Sonrise revisted

On Saturday it was the visitor day at Sonrise Boarding School where I spent a lot of time in 2007 as Pam was still chief matron there. I was very excited to see some of the children - there were a couple specially who I remembered very well. Immaculate, in this picture with me made Tracy and I laugh such a lot when we were trying to teach her PE. She was actually quite a naughty girl...and there was no way she was going to exert herself in any way for a PE lesson! She also used to tell us she was 30, and white! At the same time as having this wicked personality she was also quite shy and awkward, but two years down the line, she has really matured and she even tells me she is behaving herself! She was so happy to see me...and she couldn't have been more surprised! The other little girl...who is not so little any more who was happy to see me was Jennifer. She was only in P1 in 2007 and didn't speak brilliant English, but I was able to explain to her that she had the same name as my sister, and Jennie in England wrote her a letter with a photo, and little Jennifer wrote back. She is now in P3 and introduced me to her Mum who had come to visit that day. I remember how she cried when I left - it was lovely to see her again.

Below is a picture of Flora (chief matron at the High School now...when we were there she was in Primary) and Pam. One day we are all hoping that they will work together again...if only Flora can be persuaded to give up working as a school matron, and come and look after younger children...she says when Pam has boarding children she'll consider it. She would just be such an amazing and trustworthy addition to the staff team here.

Gisenyi

We have managed to spend every weekend while I've been here in Gisenyi, by the lake. Had another lovely weekend sitting on the beach in the blazing heat... and sitting at the Presbyterian Guest House in the blazing heat waiting for someone to come and jump-start the car. Yes, it is actually impossible to go anywhere without at least one small catastrophe occuring with the car! This time we had apparently left a very small light on inside the car...and when I went to the receptionist at the Guest House to ask for his help pushing the car, he was able to tell me in French that yes he had seen the light on all night. (Thanks for coming to tell us, mate!) So after three or four running start attempts, we gave up and waited for a mechanic...who was on another job. Then eventually another "mechanic" came to help instead...he turned out to be a bus driver who had removed his bus battery and with the leads (well wires really) that we had in the car, he managed to get us on the road again...and we finally made it down to the beach. It occurred that we are "Wanted" in Gisenyi by quite a few people...and we almost considered fake moustaches in order to move about. There are the motorcycle drivers who weren't happy with the amount of money we gave them, the Batwa (although I don't think they'd be moving round the town) and the big group of UN Indians who insisted on taking their pictures with us last week, and then going swimming with us, trying to help teach Justus (senior) to swim and offering to feed us...and generally not leaving us alone! We were worried about going back to the Serena Hotel where we could sit on the beach, in case they were there again, and at one point a group did turn up but thankfully weren't the same group; we remained relatively undisturbed!

This picture is tea growing - it is one of Rwanda's biggest exports I believe, along with coffee. There are many tea fields around, and we even went past Pfunda Tea Plantation when we did our epic motorbike ride into the hills last week. Of course, the roads are lined with people carrying things on their heads...I still reckon that this is the way forward - we'd all have much better postures and less back problems if we carried things like this in the West. Well, I'm waiting for my ten hand-made shirts to arrive, to be brought back to England for my African workshops. If anyone wants to book me into their school/other institution I'm going to be teaching drumming, songs and dance in real African clothing (if the shirts turn out how I'm hoping!)

King of the Guinea Pigs

Kashia (the little white girl whose Mother is a gorilla vet) said to me the other day, "All the children say you are the King of the Guinea Pigs!" I said, "Do they? Why is that then?" She looked thoughtful for a minute and then said, "Because your hair is like a guinea pig's." I wasn't sure whether to be flattered or not!! However, I do know for a fact that the Rwandan children haven't got a clue what a guinea pig is. They have never even seen one! Kashia has six guinea pigs, as well as a whole menagerie of other animals, two lovely dogs and a toad she rescued from the playground here because other children were throwing stones at it! They also have a tortoise that lives in the foundations of Pam's unbuilt house...and Kashia often has to stop the children from throwing stones at that too!

The picture above is of two little girls I was playing with this morning...I was fed up of sitting in the office, because there is suddenly a lot of work to do...so I went outside into the sun. On the right is Amille - one of the orphans. She attached herself to me quite soon after I arrived which was quite cute, but she can also be quite possessive...especially of my hair! She is also one of the naughtier children, but given her background I think you have to make some allowances. I'm sad that I can't speak to her more - she doesn't speak much English yet. The girl on the left is Jennifer Claire (even spelt the same way as my sister!) So this one is for you Jen! This is the King of the Guinea Pigs signing off...

The pastor returns!!!

Argh! Pastor Boris just paid me another visit! I have to say this time though, that I got off lightly...he only stayed about 40mins! Well, I have sort of got to the bottom of all his visits...to be honest I don't think they were purely to check up on my health! It just so happens that he has twin daughters who are just about to take their National Exams and if they pass he needs to find someone to fund further education for them...so he was asking me if I knew anyone who might like to sponsor them through education. I explained that I wasn't in a position to now because any spare money I have come to Tubakunde (not that there'll be any of that now I've spent it all on my flight!) but I did promise him that I'd ask around! So this is it folks...if anyone feels like sponsoring two Rwandan children through further education...its about £45 a term I think (so three times a year) just let me know and I'll pass on your details to Pastor Boris. If, on the other hand, you feel your money could be better spent sponsoring Tubakunde which will be in need of running costs as soon as January comes round then again let me know!!

At the end of the conversation Pastor Boris dived into a prayer in French...and the only way I knew was that he shut his eyes! Then I walked him to the gate and he muttered something about if he was my boyfriend (I don't know what it was...but it was in relation to the fact that I told him Tracy's friend had just had a baby, and it also had something to do with my hair...) Perhaps that will be my last visit seeing as I'm only here for one more week!!

Primary 1 class

This picture shows you the P1 class that I was teaching yesterday. They wrote some letters to the children I teach in York...though their English is not brilliant so they needed quite a lot of help. They were quite excited about it all though so where their English was lacking, they made up for it with enthusiasm! They also very much enjoyed having their individual pictures taken so that I can take them home to Headlands School.

This poster made me laugh - amongst the days of the week, the numbers, the items of clothing...was Killer Diseases! Obviously learning the English for these killer diseases is most necessary...

In fact I've just noticed the poster next to it...another one you'd be unlikely to see in England!!

Car theft

I forgot to tell you...while we were in Gisenyi last weekend I managed to lock the car keys inside the car...in the ignition! You can't even lock the drivers side door from the outside, so locking all the doors is a huge palaver including clambouring around inside...so to manage to do it at all was quite a feat! Anyway, I did manage it. So, we went into the restaurant where we were supposed to be eating lunch and asked if anyone knew how to break into a car and thankfully one of Pam's friend's Rwandan husband did indeed know how to do it.

And now so do I!! It was surprisingly easy with the right length and thickness of metal wire, the right angle and somone to prize the door open far enough to get the rod in. I'm seriously considering a change of career!

Teaching!

Just a quick line to say that I am sitting in the office drinking porridge (not made with oats...its milk and some derivative of maize I think but its very delicious!) and in a minute I will be teaching an English lesson to the older children. We will be writing letters in response to the ones written by the children in my after school club at Headlands in York. In fact, time is ticking, I must go and get ready...if only this porridge would cool down quicker!