Let there be light

another project...

we inherited 30+ paraffin lanterns which look lovely when lit and scattered round the garden, but we don't tend to do it for just Lon and me ...and having seen similar at several restaurants I wanted some converted to electricity

When Henk visited we went to hardware stores and found which parts were necessary and he made four for us

when we went to hang them it became apparent that we'd need eight in total, so Lon rebuilt his dads lamps and has hung them in such a way that they can be moved in the case of extreme rain.






We now have two atmospheric areas to use in the evenings - yay!

Faces

We have seen some incredible sights in Rwanda, but I am touched often more by the expressions of the people we see. Sometimes but not often we are able to take photos of these people

some courtesy of the Toes

Potager project

A small vegetable garden is a potager in French.

We already have a thriving existing herb garden which we inherited from the previous occupants,



but I also would like some different veg e.g. cherry tomatoes, mangetout, lambs lettuce, and had plenty of seeds so a project was born...

According to Evariste the there is only about 5 cm topsoil along the border, so insufficient for many crops so we came up with the concept of wooden boxes. I forgot to make photos of the long and protracted process which included a trip to the wood market, rebuilding the boxes as the feet were sticking up at the top, and a treasure hunt for soil... but this is the result after approx 6 weeks

seeds in rows go in

the proud producer

the seedlings after about 3 weeks.

As we get crops (or not) I will post

Romeo and Juliet in Rwanda

More than a decade after the Rwandan genocide, reconciliation comes in forms not only political and diplomatic, but also artistic.

Enter a radio soap opera in Kigali – a Shakespearean love story complete with murder, thievery, a Romeo, and his Juliet. The programs depict two neighbouring villages and try to avoid identifying one village as Hutu and the other as Tutsi. The programs' purpose is to show the effects of various psychological, social, economic, and historical factors in setting the stage for group violence. In addition, the programs are meant to convey information about trauma and recovery, and reconciliation between groups after hostility and violence. In addition, Musekeweya is a format that was produced, developed and financed (and not funded) by the organization la Benevolencija.

I went as part of the NL partner group activities back in January to visit them recording a session, but couldn't find the photos to upload...

The actors come in once a month or so and record a batch at a time which is then edited. They have an extensive database of sounds to add, glasses, birdsong (lots of different ones, as some are morning birds, others sing after the rain etc), cows

Melci for the kitchen with lice

In Kinyarwanda - there is no difference between the ‘r’ and the ‘l’. Not as in the stereotype of Chinese, where every ‘r’ becomes an ‘l’. In Rwanda the ‘r’ and the ‘l’ are completely interchangeable. As are the ‘k’ and the ‘ch’ (tjsh). Don’t be amazed when you get ‘kitchen with lice and mushrooms’ when you have ordered 'chicken with rice and mushrooms'. ‘Freuls’ are ‘fleurs’ (frowels, or: flowers), sausage in the supermarket here is with or without galric, Kigali can as well be Tsjigari. Last Saturday we enjoyed a chocorate clep for dessert - aka pancake with nutella.

Government Lifts Ban On Poultry

A very organized country, they know exactly how many chickens there are!


Government Lifts Ban On Poultry
The New Times (Kigali) 26 Mar. 08

A ban imposed on importation of poultry and its products has been lifted, paving way for farmers and traders to buy chicks and eggs from any country in the East African region.
The ban slammed in 2005 was to save lives of both people and poultry after reports that the avian flu virus was killing millions of birds and several human beings in Europe and, in Africa, Nigeria and Egypt.

The fast spreading lethal virus first broke out on the Asian continent in 2003. Dr. Theogéne Rutagwenda, director general of Rwanda Animal Resource Development Authority (RARDA) said they carried out research and found out that poultry within the region was safe from bird flu.

He added that the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) approved the findings.
"We checked with neighbouring countries and no more scare seemed to exist," he said.
Rutagwenda was optimistic that after lifting the ban,the poultry population in the country will increase. Currently Rwanda has 2,084,139 million birds.

Bad vibrations..

We are currently experiencing some problems with the electricity which means that the generator has been running since 3 am. Unfortunately the thrum is such that it cannot be ignored and vibrates in your bones. Hoping that normal service will be resumed shortly, or we may have to go and camp elsewhere for the sake of sanity

the diesel driven stinky beast

Hi tech operation panel which no-one understands we just jab buttons randomly

Poor me

After 7 months it happened. I was ill for a day.

