EWB-CU Rwanda

Tugenda! Let's go!

2012-01-10T00:42:00.000-08:00

In the mini-bus! These vans can carry up to 25 people. Ours held a cozy 19.

Wow! It's been quite the whirlwind of activity this past week. I think we've managed to take just about every form of transport there exists here in Rwanda; i.e. buses, mini-buses, taxis, moto-taxis, trucks, back of trucks, and walking. Cramped knees, tight spaces, and claustrophobia are challenges of the past for this team of travel experts now. We are even getting a hang of the mzungu tax (which is the extra amount people attempt to charge the foreigners), though we've still a ways to go.

Having finished the bulk of our work at the Children's Village Kigarama, we swung back through Kigali for about 24 hours. Here, we visited the site of the Rwandan Orphan's Project, an organization dedicated to helping and raising rescued street boys without families. We met with members of the staff, Tom and Celestin, who introduced us to the facilities and gave us a tour of the new piece of land they had recently managed to purchase. As a quick anecdote, before leaving, they got all the boys together so that we could introduce ourselves. It cracked them up to find out that I, the tallest member of our group, was the youngest, and they doubled over when Steve told them he was 55 years old, since the life expectancy for men and women in Rwanda is in the mid 40's.

Meeting with leaders of the Twa community.

Then it was off to the northwest of the country, where we stayed in Gisenyi. There, we first visited the Imbambazi orphanage, founded by Roselin Carr, who passed away in 2006 at the age of 94, making her, at that time, the oldest living person in Rwanda. After a quick tour and stay, we proceeded to visit a small community of marginalized peoples in Rwanda. Ethnically, they're known as the Twa people, but politically, they're known roughly-translated as "the people who history left behind" (after the genocide, speaking of ethnic identity was forbidden). The need at the Twa village was greater than most places we'd seenand was a humbling experience for all of us.

Now, we’re back in Kigali, getting ready to head back to Children’sVillage Kigarama. Yesterday, we were invited by a Peace Corps Volunteer, Tyler,to visit a community in Northern Rwanda called Bungwe. The community was a 3hour car ride away from Kigali, one hour of which was on dirt roads that tookus to this very rural, yet still highly populated area of Rwanda. The communitywas extremely welcoming and the smiles were a plenty. The main need of theentire community was the lack of access to water, especially during the dryseason, meaning a steep and dangerous 30-45 minute hike downhill to the source. After meeting lots of people, playing with the kids, and gathering the necessary info, we hopped back into the car for the 3-hour ride back to Kigali.

Now it's time for the 3-hour bus ride to Kibuye, followed by the hour-long moto ride that will bring us back to the Children's Village Kigarama. Victor, the director, will be arriving back to the orphanage after time away, and we will be meeting and discussing the future with him.

Muraveho inshuti!

Andy

Umwaka Mwiza

2012-01-03T11:15:00.000-08:00

Umwaka Mwiza or Happy New Year,

We brought in the New Year with a night of dancing at theorphanage, followed by a lively game of UNO, goofiness and insightful talk. Thekids are amazing dancers, with expressive styles and natural rhythm. And ashard as the little babies tried to stay up for the New Year, they asked to becarried and fell asleep in our arms.

Our team has continued monitoring our irrigation system thatwas implemented during the summer, and it is operational! The hydro-powered rampump delivers stream water to the upper tank, which is in turn routed to tapstands in the fruit- tree nursery. We have also mapped out the orphanage,trained kids in efficient surveying techniques, and learned about water uses atthe orphanage.

Prince, Victor’s right-hand man and future director ofChildren’s Village Kigarama, continues to emphasize how the orphanage’spriority is to provide for the children through sustainable income-generatingstreams, using the resources and ingenuity available at the orphanage. For thepast several days, we have seen this resourcefulness and creativity in action.Antwan, an orphan here, spent six months training in Ruhengeri to hone hiscarving skills and has showcased his new works on a table in Bisoke, the olderkids’ dorm. His carvings include giraffes, masks, and giant gorillas that siton tree stumps around the orphanage. Solar dryers, provided by the Johnson spacecenter, are used to dry pineapples. These pineapples are available forconsumption at the guest house.

