially. Augustin paid their transport from our transport fund. There were hundreds of people there. It was so good to see. Loads of kids from Gitarama, Butare, adults, teachers - 90% signing.

The performance was outstanding. Lots of traditional Intore dancing and some really good drama sketches. Including one where a man and a woman edged closer together across the stage behind black wing boards. They met at a bench in the middle and sat down, snuggling up. Then a kid appeared between them - healthy, normal - they cuddled him and off he went. Then a second kid - a little boy working a sign-language puppet, which is a doll that you put your hands through and sign with. The parents jumped away in shock, then took the wing boards and put them in front of the kid on the bench, showing a complete lock-down in communication. It was so effective. It really made a statement and was very advanced use of theatre technique. Then, two Deaf kids came and started signing and the boards were removed. Very poignant. They also had a dancer who was the spirit of Deafness, which was an interesting concept.

Intore Dancer

It was most excellent. I had a great time hanging out with the Butare students and getting swamped by Deaf kids. It was a brilliant day. Then I squeezed back into the van. We headed home with a couple of new people as Martine and Amanda were staying over in Butare, so we gave a lift back to Emmanuel, who taught IT for RNAD, and a friend of another volunteer. We got back around 8pm, when Dad phoned. Not long now until he and M come out to visit :)

So, wonderful slide into the weekend. Shue, you'll be glad to know, is back to his usual self again. Face stuffed in the food bowl and bouncing about like a tiger once more.

Happy 25th D :)

Had a lovely couple of days. On Sunday D and I took a walk down to Nyarutarama, the big swimming pool and tennis court. I went for a good long swim whilst he sat and drank beer and read a book poolside. He's currently reading Titanic Express, a book which Jo dropped off when she came to visit Shue. It's all about Charlotte Wilson, the VSO in Rwanda who was shot in 2000 on a bus (of the book title) to Burundi. Everyone who's read it, including D, says it's very tough because of the subject - it's written by her brother.

Anyway, the exercise was fantastic after so much bed rest. Afterwards, we adjourned to the café and had a big meal before walking back up the hill to home, via a shop selling cat baskets! Huzah.

Monday was D's 25th birthday. I put some balloons around the door in the morning, then popped to town during the day and did the present thing. It was really hard. There's just nothing for men in this country - no proper gift shops. You can get flowers and jewellery for women, but for blokes...? Even wrapping paper and cards are in short supply and usually poor quality - lots of 'May the Lord bless and protect you on this day' crap. I ended up buying one of Apollo's cards from the office - a banana leaf handmade one, much better idea.

I'd had a bit of a natter with the girls on Saturday after the meeting. We decided that the main present was going to be driving lessons and the test. The centre is just up the road from our house. You buy a bulk set of lessons which takes you up to your first test. I've just been offered more writing work, so I can afford it. Compared to what you'd pay back home, it's very good. It's one of those skills - if you have it here, it really helps you.

I drew a little cardboard car as a gift certificate :) The rest were just yummy things to eat like Chocolate Eclairs, Romany Cream biscuits and simsim (sesame seed balls). Also a USB mouse for the computer so that he can do more graphic design. The cherry on top was splashing out on a bottle of very nice South African Shiraz (Tall Dog).

Instead of going out for a meal and letting other people cook for him, D really wanted to stay in and cook for himself. He did this huge meal! I thought it was my birthday! Steve came over to share it with us and I provided the birthday cake. It was a really nice evening. We finished off with Ugandan Sherry in little sherry glasses. I'd bought those, and wine glasses, up the road. Real luxury as we usually drink wine out of plastic peanut butter jars ;) Actually, we don't usually drink wine.

It was seriously nice. D doesn't have any family and had to live on his own from a very young age. For most people here, birthdays aren't a big thing, but especially for him. I was really happy to be a part of it.

German Butcher's and Sparkle

BCK German Butcher's

 

Well, what a lovely start to the weekend :)

I was up early this morning - took some effort - and into town to café Karibu ('welcome') for 9am. It was the quarterly VSO Committee Meeting for volunteers. Beautiful day for it, glorious sunshine.

