Kigali, Rwanda

This weekend was spent in Kigali, Rwanda. We travelled Friday by mini-bus and arrived in the early evening. We found out apon arrival that Saturday was a holiday and nothing was open, so we spent the afternoon sitting by the pool at the Hotel des Mille Collines. We didn't stay there, we were at a much cheaper hotel, but for a small fee the pool can be used. Half the group spent the last night at the Mille Collines but I decided that drinking beers by the pool and having dinner in the fancy restaurant was a sufficient experiece at the famous hotel, especially with a $us140 a night price tag. Besides, our hotel had much more 'character'. Every room had something interesting. For example, my room had no shower door so the floor flooded while showering, and part way through the weekend, the mirror fell off the wall. Other examples in other rooms include minor flooding and non-functioning toilets.

Sunday was spent visiting the genocide memorial and a church outside Kigali that has been left escentially unaltered since the genocide. Both were incredibly interesting and provide a very real look at the genocide. We again ended up at the Mille Collines, this time for some drinks and dinner.

Yesterday was spent experiencing real travel in Africa. We bought tickets for a bus from Kigali to Mbarara but the bus was enroute from Burundi. With the western perspective in mind, we assumed buying tickets meant buying seats. We were wrong. We sat on the floor in a very crowded aisle. I had my backpack so I at least had something to sit on but I still had the guy behind me basically stratling me with his knees and the guy in front was sitting on an arm rest and occasionally ended up on my knee. The buses here are the kings of the road and drive very aggressively. Rwanda and Southern Uganda are very hilly so you can imagine what its like drivingvery fast while sitting in there conditions. Every corner you are clutching onto something to avoid falling over. After 5 hours (1 hour to cross the border) you feel totally drained of energy. It was quite an experience and I definetely learned the importance in securing a seat for future travel, especially the 20 hour ride to Tanzania at Christmas.

Today I head to my job site and work begins tomorrow!

A view of Kigali from our hotel room









Kigali Memorial Center. Opened in 2004, it is the location of both the museum and the mass graves








Stained glass window at the Memorial Center












At the Kigali Memorial center there are more than 250,000 people buried in numerous mass graves. This number continues to increase as more grave sites are found and relocated here





The Rwanda flag and one of the nicer areas of Kigali








Inside this church memorial there are a large quantity of human bones and skulls. It is a very creepy place but it is a reminder of the worst humanity can achieve









The Pope visited Rwanda in 1990, just when tensions leading to the genocide were once again starting to escalate. The remains of a poster hang in the church memorial










The street venders in the city have merchandise catered for the particular area. I knew I was in a good part of town when this guy was selling the Economist, Time, and BBC Africa Report on the street corner.





The famous pool at the Hotel des Mille Collines












The Kigali bus park. Another excellent example of orderly chaos functioning in Africa.

Week 2: Rubingo Site Visit

The second week of my tour in Uganda was spent visiting the project site called Rubingo. This is the site of the previous water project that has been ongoing for the last several years and completed last year. Along with the completed water project, ongoing projects include both health education and agriculture projects. The interns involved in these areas stayed at the Rubingo camp while the water crew returned to Mbarara in preparation for our November 1st arrival at Nyakigera. It is worth noting that the last 5 days of every month are taken off so the workers can return home to see there families. This is achieved by working 6 days a week during the rest of the month. Life in Uganda runs at a much slower pace than the western world. Rural life appears to operate even slower. This coupled with the fact that there are effectively 3 people filling one role makes life very easy going and stress-free. The first task has been confirming the sizing (volumes) of all the tanks for the project. When we arrive at Nyakigera tank construction will commence. Trenching and laying pipe is scheduled to commence in January.

Camp life is the equivalent of a tropical version of a western work camp. With stay in large tents which have a protective shelter. Each tent has two beds (with mosquito nets of course) and a shelf. There is a tent set up as the office and there is a building for meals. There is no electricity except for a solar panel connected to a battery that is generally reserved for the laptop and charging cell phones. There are 3 meals a day and variety in the meals is basically non-existent, but the food quite good. Meat is served one a week. Seeing as theres no power, sleep comes quite early and reading by headlamp is abundant.

This Friday is the start of our first 5 day off. Most of us as taking a bus to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to spend a few days. I am very much looking forward to this.

Last night me and a couple others had dinner at one of the nicer hotels in Mbarara and after dinner we were joined by 2 lawyers from Kampala. They represented a micro-finance firm and are in Mbarara for court, trying to recover a large sum of money. It was by far the most interesting conversation I have had over here. We mainly discussed the difficulties of financing in Uganda (I think it could be generalized to most of Africa) and the difference in attitude towards money and financing between Africans and westerners. The conclusion was also quite funny and worth noting, as they got into their Mercedes and drove to another hotel because they wanted steak for dinner and this hotel was out. It is the first time I have witnessed first hand the wealth gap that exists here between the majority who can barely afford to eat, and the upper class who control the country.


A visit to one the widow's gardens. There are 8 such gardens in the Rubingo area. The land in purchased or leased for the widows associations and the widows work the land. This provides food and potentially some extra income.

One of the widows










A local distilling method. These are very common and are quite often located near the water projects because the distilling requires flowing water. Basically a local 'beer' brewed from bananas is distilled twice in barrels to produce a very strong liquor. Similiar taste to a gin, really burns as it goes down.
John takes a water sample at one of the tapstands. Every stop we attract large crowds, especially at schools, such as this one.





Every drive is an adventure here. We have experienced 5 flat tires so far. This is one of the local bridges.