Sonya and a view near the Birambye Site

We also had the chance to visit the Birambye site, whichwill serve as a Sustainability lodge, providing for educational opportunitiesat the orphanage. The lodge can serve asan economic engine, generating funds sustainably and serving as a market forgoods produced at CVK, such as crafts and dried pineapple. The site will be thefirst of the kind located on Lake Kivu. I am looking forward to leadinginitiatives to help create a business plan and get this project running. Moreabout the project can be found here: icatis.org/birambye

And if you would liketo get involved, drop me an email me at ankit.sharma@colorado.edu.

It has been great seeing the children again. When wearrived, they warmed up pretty quick. Elena continues to add to myKinyan-Rwandan vocabulary. I learned that I really need to be careful when Isay the word for hair on my head, Oomosatsi. One false move, and I could end upsaying Oomosazi, the word for crazy person.

Today, we went to Lake Kivu with the kids. I commandeered adugout canoe with Inno, who is an amazing American football quarterback unlikeSonya, who kind of throws like a girl.

I have also started an intense workout regime' with Steve,several kids, and Janak, another volunteer here. We are putting our sparematerials from the irrigation project to good use. Galvanized pipe makes for anamazing pull-up bar.

Little Babies

It’s the end of the day and I’m beat. Hearing the sounds ofthe crickets in the hills is soothing – I’ll sleep well under the starstonight.

Murabeho,

Ankit

PS. Feel free to leave comments – sometimes we wonder ifthis is read. Cheers!

Jumping into an adventure!

2011-12-30T10:51:00.000-08:00

The morning we left Kigali, we met with Wellars, an engineerfrom the EWB-Rwanda chapter, to visit a couple of his current constructionprojects. These were quite interesting:one is a three story building for the Kigali School of Finance and Industry. All constructed with wooden scaffolding andhand mixed concrete; some beams are 60 foot clear span concrete beams. Thereis a lot of construction happening in Kigali.

We were then off to the bus station to take a public bus toKibuye. We loaded our gear onto the bus,when Ankit and Sonya decided that we needed snacks for the 3 hour busride. Off they went to look for snacksand off the bus went to Kibuye. As Andytried to get the bus to stop and wait, we spotted them a few feet from thebus. We yelled but of course the busstation had hundreds of people milling around, deafening noise, cars, buses andmotorcycles all making their way to the exit. Andy made the executive decision as teamleader and leapt from a back window of the moving bus. He succeeded in gathering Ankit and Sonya andmade it back to the bus. With thesnacks!!

Once we arrived in Kibuye, we transferred to the preferredlocal transit solution, Motos. These aremotorcycles, where we ride behind the driver with our backpacks while thedriver manages our suitcase straddled between the handle bar and gas tank. The moto ride from Kibyue to the orphanage takes a little over an houron a dirt road, the mud holes are large enough that we actually had to off roadaround a bus that was stuck up to its axles. This turned out to be quite theab workout.

It is hard to describe how beautiful the orphanage is. It is obvious there has been a tremendousamount of work and love that has gone into l’esperance. All the buildings are brightly colored, theyhave planted gardens throughout the grounds and all the kids were shouting “Andy!”“Ankit!” as we arrived. After a tour ofthe orphanage we spent the rest of the evening playing with the kids.

Today we got on to the task of monitoring past projects andsurveying the compound area. I will endthe suspense now, everything is working great! The surveying took a little longer than expected as we had theassistance of 10-20 kids the entire time. We finished the day with some soccer and volleyball.

Have a Happy New Year!!

Steve

Winter trip begins!

2011-12-28T12:53:00.000-08:00

Muraho from Kigali! It's our second day in the capital, which means that everyone still needs afternoon naps, but we're adjusting quickly.
We somehow managed to get all of our bags here (and bags and cookstoves for other people), which was extremely difficult and involved lots and lots of tape...

The last day and a half have been busy with phone calls, shopping and errands, terrifying motorcycle rides through the city, the making of delicious food with other Coloradoans (is that a word?) who now live in Kigali, and planning our trip in more detail. Oh, and trying not to fall asleep during conversations, which was quite difficult.
So, we wanted to give you an overview of the purpose of our trip and a general outline for what we'll be doing in the short time we are here.
We just had an incredible meeting with EWB Rwanda, organized in 2005 with the help of students and alumni of the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). This group has been partnering with visiting EWB groups (including ours!) and gave us an impressive list of completed projects. We hope to find a project that we can collaborate on over the next couple of years, as they have great contacts and ideas of what people really need. We'll be meeting again at the end of our trip.

