Life in Cyangugu

I've been in my site placement for two weeks and I've experienced a wide array of emotions and experiences. I underestimated how difficult it would be to leave the comfort of my yagm group and head off on my own to the other side of the country, but luckily my host community has been supportive and welcoming, making me feel right at home!

I'm living with my site supervisor who is the pastor of the Kamembe Parish of the Lutheran Church of Rwanda. In the home is Pastor Godwin, his wife Mama Muhire, and two little ones named Mukire and Reinhild. Pastor Godwin has three other sons who are away in boarding school, but they will be home this fall for school holiday. Rwanda's school year is different from America--the year goes from January to October. My family is wonderful and I've loved getting to spend time with the kids. Reinhild, or Reiny as we call her, is the only girl of the five children, so I think she likes having another female around the house!

The YAGMS and our Pastors on departure day--and some youth from the Kigali Parish to see us off!

Pastor Godwin and myself

Cyangugu is a really wonderful town, with rolling hills and beautiful views of Lake Kivu. There is a nice downtown area of Kamembe with supermarkets (which are unlike American supermarkets and more like small stores with food and drink), pharmacies, banks, internet cafes and more! Cyangugu is right on the border of the Congo, and my host parents do some business there trading small fish and cassava flour across the border. My first day in town, my pastor took me to visit his wife in Rusizi, which is the small area right on the border. He showed me across the lake to where we could see the hills of the congo and walked me right up to where the border is. It seemed to me so inconsequential, that a nondescript division of land so changes the lifestyle and economy of the people on either side of it. The homes look the same on both sides of the lake, and as we walked through the town I couldn't tell who was Rwandan and who was Congolese. It's interesting to reflect on the ways we create divisions between us and others.

I made it to the water!

Enjoying a cold coke by the lake

My first few weeks have been filled with activities at the church and settling into life in Cyangugu. The parish here is only a few years old, but there is a lot of life and energy in it. The children's program is strong, with many children from the area the parish is in coming two or three times a week to have a program and practice in the choir. Over the next month or so, Pastor Godwin and I will visit every church member in their home and share in fellowship with them. We've already spent time with quite a few families, and it has been nice to get to know them outside of the Sunday worship. The language barrier is difficult, but I'm aslo learning a lot about how to create relationships across the divide of language. The first church member we visited, Murebwaire, gave me a gift on an umbrella when I got to her house. She said it was to prepare for the rainy season, and I was touched at this thoughtful gift. It came in handy as not one hour or so later, when she came with us to see another church member, it started pouring. We joked that it was God's way of saying thank you for the gift of hospitality!

All in all, I've been enjoying my introduction to this part of the country. I'm starting to have a regular schedule, which is helping me to feel more settled. This week and next I am beginning to work at a local Anglican school teaching English and helping to advise some of the clubs. I will also be teaching English classes for district and sector government leaders in the evenings. Both the school and the district office are on the same hill as my home, so it's a very close walk.

In my reflections about these first two weeks, I had a conversation with someone about other life transitions I have had, particularly with college orientation. I remember the first few weeks of being at PLU to be stressful and intimidating and sad. Soon enough, however, I found my place and eventually PLU became the best thing to ever happen to me. Without placing too many expectations on the experience, I have a feeling that being in Cyangugu will be the same. I've been experiencing a whirlwind of unexpected homesickness and awkwardness, but all that is starting to feel like it's passing. I think it's important to name the fact that moving across the world isn't always easy. However, I know that I am supposed to be here. In the generous greeting hug from my host mom, the enthusiasm of the children from church at my introduction, and the repeated phrase "you are welcome" when I meet with someone or visit a new place: these are the things that remind me that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be.

Lutheran Church of Rwanda, Kamembe Parish

Receiving a generous welcome gift

Visiting with Mama Kibonge and her family

Visiting with Baptiste and his wife, some of the earliest members of this church

Running into Baptiste's daughter on the walk back

Umuganda: Community Work Day

Umuganda, a word that means "coming together in common purpose to achieve an outcome." Umuganda, a practice that has helped build and rebuild Rwanda through the work of its citizens.

