tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89262142024-03-07T08:00:29.472+02:00New eyes"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes". (Proust) <BR><BR>
I'm 50 years old and having lived in Ayrshire, Scotland, all my adult life, came with my wife Sheena to live in Rwanda in August 2006. I'm hoping to have a double voyage of discovery - both new landscape and new eyes.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-9889851444674757132008-09-09T13:31:00.002+02:002008-09-09T13:34:06.679+02:00Murabeho! (Goodbye!)It is time to end this blog : I have now been back in Scotland and have reflected on my time on Rwanda. There are some still unpublished stories and more than 1000 photos, but they will have to wait. If I continue to blog, it will be somewhere else and about something else. This title has served its purpose and the reflections on re-entry are mostly too personal for me to put on the internet.<br />Having set out to Rwanda expecting “new eyes”, I will be finding these in Scotland, too. I am returning to a new role as grandfather in November, a new job (soon, I hope!), probably a new home in a new location and a spiritual home in a new Christian community. My experience in Rwanda will, it seems prove to be a watershed in my life in many ways.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-8741114284943580022008-08-04T07:44:00.000+02:002008-08-04T07:44:00.598+02:00Rwanda reflection : last words, first wordsAs we waited for take off from Entebbe airport the pilot made an announcement apologising for a further delay. “The gas bottle which was brought to inflate the tyre was empty, so we are waiting for another one. This will arrive shortly.” We couldn’t help laughing at this, which epitomised so much of our travelling in Africa.<br />In the morning I watched CNN while we waited at our hotel. The first news item was reported that Apple has just launched a new iPhone and in several countries round the world people had queued for more than 24 hours in order to make sure of getting one. This perhaps epitomises the society we are returning to, where the madness of materialism can sometimes be rampant.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-16711230188670136192008-08-02T00:44:00.001+02:002008-08-02T00:44:51.005+02:00Rwanda reflection : "Anna Karenina"I read “Anna Karenina” while in Tanzania : it is likely to be a while before I again get such a chunk of time for reading. I expected a sharp contrast between the snows of Russia and the heat of East Africa, but I was surprised by some of the parallels between Russia in the 1870s and modern-day Rwanda.<br />There is considerable discussion in the book about how conservative the Russian peasants are and how hard it is to get them to adopt modern (foreign) farming methods and technology. This conservatism certainly also exists in Rwanda. Modern technology (especially computers and mobile phones) are accepted and coveted, but what might be described as “intermediate” or appropriate” farming technology and techniques is quite hard to implement. <br />The building of schools and hospitals is another topic of some importance. On one occasion a visitor to a hospital construction site asks about an adjacent building. “That is accommodation for the staff”, he is told. “It was built as an afterthought, without plans and is not quite in the right location”. I know of several Rwandan examples….<br />There are parallels, too, in the social pressures which are changing long-standing traditions. In the Russian situation, there is discussion about young women wanting to choose their own marriage partners and one of the central themes of the book is what happens when marriages fail and how that is different for men and women. In Rwanda, much of traditional life is already under threat and will continue to be under increasing pressure from western influences. This goes from the relatively trivial (carrying things on the head is almost universal in rural areas but rare in Kigali) to the much more important, where western time-driven values are being strongly promoted by the government.<br /><br />This is not to say that Rwanda is more than 100 years “behind”. It is to say, however, that the required and indeed actual speed of development is not just rapid but supersonic.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-91060910354688270932008-07-28T21:43:00.000+02:002008-07-28T21:43:00.749+02:00Rwanda reflection : wrestling with AfricaIn the Old Testament there is the story of Jacob wrestling all night with a “man”. Neither is able to overcome the other and they continue till dawn. This will be my lasting picture of our time in Africa – it has often felt like intimate hand-to-hand, body-to-body wrestling. We could never hope to “overcome”, but equally, have been determined not to be overcome. We feel that we, like Jacob, have managed to leave with a blessing, but with some of the marks of the wrestling still on us.