It has been about
two months since my last posting… sorry, but April was not that exciting of a
month all in all… I moved to a temporary house, one we PCVs like to refer to as
a ‘muzungu’ house, flush toilet and all. One problem was, however, that the bed
was full of fleas and therefore as I felt their little flea-like bodies
crawling all over me when I tried to sleep, I couldn’t sleep. Needless to say
most of April I slept really poorly and ended up kind of sick. Thus is a
summary of my life during April.
On to May! This
month has been very full of important dates and whatnot. I arrived in Rwanda
May 5th of last year. I turned 24! Mother’s day of course and my mom
arrived here in Rwanda on the evening of May 10th. It feels like
forever ago, but I can’t believe May is also already over! I forced my mom
awake the next morning to leave for Akagera National Park at 5 AM. It was
really interesting to see the eastern part of Rwanda. Because it was the end of
the rainy season everything was so green, which was surprising, as the east is
supposed to be hot and dry, so I’ve been told. Anyways, the park was really
beautiful. We saw lots of really amazing birds, gazelles, zebras, giraffes,
these deer-like creatures and even warthogs. It was such an adventure. Once the
rain finally stopped, we were even able to pop open the safari roof and stand
up “outside” as we traveled through the park. It was a lot of fun, but was cut
short due to some road problems and therefore I missed getting to see the
hippos. Disappointing, but calls for another adventure in the future, so that’s
ok!
The next day I
took my as of yet un-jet-lagged mother to Gisozi genocide memorial. It was
really interesting for me to walk through here again. A year in Rwanda, and the
passing of April, national mourning month, brought a lot to mind, but going
through the museum again, being reminded of this period in Rwandan history,
what the genocide consisted of, was really valuable. I’ve had lots of talks
with other PCVs of the importance of the Rwandan population to compartmentalize
their feelings and experiences during the 1994 genocide, but I hadn’t realized
how much I had been unintentionally compartmentalizing as well. Peace Corps
refers to Rwanda as a post-conflict country. There are lots of ways that the “conflict”
is evident in the culture of Rwanda today, but I didn’t really understand the
implications of that relative to being a PCV until, after a year of service, I
went back to the memorial and truly reminded myself. It was really rewarding
and enlightening as well.
Sunday, we traveled to Kamonyi to visit my host family. They were so excited to
meet my mother, and it was nice to share my “world” here with my mother, with
someone from back home. Only one of my sisters, and my youngest brother were
missing. But, we broke bread, so to speak and they asked each other questions. My
brain was in overdrive as I was playing the role of translator, or at least
attempting to. My host parents even surprised my mom with a gift, a wooden
carved “agaseke” basket. It was so nice to share these people, and to show my
mom where I started out a year ago. Being able to really share this experience
with someone was so empowering to me as well. Although I’m not sure how
important this part was to mom (although I think it was very) I couldn’t have
imagined a better mother’s day.
Monday, we awoke
in Butare to a ham and cheese croissant breakfast, and me somehow being 24! I
mean seriously, how did that happen? Well, two Rwandan birthdays down and one
to go. Time is going so quickly! I took mom to the Butare market this day where
we loaded up on fruits and veggies to take back to my site. Mangoes, pineapple,
passion fruit, papaya, green beans, cucumber, and others all freshly picked.
Then we began the long-ish journey back to my home. An express bus, a squeeze
bus and two moto-taxis-piled-high later, we arrived at my house and in my home.
The first day we took a walk into my village to guhaha or grocery shop.
Everyone we passed would call out “Munezero (my Rwandan name) is this your mom?”
to which squealing and cheerful yelling would follow my affirmation. People
would cheer and welcome her every step we practically went. She was a town
celebrity already. Even when I went out without her to my morning work meeting
or other places, people would quiz me, “where is your mom?” or “when will you
bring her to see us?”
We spent a week
in my community. We made fresh fruit salads, pots of vegetable soup, even a
birthday cake with real frosting. She also ate at least one avocado every
single day. We visited the tea factory where the director himself took us on a
tour to see how Rwandan tea is made. Everywhere we went people welcomed her and
it made me so proud and happy to be a part of this community. The second Saturday
we traveled to Nyamagabe town, an hour away, and attempted to go to a wedding,
which turned out not to be a wedding and actually just a church service. Apparently
a surprise day of service screwed up the wedding schedule or some such thing. I’m
sure I’ll be paying for dragging her to a church service for quite some time.
