er 20Day three at the university and I have maybe done about three hours of work in total. The Rector of the school is away on business and as such - everyone is taking a very laid back approach to their work week; however, I get the impression that this is typical as the gentleman I am working with said to me yesterday, "there is a saying in Africa - 'don't do all of your work today or you might get sacked' - " Meaning if you do all your work, your boss will assume that your position isn't necessary and get rid of you.
Our days start at 7:30 - or so we thought. There is no where to get breakfast before we work so have rigged up a plug in kettle to make coffee with instant Nescaffe, sugar, and powdered milk. We each sit on our bed eating cheese and croissants. We do our dishes in the "shower", which is just a shower head in the bathroom and a drain (no separate contained unit or shower curtain). Upon arriving at 7:30 and finding no one around - we were told, "7:30 African time" which basically means 8:00am. We walk about 20 minutes from our hotel to school each morning. As there is one main road - it is congested with people who greet you with "bonjour", strange stares, or don't even notice you - there are vehicles that pass bellowing out black exhaust, and bikes which haul bunches of live chickens/hens. Each morning we pass a group of men and women - walking in twos and dressed in a light pink colour. These are prisoners. We are pretty much filthy by the time we reach school from the soil dust and car pollution.
We are still trying to figure out what do to about lunches. We found a cafeteria on campus which I think we will use. The school also has a arboretum through which we walked yesterday. It is incredible how many devote Christians there are in this country. Catholicism being the largest denomination. During lunch groups of students head into the forests with their bibles to pray in group, listen to an individual speak about the bible, sing, or pray individually.
Our day ends around 5:00 - 5:30. However, the sun sets at 6:00 so is typically dark by the time we make it home. The walk home is incredible as the town is set up on a hillside. We walk by looking down into a valley where there are banana trees and rice paddies. I will stop and take a picture one of these days.
The last couple of days we have walked up into the town and purchased some necessities and then stopping for dinner and a beer or two. Right now there is a plethora of foreigners in town as there is a French film company doing a movie here right now. We are starting to see some familiar faces around town and last night had a beer with a gentleman from Germany and his 16 year old son who are here helping the Twa people (the local pygmies) build suitable housing. I was frustrated as the two spoke about how the Twa didn't seem to want to learn how to build houses the new way. The way the two spoke they believed it was mandatory for the Twa survival to build homes the way the German's said they should. I understand their frustration as they have raised funds to buy materials, paid for their own travel expenses, sacrificed their holidays to "help" the Twa; however, they are doing it without consultation with the Twa themselves. This is often the case with development projects that exist in developing countries. We insist that they do it our way - because - well it worked for us.
One last interesting note is on the genocide. The campus has a grave which has been made into a memorial of the teachers and students who were killed at this university. This killing during the genocide resulted in the closing of the University for a few years. When I commented on the very young age of the Deans in the faculties, Patrick (the gentleman I work with) stated that it was because of what happened in their "past". Apparently each Wednesday in this region of Rwanda, there is a community gathering during which time prisoners from the genocide are brought forth in front of the local population. The local people then have the opportunity to speak out against the individual charged with violence against an individual (rape, killing, or mutilation) or a property. The locals can also speak in favour of individuals in order to free them from prison. The Rwandese we have met do not say much about what occurs during these sessions so we have had to look it up on the Internet. According to what we have read, this is the way Rwanda has decided to use their culture in the form of restorative justice. However, those who were responsible for organizing what occurred during the genocide are being tried at the Int. Human Rights tribunal in Tanzania. Apparently you need a 'licence' to attend these meetings - so Claudine and I were not able to attend, which is disappointing - but we both realize that we have absolutely NO right to attend these meetings. Claudine was told not to come in until 2:00 today as everyone would be at the tribunal. However, Patrick told me to come into work in the morning, but he is not here....oh wait -here he is.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Shangrila
I have had the great fortune to travel to many countries in the Eastern hemisphere; however, none have made such an aesthetic impression as Rwanda. Called the "Payes de Milles Collines" - Country of a thousand hills, the beauty of this country takes your breath away. The contrast between the laterite red soils, the lush vegetation, blue skies, and hills makes this place beautiful. Kigali, the capital city, is exceptionally clean and is in the process of being rebuilt many years after the genocide. We live in a 'city' which is a two hour drive from Kigali. The road wound through the many villages built up in the hills. There was no reprive from human settlement on the land. Villages tended to blend into eachother, the population densitity is quite high. The homes are mostly made out of laterite clay of the land.
