But, day two of my adventures was
International Women’s Day. I was moto’d to the ceremony with the nutritionist
at my health center and the chief of women for my sector. We began by helping
to build a small keyhole garden by the cell office. After the gardening we
walked the three kilometers back into town with an escort of about 20 women
singing as we went. Here, the ceremony was busily being prepared, chairs and
benches were being brought out in the town center and the food was being
prepared to distribute to malnourished children. I watched the women (babies
tied to their backs) boil a mixture of sweet potatoes, beans, carrots, greens,
and dried fish over a fire in a small kitchen in town. After which, they
pounded the mixture into mush vaguely resembling green mashed potatoes.
Rwandan women especially, have this amazing ability which I am constantly in awe of. They are able to bend over at a 90 degree angle and do any activity for seemingly any amount of time. I watched as these women did just this while mashing the mush, for nearly 20 minutes. But women do this in the fields for hours, washing dishes, cooking, everything. I always struggle with a squat, which after 3-5 minutes kills my knees or a feeble attempt at this 90 degree bend which threatens after only a minute or less to put my back into bed-rest spasm. So, I am impressed, in other words.
We arrived at the
ceremony just in time for its beginning with women from town dancing and
singing for the audience. One of the perks of being so recognizable to people
is that I often receive really great seats for various events. Often I decline
and sit in back or otherwise. But for several hours, it’s very nice to have a
chair with a back, and a good spot to take lots of photos. So I had the perfect
viewing spot to watch these women dancing and the community cheering. After the
dancing the sector and cell executives spoke, followed by more dancing and
speeches by the nutritionist and chief of women. At one point they drug me out in the middle to
dance with them. I can’t dance in the States anyways, but to dance with the
grace and in the style of Rwandan women is relatively impossible for me! I
tried and spent most of my time laughing hysterically. After the song finished,
the leader came up to me and wrapped her arms around me in the biggest hug. The
whole ceremony was only interrupted briefly twice for rain, but it always
resumed with the same enthusiasm.
After all the dancing and speeches, the
food was brought out and mats were laid on the ground. Women brought their
children, specifically the malnourished children, and they sat around the mat.
Two women began by going around with water and a basin to wash the children’s
hands, followed by plates of the nutritious mush they had cooked up. These kids
ate hungrily. My heart ached while watching one little boy in rags of clothing
stained reddish-brown from the dirt. He was handed a plate and the boy ate so
slowly, like it was a struggle just to do so. He even looked painful in his
determination and desire to eat, to not be hungry. But, in spite of
overwhelming malnourishment in Rwanda, in my part of the country, the mood was
still happy and joyful. Even though I didn’t have much cash to give at the
time, I still contributed a little bit of money, along with my co-workers at
the health center to provide this meal for these children. Overall, it was such
a positive moment, being able to see even just a few children have their
bellies full for even a short time. 
I have been aware of and have subtly
participated in International Women’s Day for several years. The day definitely
seemed much more empowering and inspirational to be with these Rwandan women,
as well as currently being an international woman myself. It was all the more
impressive that this group of people planned their whole celebration of the
day. A lot of times an outsider, a foreigner, comes in and plans a celebration,
but to be a part of such a successful one planned entirely by the local
population was wonderful. My day even began with people wishing me a happy
women’s day, which I adopted quickly and was pleasantly surprised by the
universal recognition of the women in my community when I wished them “umunsi
mwiza w’abagore!”
Continuing on in my journey… On Saturday
I went, with my friend Kate, a fellow PCV, to visit a small community in
Nyungwe National Park. There are currently two volunteers working there with a
US organization called Kageno. Sarah and Jarod Ring are from Arkansas and have
spent the last two years working in this small impoverished village, a 2.5 hour
hike into the forest. Apparently when the park was established, all the people
were somewhat forced to move to this one community. There are over 4,000 people
living there, and they are the poorest of the poor in Rwanda. The community is
beautiful though, and the hike in is the same. Thankfully we saw no monkeys as
Sarah was saying they travel in packs sometimes around 300. You all may have
been reading on the news of an American being killed by monkey swarm in Rwanda!
Sarah and Jarod were wonderful hosts, and have the most adorable house, with a yard and everything. It’s always nice to vent/talk with other volunteers about service in Rwanda. It further helps me distinguish where I have been struggling and why, and maybe more importantly how to overcome these struggles. The chocolate chip, banana pancakes were also a very welcome addition in the morning. I was so amazed coming into their village and not hearing a single “muzungu” cry from the population. If anything they called out “banyamerica” which means Americans. I kept commenting to Kate how nice it is to be out in Rwanda, hiking, walking in the forest, in a village and not treated as solely a foreigner with lots of money. This adventure as well as the last week really restored faith in this experience.
Although I went to bed early Sunday
night, I was met Monday with a wave of exhaustion. This had nothing to do with
hiking over the weekend and everything to do with continued housing struggles.
Peace Corps has told me that my living situation must change, meaning I can no
longer live with three men. I totally understand this, however, it is so tiring
to think about moving. It’s hard enough finding peace of mind when you are
constantly trying to integrate into a culture, but to leave my garden, my home
in which I’ve bought furniture, decorated and have called “home” for the last
nine months, is truly exhausting. That, coupled with my program director coming
to my site to look at houses with my supervisor and I, made me cling to the
covers on Monday and barely leave my bed except to do just that, look at a
couple houses.
Nothing was resolved yesterday, and I
find myself still very tired today in spite of the sun being out, and still
feeling happy. I very much long to put a movie on on my computer and curl back
up in bed. I know the end of the world is not nigh, especially due to this
housing situation, but I have to admit it’s very nice to wallow in this
exhaustion every now and then and recharge my batteries. With so many great
things in my life recently and lots of good ones coming up, I know that I am ok
and am in fact happy, genuinely happy, and feeling like myself again (which I
haven’t been for a little bit). I also know that things will work out, but just
for a little bit, I need a moment to breath and recover.
So, that has been my life for the last
week. So much has happened and it’s been so wonderful. As my friend said this
weekend, this experience is very much like having your life put in fast forward
in many ways. We are forced to analyze our lives and ourselves to such an
extreme extent in such a short period of time. I find myself looking at the
roller coaster of emotions model and feeling like the speed has been cranked up
to at least double that of normal speeds, and maybe that of safe ones too. It
also seems so easy to derail. But for now, I feel more like me than I have in
several months and that means that I am in fact, not about to derail. So, that’s
a good thing, right!? Haha. Anyways, I miss you all so much and am still
envious of the snow you are all getting back in the states. Tomorrow marks
month nine at site, meaning I only have 15 left! Time is going so fast. So much
love to all of you and thank you so much for being such a great support system.
Until we meet again… may the winds be always at your back!
No comments:
Post a Comment