BBC Local Off-Air in Rwanda

[NB 2013: Here's a little lesson I learned about blogging: you can be as honest as you like, provided you're anonymous. When I first started out with my travel blog, I had my name quite prominently across it. This particular post was made after the government forced the BBC off air in Rwanda for airing a discussion on reconciliation. This was rather ironic as I was standing in a printing shop a couple of days later watching a guy getting a sign made for the forthcoming Freedom of Press Awards, to be hosted in the same country! I blogged about it, and that post was picked up by a less-than-savoury individual who re-hashed it and put it, and my name, online for his own purposes. It was deeply upsetting at the time, especially as a fellow volunteer who I very much liked had just been deported for making a blog post about appalling conditions in which a lead disability organisation had been placed in a cellar, with steps, and a rubbish dump outside the window. This had happened, but you weren't allowed to talk about it. Well, blog about it. So, it was a quick wake-up call. I took down that post and replaced it with this. It's the only original blog post I no longer have, which is a shame, because I'd probably post it again now that my job no longer depends on it.]

Is possibly the worst website on the internet....

If you have come to this article after following a link on the above website, please be advised that my words were used without permission and out of context.

Despite displaying a 'comment' option, when I tried to use it, it didn't work and I wasn't able to contact the owner of the site to express my concern.

Oh, and that 'gold mine of juicy details' blog I belong to - it's a creative writing group.

Just so you know, I have absolutely no support for their website, its politics or agenda. Unfortunately blogs do get hijacked from time to time. Sorry for any offence caused.

[NB 2013: See also The New Times article: Rwanda: BBC, as We Mourn, Adding Insult to Injury and This is Africa: BBC genocide talk show pulled off air in restive Rwanda]

Kiva

A colleague in the Disability sector just forwarded this and I think it's an absolutely brilliant idea, so I'll tell everyone about it :) 

Kiva: Loans that Change Lives

We Let You Loan to the Working Poor. Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs around the globe.

Omweso

Butare University

Was a pretty slow week again, though I spent a day in the office on Wednesday. I've got a couple of documents to write but I'm finding it hard to get motivated so I spent most of the day, and Thursday, updating myself on potential funders. They're all dropping like flies - so few that fund Rwanda, so many that have closed their programmes. Perhaps corporate funding is a better bet?

Met-up with Rose on Wednesday evening. Things aren't going so well for her. She was an orphan and her mother's mother brought her up. She died a few weeks ago but thankfully Rose was there when it happened. Her family are arguing over possessions and, as a grandchild, not a child, even though she has no parents and two children to support, she's not entitled to anything. Her uncle's hidden the will and he's dividing up the land himself. She's decided she's got no ties to Uganda anymore so she's just walked away from it all, very sad.

In addition to that the job isn't working out so well. Apparently she's working from 6am-6pm seven days a week as a nanny/cook/domestic. It's around FRW 70,000 a month, which is a good salary here for a normal job, but at around an 84-hour week that's around 20p an hour from which she has to pay her rent, food, transport and Emmanuelle’s school fees, plus support her house girl (another single parent) who works for food and shelter and looks after the kids whilst she's at work.

I find it ironic that in looking after this woman's children, she doesn't get to see her own. She says the woman isn't bad, a nice enough person, but I feel rather let-down as a muzungu to think that someone obviously recognised her desperation for a job and would take such advantage financially. You'd never ask someone back home to do that, and nobody would do it, so why think it's okay here? I'm a mixture of extremely upset that it turned out this way and admiration for Rose, who is doing it.

So, I'm desperately trying to find her something else. Preferably something in an office/NGO as she now has basic bookkeeping skills, administration, project development experience, volunteer mobilization - she's an extremely hard worker and a fast learner. But jobs here are extremely hard to find and she doesn't have a degree.

All really difficult. It's also hard for the Single Parents Network because it leaves her absolutely no spare time to do anything. Huge problem.

My dream would be to find funding for a full-time project co-ordinator for her to focus on it as a career. Not easy, though.

She's asked me if I can find a sponsor for Emmanuelle, her four-year-old daughter. She's an absolute sweetheart and very smart. She currently pays FRW 10,000 per term (around GBP 12), three terms a year. Primary education is technically free in this country, but the demand is so high that sometimes it's not always that straightforward. This term she isn't at school because Rose can't afford to send her.

She would really like to send her to one of the better schools up near Chez Lando, so I've asked her to find out how much it costs. I'm prepared to sponsor Emmanuelle myself later in the year, once I get a job, but if anyone would like to help out in the meantime that'd be great. FRW 10,000 for fees and around 5,000 for uniform and materials (GBP 20 per term/60 per year would cover it easily).

Still, in happier news, Martine and I escaped to Butare together this weekend. She practiced a workshop on Braille with me, taught me about grade one and grade two Braille and how to decode it - it's very cool and I'm pretty good at it now.