Women carry everything on their heads. This is a relatively small load of bananas.









"Beauty lies in these hills"







A local child follows us through a banana plantation on a visit to one of the water sources








Children swarm when a camera is around. They go crazy when you show them a picture of themselves.





Some locals at a rainwater catchment facility.







Some kids play in the streets at Kikigati, another project site we visited





Traffic jam in Kikigati








Some local kids oversee the changing of a tire









Digging up a short section of the pipeline for maintenance.









We are welcomed to the church by these drummers.








An hiv/aids eductional play following church draws a large crowd






Kids seem to be attracted to the tapstands but they also seem to respect them and I very seldom see the taps open unnecessarily.

Week 1: Kampala and beyond

Thus far our travel in Uganda has been effectively a vacataion. This has allowed everyone to get accustomed to life in Uganda, and also to overcome jetlag and ensure a healthy transition to our new home. We departed Comox on Saturday morning and arrived in Entebbe on Monday morning. Travels were long but realitively uneventful. We were met in Entebbe by a bus which took us to Kampala where we spent the first the first 3 nights. The bus also served us for our time in Kampala and transported us to Mbarara where we are currently staying. Our time in Kampala was spent at a very nice guest house and we occupied our time fulfilling tasks in preparation for our travels south. This included such tasks as getting the nurses registered, visiting our pipe supplier, and purchasing cell phones. We also made some tourists stops including the King's Tomb (*name?*).

Kampala is quite an amazing place for not only a newbie to Africa, but a newbie to the developing world. It is a city of over 1.2 million spread out over many hills. The downtown is quite developed whereas the surrounding areas look more like typical images of African cities. Poverty exists but not nearly to the extent most westerns have come to believe. Traffic is so utterly chaotic that if functions effectively. Garbage removal is all but non-existant and garbage is burned in the open created a general smell of smoke which can be quite pleasent from a distance due the high content of organic material. People are generally very friendly and normally willing to go out of the way to help. I look forward to further visits to Kampala.

I have unfortunately spent most of my time uploading the following pictures so the rest will have to wait. I am heading out to a rural community on Monday morning to see some of the past projects so I look forward to this and to the start of my work.

Until next time,
Ryan

Visit to the King's Tomb (*name?*)

A local artist comes close to selling me this piece. I told him I'd return in 6 months









Garden on the side of a street in Kampala







Streets of Kampala. Always very busy







One of the many partially completed structures in Kampala. Note the interesting, but very typical, scaffolding used.





Bikes are used to haul all sorts of large loads. This man is pushing sugercane.

After receiving some candy, a group of children pose for pictures. What no one ever photographs: the unimpressed looks from the local adults.

A child shows me his tic-tac







Very African billboard enroute to Mbarara







Stop at the equator








Water demonstration at the equator. South of the equator water flows counterclockwise, north it flows clockwise, and on the equator it flows straight down... Did u know?

Uganda Cell Phone Number

Quick update:

- Arrived in Kampala monday morning, spent 3 days
- Arrived in Mbarara yesterday
- Internet is very slow

I bought a cell phone in Kampala and if you'd like to call me, its free for me to receive calls but very expensive to for me to call out. The number is:

011 256 75 268 2944

A better description and some pictures to follow very soon.

Uganda

Almost exactly two years ago I began recieving emails from a good friend of mine, Mr. Tobias Kruger, that would ultimately lead me down a path that currently sees me in the community of Comox, BC, preparing for my most unique experience thus far. In his first email from the Gambia he wrote:

"So far, despite the hardships and cultural differences - the Gambia has grown on me already. There is enormous human potential here... People are genuinely friendly, and even the hawkers will leave you alone once you politely tell them no once. Yes it is filthy, the many foul odours make you gag, there are people everywhere you go, and every trip in a vehicle is a gamble in personal safety, but I think that is what I came here looking for. I have already gained a much deeper appreciation for what it means to be Canadian, and consider myself extremely lucky to have been born in such a place. My time is here now, and I hope to make a difference here, to bring a bit of our world to theirs, and create a positive space for all. There is much work to be done."

Over two years Toby's emails continued to inspire me and as I watched his world view and intelligence continually grow, I realized what I must undertake to achieve the same learning experience. I was able to get a 6 month internship in Uganda with relative ease (perhaps a huge quantity of luck) and on Saturday I will be on a flight to Kampala. I will be travelling as a member of a group of 14. There are several ways to break down the group: firstly, by funding, there are 6 CIDA sponsered interns, a corporate sponsered intern (myself), 6 volunteers, and 1 administrator from the organization. Secondly, by sector, there will be 3 of us working on a rural water supply project (myself), 4 people working in health education, 3 people working with agriculture, 1 doing environmental assessment, 1 person in charge of communications, and 2 administrators. Finally, by location, there are 4 sites, each with the following numbers: 3, 3, 7, 1.

During the week in Comox my team has had the opportunity to sit down with interns from previous years and start to get a grasp of the project. Basically we are refining the design and implementing a gravity flow water supply system consisting of 2 (possibly 3) spring sources, 16 km of piping network, and 30 (ish) tapstands in various locations. There are many interesting hurdles to overcome, generally not technical, that should make the experience memorable. This project follows a similiar project recently completed in a different location which consists of a network of 80 kms of piping. Needless to say, the technical issues on my project relative to the old project will be far less.

This is where I'm at with everything right now. I hope to keep this relatively up-to-date which I know will keep a few people very happy. For everyone else, please feel free to tune in every once in a while and let me know whats going on in the rest of the world.

Peace

http://www.acts.ca