Martine, Karen, Florence (new volunteer from Uganda) and myself were there, as were Amanda (my Programme Manager) and Mike (new Country Director). It was my first time at this as I was in Kampala before. There were supposed to be some more of the new vols there, but today is International Refugee Day and they'd all gone to the camps to run workshops. It was a really nice relaxed meeting. Afterwards, all bar Mike (whose partner's here, so he's off doing touristy things) headed to the Chinese Shop for some light shopping. Then we went to the German Butcher's for delicious ham and cheese baguettes, and a coke, on the balcony. It was a lovely morning. I indulged in some new tupperware and some balloons for D's birthday on Monday. I'm still trying to think what to get him as a present.

Last night we stayed up watching films until the wee hours. I'm afraid to say things got a little err... tactile... after. There is certainly a very big spark between us, but I'm not sure it's sensible. Then, who wants to be sensible? Just a question of whether the chemistry causes me to blow up, whether it fizzles out, or whether we hit the alchemist's formula. Oooh... bit of a technical analogy lol It's fun, but sloooooowly. I'm still thinking I may just want my house back, so keeping it all very non-committal and honest. Things have just been really good over the past week, making up for his generally twatish behaviour in Kampala and generally winning me round. We'll see. It could all just be a transient reaction to feeling so much better.

Shue's doing well. Lot more perky. He had a little milk this morning, though he's still not eating properly yet. Think he'll be okay. Purring a lot.

On the whole, the gloomy cloud of the past couple of months seems to be lifting - must be planetary.

Ishuheri :(

Shoobaloo

It's been a hair-raising couple of days - panic stricken mum here. Shue (my grey kitten) seemed okay on Tuesday. There was no more throwing up, but he was still very lethargic. I assumed it wasn't life-threatening, though. I was pretty shattered but loads better than before. Went to bed with a headache around 11pm.

1am I wake and I can hear Shue throwing up. I go to check on him and there's a river of watery slurry-smelling sick all over the floor. I throw a towel at it, give him a cuddle, remove his collar and make sure he's comfy again. I go back to bed and hear him drinking water.

2am, same thing. Then pretty much on the hour every hour throughout the night. Each time he was sick he drank water, then a while later it came back up. There was nothing I could do for him, so I just lay there listening to it. Around 2:30am I sent a text to a vet that Jo had given me the number of a while back. I had no idea if it was a text number or whether the guy even spoke English, but I had to do something.

I was woken early on Wednesday morning with a text back, in English, saying 'bring him in.' By this time Shue was completely despondent and cold as ice. I was terrified he'd die before I got him there. I was kicking myself for not taking him the day before, but he honestly hadn't seemed that bad.

I tried in vain to find something to use as a cat basket, but no joy. I'd called Jo to let her know what was going on. She told me to check what rat poison they're selling at Ndoli's. My heart sank when I saw that the only brand in stock was warfarin, an anti-coagulant. Mild hope kicked in as there was no blood in his vomit. Jo had told me that Kabibi had been vomiting all the time too, but that it had been bright yellow. Again, mild hope.

I got back to the house and D was cooking in the kitchen - an amazing vat of potato stew that tasted phenomenal! He ran and found me a taxi. I manoeuvred Shue into my big cotton bag. By this time his head was shaking uncontrollably and he was totally floppy. All I could think was damage to the nervous system. Considering how much fluid he'd lost, it was probably just chronic dehydration and shock at being so ill.

The taxi arrived and I bundled him in. I phoned the vet, who explained to the driver where to take me. The driver ripped me off a blinder - £5 to go just up the road and back! At the time I really didn't care, and he waited around to take us back afterwards.

Alphonse, the vet, is a lovely guy. You wouldn't know he's there. He's turned his garage into a very nice, modern-looking veterinary clinic. He had treated Kabibi, so he knew what poisoning looked like. I was mildly reassured by his calm manner. Shue was an absolute star for him. He put up with the thermometer up the bum, the stethoscope under the chest, being prodded and poked - such a good kitten. Probably too ill to object to much. He really was in a bad way.

His temperature was incredibly low. The vet agreed it was some form of food poisoning. He gave three injections to help protect the nervous system, raise his temperature, and stop him vomiting, then told me to take him home and, after one hour, to give him some milk. He said he shouldn't be sick after that, but if he is I should call. I felt so reassured just knowing there was a professional vet nearby. He was so good with Shue. 