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-38262328454243222362008-07-27T21:42:00.000+02:002008-07-27T21:43:05.958+02:00Rwanda reflection : “a man at the end of his strength, exhausted by his work in Africa”In his speech at our farewell dinner, the bishop said many kind words, but also used this phrase to describe me. The reason is simple : I lost about 20kg in the 2 years and in particular I am thinner about the face. I was neither overweight to start with, nor underweight at the end – I simply moved from near the top recommended end of the Body Mass Index to the bottom end. I am leaving Rwanda feeling fit (in training for a half marathon in September), energetic and in good shape mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally.<br />It’s an interesting demonstration of how culture affects perceptions. The African concept of a “big man” is not just about power or influence : one is expected to be physically big in order to qualify fully for the title! Putting on weight is almost invariably perceived as a good thing, losing it as bad. More money means less walking, less physical work and better food, hence more weight. It is an idea which still has a lot of power. The corollary is that as I have lost some weight (due, I believe to some loss of appetite, less rich food and an end to “snacking”), I must be wearing myself out with work.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-88143399963997687112008-07-18T06:18:00.000+02:002008-07-18T06:18:00.320+02:00Rwanda reflection : a rare privilegeI need to record as part of this blog that it has been a remarkable privilege for us to work and live for 2 years in Rwanda. We are deeply grateful to God for it; we are grateful to CMS and the staff who trained and supported us; we are grateful to everyone in the Diocese of Cyangugu for allowing us to work with them; we are grateful to our fellow-missionaries and ex-pats for their fellowship and support and we are grateful to the many remarkable people we met in Rwanda for sharing their lives and their struggles with us. <br />The longer we have been in Rwanda, the more we realised how much cross-cultural development work is well-intentioned, but clumsily and poorly executed. Ours was no exception and we appreciate how tolerant people have been. <br />Before we left the UK several people said we were brave to got to Rwanda : as we return, we feel that “privileged” is a much better adjective.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-55450147342355557832008-07-17T06:17:00.000+02:002008-07-17T06:17:01.142+02:00Rwanda reflection : deliver us from cynicismThe struggle with negativity has my most intense spiritual battle, one shared by many ex-pats in development work. “Do not lead us into testing, but deliver us from cynicism” is a frequently-used version of the Lord’s prayer.<br /><br />A little story will illustrate how temptation can come. A school pupil, Eugene, came into my office. He is an orphan and his older brother got out of prison a few months ago, but unfortunately died just before Christmas. We have helped him before, but on the last occasion as he was leaving the office I saw him give money to 2 people. When he came back I challenged him about this, suspecting some scam. He claimed that both had asked him for money and as he had some from me he could not keep it all to himself.<br />I still don’t know if he is genuine or not. People here often are extremely generous and are also often unable to manage money well, so it is entirely possible that he did not think about how the money would last but immediately gave some of it away. Equally, our experience is that many people in need of money will hold the truth very lightly and some will quickly concoct and hold to a very plausible story. Such is sometimes the fruit of desperation, or of a life which completely depends on others for finance.<br />It sometimes appears to be a rule of thumb that when you think the worst of someone they will surprise and shame you, but the people you think are the most trustworthy can let you down the most badly. It’s an emotional rollercoaster that you just cannot avoid.<br />This not just at a personal level, of course : organisations always provide plenty of scope for cynicism and this is particularly true of those whose supposed aim is to help others. The lofty aims and high ideals are often worked out through incompetence, petty politics, prejudice and inflexible bureaucracy.<br />It is incredibly easy to slip into thinking the worst of people and groups, but in trying to avoid cynicism, other temptations arise : drifting into hardening of heart or its opposite, naivete. Neither really fits well with our work here nor being disciples of Jesus. It is indeed a battle fought in the heart, mind and spirit; a battle which every day provides more opportunities to yield to temptation. “Lord, save us”.