I have been here for three weeks now and I am slowly getting
used to rhythm of things…although every day continues to bring new experiences!
Today I decided to get a moto-taxi to Sabyinyo Lodge (a luxury hotel for gorilla-trekking
near the volcanoes park), whose managers have been supporting the deaf center
for a while now and even took on a couple of students for a cooking apprenticeship
in their kitchen last year. I didn’t realize until we were driving that it was
actually quite far away (about 40 minutes’ drive from Musanze and past the next
town called Kinigi), I thought I was just getting over-charged as usual…but it
was definitely worth it! The lodge was beautiful, overlooking a vast green and
misty volcanic landscape. The permanent managers, who I had gone to see, were
away but the temporary manager was very welcoming and gave me a tour of the
premises and the cabins (all with a huge bathrooms and individual terraces
overlooking the view!). I joked about having a quick hot shower :) and the
manager said I could have a bath if I wanted to! May have to take him up on
that later…
We then talked (over tea and biscuits in the lounge!) about my
ideas for offering visits to the deaf school for guests keen to see local
community initiatives and a website called Pack for a Purpose, which encourages
tourists to bring extra things in their luggage (like toys, medicines and
school supplies) to be distributed at a school affiliated with their hotel. He
was very keen on the idea but said he would have to discuss it with the other
managers since the hotel is already supporting other local community projects
and would not want any tension to develop. It was quite a surreal experience
being treated like royalty in such a luxurious setting in such a poor country.
I actually felt quite guilty...But I suppose if tourism is such an important
source of income in Rwanda and these hotels are directly contributing to the community,
it is a good thing...
 |
| Me and Selina at the mouth of the cave |
Last week, I had a much more rustic experience…Elie’s boys
took us (me and the Canadians) to see the caves of Musanze. I didn’t really
have any idea what this meant or where were headed (if I had I may not have had
the guts to go!) After a “short” (about
half hour) walk up the hill from town we came to a field, which to me
looked like all the others except there were lots of little kids running around
and a lot more vegetation. So then we started climbing down into the shrubbery
and I noticed there was a huge dark opening underneath. We were with a bunch of
young teenage boys, who I assume were Elie’s boys’ friends. As we climbed deeper
into the cave, I realized why they had all come along and was very grateful as
they all had huge torches and clearly had done this a few times before! It’s
funny that we had on our hiking gear, raincoats and walking boots etc. and the boys
were all in t-shirts and flipflops! The cave was extremely dark, damp and quite
hard to navigate (I think it would have been impossible without experienced guides!)
The boys were all shouting to each other in Kinyarwandan as we climbed up, down,
around and over slippery damp mud, rocks (and bones!), so we didn’t really know
what was going on. We had been told the cave was about 2km long, so that’s all
we really had to go by…but it felt a lot longer with all the climbing! I
slipped several times, but fortunately was caught by one of the boys guiding
us! About half way through the boys got excited all a sudden and started
shining their torches upwards to show us the bat colony living there! Great!
The bats clearly didn’t like the light and I wanted to move on as quickly as
possible…Finally we started to see daylight again as we reached the other end,
where there was also a bunch of local kids hanging out. The caves seem to be the
place to be! They greeted each other and we came out onto a secondary school
campus on the other side of town! It was a great experience, thatI really don’t
think I would have had the chance to have if we weren’t staying with locals… I
also don’t think I would have been brave enough if I had had a clue what was
going on!
 |
| Selina, Patricia and Matthew enjoy some birthday cake at Elie's house |
I just realized I mentioned the Canadians, who I haven’t
even introduced. Selina, Matt and Patricia arrived last week on a volunteer
program called Intercordia Canada, which linked up with FCYF and started sending university students to
help teach at Wisdom School last year. They are really lovely and seem to be settling
in well at their home stays. When they arrived they stayed a few nights at Elie’s
home, so I had a chance to get to know them and then they all moved into
various homes of Elie’s friends and relatives, who are on the FCYF board. They
have spent this week settling into their new homes (all with young children and
in some cases very little English!) as well as getting used a rather hectic
teaching schedule at Wisdom. They will be teaching computers (as the school
currently doesn’t have a computer teacher) as well as hosting sports and games
during free time. So far they seem to be really enjoying it, and Matt seems to
have become good friends with his host ‘brother’, who takes him to play
basketball and watch football matches at the local stadium. The teachers have
really made them feel welcome as well, and one has even offered to take us all to
see his home town in Uganda!
Shortly after they came we took a trip into town (first one
unescorted! to pick up some juice, water, sim cards and exchange some money
etc. It was the first time I took the time to look around and take it all in.
The first thing I noticed actually was how clean it is! Despite the crowds,
buses and swarms of moto-taxis, there is hardly any litter. Once you get used
to the setting, it is actually quite organized. There is one main road, which is
lined with “supermarkets” (tiny shops with a very small selection of everything),
restaurants, bakeries, bars, cafes etc. that all look quite similar and to the
side of the road there is a huge enclosed market, which seems to sell absolutely
everything (except tourist products). It was clearly for the locals…Although it
seemed to have everything in there, from books, toys, baskets, cooking
equipment and electrical hardware to formal suits, shiny hand-made shoes and underwear…I
would not even know where to begin if I was looking for something specific! We
didn’t feel very welcome in there either as I think it was pretty clear we weren’t
going to buy anything and I don’t think they liked us just coming in to take
pictures!
 |
| Musanze town |
On a side note…washing clothes here is easier said than done!
First I asked if there was some washing powder and was told by Bernadette to
leave my clothes on the chair. I said I didn’t mind doing it myself, but she
insisted I couldn’t manage without a washing machine! I decided it was impolite
to argue so I left my clothes out Monday morning…they have been gone ever
since! I have seen them hanging on the line outside every now and then but
since it rains every day, they are still not dry! I thought about asking if I
could hang them up inside but decided I could wait. I guess, just like
everything else here seems to…washing clothes takes a little bit longer! I don’t
mind wearing the same thing every day, but I think next time I will just wash one
thing at a time (and only when it gets really dirty!)
Murakoze, muririwe!
Marika xxx
No comments:
Post a Comment