Nice thing about weekends: if you get away early on a Friday and come back on a Saturday, you still have Sunday to lounge and it makes the weekend feel much longer :)

We had an excellent time. Fell off the bus and straight into Ibis for a beer and a heart-to-heart natter about life, love and everything. Then we walked around the corner and booked into Ineza, the best guesthouse in town, and cheap at FRW 5,000 per night with hot water included (they deliver it in a bucket in the morning). The staff there are extremely friendly and one young girl in particular had the most brilliant sense of humour and a huge smile. It's where all the VSOs opt for when in Butare. There's a lovely little garden with a bar in it - Martine's taken some photos which I'll upload soon.

Ibis Hotel

Whilst in search of food, we bumped into Rinske, Sandra, and a couple of new vols I don't know. Said hello then continued down the street to Amafu, a restaurant above a row of shops with a little balcony you can watch the world go by on and a fantastic and affordable menu. Martine had steak and I had rabbit. It was delicious and we washed it down with more beer. The service was really friendly (more smiles!) and the ambiance was relaxed.

Butare really is a fantastic town. It's the university quarter of Rwanda and the atmosphere is brilliant. You get so little hassle and people don't have the whole 'muzungu!' stare going on like they do in Kigali. Proportionately there's a lot more muzungus there due to the university, and also most of the people there are students so they're used to having more important things to think about.

We returned to Ineza and finished up with a big treat: Amarula Cream, sort of the Zimbabwean version of Baileys. Expensive, but we were on holiday.

Slept like a log and, after a luxury wash in hot water (including shaving my legs for the first time in about a month due to lack of razor - thank you Nakumatt for fixing that one!), Martine and I sat out in the sunny garden and awaited breakfast...

Sunny Garden at Ineza

...Forgetting completely that it was umuganda (national community service day - last Saturday of every month), and thus everything was closed (with a fine of up to FRW 5,000 if caught working and not doing umuganda). There would be no breakfast until 12pm!!!

Aaaarrrggghh. So much for the tourist industry. Then our lovely receptionist with the big smile came by and, when she learned that we had been turned down for breakfast, she went into the kitchen, talked to some people, and 20 minutes later omelette, bread, jam and coffee arrived on the table! Really, she was outstanding. I'd promote her to head of tourism given the chance, she was absolutely on the ball.

After an extremely leisurely let's-let-umuganda-finish breakfast, we soaked up the sun, read our books, did some writing, and eventually decided to take a wander through town to look for the fabled arboretum.

Breakfast cigarette? Don't mind if I do...

This involved a walk through the National University of Rwanda, passing the Bathos (spelling?) Hotel which is a crazy building designed by a local artist. It's exactly what you'd expect to see in a university town: a giant, slightly surreal mosaic with a huge impala over the gate! FRW 15,000 single, 25,000 double + hot water. Tempting, but I think Ineza probably has more character on the inside. Very cool to look at, though.

We walked all the way down to the university looking for the arboretum. It was a scorching day. Glorious sunshine, but we're not used to seeing it with all the rain in Kigali.

It was really interesting to see the uni. It really had a modern vibe about it. Thousands of students, large campus, great atmosphere. We wandered about a bit, still looking for an entrance to the trees, but after a while we gave up and sat in the campus bar - surprise, surprise.

Martine called up Chantelle, one of the blind students at Butare - there's now around ten of them - and we met up with her and three other blind students and had a fanta. It was really nice to meet up with them and they showed us their rooms, which are small but right in the centre of the campus so close to everything, and hearing them talk about what they're doing. One's doing Social Sciences, another Clinical Psychology, Law, and Journalism. Very clever people and it's fantastic that inclusive education in Rwanda has made this possible. However, there are some teething problems they're having. There's a whole stack of special equipment for them - same as the lab at KIE (Kigali Institute of Education) - but it's all just been sitting in boxes in cupboards for ages. For want of someone to just plug in a computer they're being denied access to technology that would hugely benefit them in their studies.

It's a shame, but that sort of thing does seem to happen a lot. Now that Patrick, one of their greatest advocates from RUB (Rwandan Union of the Blind) has gone to South Africa to do a PhD, they haven't got the back-up they used to have to fight on this issue. It's like there's no distinction between 'we have provided the equipment' (i.e. it's physically there) and 'students are using the equipment' (i.e. we've taken it out of the box and plugged it in). Delivering it seems to equate to 'job done' in somebody's mind.

Really, it makes these students even more exceptional in that they're battling on and continuing with their studies despite not having all the resources they had hoped for. It does show the distance between the disability legislation here and in the UK. People really should be allowed to start testing the new disability legislation with cases like this. The law exists, but I don't know how willing people are to stand up and point to it. Being in university seems to be luck enough without rocking the boat, if that makes sense? Whereas if a blind student turned up to university in the UK and came up against the same situation, you can bet it would become a high priority for the department within a matter of days. I don't think there's the same weight of consequence behind the disability legislation here yet, because nobody has tested it.

But that's just an outside observation. The fact the law does exist and blind people are at university is, in itself, a significant achievement.

