Popsicle, Poopsicle, Dreamsicle

Muraho blog — We’ve finally reached our last day here in Rwanda after an incredibly two-weeks. We’ve completed everything we’ve hoped to, met everyone we have partnerships with (along with some new), been on safari, seen the capital Kigali and have made some special friendships along the way. I wanted to write this blog post like a game we’ve been playing almost everyday while being here. One day, over some lattes and strawberry shakes at créma, Jack had the great idea to start this game that he’d previously played working at a summercamp. He called it popsicle, poopsicle, and dreamsicle…i know at first I couldn’t bring myself to seriously refer to something as a poopsicle but we did it anyways. The game is pretty much a reflection of something good, something bad, and something hopefully that happened to you today. We started the game that day, and everyday since, when we had time sitting around together or at the dinner table, we would go around and all give our 3. We shared the game with our friend and partner Hasan, who got a kick out of the word poopsicle; with our host Jean, who would always give the most thought-out, well-said answers, and our friends in the Hingamafaranga club who didn’t know what a popsicle was (a frozen fruit snack in the US is how we described it). So I thought it be only necessary to share it with the blog: 

Popsicle: My popsicle for the trip, would have to have been seeing the impact of this project first hand. I knew this club was important and special when I joined it but the work we completed and the work I know we can complete in the future is incredibly impactful and sustainable on many levels and has the power to help many more communities of Rwanda. The most moving thing to me has been learning how the systems increase the number of children that can attend school since the amount of time it takes to fetch water is reduced. You can imagine how this will positively effect the development of the community and health of the children of future generations. As well as seeing the community buy-in for these projects (see blog post about community day). This popsicle could be many pages long but to keep it brief, being able to see our work first hand and meet the children and families who will benefit from this and maintain it in their future, has been one of the most rewarding things I have participated in my life to date and hope to experience more like this in the future. 

Poopsicle: My poopsicle for the trip is that we couldn’t have stay longer. Teams of the past were able to stay for a month and get to see more of the progression of the project and more of Rwanda. Two-weeks was wonderful but 3-4 would be really special. I hope teams of the future consider staying a tad longer, because once you are here you’ll find that you never want to go. 

Dreamsicle: Finally, my dreamsicle for the trip is that I hope there are many more projects to come in the future and that the impact continues to flow through the communities of Rwanda and change many lives. I hope the best for Jean and Hasan, their families, lives in Rwanda and all the good the future may bring them and hope to be reunited with them, and this team, again someday. 

Simply-put but this game has allowed us to reflect on our travels and thoughts  throughout the trip and if future teams are reading this definitely include this game when traveling or even at meetings. To popsicle, poopsicle, dreamsicle, the 2022 travel team, and Jean and Hasan thank you for a wonderful two-weeks together this experience will never be forgotten.

Catherine

Amazing Amazi!

Muraho inshute, Megan here! The safari continues to exist in my mind as a fever dream of playing the nicest sax I have ever played with an incredible band, the most wonderful hot shower of my life, and seeing 9 giraffes that looked like savanna dinosaurs. When we returned to Kadahenda after our safari in Akagera National Park on Monday morning, the system was nearly finished and the rain had started to come. Aside from providing moral support to the plumber, Claude, and taking turns standing as goal posts for the kids’ soccer game (just as glamorous as it sounds), we felt like most of our work was complete. It was so exciting to see the system in action, with the first flushes and taps working exactly as expected. One of the concrete tap stands was even labeled “ALIA” in honor of Aria’s newfound masonry skills. We collected water samples from the first flush, tap, and original community water source, and then made our way back to Musanze with only two stops for Macgyvered engine repair along the way. We are the only team to have seen rain in the systems, which was very exciting for us. 

The next day and a half continued to bring rain to the systems and gave us the opportunity to rest and recover a bit before the final stretch of the trip. We walked to Crema, which lives up to the hype from past teams, for Aria’s favorite honey latte and we wandered through the shops in downtown Musanze. In the evenings, we have taken advantage of free time to stream the Lion King in painstaking 5 minute segments. This down time has been much appreciated after a very busy week!