Tomorrow we are heading to the orphanage, where we plan to bring in the new year (with champagne! we're fancy) and stay until around Jan 5th. During that time, we'll be monitoring the irrigation and the rainwater systems to make sure everything is still working, as well as checking up on the pump, cook stoves, and slow sand filters and doing some water quality testing. We'll also do a water use survey. Then, we'll be conducting a survey of the stream and of most of the orphanage property. We're going to train some of the staff on how to use our awesome hand-made flow and pressure meters (thanks hydro team!) so they can continue to take measurements during the wet season. We'll be taking a day to map out the Birambye lodge area near the orphanage. And of course, we're planning some fun educational activities for the kids.
After our time in Mugonero, we'll be heading north to Gisenyi to visit Eric's biomass pellet/cookstove factory, and will take an overnight trip to Imbabazi, another orphanage in the area. We might meet up with a peace corps volunteer, who has contacted our team, to do a quick assessment of the situation in his community.
Around Jan 10, we plan to come back to Mugonero for a couple days to see Victor, and to talk to him about goals for the future, fundraising plans, and our exit strategy.
On Jan 13, we'll be back in Kigali to visit another orphanage, meet with the EWB Rwanda group again, and go out to dinner with a Rwandan we met on the plane. We fly out on Jan 15th and should be back in Boulder on the 16th!
That's the general plan for now. We'll update again from L'esperance!

Sonya

Summer 2011 Video

2011-09-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

Check out this great video from our Summer 2011 Project edited by Ankit Sharma!

Top 10 Things I've Learned

2011-06-26T05:14:00.000-07:00

In January 2009 I wandered into my first EWB-CU Rwanda meeting in the DLC Conference room in Boulder. After 3 EWB-CU trips to Rwanda and 5 full semesters of working hard with the team, I've learned more than I can ever attribute to my Engineering degree alone.

Here's the top 10 things I've learned from three years with EWB-CU Rwanda:

10. Show up on time for meetings, especially if you are running them.

9. Nothing ever goes perfectly to plan, especially with an Engineering project in rural Africa. Always be ready with a backup plan.

8. Most people outside of EWB-CU under-value the effort we put in as students and over-value the project results.

7. You don't need to be a business student to win a business plan competition, but you must thoroughly understand your idea and clearly show your passion for it.

6. Many people love to help, but sometimes you need to ask them for it. Don't be afraid to ask for help once in a while.

5. When conducting an assessment, collect more information than expected. You never know exactly what information you might need down the road.

4. Convince someone to participate, and they'll participate with an absent heart. Have someone convince you to let them participate, they'll participate with true passion and enthusiasm.

3. Opposites attract. People in Africa want to go to America, and people in America long to go to Africa.

2. All Rwandans are better than me at soccer.

1. Take your education outside of the classroom. Learn by doing, and you'll be rewarded for the rest of your life.

Thank you to donors, teachers, friends, family, and most of all, the CU Rwanda Team for making the last three years a truly valuable experience for me and countless others both on and off this continent.

Eric Millinger ('11)

Dream Big

2011-06-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

One of the most amazing blessings that we have as human beings is our ability to dream. Dreams allow us to enter a world of imagination in which we can be the architects of our very own futures. We envision ourselves playing soccer at the World Cup, finding the cure for a disease once previously thought incurable, or taking the first steps on an unexplored planet. Dreams transcend all of humanity.

Children are the best dreamers. They are able to see past the limits many adults have imposed on themselves and remind us of the limitless possibilities of this world. What is more, every child should be given the chance to achieve his or her dreams. Every child should have the opportunity to become a doctor, to sing the national anthem on Opening Day, or to find his or her family after separation. In reality though, not every child is given an opportunity; in fact, many aren’t.

Many of you reading this have been given opportunities to achieve your dreams. The dreams you have today are likely different from the ones you had as a child, though part of your heart probably still hangs on to the threads of hope that your childhood dreams may still come true. But to actually achieve your dreams is a stark challenge. It’s almost always a constant, uphill battle, as you swim against a current of people and events that try to set you back. But with support, tenacity, and courage, you eventually pull through.

Can you then imagine how difficult it is to achieve your dreams as an orphan in a developing country? Spending two weeks at L’Esperance Children’s Aid orphanage in Rwanda was certainly, among other things, a humbling experience for me. I began to come to grips with what it means to be an orphan – to grow up without parents or family of any sort. I saw kids who never had a mother’s arms for shelter or a father to play soccer with. But I also saw kids with hopes and dreams. I saw future doctors, future soccer stars, and future musicians. Though small, these orphans have a chance to become someone and to do something in their lives. Knowing that our project would directly support their dreams meant more to me than I could have imagined.