We finished-up with a meal at Ibis and a wander around the craft shop. I bought Emmanuelle a doll and treated myself to an omweso board, a form of mancala and the royal game of Uganda. I learned to play it whilst in Kampala and refreshed myself on the rules. These rules are easiest to read, and there's a slide-show [NB 2013: no longer] here. I'm addicted to it and spent most of last night trying to remember how to play. Curious to know if D plays, as it's his national game.

We got the bus back around 4:30pm. The staff at Volcano were extremely pleasant. Everybody seems to smile in Butare. Got back about 6:15pm and went for a final drink at Vinchenza on the roundabout. Had a brows in the shop, quite impressed by the quality of journalism in a glossy new magazine called Dispatch Rwanda. It's FRW 1,000 a copy, but it's pretty good.

Having a nice lazy morning before attempting to tackle housework. D's coming over later to watch movies and chill... and maybe play omweso :op

Four-day week this week due to May Day, which gives me a day to clean the house before Julie arrives on Saturday. So D will probably be coming over to watch movies, chill, play omweso and wash dishes... ;)

4am Brochettes and Plenty of Coffee

Pasadena, Gikondo

Well what an interesting night last night.

Week's been fairly slow work-wise but manic otherwise. Finally wrestled a green card out of Immigration. What's the point of making people wait until after 2pm if, after two weeks, you're still stapling it together when they arrive?

Aaaaanyway. MTN seem to be doing pretty well the past couple of days on the whole, which left a gap in the market for duffest company in the country, which was happily filled by BCR. I mentioned the other day that, after waiting half-an-hour to get service at the Kisimenti branch, my friend got to the desk only to be told 'sorry, we can't deal with signatures today' (as you have to cash a cheque to take money out). Well, I spent 20 minutes waiting like a lemon in the Novotel branch before someone thought to tell me "Oh, sorry, we only do deposits here, you can't take any money out" - !!! Since when did a bank stop being a bank? "Okay, where can I take money out?" - "Remera." "Remera? That's miles away" - brief pause, thoughtful silence - "Oh, or there's the one over the road."

Heehee. One thing Rwanda has certainly taught me is patience - for some things (others it's definitely gnawed away at).

Last night I met up with my friend David from salsa. We had a really good natter and a couple of draft Mutzigs. He works for an NGO that works with street kids and former prostitutes. They've got a scheme running to try and place street kids with single parents in return for financial support and education. Very interesting stuff, so I'm going to try and get him over to talk to the single parents at some point.

Talking of which, there's an expo. on 23rd May on the theme: End Violence Against Women and Children. On the Friday they're holding a concert and the Sunday is a fun-run. Hoping to have a stall on the Saturday manned by the Single Parents Network volunteers. D's looking into printing information flyers and T-shirts.

So, yeah, all good with that at the moment.

David and I met at Passadena, which is likely to become my new local - that and the Guinness Club. D joined us there and afterwards I walked with him down to the studio he's working at, which is also in Gikondo. Everything and everybody is in Gikondo I'm fast learning. When we got there he explained he had to put in a couple of hours of work on a presentation for some Swedish investors who are looking to open a film school. He hadn't eaten though, and the guard was going to lock-up, meaning if he went for food he'd have trouble getting back in to work. So, taking pity, I persuaded him to get food at Bar Nyenyeri. We put it in a bag and took it back to mine.

We stayed up the whole of last night from around 11:30pm when we got back with the food to somewhere around 4am, writing the synopsis and sample script as part of the presentation. It was hard-graft but strangely good fun. Drank a lot of coffee.

I hit the sack then but he stayed up and left around 6am for a pre-presentation meeting. Saw him earlier, as he dropped by to pick up some stuff, and he really needs some sleep. He's got the presentation at 6pm so he'll have been awake/working for about thirty hours straight by the time he finally goes to bed tonight. I'm proud of him.

Apparently, the script committee he's working with were really impressed with what we did and with the scene construction of the sample script. It's nice to get creative, actually.

He's off to Kampala again tomorrow and back at the weekend. I got a text from Martine earlier saying she wants to get out of town on Friday and I said I was up for that. We can't decide where to go but anywhere should be good if the rain holds off a little.

Also, Cathryn's back. Got a call this arvo and will probably see her Thursday. She sounds happy to be back. She says my old house in Kisi has been turned into a massage parlour! That's quite entertaining.

A Wandering We Shall Go...

Back streets of Kigali.

I have just had a most wonderful weekend.

Had a Disability meeting Friday from mid-day, before which I went to the Belgian Doctor and guess what... I have the 'all clear'!! He didn't let me go without yanking the scab with the bloomin' tweezers again *wince* but just told me to put the cream on during the day and uncover it at night for another week - no need to return. Felt a bit sad really, he's a good doctor and I feel like I've known him for ages now, will be weird not to go back. I will try not to give myself a reason to go back though either :op

Then went to the Post Office to pick up a parcel from Dad. First one in quite some time and I'm asking people not to post anything big now, just in case it doesn't get here by the time I leave. Can take a while.