Umuganda is a practice of community service in Rwanda. The last Saturday of the month, citizens of Rwanda aged 18-65 are obliged (and those outside the age range or foreign visitors/expats, welcomed) to participate in work that benefits the infrastructural, environmental, and economic development of the country. The streets are shut down, buses stop running, and businesses are closed as around 80% of the country's population engage their local communities in work to benefit their country.

Traditionally, Umuganda happened when Rwandans would call on their friends, family, and neighbors to help in times of need. Think a good, old-fashioned barn raising in American history. Umuganda was institutionalized in various iterations over the last half of the twentieth century, often in ways that were not received favorably. In particular, the term was abused during the 1994 genocide in describing the need to seek out Tutsis who may have been in hiding. Despite this checkered past, the government of Rwanda reintroduced Umuganda in 1998 as a means of unifying the country and promoting a shared national identity.

Today, Rwandans eagerly participate in Umuganda monthly. From building schools and clinics to assisting community members in need, the impact of Umuganda is vast. Since 2007, the estimated community contribution is valued at over 60 million US dollars. Impressively, it is not allowed for anyone to receive any contribution, either financial or otherwise, for their work during Umuganda. It is entirely done out of service to the country.

The service lasts for around three hours and after the communities gather in a meeting about the work that was done and what to do in the next month. There are various levels of institutional organization—from community to national—that help advise Umuganda projects in order to best benefit the country’s development. There are also yearly contests highlighting particularly successful projects.

Umuganda happened the second Saturday we were in Rwanda, but because the streets were shut down and the buses weren’t running, we did not participate in the organized service. However, we had our own Umuganda with some of the youth from the Kigali parish of the LCR this past Saturday.

We spent a few hours in the morning clearing a plot of land below the hill the church sits on that will eventually be the home of a parsonage and office. We also did some work sweeping and assisting in general landscaping around the grounds. It was hard work—using machetes to chop at weeds and heavy hoes to break up the ground, bundles of dried stalks used as brooms—but the morale was high as we listened to music over speakers and shared in conversation with the youth.

After the work was completed, we had an impromptu dance party in which the youth taught as some traditional ways of dancing to modern music popular in Rwanda. If you know me, you know I love a good dance party, and so we stepped and swayed and turned with joy as we let loose and built on friendships. We danced in a line into the church where we sat in a circle and passed a guitar around, sharing in songs both in English and Kinyarwanda and sipping on Fantas. Even though I woke up tired, feeling the long week of Kinyarwanda lessons, I was reminded how life-giving it can be to enter into community with other people. There is such a simple beauty in sharing with another in hard work, good conversation, and a little bit of dancing. Pastor Robert estimated that our work over a little more than two hours was worth 100,000 RWF—around 150 dollars in just labor.

It makes me dream of what Umuganda could do for the rest of the world. In communities where people don’t know their neighbors or turn their eyes away from someone in need—this is where Umuganda is needed the most. Imagine confronting the needs of your community head on, of letting go of your own agenda for one morning and celebrating the commonality of humanity with those around you. If for one day, the world could put down our computers and phones, its flags and road blocks and guns, its walls that shut out those who look or act or believe differently, and instead reach out a hand to those standing next to us, how much work could those hands do?

Consider how you can celebrate Umuganda in your own life. Maybe you stop and ask your neighbor how they are instead of giving nothing more than a quick nod as you both walk your dogs. Or perhaps you could rake the yard of the man down the street or go with your Pastor to visit shut-ins during the week. How beautiful it could be to enter into this space of community—you might just get your own dance party out of it.

Jackie and me--Sisters!

A good old-fashioned Rwandan line dance

Luke is learning some groovy moves

A morning of hard work and good friendships

To learn more about Umuganda, check out this website: http://www.rwandapedia.rw/explore/umuganda

Rwandan Differences

As I've been getting to know Rwandan culture here, I've been noticing some very endearing traditions. So, in the style of Buzzfeed, here is:

7 Reasons why Rwanda is Endearing to Me

1. Greetings are Important

In Rwanda, the time spent greeting someone is a part of being polite. For example, in America, you might walk into a store and immediately say to the shopkeeper "Where do you have paper towels?". This would be considered very rude in Rwanda. Even to strangers, it's important to exchange greetings, such as "Hello, how are you, what's the news?" before jumping into a conversation. This establishes a rapport between you and another person.