Shue seemed to take a turn for the worse on the way home. He was probably in shock from all the injections and feeling so bad. He stuck his head down my side and tried to blot out the short car journey home. He was still freezing cold. The moment we got back, I put him on the chair and he just lay there with his eyes half open. A couple of times I was sure that he'd died, then saw that he was breathing very faintly.

Despite being so cold, he didn't like being covered with a blanket, preferring to sprawl belly-down on the cold concrete floor. I just let him get on with it - do what you need to do to get comfy.

After a while, he drank a massive amount of water then slept for hours. I was supposed to go in to work. I phoned to ask whether we were approving signs and Léon told me 'not until next week, stay at home and rest.' Ironically, I was feeling in excellent health for the first time in six weeks. I really did turn the corner on Tuesday.

I was so relieved. It meant that I could stay and keep an eye on Shue. I would have felt awful if I'd gone to work and he'd died. I had to put Mao and Sula out for the day to stop them jumping on him. We just stayed here, quietly. He occasionally took some water but mostly just slept.

Jo and Pierre came over in the afternoon to see him. I know they're my cats and I've had them for about five months now, but I still get nervous when 'Mummy Jo' comes over. They were here kittens first lol My three are big, strong kids, usually in the prime of health - very well fed and very sociable - so Jo always leaves smiling. Now that she's not working for VSO, she's got a very swanky shiny black car - not jealous in the least ;) Like Sue and Eric, they're heading back to England soon. I'm really going to miss them, but they've bought some land here and, after Pierre finishes his MA, they'll be back to build a house.

By evening his temperature had crept up to just about normal. He still wasn't taking any milk and was barely moving. I'd stuffed myself on D's stew. That guy can really cook, though he'd never tell you that! We watched a film before turning in. When I went to bed, I reckoned it was about a 50/50 chance as to whether he'd survive the night. He had wet the blanket he was on, which was a positive sign that 1. he was rehydrating and 2. things were moving through his body in the right direction at last. It was just so sad. Shue, of the three, has never peed or pooped anywhere but the litter tray. He's such a hygienic little lump, so I knew he had to be really weak not to move.

Anyway, I woke up this morning prepared for the worst. I was woken up by both Martine and Jo texting in quick succession to see how things were. I took a deep breath and went into the living room. 

There was Shue, sprawled out on the chair, eyes open. 

I thought that was it. 

Then D looked over my shoulder and not only did Shue look up, he sat up!

Massive relief washed over me. He's looking very much more alert, there's a glimmer of the old Shue there now. I went into work but Léon told me to go home, rest over the weekend, get properly better, and come in on Monday. My colleagues are so sweet!

I did come home again and I've been watching over my boy. He's been quite active, still very weak but he had a wander around the garden, sun bathed, drank more water. He's even responding when I stroke him - purring a little and pushing his head up when I touch him. His temperature is normal. He still won't take milk, egg or anything. It's been four days now without food, but judging by the change so far I don't think it'll be long before his apatite returns. Looks like he's going to be just fine. The shaking has mostly stopped, so it doesn't look like permanent nerve damage. The others are looking after him, washing him and cuddling up to him, although Mao has tried to bonk him, which wasn't particularly helpful.

I am just so relieved. I was feeling so guilty for leaving it so long to take him to the vet. He's a hardy tiger, and the fact that he was a lump of muscle seems to have helped him through. He looks like he's lost a lot of weight, but at least he had it to lose. I just need to get him to eat something; last hurdle and then I'll believe he's fully out of the woods.

Fingers crossed :)

PS: People keep asking - Ishuheri means 'wind storm,' like a hurricane. It's Kinyarwanda, pronounced: Ish-oo-hairy, or just Shoo-ee (Shue) for short.

PPS: Dad and M have started their injections today. They're coming out in September :) The count-down begins: 11 weeks :)

Tears and Hearts

Kimironko Market

It's been a bit of a rocky couple of days in the de Kittypuss household.

As I keep saying in almost every blog post this month, I've been right royally under the weather. Finished my second round of antibiotics on Sunday. Made it through Monday, just about. Felt positive after booking the room at VSO to start the Sign Language approval process on Wednesday... err, today.

Tuesday was my resource day. I take two of these each week to work from home and the VSO office. I originally did it because I wasn't willing to lug my laptop and internet connection into the RNAD office every day, but I gave up on that front. I still take the days so that I can concentrate on what I'm doing without other distractions, and so that I can go and see people I need to see. Mainly, I use those days for fundraising applications - when you just need to blinker everyone and everything else out.