Also went to Immigration to try and pick up my green card. Typical bureaucracy. There is my green card on the desk. I can see it. Right in front of me. Can I have it? No, not before 2pm. Why? Because that's when they give them out. But it's there in front of you. I'm working all afternoon, can't you just give it to me? No. Aaaaarrrggghhhh!!

Didn't get upset about it though, you just come to expect it. Of course it wouldn't be that easy, where would be the fun in that?

Headed to La Planet, the place I'd vowed to boycott, for my pre-Disability Working Group free lunch. Coke is running a promotion at the moment where you peel off the back of bottle caps to see if you've won something. I won a free Fanta, pretty cool :) Had mélange, went to VSO, had the regular meeting with bonus chocolate sent by Karen, went for a drink with Martine at Stella and had a good catch-up. Was all good.

My fella also came home Friday from Kampala. That boy is a time zone unto himself. He's all jazzed up on some media trip he's on. He's publishing his own small-scale magazine, doing some work for other groups, and there's talk of a script somewhere along the line. He's doing really well for himself, just need them to pay him for it now ;)

Anyway, he came straight over Friday and we relaxed and started on Pirates of the Caribbean. He totally got the Jack Sparrow thing, liked it a lot. We watched the second in bed Saturday whilst it tipped it down outside. Weather here is decidedly wet. Then he headed out for a script meeting and came back in the evening. I'm editing my story (now around 35,000) as Martine's planning to take a look at it and give me an honest opinion. Bit nervous. Want it to be tight and tidy before I hand it to her.

In the evening we watched Silent Hill and he cooked a totally stunning meal of pasta and omelette - he's certainly handy in the kitchen. Started on Lord of the Rings this afternoon after an extremely lazy lay-in. Rained all morning again so had to wait for it to subside before we stepped outside.

Ever since I moved here I've wanted to know where the dirt track outside my house goes. We said we'd check it out as soon as my foot was up to it. I've been ignoring doctor's orders actually and put the cream aside in favour of tea tree and aloe vera oil which was in the parcel dad sent. Seems to be doing wonders. Today I put on my trainers for the first time since February and we walked for over an hour all the way from my house, down through the muddy back-roads of Gikondo and back up, finishing in Club Guinness for beer and brochettes. The sun was wonderfully hot and it was just a totally excellent day. The most relaxed I've ever felt wandering around Kigali - no hassle at all. Then, halfway round, a woman recognised D and stoped him to chat - it's only Miss JoJo!

A combination of staying in bed all weekend watching DVDs, the cooking, and the fresh air, but my... I do love that man of mine. I've got about another two days to continue loving him before he buggers off back to Kampala again. He has more work to get on with and he's also going to see a man about a passport. I feel it's something he should have, especially with all this work going on. There's going to come a time when he'll need one. He needs to go to Nairobi in a couple of months to see a guy there about some work. He was going to take the bus but I'm just mulling it over in my mind, I've spent close to 20 hours in total waiting around Nairobi airport in transit between one place and another, but I've never actually seen the city itself. Thought perhaps by the time he needs to go it might be time for a little pre-departure holiday. Costs around $200 per person for a round-trip and his friend could probably help out with accommodation. I get to see Nairobi, he gets to test his passport for the first time. Could be fun. Anyway, just an idea for the time being.

But, yes, things are going swimmingly between us at the moment and I'm wondering what's going to happen with the time left. Job market's still a bit hazy, though plenty back home in the UK. I know I said I don't want to go back to work in the UK just yet but sadly the salaries are quite tempting in respect of, if I needed to, I could afford to come back to Rwanda now and then. I'm trying hard not to think that way at the moment. Plenty of time to fish around, see what else is in the water.

Anyway, we're both on tenterhooks to see the final instalment of Pirates of the Caribbean. Ssshhh! Nobody tell us how it ends!

And, hey, guess what else! MTN seem to have sorted themselves out! Been online all evening. Not the fastest connection, but not disconnected either. No more error messages. All seems to be ticking along nicely! Well done guys! Hope it lasts.

So, back on my own again tonight. Bracing myself for Monday. Had a lovely weekend, hope D'll be back for the next one.

Gisozi Attacked Again

Slightly unbelievable. The verdict on last year was a 'disgruntled policeman'. One wouldn't have thought there would be so many around, but at least no fatalities this year.

In other news, very upsetting e-mail came around today that Shelina (previous volunteer) was involved in an horrific car crash along with four other volunteers in Sierra Leone. She was flown to the UK for emergency treatment and facial reconstruction but is now back in Canada recovering. Absolutely awful and I'm trying to find out who the others were as I may have met them over Christmas when I was out there.