Last night, I started feeling pretty sick. I’m taking antibiotics now that will hopefully help me kick this bug, but it’s been tough to sit in bed like banana beer waiting to brew. The rest of the team learned how to make chapati this morning and went to the university, INES, in the afternoon to test water samples we’ve taken over the past few days with help from our pal Hasan. As I write this post, I continue to be pretty useless but hopefully on the mend, looking forward to our last three busy days in Rwanda. I’ll be back on the blog after we return to the US to write a wrap-up post and add pictures to our previous post. Until then, I’ll be trying to drink as much pineapple Fanta as I can and savoring the last of our time with our friends and community!

Megan

Hakuna Matata

Hello world! Back again with another message from your favorite muzungus, 

As the construction at Kadahenda nears completion, the team got a welcome break from the long days and prying children.  We spent Friday night in Kigali, a 2 hour drive from Jean’s home in Musanze, and had to say goodbye to our mentor and friend Travis.  Of course not before heading to one of our new favorite restaurants, an Ethiopian place on the outskirts of town (side note: don’t expect any other customers if you’re there before 9pm).  After a sad round of goodbyes and a night in a hotel, the team set off towards Akagera National Park for our weekend safari.  

 

Three hours and a covid test later, we made it into the park and transitioned from our roles at the site into full blown tourists.  I’d like to take a moment now to reintroduce each of our members.  

 

Megan Finnigan: Navigations expert and pizza critic

Jack Harris: Vice chancellor of wanting to see a lion

Catherine Patton: Sgt. General of animal spotting, claims to have seen a lion

Aria Mundy: Little miss asleep the whole time

Jean d’amour Manirere: Certified tour guide, executive decision maker, comic relief

 

Great.  Now that you are all familiar with each other, let’s talk about our first day in the park.  We opted to take the plains trail in the west of the park for this leg, so a good portion of our time was spent mistaking grass for different African animals.  After enough false alarms, none of us expected Catherine to spot the head of a giraffe peaking over a hill.  Two giraffes (!) eating from a tree right next to the road. Jean tells us this is pretty rareto see here in Akagera, so we were very excited to be there to see it. The rest of the drive included buffalo, zebra, and baboon sightings, and we called it a night. 

 

Arriving at our hotel was a shock to say the least.  We were greeted by hot towels and smoothies in the lobby, quite the change from our concrete covered clothes and packed car rides.  We enjoyed a huge buffet dinner with Rwandan classics and American favorites and ended the night outside with the live band.  Jean continued to show off his fantastic dance moves and was able to convince us all to join him.  And, after some more chatting with the band’s manager, our very own Megan Finnigan got the chance to jam on the saxophone with the hotel band.  We were all very impressed to say the least.

 

The next morning was another trip around the park, this time taking the lakeshore path to the east.  We saw more zebras and baboons on the way, taking time at each break in the plants to look for hippos and crocodiles in the lake.  While trekking through the tall shrubs we saw huge numbers of other critters small and large.  The complete list will be included below.  But as we turned back for the day, we decided to take another shot along the plains trail to look for elephants and whatever else we might see (this was a great idea).  Maybe an hour down the trail, we spotted it again: Giraffes.  And not just the two from last night, a family of three, then five, then seven giraffes all walking together down the hill snacking on the foliage.  What a highlight.  If two giraffes is rare, seven must be a record.  We were all stoked to just sit and watch these giants roll through.  But the daunting drive back to Musanze was weighing on us so we packed up and headed home.  Five hours of Rwandan traffic, and many many car naps later, we made it safely home and straight to bed.  