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-68376728456717847212008-07-16T06:15:00.000+02:002008-07-16T06:15:00.754+02:00Rwanda reflection : from one small country to anotherIn all the same ways as Scotland, Rwanda is a small country, but living in a different one has taught me a lot about how outsiders must see Scotland. <br />Everywhere we went in Rwanda we met people who knew people from our diocese. We climbed Bisoke, a volcano in the north and our guide knew the sons of our bishop in Cyangugu. We visited a diocese in the north and the administrator had studied in Uganda with his opposite number in Cyangugu. The examples were endless. There is a sense of community here, of the interconnectedness of relationships. There is also a sense of claustrophobia, of how difficult it must be to make a new start, to be different from what others expect or to break out of assigned roles.<br />It’s easy to see, too, how the Rwandan government can have such tight control over the country : from Kigali you can get to the border in any direction in 3 hours, with the exception of our corner in the south-west. The network of roads and the “cellular” system of local government mean that little can go unnoticed. This, of course, was also a contributory factor in the “success” of the genocidaires – in a small country like Rwanda there are few places to hide.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-86936650250194010582008-07-15T06:13:00.000+02:002008-07-15T06:13:00.684+02:00Rwanda reflection : sustainable cross-cultural missionWe came to Rwanda with CMS, as employees and under the responsibility of the Anglican church here. Our role was to serve the mission of the church in Africa. That is the basis on which CMS works and it seems on reflection to be a good one, especially for short-term missionaries like us. It never seemed to us to be fair or reasonable to do things which we would not have to see through nor to live with the consequences.<br />However, we also reflect that our first experience of Anglicanism, although we have appreciated many aspects, has left us feeling that in the longer term we could not give ourselves whole-heartedly to its mission. The shape and nature of the Anglican church in Rwanda is such that it clashes with several things which we hold to very deeply, things which we believe that God has put into our hearts and built into our lives. It has been a privilege and a wonderful opportunity for us to be part of the Eglise Anglicane au Rwanda, but we know that what we believe about leadership, authority and accountability; about community and about diversity could never be expressed as part of it. In that respect our time as cross-cultural missionaries has come to a natural end and we understand that the next Christian community we belong to needs to be one which better expresses these core values.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-59129349419941487732008-07-14T06:12:00.000+02:002008-07-14T06:12:01.127+02:00Rwanda reflection : new eyes?I am absolutely convinced that my time in Rwanda has changed my perspective. I am equally convinced that I can never analyse for myself what that means. I chose the quotation from Proust as the title for this blog because I both expected and hoped for new eyes on the world. The process has been unexpectedly physical. My perspective has been changed not so much through observation, listening, reflection, contemplation and analysis (these seem to me now very European processes), but much more through physical means. I have been changed by -<br /><br />living under the intensity of the equatorial sun and equatorial rain;<br />waiting in queues or for meetings which start hours late;<br />driving for hours along seemingly endless dirt roads;<br />struggling by car or on foot through the clinging orange mud of the 9-month rainy season;<br />standing in the homes of those living on the edge of starvation in desperate housing conditions;<br />listening to long hours of incomprehensible Kinyarwanda with only limited translation;<br />coping 3 times with skin infections which required minor surgery;<br />hearing other ex-pats recount their inner and outer struggles;<br /><br />None of this is by way of complaint and I don’t at all regard this as a list of suffering. It’s simply that if I have been changed at all is by experiencing these things directly and also that it is in the struggles rather than the many good times that the changing has happened. Having said that, I still need to wait to be completely at home in Scotland before I will know whether there has been any permanent change and perhaps in any case that is only for others to judge.