In home news, either MTN has died a death or my computer is shagged. It's staying connected for about 30 seconds at a time now and spouting error messages all over the place. I thought maybe something was wrong with my laptop but I asked colleagues yesterday and they've all said that their MTN connections have been doing the same thing. It's been going on for days now and MTN has been totally shagged for months. It's extremely frustrating, but at least I don't have any pressing business to conduct. Must be screwing businesses over. Think BCR must be using MTN because a friend was trying to use the bank yesterday to withdraw money. Stunning as BCR's customer services always are, they didn't bother to put a sign up, so she queued for half-an-hour to be told 'sorry, we can't accept any signatures today.' You have to cash a cheque to take money out and because of network problems (my money's on MTN) they couldn't connect to the Novatel branch to check against customers' information.

D's not back from Uganda yet. He was supposed to be here Tuesday, now Thursday. Probably be tomorrow. We're planning a back-to-back Lord of the Rings fest if he makes it (probably an incentive to stay in Kampala really ;)).

Feeling quite bored at the moment. Everyone's away (Cathryn, Hirut, Brad, D) or busy, so nobody to go play with and I can't even brows the internet. Getting cabin fever. Did go for a wee drink with Sarah, one of the new vols, last night and her housemate Christiane who used to live in my house. Sarah cooked me curry which was wonderful - proper home-made grub, then a beer at Chez Lando where her friend is staying for a couple of weeks. Was nice.

Finally got the house feeling homey, though the neighbours are still noisy and I need to hire a domestic.

Foot's doing a lot better, pretty much sorted I think.

So... that's about it really. Over and out.

Walkabout Gikondo + End of Mourning

The road outside my gate
leading to the main road.

Heh, I forgot to mention when I said I saw Ben for another drink at Torero last weekend that I also had a slightly spiritual encounter with a gecko. We were sitting outside at a table against the back wall of the establishment and suddenly I felt a 'thud' on my shoulder. A beautiful gecko about as long as my middle finger had fallen right out of the sky and landed on me. Instead of panicking, it crawled up under my collar, then went for a wander on my arm and, eventually, after maybe forty minutes, ended up climbing up my hair and sitting on top of my head. I felt so privileged! Eventually we released it onto a potted plant. Was a lovely little thing.

I'm having a most wonderful time of it the past few days. Completely, unadulterated slobby. Easter Monday isn't really a holiday here, but Good Friday was and Memorial Day on the 7th. I texted my colleague this morning to find out what time the office opens and he told me to take the day off. It's officially the last day of mourning today. It's been an incredibly quiet and uneventful week, thankfully.

I've done nothing constructive at all, just watched movies, eaten Chinese leftovers, and played with the cats - bliss. Also gave myself a manicure and pedicure - managed to scrub off months of ingrained dust from my feet - they're positively luminous now! This morning I realised I had run out of food, cat food, and almost electricity, so drastic measures needed to be taken.

All of this lounging about has certainly done good things to my foot :) To combat cabin fever I decided to walk - yes, that's walk, as in two feet - all the way from Rujigiro (where I live) down past Nyinyeri to Gikondo roundabout in search of Electrogaz to top-up my electricity, followed by a spot of shopping at the petrol station supermarket next-door.

This is only about a 15-20 minute trundle but, c'mon guys, I walked it! On two flat feet, mostly. I think that's bloody impressive. First day of actual walking since February 28th!!!

My flight from the house coincided with an impromptu mass exodus of people from what I'm guessing was a memorial service up the road. Literally, you couldn't see the road going down the hill for the sheer number of people walking down it. Luckily they were all going in my direction, so I crossed over and joined the collective. Carried on until I hit Electrogaz, nice lady behind the counter. Almost passed out at the price of Nido in the supermarket. Supermarkets always cost a bomb anyway, but FRW 4,500 for a standard tub!!!! That's about GBP 5.50 for powdered milk. The most I've ever paid before was about 3,900 in Ndoli's. Used to be 2,500 when I first got here. I thought about going elsewhere but couldn't be arsed - lot of places closed today.

So, I stocked up on food and cat food and hopped a moto back up the hill for FRW 300. The guy didn't argue, fair price. Now luxuriating back in my electrified house with the most delicious carton of ikivuguto (sour drinking yoghurt/'fermented milk') which was in a very cold fridge in the shop so had turned partly to ice - never had frozen ikivuguto before and it's delicious.

Foot's feeling good. It was a little bruised when I got back and I had to pick some grit out that got caught under the tape but, on the whole, doing really well. I'm very proud of it and have decided not to amputate. Love the foot. The foot requires love.

Also managed to finally finish unpacking yesterday. I got caught in a whirlwind of cleaning and the place looks stunning. Ruairí brought me three long strips of batik back from Kampala and they really set the bedroom off perfectly. I put up my photos too and it really feels homey now. I do quite like this house actually. Bit big, but great acoustics for the tin whistle. Plus two bathrooms - sometimes when I need to pee I can't make up my mind which one to use!

So, all is good. Back to work tomorrow. Cats caught a giant mouse the other day - well, Sula did. Proceeded to eat it and then regurgitate it in the spare bedroom. Didn't find it for two days and then only by the smell. Yuck.