We arrived in Butare with the Public Relations Officer and a driver. We met Chris, who is the assistant to the Rector of this University and a very friendly man. However; our housing we were expected to live in was not so friendly. We were shown into a single room in a concrete motel with a single double bed and a bathroom which was not inviting in anyway. The biggest problem was that were were expected to share a single room with only a desk and a double bed for the two of us to share for three months. Our faces must have shown the surprise as we had been told we would have a four bedroom house with a livingroom, kitchen, tv, bathroom and yard. However, apparently there is a French film beign filmed in Butare on the genocide so all hotels and houses are rented. However, after driving around for some time we were put up in hotel that is run by nuns....yeah....I find that funny as well (there is a glow in the dark crucifix above Claudine's bed). The rooms are relatively clean but, small with a desk. However, we each get our own room, bathroom, and balcony. The difficulty lies in the notion that for three months we have to 'eat out' and there is no common place for us to sit. We have paid for the month $333 CAN; however, are hoping that in a month a house will become vacant.
This morning we are at the University. It is still not clear exactly what we will be doing. I will be in the Staff Development Office - and apparently my Director speaks no english - only French...so...hopefully my time here will bring back the language which has left me gradually over time. And...my Director is not here yet (they are not sure if he will be here today) - so I have time to write.
We did meet a higher adminstrator (I don't want to be specific on names) who is from England. We sat in this room with Chris, the Rwandese Rector's Assistant. I was amazed at how Chris's entire disposition changed when sitting in the room with his foreign boss. He almost physically became smaller. We also noticed this change in another Rwandese we had met earlier in teh morning. When he came in to speak with his foreign boss, his eyes dropped to the floor and he became very passive. It was incredible to witness...and demonstrates how Africa is still playing the role of the colonized.
The University is in teh process of restructuring as they want to incorporate a more Westernized system (par for the course around the world). This involves both the manner in which they employ staff, expectations of staff, organization models, teaching strategies, evaluation methods - the whole ghamma. As I said, I am still not sure in what capacity I will be working at this school; however, am keen on learning from what is occuring here.
Just a final note that I apologize for my post-colonial rants; however, this experience is causing me to question a lot of what myself as an individual is doing and what we as a global society have done within Africa.
The people here are kind and have a great sense of humour. Although there will be tough times, which will be lonely, I am going to enjoy getting to develop relationships with the Rwandese I will be working with.
As a final note - i think I have fried my cord to my laptop so am not able to post pictures. I will work on this sometime soon and get some pictures up for you to see.
We arrived in Butare with the Public Relations Officer and a driver. We met Chris, who is the assistant to the Rector of this University and a very friendly man. However; our housing we were expected to live in was not so friendly. We were shown into a single room in a concrete motel with a single double bed and a bathroom which was not inviting in anyway. The biggest problem was that were were expected to share a single room with only a desk and a double bed for the two of us to share for three months. Our faces must have shown the surprise as we had been told we would have a four bedroom house with a livingroom, kitchen, tv, bathroom and yard. However, apparently there is a French film beign filmed in Butare on the genocide so all hotels and houses are rented. However, after driving around for some time we were put up in hotel that is run by nuns....yeah....I find that funny as well (there is a glow in the dark crucifix above Claudine's bed). The rooms are relatively clean but, small with a desk. However, we each get our own room, bathroom, and balcony. The difficulty lies in the notion that for three months we have to 'eat out' and there is no common place for us to sit. We have paid for the month $333 CAN; however, are hoping that in a month a house will become vacant.
This morning we are at the University. It is still not clear exactly what we will be doing. I will be in the Staff Development Office - and apparently my Director speaks no english - only French...so...hopefully my time here will bring back the language which has left me gradually over time. And...my Director is not here yet (they are not sure if he will be here today) - so I have time to write.