Tuesday morning I was feeling pretty damn pants again. I admit to sleeping in a little. Just as I was getting up, D was coming in. He'd risen at six in the morning, gone to Kimironko market, and returned with a bag brimming with vegetables. This included Irish potatoes and a massive fresh pineapple! I just sort of stared at him open-mouthed.

He proceeded to slice up the pineapple for me. I got stuck in and downed a clove of garlic with a glass of milk to try and shift this horribleness in my chest and head. This home cure had quite an effect.

D had to go out to do some stuff, and I got called into the office at about 2pm. When I arrived, everyone was already there. They'd started approving signs and they'd been there all morning apparently. Augustin explained that the committee would rather do it from the office than go to VSO.

This was a perfectly rational decision as it saves the organisation time and money.

I lost it.

By the time I reached the office, I felt terrible. I was sweating, having hot flush, giddy, hacking cough... The fact that I'd run off to book the room and projector at VSO the day before, and now they wanted to cancel it, should have been perfectly predictable. It happens all the time. Any other day I would just have shrugged. Instead, I felt my blood pressure rising steadily and knew that I had to get out of there.

They really wanted me to observe the approval process. That's what I'm there to do. But I just couldn't - I felt so ill. It is seriously touching that they involve me so much and care what I think. It is a huge compliment, but I just couldn't think straight. I told them that I would go and cancel the room at VSO, then go to the doctor's.

I got to VSO, cancelled the room, the projector and driver, then went up to the resource library. I let myself out onto the balcony and cried solidly for half an hour. Something in my mind and body just snapped. I had felt so sh!tty for so long. Work, being work, had just tipped me over the edge. There were people relying on me and I couldn't even rely on myself to hold it together.

I eventually built up the courage to walk home, but the moment I closed the gate I was off again. Monsoon season. It just didn't stop. I felt too ill and too tired to do anything, so I went to bed.

This was about three in the afternoon. I woke up around half-five and started crying all over again, still feeling absolutely rotten. At about eight D came in. I was still blubbing away like nobody's business. Every time I tried to move, or thought about doing anything, off I went again. I must have looked a fearful sight. He came over and gave me a big hug and then... he cooked dinner!

There was some mince left in the pot, which he heated up. Plus he cooked an omelette and made me a hot drink. He took care of me. I was really hacking away with that cough when I went to bed last night. I had to get the bucket, I thought I was going to cough so much that my dinner would come back up.

It didn't, though. After about an hour I got up and put some clothes on, then went out into the garden. It was an amazingly bright full moon - like daylight. just like it used to be at Tinkinswood. The main reason for getting up was that I heard the garden tap going. We hadn't had water in about two days and all our reserves were out. The toilet stank. It was only a dribble, but I collected up all of our containers and sat out there for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. I filled everything up. It was amazingly tranquil. Despite the weather being pretty nippy at the moment, I felt comfortable and relaxed.

Today's been a busy day. I woke up hacking away again. D's shooting a documentary - part of the deal he struck for doing security for someone else's film run the other week. He gets to shoot something of his own. He's doing a short documentary on a little girl who was born with HIV. I think Rose is going to translate for him as she's been here for three years and learned to speak Kinyarwanda, but D only speaks English and Luganda, which makes in-depth stuff tricky.

Whilst he went off to do that, I got up slowly and took myself to the doctor again. I had another blood test. This time the doctor wiped my finger with antiseptic, then blew on it to dry it! I was sent through to see the head doctor, who gave me a thorough chest tapping and concluded it's an allergy.

He could be right. The antibiotics haven't touched the cough, but they have brought my white blood cell count down to a normal level. Whatever I did have before, I don't anymore. He's sent me off with yet another prescription, but I haven't cashed it in. I have Claratin at home. If I take anything, it’ll only delay the problem, which will come back when I stop taking the meds if whatever I'm allergic to is still around.