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-6298933153144312392008-07-13T23:11:00.001+02:002008-07-13T23:11:53.531+02:00Zanzibar : calm before the stormOur time in Rwanda is now over and we are spending our last few days in Africa in Zanzibar, relaxing on the beautiful white beaches before the flight to Scotland. It’s a time for reflection. We know that when we arrive home there will be a lot of things to do, all demanding simultaneous attention – seeing our family, seeing friends, gathering our belongings and setting up house again, looking for a job, buying clothes (I’m a size smaller now in waist and collar size) and sorting out our financial affairs. It’s an eagerly-awaited tornado of activity and relationship : we have missed our family and friends very much, but we know that these first few weeks back in Scotland will not be easy, either. <br /> <br />A tropical wind-storm has just passed us on the east coast of the island. For a while it stirred up the sand and drove everyone off the beach, but an hour later everything is back to normal. We are expecting that this short settling-in period will be similar : unlike our time in Rwanda it will not leave any permanent impression.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-8652966428105740272008-06-18T06:52:00.001+02:002008-06-18T06:54:13.893+02:00Baby does headstandI didn't expect grandfatherly instincts to kick in quite so quickly, but I was really excited when my daughter told me on the phone that she had seen the baby move during the 16-week scan. The end of November (the due date) is becoming as important a landmark as the middle of july (our arrival back in Scotland).Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-51501265499959621082008-06-12T15:36:00.001+02:002008-06-12T15:36:06.814+02:00Do you know that man, the black one?A couple of times in the last weeks friends have used this approach to try to describe someone to us. Of course we find it incredibly funny and a very ineffective way of identifying someone. There are undoubtedly very different shades of skin colour, so "black" is used as opposed to brown, not white. It is also quite possible to identify different ethnic groups (I'm not referring to H and T in Rwanda, but "Congolese", "Munyamulange", "Twa", etc.). However, it still seems a strange starting point as a description of an inhabitant of Central Africa.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-8862737919324904352008-06-11T06:32:00.000+02:002008-06-11T06:39:00.492+02:00Too many milestonesI came to Rwanda in my forties, with our oldest daughter working and her younger brother and sister still students. Only 2 years later, I am leaving in my fifties, with all 3 working and Clare married. The latest milestone, a very exciting one, is that we are to be grandparents later this year. Nevertheless, for all kinds of reasons, these milestones among them, this spell in Rwanda has and will continue to be such a landmark for us. One of the things to ponder in the last weeks, during our planned holiday and on our return, is what shape our lives will take when we get back to Scotland. We are at least clear that this is our next step, but there are many other decisions still to be made and the way ahead is by no means clear.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-26408751612036525252008-06-10T06:10:00.000+02:002008-06-10T06:10:02.161+02:00Empty promisesAdvertising slogans are thankfully few here : the big companies sell beer, mobile phones and banking services. I recently discovered that Primus beer is using the slogan “Let us share the good life!”. In a country like this, it is an offensive delusion, it seems to me, to say in an advert that drinking beer can . In any country it smacks of a horrible distortion of the promises of Jesus, who alone can genuinely offer the good life.<br />Meanwhile the other beer, Mutzig, is only a little better with its “The taste of success”. It is still advertising by image. As we leave Rwanda, one of my prayers is that the church here will be able to deal vigorously with the empty promises of advertising and marketing.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-20164466875830727622008-06-09T06:21:00.000+02:002008-06-09T06:22:27.615+02:00ReadingWe were discussing reading with some Rwandan friends. Reading for pleasure is not popular here, by custom or opportunity.<br />“We know that white people like to read”, they told us. “When an African is sick and getting better we say that they are eating again. White people say that the patient is obviously recovering because they have started to read!”. And indeed, our doctor friend confirmed that in some British hospitals it is taken as a good post-operative sign when there is a newspaper on the bedside table!Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-3731796144872940062008-06-07T23:09:00.000+02:002008-06-07T23:10:14.708+02:00InflationI don’t know what the official figures say, but inflation seems to be rampant here just now. Some of this is reflecting the world situation : fuel is now 900 Frw a litre, compared to 640 when we arrived in August 2006. At 90p, I know that it is still a lot cheaper than in the UK, bizarre when you consider that it is brought here to the centre of Africa by ship, pipeline and lorry. However, transport of materials is such an essential part of the economy that many other prices are rising as a result (I’m trying to resist a very obvious pun about fuelling inflation). Building supplies are a prime example of this and one which has affected my work considerably. It becomes very difficult to control costs when inflation is high, or even to know when price increases are justified or have some element of profiteering. I’m old enough to remember mortgage rates of 15% in the UK, so it’s not my first experience of this, however!<br /><br />Rice prices have also risen sharply, although even before this it was relatively expensive and not really one of the staple carbohydrates. Sweet potatoes, savoury bananas, “Irish” potatoes and cassava are all cheaper. Cooking oil, essential in Rwandan households, has also shot up in price. As usual it is those who are poorest who will suffer most. Subsistence farming is not producing higher incomes and many people round Kamembe are earning the national minimum wage of 15,000 Frw ($30) a month, or the “famous” $1-a-day for casual labour. It’s not a happy picture, but as so often here, equally not a big enough crisis to attract much attention.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-61014104768651713802008-06-06T22:15:00.000+02:002008-06-06T22:16:48.413+02:00A double encouragementA good day as we enter our last 3 weeks in Cyangugu. <br />We had a meeting at the nearby primary school, privately run by the diocese. There was a structured agenda, well-written report from the head teacher, punctual start and a discussion about wider issues, not just current crises (which are thankfully few). We left feeling that we had contributed in some small way to the development of this school through our training, encouragement and visits (Sheena is currently teaching there 2 mornings a week).<br />Finishing at 4pm, we headed to the local football stadium, where an “Expo” has been organised. There were a lot of exhibitors and a reasonable number of people visiting. The western-style DJs and dancers in the corner attracted a fair crowd of young people. There were quite a few interesting products, too, including some we wished we had come across sooner. Making furniture is an important business here and quite a lot of people around Kamembe are employed that way. The favourite material is wood, but it is heavy and expensive. One stall had bamboo furniture; sturdy, well-made, attractive and at a price where you could furnish a whole sitting room for the price of a wooden settee (about £150). Someone else had ceiling tiles made of papyrus. Cheaper than “triplex”, the local name for hardboard, they also look a lot nicer and don’t need painted. They are also, of course, a natural material grown locally.<br />There were tea and coffee exhibitors (Rwanda’s main exports) and a good number of foodstuffs, crafts and herbal medicines. Rusizi District was showing a promotional video. Overall, there was a very good feeling about this event. There was enterprise, creativity and an opportunity to relax and learn : a real sign of the progress the country is making and not so often seen in this remote corner.<br /><br />As an aside on Rwanda’s application to join the Commonwealth and its push to become more Anglophone than French-speaking : while all the signs were in Kinyarwanda, we still found French a lot more useful than English when speaking to people at this event.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-81288897483359616522008-06-04T08:23:00.000+02:002008-06-04T08:27:14.006+02:00Strategic planningWe spent a lot of time in November and December working with many people in the diocese developing a 3-year strategic plan. It’s a different process from what would happen in the west. Certainly we gathered all the “wish lists” from each project and parish (about 24 managers / pastors involved in this) and we also did some filtering of them, dispensing with the less likely. We took an overview of the work of the diocese and did SWOT analyses.