We did meet a higher adminstrator (I don't want to be specific on names) who is from England. We sat in this room with Chris, the Rwandese Rector's Assistant. I was amazed at how Chris's entire disposition changed when sitting in the room with his foreign boss. He almost physically became smaller. We also noticed this change in another Rwandese we had met earlier in teh morning. When he came in to speak with his foreign boss, his eyes dropped to the floor and he became very passive. It was incredible to witness...and demonstrates how Africa is still playing the role of the colonized.
The University is in teh process of restructuring as they want to incorporate a more Westernized system (par for the course around the world). This involves both the manner in which they employ staff, expectations of staff, organization models, teaching strategies, evaluation methods - the whole ghamma. As I said, I am still not sure in what capacity I will be working at this school; however, am keen on learning from what is occuring here.
Just a final note that I apologize for my post-colonial rants; however, this experience is causing me to question a lot of what myself as an individual is doing and what we as a global society have done within Africa.
The people here are kind and have a great sense of humour. Although there will be tough times, which will be lonely, I am going to enjoy getting to develop relationships with the Rwandese I will be working with.
As a final note - i think I have fried my cord to my laptop so am not able to post pictures. I will work on this sometime soon and get some pictures up for you to see.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Wander Lust Satisfied
We landed in Nairobi, Kenya the morning of Friday, June 22 at 7:00 am local time after two exhausting days of travel. My first impression was a country of kind and gentle people. My experience of the airport was much different than when I landed in Cameroon. We were not harassed in anyway by the locals and left to our own devices of carrying our bags and finding our ride. Because of the fact that Nairobi is considered the most dangerous city in Africa (coined Nairobbery by locals), we booked ourselves into a very nice hotel built in 1902. When we first entered the hotel my skin crawled at how the place reaked of colonialism but as I looked around, I saw that more Africans than foreigners are staying at the hotel.
Yesterday we were met downtown by the principal of Sud-Academy - a school in Nairobi I am involved with raising funds for back home.This school educates Sudanese refugees. Because the school is in Nairobi, they do not receive money from the Sudanese government - and because it is a Sudanese school - they do not receive money from the Kenyan government. We took a local bus into one of the slums of Nairobi to visit the VERY small, underfurnished, resourceless school - home to over 320 very poor Sudanese refugee students. This neighbourhood was built beside a very elite private school and neighbourhood...one of the most glaring examples of the how wealth is distributed in so many countries. Many of the senior students have left their parents 900km away in the refugee camps to attend this school. The students are from different tribes within Sudan and the school works to eliminate tribalism between students, which according to the principal is difficult given what many of these students have witnessed during the war. The children were not camera shy and clamoured around us begging to have their pictures taken. As the young students pushed and shoved to be in the limelight of our cameras, I noticed a young man sitting on a chair in the middle of their very small field reading a ratty, graffitied text book. I went over to see what he was studying...geography. He had his turn with ONE of the social studies text books being shared amongst studnets to prepare for exams. When I see students commit to their education in such environments and compare them to students in Ontario who fight with you when you ask them to get off Facebook when they should be working - I feel great sadness and a sense of rage at the disparities between the two populations. Unfortunately because of our short time in Nairobi we did not get to watch any classes in session. I do hope though that this is not my last time seeing this school.
This am Claudine (the student with whom I am traveling)and I went to the National Park to see a variety of African wildlife roaming relatively free. When we were at the park we met a couple from Michigan who were in Kenya to visit an orphanage their church sponsors. When the wife of the couple spoke about the children doing bible study at the orphanage I asked if the children had been Christian prior to their arrival at the school. She said that they were not when they arrived but now were Christian. I realize that some of you who will read this blog are Christian and believe in the work that churches are doing in Africa. However, I must note that I am struggling with the role white man's church plays in the culture/community of Africa. The 'deliverance of jesus' to Africa is partially responsible for so many of the problems that exist here today. I also struggle with what has been quoted as the creation of "Rice Christians" - the sense that white man comes here and offers help on the condition that local Africans convert to Christianity. I realize that not all organizations work this way and many do good work without the expectation that the locals convert; however, it is problematic within this part of the world.
