After a 7 hour flight from JFK to Brussels, and then an 8 hour flight from Brussels to Kigali, I have finally made it to Rwanda! We landed late at night and were greeted by a down poor of rain, and a very excited Peace Corps staff. We all crammed into a bus and drove about 20 minutes to where we have been staying the last few days…a nunnery! I feel so holy even being here! We were all super tired, so we just went to bed.
I woke up with the sun and the birds in the morning and was super anxious to run to my window to see what Rwanda looked like. It is very green this time of year (the rainy season) and tropical looking. The weather too is very tropical- slightly humid and in the low 80’s. Breakfast the next morning was coffee and tea followed by some bread and eggs. We all sat around a long table and talked while we ate our breakfast. The feeling was definitely mutual that we were all in disbelieve we were finally here. The buses came shortly after to take us to Peace Corps Headquarters (in Kigali) to be what I like to call it, poked, prodded, and process.
PC HQ is a three story really nice house with electricity and running water, furnished with couches, a downstairs area with computers (think the Theta pit if you know what I am talking about) a kitchen, a doctors office, and PC staff offices. We all received 4 shots and filled out sheet after sheet of paper work. It was nice to see current volunteers milling around the house typing emails to friends and family or picking up care packages (hint hint.) They stressed that this house was ours whenever we needed to come for the weekend for anything, which is really nice to know that we can come here for a little bit of luxury whenever we need.
We then all headed into downtown to get some cell phones. This was quite the process seeing as there were 36 of us trying to get a cheap phone. Kigali is bigger than I thought I suppose, but still a small town in retro respect since it is Rwandas capital. There are paved roads, traffic, and people everywhere. Everybody around us seemed to have something to do or somewhere to go. We were that out of place group of white people standing static in the middle of the city center while everyone maneuvered around us like ants. We had no idea where to go to get a phone or what the process was, but quickly figured it out after walking up and down the streets. We all bought a $30 Nokia phone, and then we all bought phone cards with credits that you enter and pay by the minute. It is kind of nice to not sign some kind of contract! (Although I would love to have the unlimited minutes and unlimited text messages!)
After this fiasco, the bus took us to John Reddy’s house- the Peace Corps Country Director- for a reception. His house was very nice and he had set up a big white tent in the backyard full of drinks and appetizers. John served in the PC in the 80’s in Zaire and is now the new country director. He is very relaxed and very excited about all the new volunteers and the quick process Rwanda has been making. There are currently 65 volunteers- half are health voluntters that came in Feb 2009 and the other half are English teachers that came here October. About 8-10 current volunteers made the trip down to Kigali to meet us and join in on the free drinks and food. It was really nice to meet these volunteers and ask them questions- FINALLY some answers! Everyone seemed very positive with Rwanda in general, and all had the same advice- do not worry if things don’t seem to be getting done, just take it all in. This should be interesting to anyone who knows me- I love to get things done, but this will definitely test my patients at the very least. The party ended around 8pm, and you could easily tell the current volunteers (ready to go and and party) from the jet lagged new volunteers (falling asleep on the nearby tables.) Next step for us was bed.
Today we are going to he PC HQ to get one more shot and then to a Genocide memorial museum, this was the highlight, or sadlight, of my day. I obviously new the very intense Genocide in 1994, but didn’t fully wrap my head around the horror that took Rwanda. This memorial was a mixture of tombs outside, and inside a a museum much like a Holocaust museum. Video stories of survivors told there devastating stories on the TV’s around the museum. What I most took from the visit was Rwanda today for an outsider looks like any other developing country- lots of people, stores, cars ect. Rwanda has rebuilt itself and moved on, but it is impossible for the people of Rwanda to ever move on from what they have witnessed. People my age now were 8 at the time of the Genocide and its hard for me to even go into details about what 8 years olds say during those dark months. It is important for us to understand the Genocide in its fullness, because we will be living and working with everyone who was a part of this it. We are all health volunteer so it is also important to understand that many women were infected with HIV from being raped in the Genocide; so its important to understand the psychological aspect as well as the health issue. I understand now why Rwandans do not trust outsiders, and come off a little shy. They are so brave for living today and moving forward from their very own living nightmare. It is incredible to me to see the giant strides Rwanda as a country has made. I have great faith in this country. There is great leadership and everyone is pulling together to make a better Rwanda. Rwanda has actually just been ranked one of the safest African countries, imagine that.
The feeling amongst the group was very dark and saddened. We were all emotionally drained. Dinner was rice, peas, carrots, potatoes and goat. We all ate in a little bit of silence, and are now in our rooms getting ready for bed. It is pouring rain outside right now; so hard I can barely hear myself type! Tomorrow we are off to Nyanza for our 10 weeks of training. Hopefully I will be closer to some internet so I can post some more blogs! Miss you all xoxo
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