2. Rwandans Like to Hug

In the same vein as greetings, Rwandans like to hug when you meet someone. It's customary to give a quick hug and then shake someone's hand as you are exchanging the greetings. In addition, it's normal to acknowledge someone's presence by shaking or slapping their hand when they come up. So, for example, if you are in a group of people talking and someone comes up to join you, even if you are talking you shake their hand to acknowledge that they are there.

3. Urudabo to You!

In Kinyarwanda class, we often take turns practicing conjugation or nouns or making sentences. When someone gets an answer correct, we shake our hands over their head and say "Flowers to You!" which I just find so wonderful as a form of praise. I wish everytime I got an answer correct in my 18 years of schooling someone showered flowers over my head.

4. The Fountain of Youth

Our second day in Kigali, we were told we were going to meet with the youth of the church. This doesn't mean high school students. In Rwanda, youth refers to anyone 18-35, even if they're married. So you can be 33 and married with two children, like our language teacher Peter, and still be considered a youth. It's nice to know that I have such a long stretch of being a youth ahead of me--and here I thought I was going to have to become a capital-A-Adult soon!

5. Rwanda loves Cell Phones

It's normal in Rwanda for someone's phone to go off during a meeting or class and often they answer it, even if they're leading the session. After years of feeling public shame every time my phone made even a quiet vibration in class, it's refreshing see that people aren't ashamed of being contacted.

6. Africa Time is Real

Before we came to Rwanda, I was often told by people that African time is a reality, that is that people in Africa take life a lot slower than our busy hustle-bustle in America. I have found this to be a reality. If someone is 20 minutes late, it is not the end of the world. In fact, they aren't even late. Church starts as people file in over the first hymns, classes end sometime around 10:30--which might mean close to 11:30, and food in a restaurant can take close to an hour to get to you. Instead of frustrating, I've found this a nice way to stop worrying about the clock or the schedule and instead appreciate the time spent with people. An extended start to church means more time to sing hymns; a loose end to class allows time for final questions to be answered; waiting longer for food means more time in conversation with your dinner company. I've found that I quite enjoy taking life at a slower pace.

7. Fruit, Everywhere!

Finally, I have so loved getting to eat cheap, fresh fruit every day. The bananas are smaller but sweeter than bananas in America, the pineapple is sweet and juicy, the passionfruit tastes like skittles, and the oranges explode with flavor. Yes, I could eat a meal of just fruit and be happy.

Muraho! Amakuru? Ni Meza!

Greetings from the Kiyovu District of Kigali! It seems hard to believe that we've only been here a little over a week. We've been keeping busy, mostly with Kinyarwanda lessons, but I've been loving my time here in Rwanda so far.

We're staying at the Presbyterian Guest House in Kigali for the time being. It's a beautiful, gated oasis just a short walk from downtown. There's a beautiful lawn area and we're lucky to have a great view of the sprawling expanse of Kigali from the grounds. The food has been plentiful and delicious, a nice mix of traditional Rwandan food with some Western influences here and there. For example, at nearly every meal, we've been served hand-cut fries!

Our courtyard at the guesthouse

The view from our guesthouse

Outside of Kinyarwanda lessons and other orientation sessions, we've had some time to explore Kigali a bit. Some of the youth (which in Rwanda means anyone 18-35) from the Kigali Parish of the Lutheran Church in Rwanda showed us the bus system one afternoon and we had the chance to see more of Kigali. We've also spent some of our afternoon Kinyarwanda classes going into the city to markets and shops. It's been cool to see more of Kigali than just our neighborhood.

Our country coordinator, Kate, has also been very welcoming in hosting some sessions at her house. I've especially enjoyed playing with her dog, Jimmy. Yesterday, we all made lunch together and had a feast of pesto with fresh basil, roasted vegetables and chicken. Jimmy enjoyed snacking on the chicken bones and cheese rinds.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend: James "Jimmy" Imbwa

A view of Kigali from Kate's house

The wall below Kate's house using recycled glass bottles as a sort of Rwandan barbed wire

Life has started to feel normal in Rwanda. I know that when we are uprooted again to travel to our site placements, there will be another period of adjustment, but so far I'm feeling as though I'm at home.

Sleeping in my mosquito net: I always did want a princess canopy bed

p.s. The title of this post means "Hello! What's the news? It's good!"