Tugenda! Let's go!

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 seen and was a humbling experience for all of us.


Now, we’re back in Kigali, getting ready to head back to Children’s Village Kigarama. Yesterday, we were invited by a Peace Corps Volunteer, Tyler, to visit a community in Northern Rwanda called Bungwe. The community was a 3 hour car ride away from Kigali, one hour of which was on dirt roads that took us to this very rural, yet still highly populated area of Rwanda. The community was extremely welcoming and the smiles were a plenty. The main need of the entire community was the lack of access to water, especially during the dry season, 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

Umwaka Mwiza or Happy New Year,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Today, we went to Lake Kivu with the kids. I commandeered a dugout canoe with Inno, who is an amazing American football quarterback unlike Sonya, 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 spare materials from the irrigation project to good use. Galvanized pipe makes for an amazing pull-up bar.

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

Murabeho,

Ankit

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