Still not 40

We decided to celebrate the fact that we are still young.

I took the Friday of and after a lazy morning we left for Gisenyi. We stopped at Muzanse (Ruhengeri) for lunch. The place we knew was open but did not look it. The sign outside was taken down and men were busy (relatively) sweeping and working. The food however was still as lovely as we remembered. Worth over an hour waiting for.

We carried on on the partly new road, partly past roadworks, it seems to progress at an reasonable level. We were happy to see most workman were Rwandans and it was done by Strabag, not the cheap Chinese competitor.

We made the costly error to stop at our, by now usual, souvenir shop. KIAKA is a cooperative with nice products and good prices (and a clean loo). So now we have a drum, a stool and some statues.

So finally we got to our destination, a ride that should take less than four ours took us most of the day.

SERENA KIVU SUN ****
The only four star hotel out of Kigali. It is posh and men were helping us inside with umbrellas, as it was raining heavily. Gisenyi is known for its rain, fortunately often late afternoon or at night.


The hotel deserves its four stars with a lake view and beach. The staff however don't. The free water is delivered in the afternoon, well after you need it. Half the cutlery is missing, and will only arrive after asked for. The beach towels came after asking twice and with half an hour delay.etc. etc. We had a lovely massage on Saturday, of course at a different time than ordered. The dinner was buffet, so at least no problems with service, however it takes some skill to get your drinks at the same time as your dinner.

Saturday morning we had a stroll into town. It has a nice atmosphere. We visited the market and even bought cloth, cheaper than in Kigali. We couldn't resist the artist shops and bought a tam tam of raw wood and a mask, as if we needed it.

The way back was much quicker, I claim it on my shortcut. On the way there I noticed there was a road being build which would skip on hill, so on the way back we took it. It turned out that this was indeed a shortcut, a shame that it wasn't entirely ready, but that was half the fun.

We only stopped for a quick samosa and breakfast apple half way and were within four hours home.

So we have still some Sunday afternoon left to put cream on my sunburn, have tea and play with the cats. Oh, and spray the purchases with Doom.

In short, I can recommend this weekend away, but it might be worthwhile stay at a cheaper hotel and coming to Serena for the beach and a drink.

Dance troop

The short version of why we went on Saturday to watch a dance performance...

One of Lon's colleague's went on a visit to his guards house, two of the daughters performed a Rwandan dance - it turned out they were part of a local group that needed help with funds for costumes etc - they put some photos on their blog, and friends and family chipped in to help fund the troop.

We were treated to an energetic (if not synchronised) hours dance












Lon struts his stuff ...
To be honest we enjoyed watching the neighbours and the kids who surrounded the back yard almost as much as the performance itself..





the first Rwandan toddler I've noticed thumbsuckingour escort out of the neighbourhood

Send a cow

Last week I went along with a group to visit the offices of Send a Cow Rwanda, which is a UK based NGO which provides livestock to vulnerable people as part of a 4 year cycle which involves training in sustainable agriculture and livestock husbandry. For more details see Send a Cow


yesterday we paid a follow up visit and went out into the field to visit three cow recipients. We were accompanied by one of the social development officers and David, a field officer. Each district has a field officer with a motor bike - he provides basic veterinary care including articifical insemination (European bulls donations at 1500 Rwf a shot), as well as keeping in regular contact with the families.







All three were widows with adult children and grandchildren living in the compound
One of the cows (very well groomed and very tame) her name means "Something which brings joy"


We were able to ask lots of questions about life before the cow, and how it has changed and hopes for the future.



This time I have been able to offer something useful in return for the time that the staff of the organisation have given us (I know at ACCESS I would spend a lot of time providing information to people for no return...) recently a photographer Wayne Hutchinson went to visit a number of participants and took amazing photos http://www.farm-images.co.uk/news/
I'll be visiting some over the coming weeks in order to get some profile / case histories which can be used in promotional materials, and to put some stories to the faces.


this is a trough used for brewing local banana beer (an income generating idea if ever I saw one..)