It started Monday when I felt slightly bad. Then I didn't enjoy dinner; not much like me. Went to bed early. Tuesday I still didn't feel like eatting, so called in sick. I spent a lot of the day in bed, some time half awake in front of the telly and some time on the toilet (I will spare you the details). To day all seems to be going well.

Still don't know what it was. I eat the same as Hazel. Maybe it was just time to be ill.

fantastic feedback

One of the tasks that I am performing at ORI is to hold career counselling sessions with students that still have about a year before graduation, to encourage them to take action now which may improve their chances of finding a job after graduation identify possible companies they would like to work in, choose a career path for generalists, write a CV...not rocket science - but a fairly new idea for some of the students. Anyway, one student sent me her CV and I replied with some suggestions.

She sent the following email...

Think you Hazel for correctiness.

Chantal Happy Easther.

Work

Two days ago I finally got a mail confirming some changes in the work situation.

The office in Burundi will grow and get more independent. Therefore it has been decided that they need a financial officer there. This would be bad news, as I like it in Kigali and Bujumbura is more isolated and risky.

Luckily the embassy has a junior who loves to make the step to a senior position and doesn't mind living there. So everybody happy.

This means that in stead of dealing with Burundi I will deal with Rwanda as of July. My colleague who deals with Rwanda now will leave for Indonesia. The only drawback is that the junior will be gone and not be replaced. We already had some internal discussions on how to solve this. Some of my future tasks will be done by local employees and some other tasks will also be reassigned to others. All in all it is an interesting change and a good challenge for my.

fruits

We are so lucky with the produce we can buy here, here's a typical fruitbowl (the pineapple was already diced in the fridge)



A new discovery for me are the maracuja jaune (yellow passionfruit) which are known as grenadillas in South Africa


the slightly unappatising grey-green frog spawn actually tastes sweet like the juice of a greengage (reine claude pruim)

Mad purchases

We had a nice day yesterday with some strange purchases.

We went out a bit later than planned due to rain. We took a little drive to see where Wouter has to run the marathon, a few challenging slopes, but also quite a bit flat-ish. On the way we passed a colleague who had a small accident (I will inquire Monday). After that we had a buffet lunch at Afrika Bite. We have been there before for dinner. Buffet was good and included a soft drink so good value. Soft drink is called Fanta here. So if it says somewhere 'Fanta for sale' it means they have soft drinks, not just Fanta.

We decided to take a 'local route' home and pasted a small souvenir shop. Because it was a woodcarver the workshop was full of small wood chips, a small brainwave made us ask what he did with it as we needed some for our garden. We could take as much as we want, for free. So we drove home, collected the gardener (for the phisical labour) and some big bags and went back. After a chat and loading the back of our car we awarded the man with some money for a beer.

My dad has some genes which he didn't pass on. In the village where he lives the men blow horns made from cow horns. So he thought to ask the local man if they are for sale here, unfortunately for me the man directed us to the slaughterhouse. So we parked our car in the middle of the market (this is an achievement on its own) to find nobody but the guard. Luckily the guard was willing to 'find' one for a small fee. So now I had a car with wood chips and a very smelly cows horn. At home my dad made the gardener and the guard clean the thing,


it was full of maggots and the inside had to be carved out. So now my father can say to the neighbours his is bigger then theirs. That is if customs don't confiscate it!

Later the same afternoon we went to see the house of the gardener. We borrow him some money so he can buy a place and doesn't have to pay rent every month, so he felt he had to show us his house. His current house is right next to the house he is buying, so we could see both. We felt a bit guilty seeing this small house where he has to live with his 9 (not a typo: 9!) children. and the two of us live in a house at least four times the size.

The new house, roughly the same size as his current house which is just behind it.

The day wasn't over yet. The vet came to give our cats there first injection, this went well. He confirmed their gender. In four weeks time our Neville will be less manly and Dobby will be altered after her first heat.

To let this busy day sink in we went to Chez John for our dinner. There we had to 'unhasten' as they call it in Dutch. In normal English: 'it took ages'. After our complaint they explained that the gas was finished halfway the evening, such a shame they didn't inform us quicker. We did enjoy the food, so we will probably give it another chance.

whisky bravo fokker fokker

We went to visit the Akegera national park - the lodge is shabby chic, and we spent Monday afternoon resting and enjoying the scenery and our first Rwandan sunset.


Up super early on Tuesday and off on safari, which was definitely worth it. The park is very wild and unspoilt. Fulgence

was our ORTPN Guide for the day, and has introduced the call sign Whisky Bravo Fokker Fokker to our sayings, as he tried to call back to base...repeatedly. Lon was a star and drove for four hours on unmade tracks without breaking the car