<br />However, the final part, where we would cost the plans, match against likely / possible funding and then select priorities was missing. In reality, it is not worth the effort to draw up very precise plans : things are just too unpredictable! A few weeks ago we had a long and vigorous discussion with a British friend about this : should we have refined the plan and selected priorities for each parish and project, producing a much clearer statement of intent with budgets and timescales? As I look back now over the first 5 months of the year and the plan, I feel that our approach has been vindicated. We have seen :<br />- a minor earthquake, with the corresponding diversion of time and effort and changing of plans<br />- an offer from an NGO to operate 2 of our projects on a subcontract basis<br />- funding for a school, which we had been told was approved, withdrawn indefinitely<br />- the likelihood of getting a donation of $50,000 for our dispensary<br />- the cancellation of our large teacher training programme at Easter<br />None of these were foreseen even in December, yet all requiring significant changes to our activities. It’s better to be prepared and flexible than to spend too much time in planning. <br />It’s noticeable that the government is putting a lot of effort into training various leaders in local government and in education in planning. While we live in an environment that is highly changeable and so full of need and opportunity, any plans need to be held lightly.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-48091148877697446602008-05-26T07:27:00.000+02:002008-05-26T07:29:42.811+02:00Pending good-byesThis is a strange and not very pleasant time, as we reach the point where we only have 1 month left in Cyangugu. It’s too early to start saying goodbye to people here in town, but it’s too late to start any major new projects. There are some loose ends we can tie up now, but it is even a bit premature for most of that.<br />I’m not ready to leave right now, but I am ready to start the process and this state of pending good-byes wil, I hope, pass quickly.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-40097938989487791902008-05-26T07:10:00.001+02:002008-05-26T07:13:43.420+02:00Sporo!Not a miss-spelling, but the usual call which goes up from the guards’ house when I go running. It also applies to our walks : the idea of walking for pleasure or exercise is quite foreign and incomprehensible.<br />It’s not easy to run here, I tell myself as an excuse for only having started 3 months ago. The paths are rough, muddy when it rains, it is very hilly and people will stare. However, the decision to take part in the 20km Great Scottish Run in September provided the necessary incentive, as it has in previous years. I’m now running every 4-5 days, usually accompanied by Boss, the dog from next door. She is good company and at least solves one problem – people pay more attention to her than me, especially children. Most of them are petrified, although a more docile dog you could not find.<br />Meanwhile, I also tell myself that a 25-minute hill run, first thing in the morning with low blood sugar and at an altitude of 1700m above sea level, must be worth at least an hour in Scotland. We shall see.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-40450206539995934172008-05-15T22:22:00.001+02:002008-05-15T22:22:52.047+02:00Chasing the footballRangers may have had difficulty in getting the ball during their failed attempt to win the UEFA Cup, but not as much trouble as we had in trying to see the match on TV here. <br />We arrived at the Peace Guest House 10 minutes before kick-off, only to find the diocesan AIDS conference still under way. As speeches were being given, we assumed that it could continue for an indefinite period. <br />Off to Hotel du Lac (10 minutes’ drive), where they could not get the appropriate satellite channel, only a game from the premier league in Ghana.<br />Hotel des Chutes is nearby, but there the antenna was giving problems and they had no channels at all.<br />In the centre of town, “Planete Foot”, a “cinema” was showing the game, with an entrance fee of 10p, but our Rwandan friend was not at all keen on the clientele (having later seen pictures of the crowds of shirtless Russians at the match in Manchester, I could only think it was as well that he was not in the stadium).<br />The neighbouring “10-to-10” had the match on TV, with no-one watching and much encouraged, we settled down to watch. The English commentator was complaining about the lack of excitement in the first 30 minutes, so we did not feel we had missed much. 10 minutes later the screen went blank. The hotel staff were able to get a different channel with French commentary, but when that failed just at half time we were left with Bukavu TV and some exotic and badly-acted adverts.<br />As a last resort, we returned to where we had started and sure enough the AIDS Conference had gone, allowing us to enjoy an excellent picture and sound. The only subsequent disappointment was the result, of course!<br />In a country obsessed by football, it was intriguing to see how little interest this final attracted. Our Rwandan friend put it down to the lack of a team from the English Premier League taking part.