D should be back from Kampala tomorrow or the day after. Loads of movies to watch. Rose is also just back from Uganada. Her grandmother, who raised her, just died. Very sad indeed.

Not much else to report, just sort of floating along on the tide.

MTN Rwanda: I've Run Out Of Jokes

Chinese Restaurant, Kigali

Further to the post titled: MTN Rwanda: Missing Telephone Network - I really have run out of good humour about it. Mum called, it cut out and was a terrible crackly line. Dad called and it cut out twice. Internet was out the entire Memorial Day and now, for the past couple of days, I cannot get it to stay connected for more than a minute at a time - if it connects at all. So I have to try and load pages, reply to e-mails, and connect, hoping they'll post before the connection drops again.

And all this joy could be yours for FRW 20,000 a month. Disgusting.

Thursday I went for another drink with Ben at Torero. Really fascinating all-round generally nice chap. Very glad I met him.

Put the feeling shonkey down to a very mild tummy bug and slight dehydration. I hadn't factored for the tin roof - the house can get a lot warmer than the old place. My old house had wooden roofing which regulated the temperature much better and acted as a giant ear-muff against the rain, whereas tin roofs heat the place up faster and sort of sound like you're living inside a drum. Deep joy. Lot to be said about the 'traditional way of life' over modern advances.

Friday night I was back at Torero's for Antonia’s second leaving do. She was VSO in Butare for three years, went away, came back for a three-month placement in Komera near Kibuye. Was a quiet affair with Lies, Isadora, Paula, Sonya and some other friends from Komera. I also met up with a couple of Ben's friends who had been staying at the same guesthouse: Asa and Agatha. Asa's here studying gender issues as part of her university thesis. It was a nice night, but I didn't stay late.

Mostly, I've locked myself in the house and been writing. Now up to 28,700, the longest single piece I've written. About another 10,000 words and I'm halfway through a novel, but I'm now having plot issues so I need to think. Went and cogitated it over a rather yummy Chinese with Ruairí who is back from Kampala. He brought me some lovely batiks to brighten up the house :) We went to the big Chinese over by Novatel that I've always passed but never been into. It was a really good choice - excellent fried pork. We ordered a bit too much, so I have a whole take-away to eat today whilst watching movies! I'm in heaven!

It's been raining pretty much constantly the past few days. The rainy season has undoubtedly arrived.

D's still in Kampala doing some work until mid-next-week and I'm in contact with a lady called Julie who is a friend of the family's and coming out for three weeks in May. I've asked her to bring me a copy of Pirates of the Caribbean Three. I've been watching the first two for over a year now and would very much like to see how it ends. D's yet to see them and I think I'm going to have trouble explaining to him why a guy who looks like he's chewed one too many khat leaves and doesn't wash is such an iconic pin-up for Western women.

Anyway, other than that things are trundling along normally. Not much to report.

Feeling Fragile

Moto Drivers - We Salute You!

Hmm.

Bit out of sorts today.

I had the most dreadful night's sleep last night. No idea why, just could not sleep at all. Neighbours were extremely quiet today but I still woke up early.

Dozed for a bit longer then went to see the doctor for a check-up. The foot is coming along very nicely, though I still can't walk on it properly yet. But then, instead of just re-dressing it, he got out the scissors and tweezers and started cutting away the dead skin.

It's still extremely sensitive and it hurt. I winced and he said 'it is not painful' - I think he thinks I'm over-reacting, but it was very sore and eventually he stopped.

I just felt incredibly emotional about it. The past couple of times I've gone in expecting pain and he's just looked at it and bandaged it up again. This time I didn't expect any pain and he scraped away at it. I was very close to tears when I left. I think it's just the constant pain it causes. It's fine so long as you leave it alone and don't touch it.

I walked around the corner to Karibu, dreaming of their special mélange as I hadn't eaten much the day before. Got there - no mélange.

I came even closer to tears. You know when you just feel very sensitive about the world?

So, I hobbled out again and a lovely moto driver (I've had a string of them lately) agreed to take me down to UTC for FRW 200.

I had to do something to cheer myself up. I could feel my eyes brimming and nobody, and I mean nobody, cries here on genocide week over such a trivial little thing as a sore foot. A muzungu feeling sorry for herself in April - not the done thing.

So, I ordered milkshake. They didn't have any. I ordered a spinach and mushroom crepe. No spinach. Eventually I managed to get a mango smoothie and a ham and cheese crepe.

The food made me feel a lot better and I hobbled into Nakumat - my second indulgence - and bought some little chocolate biscuits I've discovered I rather like. They're about a pound a packet but they're very cheerful.

It was just starting to rain as I left. I got another really sweet moto guy home (sweet because he didn't argue the price and it was low: 700 when it's usually 800).

Now I'm home and I just still feel out of sorts. Not sure what's wrong. Could be lack of sleep but it was the weirdest night. I'm wondering if I'm about to come down with something really nasty. Very early stages of malaria, viral infection or something? Just hormonal (most likely answer)?