I slept in the waiting room for an hour whilst they were processing the results. I was absolutely shattered. When I left, I was actually feeling remarkably perky. I think yesterday was the 'crisis point'. I hit it, I fell apart, and now I'm feeling much stronger again... You know what? I reckon it was the fresh garlic and the moonlight :)

I'm still not feeling 100% My chest is still heavy, bit of a wheeze, cough, and hot flushes, but everything seems much less than it was before. I feel much stronger in myself, like my spirit is ready to tackle getting better now. I'm optimistic of real improvement. May even be back in the office tomorrow.

We're a house of invalids at the moment. I went to the bank and took out some money 'just in case'. On Monday night, Ishuheri ate his dinner with Mao and Sula: cooked pasta and raw mince. A couple of hours later he threw the whole lot back up quite, violently. There was quite a bit of retching and I was terrified it was secondary poisoning, which killed his uncle, Kabibi, not so long ago.

He's been very lethargic since then. Not his usual bright tigerish self. He hasn't eaten anything but, on the up side, it doesn't appear to be poisoning. He hasn't been sick again and he isn't showing any discomfort. He's still active, wandering about, and seems to be getting better. I'll hold off a little while longer. If he still hasn't eaten anything by the end of tomorrow, I'll take him to the vet.

So, we're all feeling a bit down in the dumps at the moment, but we're all pulling through okay. Also got a couple of parcels from home today - thanks Aunty Jean and Dad :) Some long awaited chocolate, hot chocolate, coffee and confectionery. Perfect timing.

I guess there's not much left to say other than 'blah'. All due thanks to D, who has really been very sweet to me despite my monsterishness to him the past few weeks. I mean, six in the morning... to buy me a pineapple. Who can stay mad at a guy like that?

Ugh. Right, I'm off to cook on my lovely two-plate hob now, with my bag full of vegetables. I'm thinking sweet potato mash with spicy tomatoes and courgette sauce? Possibly with an egg, if we have any left. Soul food. :)

VSO Ethiopia: Very Sad News :(

Some very sad news arrived today from the Ethiopian Programme Office. On the night of 14th June there was a road traffic accident outside the Programme Office in Addis Ababa. Four volunteers were involved, one Welsh volunteer, David Evans, is dead and three others: Holly Kitson from Britain, Oscar Gador from the Philippines, and Pamela Brown from Australia, are receiving treatment in Nairobi for shock and fractures.

I won't go into detail as it will come out in the press, but it's a very sad thing indeed. I didn't know any of them, but my sympathy goes out to the Ethiopian team. David had only been in country since February. It's a tight-knit community of volunteers in any country. From the days you do your training together at Harborne, to your in-country training and all the time you spend together socially, professionally, and on placement, these are the people you rely on for support and friendship. I really feel for them, and for their families, who must be feeling the distance right now.

Komera inshuti / Be strong friends

Let's Do The Time Warp Yeah....

Hah.

Random tangent. What were you doing this time last year? Well, with Blogger you always know :op

A year ago yesterday I was recovering from a 7:30am drinking binge and had just watched Brokeback Mountain for the first time.

Today last year I was escaping my MA dissertation and having a lovely weekend in Stratton-on-the-Fosse with the Penguin of Death :)

How cool's that? Who would have guessed what would happen over the next year?

Hehehehe.

Sitball

Rwandan Sitball in Action

It was my first day back at work today - hacking away. Francois said I looked pale. Léon was quite worried about me and said that I'd lost weight. Isn't that a disgusting thing that, even though it's due to illness, I still took it as a compliment? Deary me, vanity un-fair.

Anyway, I think they're exaggerating. I don't notice any difference. I'm just bored of being ill now. Finished my second set of antibiotics yesterday morning, not a massive change. Certainly a bit perkier, but that could just be slipping into mania. The rattling cough is still going strong and the midnight asthma attacks. If I'm not significantly improved by the end of the week I might go back to the doctor's again. Third time lucky.

Anyway, ventured out of the house for the first time in a week on Saturday. I went to the Petit Stadium round the corner from my house. It's where the Rwandan Paralympic Committee were holding a sitball competition, which is basically volleyball at ground level. It's very energetic. A few members of the VSO Disability Partnership Committee were there. I was glad I went, but wasn't feeling so good. Martine had a hangover, so we left pretty early. I also saw the Deaf guy who pinched my phone. He looked a bit sheepish and fuddled something about not taking it. I just ignored him after that.

I also met a German girl, Katharina, who is here with a German aid agency. She's working for the Paralympic Committee and living just up the road. I've drawn her into the VSO social scene and hope to go to Salsa on Thursday.