If I could have one wish, I would ask for every child to be given the chance to achieve his or her dreams. So if you are a kid, you know a kid, or have a kid, just remember this; dream big. Don’t let others tell you no. Don’t let society hold you back. Dream big and follow your dreams because you never know how lucky you are. Hold on to and cherish those dreams as you would your most prized possession. Then one day when you’re older, you’ll recognize just what an accomplishment it is to achieve your dreams. And if you’re lucky, you may help another child achieve his or her dreams. That’s my dream. What’s yours?

Bonus Projects

2011-06-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

While at the orphanage, we wanted to explore other needs, so we branched out into several side projects. I will start with the most pressing need that the orphanage had.

Project Ventilation:

The latrine in the guest house had weak ventilation and left many of our team members distraught. So, Elliot and I headed up an initiative to make the latrine experience more bearable and maybe even more enjoyable. We took out the glass door cover and replaced it with a beautiful, fine mesh. Additionally, we demolished several bricks and created what I would term a “breathing space.” I also had the opportunity to drill some giant holes. Acoustical security may have been sacrificed, but it was for the greater good. The finished product is shown below:

Project Hand Wash:

I felt that the hand washing situation at the orphanage was awkward and dire. The established system called for having a partner pour water from a pitcher onto your hands. It did not really work well trying to pour water over your own hands, as you could only do one at a time. And at times I felt that my handwashing friends were not invested in the process. They would lazily pour water over my hands, stop too early, pour sporadically, or act like they had better things to do. Using the extra bulkheads and taps we had, we attached taps to several Jerry cans. Hand washing can now be done at the orphanage free of awkwardness. The station can also be used as a teeth-brushing station, an elbow-washing station, a Jerry-can filling station, etc. I also see this as a huge business opportunity and Project Handwash will probably go global real soon. Maybe even tomorrow. Investors, please contact me.

Project Pump Rehabilitation:

Our irrigation project uses water from an upper tank that is filled with a water-wheel powered pump from a stream three-hundred meters below. Unfortunately, when we got to the orphanage, the pump was not working. So we replaced a bunch of parts, etc. and got it to dominate. This project was essential to our overall irrigation system. This project is also less sexy than the other ones.

Cheers,

Ankit

Project Update

2011-06-13T00:14:00.000-07:00

Team Rwanda completed our project yesterday! After almost 2.5 weeks of materials buying, design tweaking, problem solving, and fun-filled days with the 130 orphans at the L'Esperance Orphanage in Kigarama, Rwanda, we are happy to show you the final product.

Above, you can see the children surrounding one of the six tap stands we installed. Each tap stand will be used to irrigate a portion of the tree nursery, which will allow these trees to be grown year round, sold to the local community, and produce a profit to better support these children. In the background, you can see the 2 AfriTanks we installed. These supply extra water, which is pumped up for a small stream 300 meters downhill. We are really pleased with the final product and will continue to monitor its functioning.

Still to come: personal reflections, side projects, and more! Stay tuned!

2011-06-10T02:03:00.000-07:00

Maramutse.

The team is buttoning up our project at the L’esperance orphanage in Rwanda. We are fixing our leaky pipes, building valve boxes, smoothing out our tap stands, and gathering assessment data. The team has also repaired the hydro-powered pump that feeds the system, which was a huge victory. Initial testing has shown that the irrigation system functions and the tap stands can adequately fill up water balloons. The kids had a great time trying to hit me with the balloons but then mis-firing and hitting Cori. Next steps involve using the system for irrigating fruit trees to help the orphanage on their path to economic sustainability.

My experience here leaves me with mixed emotions. It has been inspiring and insightful playing with the orphans here after a hard day’s work. I have seen kids that are future soccer stars, singers, teachers, and leaders. It’s apparent that they are strong and have relied on each other’s camaraderie to get past rough times in their lives. The little babies here are disciplined and adorable. I am always in awe when I see that the den mothers are able to get them to sit on their potties at the same time. Precious, a toddler here, has been practicing her ABC’s by writing her letters out on my arm. Francois, whose demeanor is reminiscent of my brother, has been trying to teach me Kinyan-Rwandan and giggles when all I remember is oomosatsi – the word for hair. I have plenty of it. The affection that the children have shown leaves me woozy, and these feelings help me understand why there are so many people that are invested in the welfare of this orphanage.