 

What an adventure! Simultaneously the dirtiest and cleanest we’ve been this trip.  Hope you all get the chance to check out this amazing bit of nature someday :)

 

Thanks for reading,

Jack 

 

Complete Animal List:

Zebra

Buffalo

Monkey

Guinea Fowl

Kingfisher

Giraffe

Hippo

Crocodile

Baboon

Warthog

Topi

Defassa Waterbuck

Honey Badger

Unidentified weasel looking creature

Turtle

Vultures, eagles, ospreys

Herons, cranes, ibis, and all number of other tall water birds

Community Day and the End of Week One

Muraho, friends! Aria here, with some updates for a wonderful few days in Rwanda (Internet access has been a tad unpredictable, so to our (20??) loyal viewers, my apologies for the delay on this post!) 

By Wednesday, we found ourselves feeling a bit more adjusted to life here in Rwanda (that jet lag was no joke). We visited the site on Wednesday morning, and even had the opportunity to work with the masons on the plumbing system - it was great to learn some new skills from the masons, and see the system really start to come together! After visiting the site, the team had the chance to visit INES and University of Rwanda, where we got to meet many of Jean’s colleagues, and even got to take tours of the engineering testing laboratories at INES and plant nursery at University of Rwanda (my goodness - I’ve never seen so many avocado trees, and as an avocado enthusiast I gotta say this was a highlight of the day). Some advice to future teams… be prepared to be spontaneously summoned to speak in front of a class of university students (I was definitely not ready for this one😂). While a bit nerve wracking, it was a great opportunity to engage with the university students (many of whom are pursuing studies related to agriculture), and we had some very eye-opening discussions about the future of water and food security, both in Rwanda and around the world. 

After a busy Wednesday, it was nice to relax a bit on Thursday morning. After breakfast, we took a stroll into the city of Musaze, where we enjoyed some delicious coffee at Crema (one of the best lattes I’ve ever had - the food and coffee here has been nothing short of spectacular). We spent some time exploring the lively streets of Musanze, brimming with speeding motos and vibrant markets. We ventured into one of the markets, where I found myself overwhelmed as we explored story upon story of shops filled with shoes, clothes, kitchen supplies, and toiletries… the list goes on and on. Jack scored a pretty good bargain with a pair of “super legitimate,” albeit pretty classy, Air Jordans. 

After a morning in Musanze, we made our way back to Jean’s house to prepare for Community Day in Kadahenda! After a quick lunch, we packed into the car and drove to the the village. The event was held on the project site, and as we approached the village, we were greeted by lively dancing and music. We took our seats alongside government officials, village chiefs, and university students in front of hundreds of villagers from Kadahenda and the neighboring villages. What a festival! I continue to be touched and inspired by the kindness and sense of community that’s so prevalent in Kadahenda. Among the events of the day, young students were given books and school supplies, and members of the community donated lambs and food to fellow community members in need. At one point during the ceremony, Megan, Catherine, Jack, Travis, and I were presented with beautiful baskets of beans and fruit - an incredibly generous gift from the members of the community. If there’s one virtue I hope to manifest after this trip to Rwanda, it’s to strive to care for others in my community - to engage in gestures of kindness, and to do what I can to support those around me. 

At the end of the ceremony, the secretary of the district invited us up to dance! I’ll admit, the notion of dancing in front of hundreds of villagers pushed the limits of my comfort zone (my dancing abilities are lacking), but with the villagers applauding and singing and dancing with us, I found myself smiling and laughing and enjoying every second of it. Almost as if it were queued, rain starting pouring down on us as we danced. This moment was truly one of the most special things I’ve experienced, and the incredible joy I felt from the smiles, the laughs, the dancing, and the music, is something I’ll always hold very close to my heart. 

On Friday morning, we made our way back to the Kadahenda site, where we helped put some finishing touches on the tap stations. We put our construction skills to the test and tried our hands at applying mortar to the tap stations, but quickly realized that that such masonry is much harder than it looks. We had to ask the professionals for help, and now the tap stations are looking spectacular, as is the system as a whole! After a busy and exciting first week on the site, we are very excited about the progress that’s been made. The rains are supposed to start next week, and we can’t wait to see the system in action soon! Time for a weekend safari break, and then we’ll be back to work!

Aria