Today was a relaxed day, thankfully. The two American students from Gallaudet came up to visit. I booked the room and the projector at VSO for Wednesday, when we hope to start approving the signs for the first AKR Dictionary of Sign Language. Very exciting.

Not much else to say, really. Still enjoying cooking with a proper hob. About to do it again tonight, this time vegetables, mince and pasta.

D and I had another row the other day. Well, basically he stood there and I rowed at him. This time for going to the shops and leaving the front and back doors unlocked... and for not buying toilet paper. I may have done my best impression of a dragon with a flea up its ass, but I have been well out of sorts lately. Anyway, things were pretty bad in the house after that - very uncomfortable. I guess I went away and thought about what I'd done and realised I was being a bit of a b!tch. So, I took a few deep breaths and tried to relax again.

Now things are pretty good. We're back to watching endless movies and chatting loads. Of course it's better this way, but it does make things complicated. At least when you blot someone out you know you're working towards a finale - i.e. I get my house back. The problem with everyone being best friends is that you start to falter a little bit. He is a very sweet guy at heart. It's hard to keep your resolve when things are good, but he still has to go eventually. Damn hormones. Can you get them extracted?

Give it up for...The Plate!

My Kerosene Cooker

I've just been playing in the kitchen and thought it was worthy of note.

When Hannah - another volunteer (the one who fed me chocolate when I was down) - left, she donated her double electric hob to me! It's been a point of some contention. We were told that if we took in our kerosene burners, they'd exchange them for electric hobs. Electric is a bit cleaner and easier to use for those of us who have electricity. I found out about this from Hannah, as she walked out of the VSO office with her double-plated hob a few months back. Wow, good deal, thought I. So, I took my kerosene burner in...to be given a single electric hob. I was quite miffed about this and asked why. I was told that everyone should only be issued with a single hob, but two other volunteers received doubles. I was really annoyed. I mean, what can you do with a single hotplate? It takes hours to make a meal with rice or pasta because you have to wait and do it after you've cooked the first dish, by which time you have to re-heat your dinner.

So, you can see why I was so excited about the double hob :) I've just hooked it up tonight and it is truly fantastic. Don't think it'll cost me that much more in electricity, either. We'll see.

Earlier, I went to VSO and cashed in my prescriptions. My pockets are now lined with francs again. It involved hanging about for a bit, so I also booked myself in for lunch: cassava, rice, meat sauce and veg (carrots and green beans). Most delicious. It occurred to me that it was the best meal I'd eaten since Chez Lando with Martine. Yesterday, I survived off juice and a bag of bite-sized honey teddy bear biscuits.

Time to get serious about food again. I headed over to Ndoli's and bought a basket load of veg: green pepper, aubergine, courgette, green beans, ginger, tomato puree, chilli, carrots and, the jewel in the crown... couscous. I've wanted it ever since I saw it, but at FRW 2,800 (sometimes 3,000) a box I've always denied myself for a special occasion. Well, tonight was the night! I spent a total of FRW 8,000 (£8) - which is stunningly expensive really. If I'd gone to the market I could probably have got it for half that, but the thing about convenience stores... they're convenient.

I came home and made ratatouille: onion, ginger, garlic, tomato puree, black pepper, green beans, carrot, green pepper and aubergine. To accompany it, I made couscous, a boiled egg, and, for the first time ever attempted at home... ibitoke! Which is basically a huge, savoury banana that you boil. It tastes like very bland Irish potato (as they call them here). You never see Irish potatoes in the shops. It's put me off cooking a bit because I rely on potatoes in stews and things. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to peel ibitoke first. I did, with a knife, like peeling a potato. It is incredibly bland, but does bulk things up a bit. Plus I was curious. I'm sure I can think of uses for it.

For afters, I indulged in a mango :) Very nice and ripe by the feel. Oddly not a fruit that's over abundant here.

The weather is still absolutely miserable. Thought I was going to get frostbite last night. Looked out of the gate and the whole street was misted up. I asked Ruth at VSO why it's so cold. It's supposed to be the start of the hot season now. She said it's global warming, you can't predict the weather anymore. I'm going to request someone posts me a hot water bottle.

