Adjusting... little by little

My front gate

Slowly but surely I’m getting adjusted to the rhythm of Rwandan life here in Kibungo. The call to prayer comes every morning, usually a few minutes before 5 am. I’m often up reading at that hour so it’s easy to mark the time. The sound of the call is haunting and melodic with certain syllables drawn out in soulful supplication. It really is quite beautiful and I now find myself anticipating its arrival each morning.

Just inside the front gate, my house (not seen) located at the back

The calls to prayer – of which there are five throughout the day – are based on light, and, in ancient times, the first call came as soon as the muezzin could differentiate a white thread from a black one in the ambient light (i.e. just before dawn, as one is meant to say their first prayer before the sun comes up).  In fact, Islamic prayer times were originally not based on a clock, but rather on the movement of the sun. *  Since Rwanda is pretty close to the equator, the daylight times are fairly constant throughout the year…. but enough about that.

The house the University has provided me is humble by American standards but certainly adequate for most Rwandans. My house is situated at the back of a gated compound with its own version of a white picket fence – in this case a stone wall with an orange rod-iron gate – directly in front of my little place. In the center of the compound is “the faucet.”

The faucet

My life has come to revolve around this faucet. Don’t let its simplicity fool you. It is the giver of life and without it, my immediate neighbors and I would be schlepping down the road about a half a kilometer to the communal well.

The water comes to our faucet about every three days. When the water is flowing, everyone gathers around the faucet to fill his or her various receptacles for saving this precious commodity.  
I personally have five Gerry cans that are quite heavy when full, and a large plastic storage container in the bathroom.

My house and its proximity to "the faucet"

My life here has been challenging to say the least, with obstacles ranging from no running water at the house to the unpredictable Internet access and overall low bandwidth both at school and at home. The one challenge I had not anticipated is that I seem to be the only white person in this town of some 40,000 people.  Consequently, my comings-and-goings draw attention from all my neighbors as well as the surrounding community.  It’s impossible to walk around and blend in. Everywhere I go, I’m noticed. Some of the children are not afraid to rush over to say hello or exclaim in elation “Mzungo, mzungo!” the Kinyarwandan word for a person with white skin, but most people just watch cautiously as I go by.  This can complicate even the simplest of things such as  going to the market, where I become a spectacle who attracts a crowd with everyone wondering what the mzungo is going to buy and how much will she end up paying. I can now see how the life of a celebrity could be a bit stifling.

However, underlying all the challenges – and there are many – is my complete and total sense of loss without Charlie here sharing all these experiences. Even though we speak every day on Skype, his absence is felt in everything I do here.

* Information regarding the Islamic call to prayer came from bluemosque.com

For those of you interested, here's the Link to the school where I'll be teaching

Rwandan Realities

Entrance to the IPRC 

It's hard to believe that I'm sitting here in my new office at the Intergrated Polytechnic Regional Center (IPRC) in Kibungo, Rwanda, trying to complete my TESL, TEFL, TESOL certification for teaching English to foreigners. It's a Saturday and the halls of the school are full of song, clearly the day for music practice. The afternoon is cloudy and it's a pleasant 75 degrees out. My office in is the English Resource Center in the middle of a huge campus that houses both a university and a technical/ vocational training school whose curriculum includes welding, construction and civil engineering along with computer and IT training. My job will be to teach English to as many of the students as possible to align with the country's shift in 2009 from French to English as a national (non-tribal) language. Although it's been almost ten years, the English language level is still relatively low since most of the teachers were all educated in French.

Peace Corps Response volunteers with Response Coordinator, Balthazar (center)

I came here as a volunteer for the Peace Corps Response program, a more focused and professional branch of the Peace Corps with the intention of working in the capital city of Kigali -- enjoying all the amenities a major city has to offer -- to get some experience in teaching. However, the small village I was assigned to is about 100 kilometers south-east of Kigali, is quite small compared to the capital city, and -- judging from the stir I caused at the market this morning -- they don't see many white people here. I even scared some of the children there.. and have, in general, so far found them to be unapproachable, something I hope to work on during my time here.

When I arrived at my site late Thursday afternoon, I was greeted by the Principal of IPRC, and his Vice Principal, Juvenal (yes that's his name) who is now my new best friend (truth be known, my only friend in the area).  Juvenal was eager to show me around the town and point out the market place and various little shops where I could buy the necessities.

Along the road to downtown Kibungo

 He also invited me to be his guest the following day at an English instruction workshop hosted by the U.S. State Department for English teachers in the immediate area.

Nothing like digging right in!

The workshop was great! It was taught by an American woman (Leah) from New York City who has, in fact, taught English all over the world. She's been in Rwanda about 7 months and provided me with a wealth of information regarding the ins-and-outs of navigating life here in Africa.

And as they say, "the rubber meets the pavement" on Monday. I'll be introduced around to the faculty and work out some sort of operational plan that can begin to detail exactly how I'm going to add value to this institution. At this junction...the possibilities are endless!

 The only gorilla I've seen in Rwanda so far

PS. I have yet to break out the camera, all the above photos were taken with my iPhone. Once I establish the protocol regarding taking photos around here, I will add a link to those photos on Flickr.  For right now, I'm already an anomaly and don't want to appear as just another American tourist. .. since I'm not. Stay tuned...