Thankfully my office is on half days all week so I'm just going to take it easy and look after myself. The DVD player is working, which is a blessing. Turns out I needed VLC Media Player, a free DVD decoder, as the copy of WinMedia or whatever I have can't play Western DVDs, only Asian or something like that.

I watched The Big Lebowski the other night. One of those titles I assumed I must have seen at one point but hadn't. It was very funny, really enjoyed it. The Dude kind of reminded me of my friend Gedge from back home, right down to the facial hair.

I'm also writing again. In a sudden flash of inspiration I'm combining two stories I started into one and have managed about 14,000 words in the past three days. That's about 17.5% of a novel. I'm fairly happy with it and given how many half-finished things I've written lately I'm going to stick with it until it's done this time. It's amazing how far through things I get before I decide they're crap. I discovered another one the other day that I started when I got here. Made it to over 27,000 before deciding it sucked and forgetting about it. On re-reading it, definitely better forgotten. The one on the witches is also up to 27,500 but I'm worried about it. Too ambitious perhaps; too many characters. Or maybe just lack of motivation.

*shrug*

No, I definitely don't feel 100% today. Will keep a close eye on myself. I thought I was off the antibiotics but this cream I have to use is antibiotic cream and apparently gets absorbed through the skin into the liver. Does anyone know if it's safe to drink on antibiotic cream? Oh well, bit late if not lol But that makes about three weeks on antibiotics of one sort or another.

D's in Kampala at the moment but sent me a mushy e-mail today. The kind of thing you'd usually just roll your eyes at but when you're feeling crappy is actually really nice and gives you a glowey feeling.

Right, back to work. Things to write (for work) and such. Nice being able to do it from the comfort of bed though.

15th Genocide Memorial Day

It's that time of year again. 7th April: Genocide Memorial Week, public holiday.

Was woken up, auspiciously, at 7am by the neighbours playing extremely loud music - the TV coverage. Lots of hymns and songs. But extremely loud. Any other day I'd go and ask them to turn it down so I can get some kip (it's a regular occurrence - they're extremely noisy neighbours) but today I'm 'keeping a low profile' as recommended by the British Embassy:

To the British Community in Rwanda

Hope you are well.

As most of you are aware, from 7th to 13th April 09, Rwanda will mark "Genocide Memorial Week". There will be many activities organised during the week (official ceremonies, vigils, testimonials, prayer meetings).

There is a national holiday on Tuesday and Government Offices and many other organisations will be working on a half day basis for the rest of the week.

The level of security will be enhanced throughout the coutry especially around memorial sites. You see more patrolling officers.

The Rwandan Government has advise bars and restaurants to close earlier.

We do not expect any problems but do advise the British Community to show respect by abiding with the norms during the mourning week.

If you have any concerns please contact the Embassy.

The music is pretty haunting, though. A lot of methodical, slow beats and rhythms with the voices rising and falling. I have a view of all of Kigali from my house and, last night, watching the lights twinkling down in the valley, there was a profound sense of history. This time fifteen years ago: there will be a lot of people alive tonight who won't be tomorrow. Hindsight is a disturbing thing. Unlike last year, I'm staying indoors today.

I got back to sleep after the music but I was woken again at 9:00 by the weirdest screaming. Took me a moment to orient myself. At first I thought it was a person, maybe the sister next door who still has mental health issues, but then I realised it was an animal. It sounded like a dog or something, terrified. I leapt out of bed and ran to open the back door. I always put my cats out at night. Dogs and cats don't have a good association with the genocide because they ate the bodies. The UN and locals killed many of them afterwards to try and cull the spread of the wild dogs.

Ruairí was explaining to me that the elephant that is sometimes in Akagera Park is shell shocked. Apparently it got caught up in the violence and is still prone to extremely volatile mood swings. Sometimes it'll pose happily for pictures and other times, as with a car full of DFID staff, it'll trample a vehicle to pieces.

But, anyway.

There is a dog dying next door. It's only a little puppy but I don't think it will live long. I thought it was dead already when I first saw it leaning against the gap under the gate. It is completely emaciated and I wondered if the cries came from it. It was there again when I checked and seemed to have soiled itself down its back legs. When I try to push food under, it just hobbles away. At first I was cautious in case it was rabid but it shows no signs of aggression at all - just very, very sad.

Tomorrow I will try to find out who lives next door. If the dog is tame enough to approach I will offer them money and try to look after it, see if it belongs to anyone. It is very, very ill and malnourished. I think it may be too ill. It does not accept the food I give it and has trouble standing. I am not sure how you help something back from that, but Lies may know as she has a couple of rescue dogs and it's usually easy to re-home them with ex-pats here.