D came back the other night. Haven't seen much of him - which is a good thing, as I'm highly antisocial when I'm ill. Actually, most of the time. He came running in this evening as he's been to the airport to take photos of P-Square, who flew into the country this morning. He's gone back now for some Ugandan stars who are passing through. More article material, I guess.

I'm still feeling pretty poo, so I'm going to wrap myself up and get an early night.

Gloves, Perhaps?

Polyclinic Waiting Room

And it's Wednesday. Another day, another trip to the doc. I've been off all week. I told myself if I wasn't in the office by today, I had to go get it checked out again.

The doctor's quite sweet, actually. He was a little surprised to see me back, but I only had one day left on the antibiotics that he gave me last time and, thus far, not much improvement. The wheezing has even gotten worse. I wasn’t in a great state when I landed in his chair.

His initial response was that, if the antibiotics weren't doing anything, it must be an allergy. Images of having to give my cats away flashed through my mind. I went on the defensive: 'but they don't make me sneeze!' I blurted. He thought it was cute that I like cats so much.

He handed me a bunch of forms and packed me off to the lab. They're not really into telling you what they're checking for, but you bet your bottom dollar it was something to do with 'white blood cells.'

Ooooh boy. First thing I noticed when I sat down? The glass slides littering the tray next to me, all covered in human blood. Niiiice. The second thing? The guy isn't wearing any gloves.

So, I rest my arm on the table and straighten it, expecting a needle in the bend of my arm to suck out a sample. No. Not quite how they do it here. Instead, I get a prick on the finger with a sharp needle - like they do to test for anaemia before you donate blood. Instead of a little drop, he starts pumping the end of my finger, literally milking it! He collects up the blood with a little straw, then just keeps going, four or five times. By the end my finger's really stinging. I throw the cotton bud in the open bin under the table, then skulk off back to the waiting room with a good book for the next hour.

The verdict?

'Your white blood cell count is very high, you have an infection.' Great, cheers. Deja vu. Only, this time, he was sure it was an 'upper respiratory tract infection' - basically still bronchitis. He filled out another prescription. Off I went again, with a friendly warning to keep my piercings clean so that they don't get infected... after five years. *rolls eyes*

The medicine was for much stronger antibiotics: Zinnat, to be taken twice in the morning and twice at night, another bottle of cough syrup and, on request, an asthma inhaler.

Regarding the inhaler, I'd asked for Becotide (preventative) and Ventolin/Salbutamol (emergency relief). He nodded and smiled, then only filled out the prescription for the latter. I'm pretty sure he didn’t know what Becotide was. Still, better than nothing.

I'm not really all that happy about taking even more antibiotics. Between doxy, clamoxyl and this, I'm all antied-out. I gave what remained of my other drugs back to the pharmacist and almost laughed when they tried to add a fresh batch to the bill. 'Err, no, I'm just returning them' - not to mention I don't have a prescription for any more! I seriously think you could pretty much get anything you wanted just by asking.

I declined the bottle of cough medicine. Basically, I can’t afford it. In the past week I've spent £23.20 on prescription meds. I got ill and now I have no money left. I believe VSO reimburse prescriptions and cover medical costs to the tune of £2,500 per year, so I have to go to the office tomorrow and try and get someone to sign the papers and pay me. My colleagues also owe me £14 for various reasons, and I really want my money now so that I can do simple things, like eat. I could tackle the bank, but I think I'd rather starve.

I was going to go to the Queen's Birthday bash at the Embassy on Friday (13th!) but, as I can't drink, there doesn't seem much point. Far too pretentious an atmosphere to attend sober. The invitations are gold embossed.

I'm signed off now until Monday, which is good because all I want to do is sleeeeeep. Fingers crossed for the new meds. Martine is popping round later on her way to Ghislain's leaving do at SoleLuna. My colleague Léon has decided to come and see how I am. It's a common thing here for people to pop round and check on the ill. It's nice in a way, touching, but not so good when all you want to do is put your head under the duvet and snore. Very much enjoying having the house to myself, it's aiding the recovery process.

Pee, Poo, Belly, Bum, Pants

Kigali Storm

:)o(

I’ve been on 500mg of Clamoxyl (antibiotics) three times a day, and some funny little white pills in an envelope with Aminophylline written across it (something to do with wheezing according to Wiki) and the occasional swig of Broncaléne, since I went to the doc's. I ain’t feeling all that much better. The coughing has subsided but, last night, I had a massive asthma attack, which I haven’t had for years. My lungs still feel gunky.