But it was only an hour and a half, short for Rwanda!
After the failed
church outing, we traveled to Murambi Genocide Memorial. An estimated 50,000
Rwandans were slaughtered at Murambi, an unfinished secondary school at the
time. Tutsis from all over the area were consolidated here as Hutus were
evacuated so that when the killing started they would not get confused with
fleeing Tutsis. There are about 18,000 people buried in mass graves here, and
another 2,000 who have been preserved in lime and are on display on beds in the
classrooms of the school. About a year ago, I travelled here during training,
and it was so immensely overwhelming. I did not enter the classrooms this time,
rather I walked along the outside as my mom did. I still can see the ghostly
faces frozen in terror or contorted into horrible, impossible positions which
were the last one the body assumed before being dug out of a mass grave, and
preserved. Men, women and children, hundreds to thousands, all preserved to
share the horror of the genocide with us. No, I didn’t need to go through there
again. This time however, the museum was finished, so we were able to learn
more about the history of this particular place. This was really helpful for
context, but it definitely didn’t make it easier.
Although this is
one of the hardest things I have ever seen, if you come to Rwanda, I think it
is immensely important to experience. I somewhat tried to talk my mom out of
it, largely because I didn’t want to go there again. But it’s so easy for us in
the states not to understand something like genocide, or to understand the
word, but not really what it means. That does not critique the intelligence of
anyone I know, but rather, just the incomprehensibility of genocide until it is
witnessed, and often even after. I still cannot imagine, but I’ve seen these
things, and can see how this continues to impact a culture. So, I really don’t
think this is something that should be skipped over by tourists to Rwanda. It
is too important a piece. Anyways, off my soap box now…
So the next day,
I dragged my mom to the Pentacostal church service. They have a tradition here
for visitors to stand and introduce themselves to the congregation. So we
stood, and as soon as I said “uyu are mama wanjye” or “this is my mom” the
entire church broke into cheers and applause. This was followed by a special
welcome to my mom by everyone in the church. We stayed for the singing and
dancing but not the sermon, and it was so much fun. My mom even admitted why I
would equate the whole experience to the church scene in “The Blues Brothers.” 
The next day we
visited the forest, the road blocked by some 20+ terrifying baboons. They
moved, but I was sure for a while they were plotting ambush amid their leafy
cover. We visited the women’s cooperative and were chased through my favorite
village by the sweetest children. We also hiked to the traditional houses that
were built on the edge of the forest, which overlook the tea fields, the
forest, and even back onto the villages of my community. It was a beautiful
day, which was followed the next day by a trip to visit my GLOW club at the
local secondary school. 
The girls sang
and danced and asked my mom questions. It was a really nice ending to her week
in my community. The next day we headed back to Butare and went to the market
and a few cooperatives to do some souvenir shopping, had a great dinner and
even some ice cream. The following Thursday we headed back to Kigali, and to
the airport in the evening for her to fly out. It was such an amazing visit, and
everything went better than I imagined it would. She was such a trooper,
although she did complain about the squat toilet a bit much! Hahaha.
It was so nice
to be back with a piece of home, and a piece of me. I have so much respect and
admiration for my mom, and hearing her perspective on the life I’m living, and
on Rwanda was very enlightening and really reminded me of the positive person I
try to be, and why I am here. Her and her visit reminded me of all the good
things about this experience and about this culture and place. I honestly feel
as if a lot of pressure has been lifted, and I’m more ready for accomplishing
my person goals in this service. So, in other words, I really think her visit
was a major success!
In other news…
May is fast reaching its end and June brings my mid-service conference. We have
three trainings/conferences we “must” attend during our service; In service
training (IST) after three months at site, Mid Service Conference (MSC) around
a year at site, and Close of Service Conference (COS) three months before we go
home. MSC hypothetically marks the hump so to speak, everything being “downhill”
thereafter. We will see, but I can for sure say time is going fast, and I’m
sure it will continue to speed along… probably faster.
It’s nice to
be back at work though. I have several
projects in the works still, animal husbandry to address malnutrition, gender
based violence education, girls empowerment. As they reach a more noticeable
and measurable sort of fruition I will continue to share those stories with all
of you! Thank you all for the birthday wishes, cards, and packages… I can
guarantee they will thoroughly be enjoyed! Miss you all so much, and more to
come sooner than the last time! Until we meet again, may the sun shine warm
upon your face!
