Last post!

That’s right it’s finally all coming to an end! I can’t quite believe it myself. The last few days have been a whirlwind of last minute gift and souvenir purchasing and goodbyes. I’m not going to say it feels like I arrived yesterday or that the three months have gone so fast…it definitely feels like I lived in Musanze for long enough to have established some lifelong connections and made a home away from home (as cheesy as that sounds!). It was sad to leave it all behind, especially saying goodbye to everyone at the deaf school and Jacqueline who I’ve spent so much time with. The teachers and CHH trainers all took me out for a goodbye drink in town, which was really nice. At home in the evening I gave my gifts to Elie and Bernadette, and their adorable daughter Patience who is home for the holidays (a stuffed elephant made of African fabricJ) and they invited the Canadians over for dinner. Bernadette and Jacqueline also gave me gifts to give to my mother, which I guess is the thing to do here when someone leaves…so lucky mum!

With Jackie at the Deaf School

This morning I met with the other volunteers at the hotel where I usually work.  The bar staff (who I have also become good friends with!) were very sad to see me go and I can honestly say I will miss my corner spot at that hotel and their delicious fish brochettes and avocado. Although leaving was sad, I do feel like my time in Musanze is up, I made what I could of my placement, met some amazing people and had some fantastic experiences and am now ready to go home! There is a new volunteer at Elie and Bernadette’s house who will be running a summer camp for the kids and my spot at the hotel has already been occupied by another group of volunteers on their computers using the free wireless!

Messy fish in Kigali!

I am now sitting in the lounge at Kigali airport which is surprisingly nice! (Unlike the Nairobi one where I have to spend my  5 and a half hour layover…) I am sorry I did not write much in the last few weeks. It was all a bit of a blur trying to get in as much as possible before leaving! I met some volunteers from another organization on a bus in Musanze and spent some time with them in Kigali, which was great since they were renting a house there and let me sleep on the couch for free! They showed me Kimironko, a huge market where you can buy beautiful African fabrics and have them made into “Western-style” clothing! I had some pajama pants made from a funky blue fabric. In the evening we all piled into a jeep and went to a restaurant known for its African fish (huge Tilapia fried in delicious spices, which you share with the table and eat with you hands!) The following day there was big music concert going on, “Kigali Up”, so we went to check that out in the evening. The music was much better than the disappointing hip-hop concert in Musanze, but unfortunately, I think because you had to pay to get in, the crowd was almost completely mzungu and consisted of mainly tourists, and the majority of Kigali’s expat community! It was said that the organizers decided it could not be open to everyone…However the atmosphere was laid back, everyone was having a good time, there was good food and the music was great (a crazy mixture of international and African bands performing everything from blues-reggae to hip-hop). Of course it wasn’t perfect and between each act we had to wait about an hour while an old white Canadian guy did a “sound check”! It is interesting actually how “Westernized” the city has become. I am really glad my placement wasn’t there and that I got to experience something that felt a lot more like authentic Rwanda. In Musanze you can see and feel all around you  a sense of the original cultures and traditions, whereas in Kigali it feels like it’s all about “developing” as fast as possible, which sometimes unfortunately seems to be defined as becoming like the West.

"Kigali Up"

That Sunday I met with my good friend Mark from college in Kigali. He is actually one of the people who inspired me to come to Africa in the first place, as my TA in my model UN course. He has done a lot of volunteer work in Kenya and Tanzania during college and was travelling round this summer visiting friends, so he decided to come see me in Rwanda since he had never been. It was really nice to see him (though totally strange to be meeting up with someone from college in Africa!) and we just talked for hours. I took him back to Musanze and showed him around all the FCYF projects. He also stayed with me at Elie’s. All the staff/teachers/kids loved him! Especially the deaf children and Noella at the Deaf School…He has worked with deaf children before in Tanzania and could speak sign language with them. I think he had a really nice time and told me how much this reminded him of one of his early experiences. It was nice to talk to someone who had been through so many of the same things…Unfortunately he could only stay for 2 days but left saying he wanted to return and I know the everyone at the organization would be happy to have him!

With Mark at the bus station in Musanze

The following weekend Selina, Matt and I had planned to visit Akagera, the only safari park in Rwanda. We had booked a car, which came to pick us up at 4am(!) since it is on the other side of the country and they recommend  you get there for a morning drive at 8. The driver was already itching to go when we strolled into the hotel car park around 4.05! We napped in the car as the driver raced through the winding roads across the country at a ridiculous speed. I am not sure why he was in such a hurry…we certainly weren’t, and it was kind of annoying since we kept being woken up by the sudden jolts of speed bumps he didn’t notice! I was too tired to complain. I was not expecting much from the park to be honest, since everyone I had spoken to had told me it was disappointing compared to the amazing safaris you can do in Kenya and South Africa, but it was actually a really good experience in the end. We were not able to get a guide, since there is a shortage for some reason, but it was fine as our drive (still speeding!) was able to catch up with the vehicle in front of us who did have a guide, so we followed them.  The landscape was very different to the rest of Rwanda, so flat and dry! It was the first time that it actually felt like “Africa”!

Akagera

At first the drive was pretty tedious and boring as we sped along the bumpy roads, saw nothing for about 3 hours except these horrible flies that kept attacking us! Apparently all the animals were at the other side of the park at the lake, since it was the rainy season. At this point I was quite bored and thinking ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’! I felt quite bad for Selina, who was really excited about seeing elephants but I was doubtful that she actually would.  But finally we did see animals… and they all seemed to appear at once! There were baboons, a huge elephant bathing very close to us, then a dead hippo! We didn’t know it was dead until we began to approach and saw it wasn’t moving and half its head had started to rot. It was pretty to macabre! And smelt awful! Then there was a beautiful herd of giraffes and zebras and we got out of the car and took tons of pictures with them in the background. So the park visit turned out to be a great success in the end…and it was great hanging out with Selina and Matt one last time.

Sorry to cram so much into the last post…So much just seemed to happen so fast! So here I am at the airport…finally going home. I am actually in the Nairobi lounge now actually. I managed to fashion a reasonably comfortable bed out of two chairs and got about 4 hours of sleep! So not as bad as I thought it would be.

Anyway, I guess I should conclude…it has been an incredible experience that I will remember forever. It was nothing like I had ever imagined, but then again I try not go into things with too many expectations or preconceptions. The only one I really had was that Rwanda was “hub of development” in African and it is, there are so many great initiatives going on…but it is so much more than that! It still has such a strong sense of culture and tradition. The people are so warm and friendly and accept you almost immediately as part of their family. What was also striking was their sense of identity as Rwandans. For example when I met people, they would welcome me to “their” country. I was asked numerous times “How do you see Rwanda?” and went on to describe all the great things about the country and why it was different to other countries. This was really nice to see, especially since I could never imagine, welcoming anyone to England or America or Finland…and describing it as “my country”, but maybe that’s just me J I definitely want to return to Rwanda in the next few years and will continue to do whatever I can to help out with FCYF. It is such a great organization and I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to see and be a part of it for 3 months. I will of course always remember and miss dearly the amazing people who work for the organization. Outside of this I have made so many friends during my time in Rwanda who I am sure I will keep in touch, and maybe even meet up with in Europe and America…

With Elie, Bernadette and Patience

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my blog. I hope you have enjoyed it. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: marikaison@yahoo.co.uk