In Rwanda!

Muraho!

Muraho means hi in Kinyan-Rwandan. And Inanasi means pineapple. Unfortunately, I am not yet near fluent in Kinyan Rwandan, but I did pick up a few choice words from our friendly hotel cook this morning.  The cook also gave me some great advice on how to peel a hard-boiled egg – I am an awful egg peeler, so I will have to give it another go tomorrow.  For anyone interested, it’s important to give the egg a couple of taps and then roll it on a hard table rather than strategically trying to pick at it.

Cori, Eric, and I have now been in Rwanda, since Tuesday, for two nights, and Lila and our professional advisor, Elliot, just made it in today.

On our first night, Eric, Cori, and I had dinner with Peter and Innocent, a couple of our good friends and local contacts in Rwanda. Peter works for the US embassy and our cousin non-profit organization, Manna, and has an extremely relaxed and friendly attitude. Innocent, not only enjoys a glass of Sprite and Guinness but is also a computer science student at the local university and a full-time employee at Manna. Our project would not be possible without their support, and their patience and amiability makes it great working with them.

We went to a restaurant called, “The Republic”, located in the heart of Kigali. The meal was great – I had a chicken bruschette with ginger rice. I also had a glass of Mutzig, the local brew in Rwanda, which was smooth and not too hoppy. Mutzig will make it easy to cope with not having Colorado micro-brews.

Wednesday was spent running vital errands: exchanging money, acquiring cell-phones, and napping.

The real work started today. Eric, Cori, and I donned our best clothes (Eric even wore a tie) and met with Dr. Muhinda, a chairman at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources for Rwanda. We detailed our project, the design and implementation of a water-distribution system in Mugonero, Rwanda, and learned about the work that the ministry does. The Ministry partners with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and works with farmers to develop large-scale hill-side irrigation systems. We also explored the potential to work on small-scale irrigation projects for local communities and will continue to explore those avenues.

Rwanda is beautiful. The cityscape is wonderful with ornate roundabouts and houses stacked on hills. The people have been friendly, and I even had a moment with Adilene, the hostess at the local internet café. I have found that the language barrier is not too bad, as English is common and I can communicate effectively through gesturing.

Until next time,

Ankit