But it is not all sad news. Had a very interesting day on Sunday. Went to meet up with a guy who was a volunteer here in 2000 (the year after VSO returned to Rwanda) and founded Kivu Writers. He was also in the same intake as the current British Consulate, who stayed, and my programme manager, Amanda. He introduced Charlotte Wilson to her fiancé Richard and is mentioned in Titanic Express. So quite a VSO legend really. We were just meeting up for coffee at MTN Bourbon and then ended up walking down to the Tennis Club in Nyarutarama for beer, and then into town to meet up with Ruairí (who was just as excited to meet him as I was). We headed to a bar by the roundabout to continue drinking. It was a really nice night, very interesting guy, and we bumped into Paula, Sonya and their friend Christine towards the end.

He's out here trying to set up a school partnership through the British Counsel for his school back home, only, true to Rwandan style, when he got here the contact he'd been cultivating for the past year had been replaced and nobody had told him. It made the partnership untenable and he wasn't in the best of moods but, between myself and Ruairí (who is a District Education Manager here), we've managed to find him a few suggested leads for other schools.

Monday, I had to do a few last-minute things before today: bank, food shopping etc. I was supposed to go and pick up my green card but I'd finished by half-eleven and Immigration said 'after two' so I brought the shopping home and got on with some work, although the MTN internet connection is absolutely impossible at the moment. It disconnects every few minutes if it connects at all - real pain.

I was told to go back to the doctor for a foot check-up today, but I don't think he realised when he said that what day it was today. I will see'f they're open tomorrow.

I got a lift back with a really sweet moto guy. He took a strange route back to Gikondo from town which involved going over some speed bumps. As we did so, he turned to ask if I was alright! Extremely sweet of him, I've never experienced such care in public transport thus far. Then we got back and my landlady's sister caught me at the gate and was talking away in Kinyarwanda. The guy stayed and translated for me and gave me a massive grin when he left - fair stole my heart away. He was an absolute sweetie. So, sometimes nice things do happen.

*

Started this at about 8am this morning and MTN has been down the entire day. Literally just come back on and very slow.

Been a very uneventful day, heard one person crying earlier and the neighbours have had the TV hymns up deafeningly loud all day - we're on Amazing Grace now. Going to go for a drink with Ben tomorrow night to escape. Hopefully we can find a bar that's open.

Nightypoos.

Roundup of Recent News:

Thousands of victims of Rwandan genocide to be exhumed

Rwanda: Memory and Denial - the Genocide 15 Years On

Rwanda marks genocide anniversary

Rwanda: France At the Forefront of Genocide Negationism

Rwandan troops enter Congo to hunt Hutu rebels

Yesterday a victim, today an oppressor: how aid funds war in Congo

The New Times, Kitoko Bibarwa and Deaf Discrimination

Kitoko from New Times Interview

Two months ago, at the end of one of our Disability Partnership Meetings at VSO, we were presented with a slightly uneasy looking young bloke who came into the meeting and introduced himself as Kitoko Bibarwa.

This guy is a popular recording artist whose latest song went straight to the top of the charts and earned him an award nomination.

Only, it was banned by Rwandan television because its title: Ikiragi is a derogatory term for a Deaf person and the lyrics are also offensive:

"Umukobwa ni bubu, yakundanye n'ikigari."

 His counter-argument is:

"When I wrote this song, I did not mean to offend the deaf... It's just a song about how I fell in love with a girl, but lots of people were apparently opposed to the relationship and they tried to convince her to break up, yet she decided to give them a deaf ear and we continued seeing each other. That was the essence of the lyrics, not what people have come up with."

Which is fair enough. It'd be a bit like singing: "stick with me girl, don't be a spastic," and got about the same response as you'd expect from the Rwandan disability movement.

The argument around Deaf terminology is a long-standing one and recently involved campaigns to stop people using the term igitumbva, meaning 'a thing that cannot hear' in favour of abatumbva: 'a person who cannot hear.'

A recent Decade survey of local districts said that there was marked improvement in disability awareness, however use of inappropriate language was still a major problem.

This is demonstrated in the national media where one of Rwanda's dodgiest tabloids, The New Times ran a story on the issue of Kitoko's song and insisted on referring to Deaf people as 'the dumb and the deaf' and 'deaf and dumb' - which further added insult to injury.

I would like to ask blog-followers to contact the editor of the New Times (editorial@newtimes.co.rw) and explain that they have read the article and would urge them to change their wording on the matter.

In a way, The New Times is worse than Kitoko's lyrics. At least with Kitoko it seems to have been a genuine oversight in pursuit of art - The New Times is just plain ignorant and ought to know better. It's not like it doesn't have a National Deaf Association or disability committee (FENAPH) to consult. But then, The New Times is the last word in severely shonky reporting anyway.

Our suggestion to Kitoko was to change the lyrics to something less offensive, to which he allegedly replied something to the effect of: 'Sure, if you pay for the recording time.'

From the spiel on jealousy that he degenerated into in the NT article (if indeed he did ever say anything that was reported), I think he has a few more years of personal and intellectual development to undergo before he ends up as a figurehead for compassionate and world-changing artists.

I'm waiting for a response from my lot to see whether they're going to join the campaign and start writing some letters. Could be interesting.