D’s away until the end of the week. He found some work as Security on a friend’s film trip, which is good, but it did occur to me last night that there is no public transport in an emergency. No taxis, bisis or motos in the middle of the night. I could probably disturb my neighbour, who is a doctor (cancer specialist) at the local hospital, but I'd be reluctant.

The weather here is wet, cold and miserable. I remember this from Australia. You really wouldn’t expect it to be. Unlike home, there’s no carpet, central heating, double glazing or even thick bedding. What I wouldn’t give for my feather eiderdown and big fluffy pillows right now.

Feeling utterly pants. Wondering if it could be some sort of cat-related allergy or something, but I was never like this before I went to Kampala. Perhaps the cats are aggravating something I already have? I wonder if Karzai just isn’t cleaning the house as thoroughly as he used to. I’ve resolved to give the place a good going over myself once I’m feeling up to it. Maybe it’s a build-up of old cat hair or something. I noticed some weird little flies in their water bowl yesterday. I cleaned out the bowl and within an hour they were back. Disturbing, as it’s in my kitchen. They weren’t fruit flies or mosquitoes or anything you usually see. I wonder where they came from. The other thing that makes me think it’s not just the cats is that I never sneeze or get itchy when they’re sitting on my lap or getting cuddles. I really don’t think it’s them alone. Martine’s offered to look after me. If I’m still ill when D gets back I might spend a couple of nights there and see if it eases up. If it did, that would suggest it's the environment.

I’m just knackered. I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in forever. Martine came over on Thursday and said I looked stoned out of my tree. I don’t know why, but everything went very fuzzy. I don’t remember a lot about her visit, but she said I looked pretty floaty and that my pupils weren’t right. Must have been a combination of the meds and no food, or something. It hasn’t happened again since. She came back on Friday as we were going to talk to the vet about my kittens getting the snip. We never made it that far in the end because we were running late for a meeting at VSO. It turned out only three of use turned up, so we cancelled the meeting and Martine and I went for drinks. Soft drinks in my case. We also ate food at Chez Lando. The food was outstanding, the most I’d eaten in about a week. We had a really good natter and I was home by half-six. Watched movies with D and felt waaaay better than I had been. Thought I was on the up.

I've been having a couple of weird hallucinations. The first night I started the meds, I woke up in the middle of the night and saw a giant spider crawling up the inside of my mossy net. It didn’t scare me at first, but then I was convinced it would fall on my face if I went back to sleep. I tossed and turned and eventually sat up and scoured the inside of the net. Nothing there. I sometimes get that, though. If I wake up in the night, I see spiders.

The second was last night and more impressive. It was as vivid and real as the headless woman. It was an African man in a grey shirt and light-brown trousers. He was standing by my curtains, staring at me - like the woman would have been doing if she’d had a head. I wasn’t terrified like last time. I just stared back, a little disturbed. Then he walked away to the right, out of the light, and disappeared. I was really worried because I thought he was still in my room. Then I fell asleep again. I don’t think I was asleep or dreaming, it wasn't an OBE or anything – I really was awake, or about as awake as I was when I saw the spider. It’s all good fun, but it sure doesn’t do anything for the dark patches under my eyes right now. Seriously need some sleep but I’m always too bunged up to get any. No fever or anything bad, though. It's just like a bad head cold that won’t go away. That does sound like an allergy, but allergies you tend to get over after a while.

The rain is really starting to get me down. It’s just constant. You don’t know the meaning of ‘torrential’ until you’ve been caught in a Kigali storm. Thunder, lightning, serious rain... every day. When it isn’t raining, it’s overcast. It’s cold, grey, yuck. Wouldn’t be so bad if I was back in the UK with a nice blazing open fire and a warm bed, but it’s a bit of an endurance feat from where I’m standing right now.

On the up-side, when Hannah left the other month she also left me her double-plated electric hob! I brought it home on Friday. I can now cook rice and chilli at the same time! Huzah!

The internet has been on the blink recently. I just don’t feel up to anything but drinking endless cups of tea and watching movies. Oh, and reading. I've got some brilliant books to get through. Don’t know what I’m going to do about tomorrow. See how tonight goes.