Do 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.

Too many milestones

I 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.

Empty promises

Advertising 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.
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.

Reading

We were discussing reading with some Rwandan friends. Reading for pleasure is not popular here, by custom or opportunity.
“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!

Inflation

I 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!

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.

A double encouragement

A good day as we enter our last 3 weeks in Cyangugu.
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).
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.
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.

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.

Strategic planning

We 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.
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 :
- a minor earthquake, with the corresponding diversion of time and effort and changing of plans
- an offer from an NGO to operate 2 of our projects on a subcontract basis
- funding for a school, which we had been told was approved, withdrawn indefinitely
- the likelihood of getting a donation of $50,000 for our dispensary
- the cancellation of our large teacher training programme at Easter
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.
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.

Pending good-byes

This 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.
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.

Sporo!

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.
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.
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.

Chasing the football

Rangers 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.
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.
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.
Hotel des Chutes is nearby, but there the antenna was giving problems and they had no channels at all.
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).
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.
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!
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.

Night driving

All 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.
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.

The grand tour of Rwanda

I’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.
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.