Victor Monroy, the director of the orphanage, has emphasized how he wants the orphanage to function without charity, to become economically self-sufficient. There are mechanism’s underway to help educate and provide for the children. Today, we interviewed Victor about his vision for the eco-lodge hotel, an environmentally friendly hotel that will be built at the base of Lake Kivu. The hotel will be one of the first in the area, providing services such as kayaking, hiking, and even wind-surfing. Most importantly, profits from the eco-lodge will help fund university studies for the older kids at the orphanage.

The team will lose Judy and Lila today, as they fly out tomorrow from Kigali. Cori, Eric, Andy, and I take off Sunday. We will be able to spend a day at the lake with the kids and follow our project to completion. Hearing the kids sing and looking at the layered hills with Lake Kivu in the background leaves me feeling content. Until next time.

Murabeho,

Ankit

Judy's Guest Blog

2011-06-10T01:59:00.000-07:00

It was very early in the morning and I had to travel to meet with EWB-CU friends. I arrived in Kigali at around 8:30am in the morning from Nairobi. Since I did not know where we were supposed to be based, I had to wait for the mentor (Elliot) who was to arrive later in the afternoon. I waited patiently and after five hours Eliot arrived. I went with him to the place where we were supposed to spend the night and also meet other EWB-CU members who had arrived earlier on. That was Eric, Cori, and Ankit. The warm welcome that I was given really impressed me. We stayed in Kigali for three days then we went to L’Esperance Orphanage where we were supposed to carry out our project. The warm welcome that we were given at the orphanage was very encouraging.

To cut the long story short, my stay at the orphanage with the EWB-CU group has made me experience a lot of positive things. Playing soccer with the children and also being involved in the projects was amazing. My friends Lila, Eric, Cori, Ankit and Andy; please continue with the same spirit.

“Experience is the best teacher.”

Judy

Note: Judy joined the team for the past two weeks through a connection with our professional mentor, Elliot. Born and raised in Kenyan, Judy is studying mathematics and computer science at Kenya Methodist University [KMU]. It has been a joy to work and get to know her during our time. She hopes to continue volunteering with our group.

EWB Saves the Day

2011-06-06T22:01:00.000-07:00

A little insight into the culture here. Yesterday, we began to notice that a number of orphans weren't going to school. After inquiring, we found out that many of the orphans had been turned away from school because their hair was too long. Apparently, the school requires students to shave their heads shaved once a month. Why? Well we asked around and nobody seemed to have an answer. While this was seemed strange to us, we were much more concerned by the fact that these kids weren't going to school and weren't allowed to return until their hair had been cut. We found out that the buzzer that the orphanage owns was out of commission and that someone had been sent all the way to the capital city, Kigali, to pick up a new one. He wouldn't return for a couple of days. But we weren't going to let that stop us. There were two ways to get back to school if you were a student: go and ask for forgiveness or go and get your hair cut. When we found out that at the local barber it costs 100 Rwandan Francs per student to have their hair cut, we were so taken aback. We needed about 70 haircuts, so the total would be 7,000 Rwandan Francs. Divide that by 600, the exchange rate with the US Dollar, and it costs a little over $10. That is to say, it costs less for 70 haircuts here in Rwanda than it did for my last haircut in the States (which was also a buzz cut). Needless to say, our EWB team offered to pay for all 70 haircuts, "saving the day". We thought the kids would be upset with us for spoiling their "vacation" from school, but instead most cheered when they heard the news!

Soccer Stars

2011-06-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

Everyday after we finish work around 5, we play soccer with the orphans on their mini field located on their land. It's always great fun and our skills have definitely developed with so much practice against these kids who should probably play on the Rwandan National Team someday. Because of our playing, on Sunday, Ankit, Lila, and I were recruited by our friend Safari to play in a local soccer match. We thought it would be similar to all of our little scrimmages we had played at the orphanage. Little did we know that we were in for a treat.

To get to this soccer field, we hiked about 30 minutes across a small portion of Rwanda's beautiful hills. By the time we arrived, we were already feeling a bit winded since we're not yet accustomed to African walking distances. But we soon forgot about the long hike there. Arriving to the field, we were greeted by a crowd of over 1,000 spectators from around the region. On the field, the opposing team was already going through their warm-up routine, dressed in the full outfits of the Brazilian national team. We asked Safari, our 18-year-old captain who is an orphan at L'Esperance, who the other team was and he informed us we were playing soldiers. As if to confirm, standing on the sideline was a fully-dressed soldier with an AK47 across his body. It was on the whole a rather intimidating scene that we had found ourselves a part of.

