Adventures

It didn't take me long to find something more meaningful to do. We were exhausted, napped, and went out to eat and shop, and then Caitlin and I left to go join the group at the secondary school to teach English to the teachers. The government switched the official second language from French to English because they hate the French, and now the teachers have no way to learn it. We showed up and talked to the headmaster, and he desperately wants me to come back and teach economics, which is happening next Thursday!! I thought that was unique at first, but then talked to our other volunteers. Each one introduced themselves as chemistry, history, etc. majors and all were taken by the headmaster to their class to teach by themselves. The headmaster apparently walked in and announced "Please stop, we have Americans to teach". Pretty sad how little faith they have in their teachers, but also illustrates the constant misconceptions about America being a paradise, where money grows on trees, everyone loves each other, and finding jobs is no problem for anyone.

Teaching the teachers was really fun and challenging. Some of them actually spoke really good English, so we didn't really know where to start. We eventually settled on a discussion of geography and politics, and sports before that. They were really interested in the differences between colleges and universities, as well as the U.S. education system in general. They also wanted to know about the differences between state and federal government in the U.S., and other specific questions like that.

The hardest part was when we broke into groups and three of them peppered me with questions. The first ones were on the current political climate, and I felt kind of silly telling them about our financial problems. But they continued to ask me about why it was that way and how to fix it, so I continued giving my opinion. The line of questioning then changed to me, and how I was able to afford coming to Africa, how I was able to afford school and housing and food at the same time, really difficult stuff like that where the only answer I could give was that I was really lucky for my family to have a significant income. They were doing it because they saw the need in the community, and the pay was obviously very poor. They ended though by asking how they can improve their school, looking for access to any English books, computers, or even paper that would make their jobs so much more effective.

We got back and headed to dinner, at our favorite restaurant down the street. There's no name we can find (it just has a Primus, the local beer, sign outside), no menu and only three options. However, the goat kabobs and fried potatoes are amazing and keep us coming back. Our group had a great meal and talked for hours afterwards about politics, genocide, and religion. You all know I love serious and powerful conversations, and this trip has been full of them.

We woke up Friday morning and went to two incredible memorials. We drove through the beautiful countryside to Ntarama, where 5,000 people were slaughtered or burned alive while taking refuge in a church. Their bones are still there, as the remaining clothes and personal artifacts they had before they were killed. The scale of the tragedy is unimaginable, even with the skulls staring back at you, but the emotion I felt most there was anger, that people could do that to one another, be excited about it, and continue to spread and orchestrate more terror and murder. I don't know that many people walk away from such a site angry and can't really explain why I did, but that's what kept building up as we walked around.

Next we went to Nyamata where 10,000 people were killed in a church. This site was equally powerful but somewhat obscured by a crew filming a documentary there, basically trampling over the serentity and meaning of it while they yelled at each other and called out commands. Despite that, it was incredibly powerful to see a building very similar to my sanctuary at home where so many people's trust and lives were taken. As we walked through the many skulls there, I wondered why these people weren't given proper burials, but also thought about everyone I knew, and how that would only be a drop in the bucket of even this one massacre. I thought about my hopes and dreams and how those of the victims were cut down, right then and there for no reason. Walking out of both structures made me pause, as it was an opportunity that every single one of them never had, to come through the door and see the vibrant daily life and activity that now surrounds the memorial.

On the way back we stopped at the Nyaborongo River crossing where many bodies were thrown. The custom is to drop a message on a piece of paper into the river, so we followed suit and I wrote about the pain and resilience that I could never imagine, but that we can work together to prosper in the future. When we got back to the guesthouse, we had lunch and relaxed, and with that backdrop on my mind, I went to my golf date.

Playing golf was a wierd feeling, especially after our morning and surrounded by poverty, but I rationalized it by playing with Rwandans who were left with nothing after the genocide and still desperately needed a friend. I was a little early for our "tee time" (the clubhouse was a hut), so everyone wanted to talk to me, even though they speak really good English and see Americans all the time. Patrick was there right on time, he brought me clubs, and I thought we were sharing, but he put on his caddy outfit and said he was excited to teach me, but couldn't afford to play today. I of course wanted him to play (we picked up the other guy, the head pro who shot even par, on the second hole), so I paid another $20 for his round.

I parred the first hole (Patrick doubled) but triple bogeyed the second. I ended up parring four holes, bogeying one, and shooting a 50 on the nine we played (although sometimes the caddy would move my ball to a better lie... apparently that's normal here) The course, the only one in Rwanda, was the quality of Candler, but I took a lot of pictures to remember everything. The pro we played with was really cool, champion of the Rwanda Open, finally someone who knew American football, and was hoping to play golf in Europe soon.

I had taken a taxi there, but was really glad I walked back by myself. People glare at you until you greet them in Kinyarwandan, and then smile uncontrollably. So I greeted everyone I met, and multiple people stopped me to tell me their stories or to practice English. I met four Rwandans I knew along the way- we passed the soccer field, and the guys we played with were making their way there, excited to see me and welcomed me back! I think that will be next Monday or Tuesday we head over there again. I knew one other local student, and he wanted to know when we could play basketball next. Even here, sports are what I'm known for, which is a great way to meet so many people!!

I got back, hung out a little while with everyone else who just slept and journaled all day, and went to exchange money. On the way back, we heard some singing coming from our guesthouse and stumbled onto a Christian choir practice of the local workers. It was amazing, as they sang two songs I knew (All in All and another tune I recognized) in Kinyarwandan and some new ones, and then they invited us to listen to their first album that had just been recorded. We had no idea where this recording studio would be, but it turned out to be right next to our guesthouse in an open building with a church and English class that I borrow the socer balls from. It was really odd seeing such a nice recording studio here, but the music sounded fantastic and was well worth the adventure.

We left for dinner at a Chinese place and ran into our friends from Minnesota. We had talked about going out, but everyone else was tired and wanted to go back, so the Minnesota girls were headed to a local hotel I hadn't checked out yet. So I switched course and went with them, and we went up to the top floor and looked at Kigali from each side. The coolest part were sides of the hills, where the only being able to see the lights made it look like it was rising up to the sky. I'm definitely getting the UNC group to go there sometime, it's really cool but Westernized. We stopped at our hangout the Novotel for a local art exhibit which I actually enjoyed, and came back to our guesthouse. Other people from our group ran into Patrick that night, and approached him because he was wearing the UNC shirt I had just given him as a thank-you. He told them I played so well, and could make their national team with a little more practice, which is pretty sad. He called me that night and told me again how happy our day made him, and that he really appreciated me being his friend.

We woke up this morning to do the Umugando, the national day of service on the last Saturday of every month. No cars are allowed on the streets, and apparently there's a $20 fine if a citizen doesn't participate. We walked right outside our guesthouse to work on the road, which was overgrown with weeds. We hoed and tilled for awhile, and the fifty of us working for three hours accomplished the same thing as a brushmower in about fifteen minutes. Oh well, it was a fun community building activity and afterwards we went to their townhall meeting. One man translated the government representative's message for us, and they talked about how it was your patriotic duty to keep Kigali beautiful and serve others. Then they went into specifics about a new doctor in town, a potential bridge being constructed, how to print your name and then sign it on any official document, that chickens were no longer allowed except in a pen, and finally that each home was going to be given an address soon so the police could find them in case of emergency.

It was a really cool exercise in democracy, and the whole last three days have been incredible. We're off now to go explore another area of town, and possibly hike Mount Kigali before going clubbing again tonight!!