Since prior to our arrival, I have been wrestling internally with my right to be working in this continent. Although being back in Africa makes my soul sing - I know that it is going to be a daily struggle with what my role as a Canadian educator is in this part of the world.
Tomorrow we are flying to Kigali - where we have been assured we will be picked up and driven to Butare. We had been told our accomodations would be a four bedroom house with a fenced in yard, but since then have received word that that residence is no longer available and we will be staying in the school's guest house....no idea what that means in terms of space and location.
Hope you are well - thank you for the comments - it is nice to recieve words from home.
Yesterday we were met downtown by the principal of Sud-Academy - a school in Nairobi I am involved with raising funds for back home.This school educates Sudanese refugees. Because the school is in Nairobi, they do not receive money from the Sudanese government - and because it is a Sudanese school - they do not receive money from the Kenyan government. We took a local bus into one of the slums of Nairobi to visit the VERY small, underfurnished, resourceless school - home to over 320 very poor Sudanese refugee students. This neighbourhood was built beside a very elite private school and neighbourhood...one of the most glaring examples of the how wealth is distributed in so many countries. Many of the senior students have left their parents 900km away in the refugee camps to attend this school. The students are from different tribes within Sudan and the school works to eliminate tribalism between students, which according to the principal is difficult given what many of these students have witnessed during the war. The children were not camera shy and clamoured around us begging to have their pictures taken. As the young students pushed and shoved to be in the limelight of our cameras, I noticed a young man sitting on a chair in the middle of their very small field reading a ratty, graffitied text book. I went over to see what he was studying...geography. He had his turn with ONE of the social studies text books being shared amongst studnets to prepare for exams. When I see students commit to their education in such environments and compare them to students in Ontario who fight with you when you ask them to get off Facebook when they should be working - I feel great sadness and a sense of rage at the disparities between the two populations. Unfortunately because of our short time in Nairobi we did not get to watch any classes in session. I do hope though that this is not my last time seeing this school.
This am Claudine (the student with whom I am traveling)and I went to the National Park to see a variety of African wildlife roaming relatively free. When we were at the park we met a couple from Michigan who were in Kenya to visit an orphanage their church sponsors. When the wife of the couple spoke about the children doing bible study at the orphanage I asked if the children had been Christian prior to their arrival at the school. She said that they were not when they arrived but now were Christian. I realize that some of you who will read this blog are Christian and believe in the work that churches are doing in Africa. However, I must note that I am struggling with the role white man's church plays in the culture/community of Africa. The 'deliverance of jesus' to Africa is partially responsible for so many of the problems that exist here today. I also struggle with what has been quoted as the creation of "Rice Christians" - the sense that white man comes here and offers help on the condition that local Africans convert to Christianity. I realize that not all organizations work this way and many do good work without the expectation that the locals convert; however, it is problematic within this part of the world.
Since prior to our arrival, I have been wrestling internally with my right to be working in this continent. Although being back in Africa makes my soul sing - I know that it is going to be a daily struggle with what my role as a Canadian educator is in this part of the world.
Tomorrow we are flying to Kigali - where we have been assured we will be picked up and driven to Butare. We had been told our accomodations would be a four bedroom house with a fenced in yard, but since then have received word that that residence is no longer available and we will be staying in the school's guest house....no idea what that means in terms of space and location.
Hope you are well - thank you for the comments - it is nice to recieve words from home.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Courtesy of my mom...on how to post a comment
I finally found out how to post a comment. If anyone is checking and can't figure out how to post:click on "1 (or whatever number shows)comment" and a posting screen opens up :) Then at the bottom of this screen, after typing your message, it says 'choose an identity'... if you click 'anonymous' you don't have to sign up for a google or blog account :)
Delayed...
I just thought I would let the few of you who may be checking in that my trip has been delayed due to some red tape over monies for flights and such. I will be flying out of Toronto on June 21st and after spending two days in Nairobi, Kenya, will be arriving in Butare, Rwanda on June 24th .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)