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-17819316987392908182008-05-13T06:39:00.001+02:002008-05-13T06:44:34.846+02:00Night drivingAll the advice you can read about Africa says not to drive at night in the countryside. It is wise – I would say the same myself and avoid it wherever possible. Sometimes, however, given the approach to time (i.e. mostly ignoring it) and the insistent hospitality, it is just impossible to get away early enough to arrive home before dark. A double difficulty then arises : taxis seem to drive faster at night and early evening is the busiest time for pedestrians at the side of the road as people return home. In most parts of Rwanda you will find pedestrians at the side of the road for the whole duration of your journey. It is much easier to drive around 9pm, by which time things are a lot quieter.<br />There is the occasional reward, however. On our recent drive from Gisenyi back to Ruhengeri, we left as darkness fell, but had a wonderful view of the volcano Nyiragongo as the road climbed away from the lake. This is situated in the DRC, close to Goma and caused a lot of damage and several deaths when it last erupted in 2002. There is still a very noticeable red glow from the top, which is only visible at night. It’s an emphatic reminder of the beauty and power of nature.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-192869026496807342008-05-10T22:07:00.000+02:002008-05-10T22:10:51.471+02:00The grand tour of RwandaI’ve just finished visiting 5 of the 9 dioceses in the Anglican Church in Rwanda (EAR), along with the administrator from our own diocese. We’ve been looking for things we could learn from, or more accurately which could inspire or educate our diocesan staff on our planned study tour / retreat. Unfortunately, it now looks as if this will take place after we return to Scotland, but we have had a good time in the last few days.<br />There is a huge variety of work going on, some “successful”, some struggling, some with the poor and disadvantaged, some which brings contact with some of the most the privileged families in Rwanda. Perhaps like our farewell to Banda, it has been a microcosm of our time in Rwanda – fascinating, frustrating, depressing, inspiring, always with surprises just around the corner. I’ll describe some of the high and low points over the next few days.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926214.post-64869344685447626542008-05-04T22:35:00.001+02:002008-05-04T22:42:32.361+02:00The first goodbyeWe travelled to Banda today, really to say “goodbye” to our friends there. It will be 8 weeks until we leave Cyangugu, but we decided that we needed to be organised and to start early if we are to see everyone that we want to. There is still a lot to do! The day captured so much of what we will treasure as lasting memories of rural Rwanda :<br />1. An early start : we had to set the alarm for 0600 on a Sunday morning and leave 40 minutes later.<br />2. Car problems : the power steering belt broke after 30 minutes, not a major problem, but I felt as if I had done some physical work!<br />3. Unexpected travellers : our friend Chantal decided to bring her 2-year old with her.<br />4. Terrible roads : the potholes on the main road become ever worse, the rains have caused several minor landslides in Nyungwe Forest and the side road down to Banda is not difficult, but just bumpy all the way.<br />5. Broken-down lorries : we only passed 2 today, quite a low tally.<br />6. The beautiful Nyungwe Forest.<br />7. The unimportance of punctuality : church had started at 0900, we arrived about 40 minutes late, but by the time we were given breakfast it was 1020 before we all went in, with no sense of rush or stress.<br />8. Warm welcomes : everyone is so glad to see us, we are hugged by hundreds of people before and after church and there are words of appreciation and prayers for our protection several times during the day.<br />9. Enthusiastic faith : the congregation was about 1000 strong, with several daughter churches being represented by people who had walked for >2 hours to get there.<br />10. Long church : with many choirs singing, including the children’s’ choir about 120 strong, it was 1330 when we finished. We had only spoken for about 40 minutes : we are definitely taking longer! <br />11. Friendship across culture, race and language barriers. There is a mystery here, but unity and fellowship in Christ is also strong reality.<br />12. The unexpected : we left the pastor’s house after lunch later than we had hoped, but called in to see his daughter with new husband and baby. There we were served our second meal.<br />13. A late return : we minimised our stay in the second home, but it was getting dark just as we got out of the forest and 1900 by the time we got home.Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00018898468190295470noreply@blogger.com0