Throughout the game, it seemed as if the odds were stacked against us. We were short on players in the beginning, though Ankit, Lila, and I were able to step in to fill the spots. The referee seemed to clearly favor the opposing team, as did the crowd. And we had little water to share amongst ourselves in the heat. But as in any Hollywood movie when the plight becomes just about hopeless, after 90 minutes of intense, scrappy, and sweaty football, we pulled out a victory, 3-2. It was great to be greeted with cheers by the many children and orphans who had come to watch the match. It was a glorious day. Usually, one might take a victory lap, but we needed to take a victory walk, actually a victory hike, all the way back to the orphanage in the fading light of dusk. Without water. After 45 minutes, we returned and I may never appreciate water more than I did at that moment.

Cheers,
Andy

Foundations are poured!

2011-06-04T13:39:00.000-07:00

We’ve been in Rwanda now for almost two weeks. I was surprised by the organization and infrastructure of Kigali and now I’m taken back by the beauty surrounding me at this orphanage. Not only the physical beauty, but also the beauty of this little community. I’m sure it’s not always perfect and I only see snapshots, but it reminds me of what heaven might be like. My favorite memory so far has been the children singing!

Making sure that this community can continue is why we are working so hard to make this project a success. We have been making good progress so far. Yesterday we were able to pour the foundations for all our tap stands in the nursery and tomorrow we should be able to complete the actual stands.

Cori

A Day in the Life

2011-06-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

Amazing. Just about a week into the project now and we're starting to get into a rhythm here.

Mornings start at 6:00 am with singing from the children. They fill the warm tropical air with beautiful harmonies and playful tones. By 7:00 am we are eating breakfast, usually a mixture of fantastic pancakes, unbelievably sweet pineapples, and wonderfully fresh guacamole.

The team working on one of the six tap stands.

Work starts around 8:00 am. We've been making progress with the irrigation system. Today we dug most of the pipelines and also created the concrete forms. Here you can see the team working hard in the hot sun. We are in great position to make the tap stands tomorrow and finish the system next week.

Just another Rwandan sunset at the orphanage.

At 5:00 pm the sky starts to turn orange. As the sun sets over Lake Kivu, the day begins to wind down. Yesterday the team went for a walk to a gorgeous lookout point near the orphanage where we sat and watched the sunset. At about 7:00pm we all broke out into spontaneous dancing with the locals. We all had a great time.

At about 9:00pm our nights end gradually with dancing, singing, or sharing of stories from around the world. Or in my case tonight, blogging. Now I must go to sleep, because at 6:00am tomorrow we will start it all over again.

Ijoro Ryiza, or Good Night,

Eric

Update: Project Underway at the Orphanage

2011-05-31T12:09:00.000-07:00

Muraho!

We haven’t gotten back to the blog in a while, so we have a lot of adventures to tell… Let’s start with Friday, more officially known as “Shirt Day”, since- without talking about it- every member of the team decided to wear our EWB shirts!

Friday was also the day to get the materials: some of us went to get the nice Afritanks that will be feeding the system while the rest went around Kigali, looking for pipe fittings, valves, taps and all sorts of stuff for the irrigation system. We also went to visit our partner Manna Energy to get some tools to use during the implementation of the system.

We also had some time to get some local food at a Restaurant called the Top View, where we tried the peanut soup and the matoke, a mashed banana puree. Saturday was also material’s day: we revised our master list of materials and went to a local market to get the PVC piping and fittings, as well as some construction materials.

A truck left early in the morning on Sunday, taking all the materials to the orphanage which is in Mugonero. We also left early on Sunday and made our way to the L’Esperance Orphanage. The trip was around 4 hours in the beautiful hills. Around lunch time, we got to the orphanage. Victor, the director of the orphanage, had some lunch ready for us and we ate as we enjoyed the amazing view of the mountains and Lake Kivu. Even more amazing was the night sky full of stars and the view of the region with the highest incidence of lightning in the world… That was quite a show!

L’Esperance is a great place! On Sunday we also enjoyed playing with the kids and walking around the orphanage. In the pictures you can see Andy teaching some songs and games to the kids; they really had a good time!