This is a tip tap system. There is place for your soap, and you can wash your hands after visiting the WC without using much water




washing up left out to dry...

Harvest

well...
the box veg growing scheme isn't as successful as I may have hoped, but here is a photo of one of our tomatoes

we had a harvest of 6

there are another 6 or so in various stages of development.
A kilo of tomatoes from the veg man costs less than a euro.....

les Soeurs Bernadine

Recently some of the NL partners went to visit les Soeurs Bernadine. Sister Stephanie and Sister Marie Michel are Belgian and our contact point, sister Marie Michel (on the left in the white T shirt) has been in Rwanda for 50 years.


Sister Dorothea is Rwandan and 90 years old - she supervises the meals for patients in the hospital which is next door to the convent. Here in hospital your family is supposed to provide food for you. There are however, large numbers of people who have no-one to do that, either they have no-one, or they live far away and have come to Kigali for specialist treatment. There is a social worker in the hospital who identifies these people (60 -120 per day depending on the Specialist doctors list etc) and the nuns try to provide a healthy warm meal for them.
Depending on what is in season there will be sweet potatoes, potatoes, rice or cassava with beans and a vegetable sauce.



the food preparation and cooking area is very basic but also very clean.
These pots are then loaded into wheelbarrows and taken to the hospital.

One of the reasons we went along also is that the African International Club which I am a member of supports the sisters by paying 125,000 Rwf (about 150 Euro) per month, which due to rising costs of basics like rice and cooking oil is no longer enough, so our arms were twisted to try and increase this amount. We are not the only supporters of the initiative, but were certainly a regular income source.

To say that visiting the nuns made an impression on me is an understatement.
The sisters have incredibly warm hearts, and are compassionate, while still being surprisingly worldly and funny.

Freedom!

...though sadly only temporary

Yesterday was the kits first (legal) foray into the garden which has duly been sniffed and explored



Dobby is fully recuperated and back to her usual naughty playful sef

From todays New Times

70 children immunised against killer diseases

BY LILLIAN NAKAYIMA

WESTERN PROVINCE KARONGI — Mukungu Clinic in Karongi district has immunised over 70 children in the ongoing health campaign to protect children against the ‘six killer’ diseases. The campaign that started recently has seen days of immunisation being increased from one to two days in a week, including Wednesday and Fridays. A medical official at the clinic said increasing the days was part of a countrywide campaign to reduce infant mortality rates. The medics say many mothers have embraced the campaign. “We have so far immunised over 70 babies,” said officials at the clinic. She added that as part of the campaign, children are weighed and mothers with malnourished children are counseled. Pregnant women are also advised on how to live during pregnancy. “It was long over due in this area and the large turn up emphasises it,” said another staff, Sister Theresa Uwayo who also acts as a health counselor. Uwayo stressed that immunisation should be stepped up in rural areas. Another health campaign that has been stepped up in the area includes teaching pregnant mothers to voluntarily test for HIV/AIDS to know their health status.

To me the idea that more than 70 babies have been immunised shouldn't be newsworthy, but instead everyday..

Dobby got done

On Sunday we took Dobby to the vets to be sterilised.

Before
She was not a happy passenger trying to scratch her way out of her travel box, and came home obviously sedated still and looking very thin and small.

After

Monday she still was sitting very quietly looking sad and hung-over, and didn’t eat or drink anything. We set her up a sick room in one of the spare bathrooms.

Meantime Nev has been acting up, demanding attention, calling out for Dobby – however as soon as they are together he howls/growls and hisses at her as if she were a stranger.

Tuesday I got sneaky trying to make her eat and drink by rubbing water and pureed fish and rice on her face or paws as she was by now cleaning herself regularly but still wouldn’t eat or drink willingly.

Today things are looking up, Nev still is hissing, but she doesn't seem too impressed or scared, she's eating a little and seems stronger on her feet.

Hopefully by the end of the week she'll be back to normal, and we can let her and Nev get back to their usual routines together. The aim of the game is to let them out into the garden in a few weeks time...