Monday was a work day again. We started the day walking around the tree nursery and listening to Victor’s plans. Then we made our way down to the pump house, where we could check the pumps and started brainstorming ways to optimize their functioning. Elliot spent some time working at the pump house, while the rest of the team started to lay out the pipe location so the trenches could be started.

As soon as it gets dark in L’Esperance things slow down and it is time to go play with the kids and to listen to them singing. Andy played some guitar for them and they really enjoyed it. They taught me how to count in Kinyarwanda and in Swahili, and I taught them how to count in Spanish.

Being here is definitively a great experience! I have to go help thread some pipe, so Murabeho for now. We’ll come back with more amazing stories later on :)

Lila

In Rwanda!

2011-05-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

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

Finalized Itinerary

2011-05-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

Finalized Project Dates: May 23 - June 11

May 23: Arrive in the capital city, Kigali

May 24-28: Explore and purchase materials in Kigali

May 29: Travel to L'Esperance Children's Aid Orphanage near Kibuye, Rwanda (see Map: we'll take a bus from Kigali to the orphanage, which is located on the Eastern side of Lake Kivu, the 2nd deepest lake in the world)

May 30-June 10: implement project (stay tuned for photos and project updates)

June 11: return to Kigali

Stay tuned for updates and pictures from the trip!

Tap Stand Build Day - Take 2

2011-05-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

After learning from our mistakes last time and building upon the successes as well, we built a whole new tap stand with a better design and more experience. What you'll notice between this one and the last one is it is sturdier, it exposes the water pipe for maintenance if need be, and it is hopefully more aesthetically pleasing as well. Check it out!

Ankit, Josh, Cori, and Lila are working on the form work here. We revised it so that it would be a sturdier structure, especially around playful children.

One of the tricks to making the structure more sound is the proper placement and construction of rebar, which is what Josh, Cori, and Lila are working on above.

The formwork is ready for us to pour concrete!

The beautiful Cori perfecting the rebar and form work.

A much nicer, sturdier, and better final product!

Here you can see the back little spine where the pipe will run up to the tap. Should the pipe break, it will be easily accessed for repair and maintenance.

It was great fun for the whole family!

After pouring the concrete, some of us posed!

With a much better result the second time around, our team is much more confident in our ability to install a great irrigation system in June. Stick around for more updates!

Ras Kassa Fundraiser

2011-05-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

On April 30th, we had a spectacular turnout for our fundraiser at Ras Kassa's Ethiopian Restaurant. There was delicious food, live African drumming, a project presentation, and both a silent and live auction. Thanks so much to all of you who came out to support us. We hope you'll stay in touch and follow us as we embark on this incredible journey to the heart of Africa!

The Buffet Lunch

Guests enjoyed a taste of authentic Ethiopian food that most would say is out of this world!

Team members Ankit Sharma and Simon Mostafa take a break from running the silent auction.

African Music

Everyone was able to enjoy the rhythm of the drums as we danced and sang along with this amazing group.

The entire restaurant became our dance floor!

Thank you so much to all those who attended, donated auction items, donated time, and those who supported us in any other way. We are so grateful to you all and thank you for your graciousness. In this blog, we will show to you how your support will make a difference for so many others not just this summer, but in the years to come as well!

Tap Stand Build Day - Take 1

2011-05-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, April 16th, we made our first attempt at building a tap stand model which we'll install this summer in Rwanda. While it's not possible to replicate the conditions, resources, weather, etc. which we'll have in country, practicing building our model is vital to ensuring its quality, durability, and feasibility. In other words, it was a test run for this summer.

Group Picture

(from left to right: Ankit, Jeff, Cori, Andy, Josh, and Eric). In the background, you can see our concrete mixer, which we most definitely won't have on site.

Travel team photo

(From left to right: Cori, Andi, Eric, Lila, and Ankit). Elliot, our professional mentor who will be traveling with us this summer, is not pictured. Likely he was taking care of his twin boys who he brought along for the party!

The Finished Product

Obviously, it needs work. Overall, we found that the slab was solid, but we'll need to change the position of the drain. We also really need to change to the structure of the stand (albeit we did have to improvise with old flower pots to form it.) Also, we'll need to improve concrete making as well.

We plan to have another build day after we tweak the design and go through our "lessons learned" from today. Overall, we had a lot of fun and it was a great experience for us travelers to become familiar with what we'll be implementing this summer. Stay tuned for updates on our 2nd build day!