GLOW Camp

I realize I've been lagging a bit on the posts- it's been over a month!

The 3 major things that happened in December (after all, the month is almost over) are GLOW (Girls Leading Our World), the new volunteer's swear in, and Christmas of course!

So, I think it's safe to say that GLOW went well. Of course it didn't all go smoothly or according to plan, but that was to be expected. The overall number of girls was about 70, and the camp lasted 5 days.

I ended up bringing 3 of my girls (from the school) to camp. It was so nice to see them having a good time and learning. The camp focused on health, sexual health, and career planning. The girls had several different games. We got creative--one of the PCVS set up "bowling" with water bottles and a small ball, darts on paper, and one even got a carpenter to make the necessary bean bags and wood frames to play bean bag toss (or "cornhole"). Every day, there were different guests to speak or throw an activity our way. Among these were theater, trust activities, a career panel, and health presentations. The girls got to sign up for different field trips around Kigali, including orphanages and computer labs. One of the more contravertial activities was teaching the girls how to put on condoms. We had model penises made of wood, donated to us by PSI along with condoms. Each girl was given one and time to practice. The youngest girls at GLOW were 15, so I personally don't feel like they were too young for this. There's such a stigma that girls with condoms are promiscuous, dirty or untrustworthy. It's going to take a long time to shake that image in Rwanda (hell- it's hard to shake that image in the U.S.), but I can see that it's an issue that is becoming more public. The "No shuga daddi" billboards are now being replaced by pictures of local celebreties advocating condoms. We also gave condoms to the girls to take home with them, if they so chose.

Below, one camper shows another camper how to put on a condom.


I was at GLOW for the majority of the time (4 of the days) and I'm really glad I got to participate in it.

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was awesome! All of the PCVs got together (minus 4-- still a really good turnout) and made food at the Peace Corps office. There was a turkey (freshly slaughtered thanks to Ahmed) mashed potatoes, grean beans, sweet potatos with marshmallows, mac and cheese, AMAZING stuffing and "cranberry sauce" made from pineapples, orange rinds and lime-and of course, apple pie from scratch and some cakes. Also hummas and pita bread. Ugh, really wish I'd taken the initiative and brought tupperwear to take some home! We also had tons of wine and beer. Anywho, it was the first Thanksgiving I'd spent without my parents, so I was glad to be with my PC family. It really was special.




Afterwards, a bunch of us decided to burn off the mass amounts of calories accumulated from Thanksgiving food by going clubbin'! It was at a club I usually don't like, but it was actually really fun! Since it was a weekday, there were way less people, and there was a really good DJ and some really good dancers bustin moves. There were a bunch of us Peace Corps volunteers, plus friends of ours, and we danced and drank the night away. One of my friend told me that the prostitutes (that are abundant at this club) don't charge money- which launched a debate as to whether or not they're even prostitutes. Apparently a lot of them are looking for sugar daddys. The first hit is free, but afterwards she'll be calling you and showing up at your doorstep to pay for this or for that. Some of them are looking for a green card and a better life. I still don't know if I'd call that prostitution though, I feel like it needs to be tit for tat (money directly for sex) for it to count-- everything else is just slutty behavior and financial dependence. On that note, I gotta get back to work! Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Oh, and thanks Mom for calling me--I love you!

New Home, New Job!

So I can finally break the silence now that it’s official—I have switched organizations and domiciles. I now work for Never Again, a really awesome organization established in 2002 to promote conflict resolution, specifically among youth. Never Again exists in several countries, but of course, I’m working for Never Again: Rwanda. I’m really excited to be working for them. It’s a new organization but is well established, and officially became an NGO last year. The staff is small but NAR has so many projects. My supervisor told me I’ll be wearing different hats while working for them, but that’s more than fine with me! My official title is theater coordinator and part-time English instructor. I will also help to update the NAR website from time to time, as well as edit the newsletter. The people I work with are incredibly nice and professional—it’s almost like being back in America. On the first day, my colleagues taped a welcome poster above my desk, and have done so many favors for me since. I feel lucky and incredibly grateful. I just hope I don’t disappoint them, I’m definitely a little nervous.

I now live in a more central, urban location. It’s definitely less Peace Corps-ish, but it’s beautiful and comfortable. Can you tell Im happy?
The weekend went relatively well. I unfortunately wasn’t able to see my relative who was in town as he had trouble coming back into the country from the Congo (Visa issues). He’s a doctor who was working on a project in Goma, but flew in and out from Kigali. By the time I got a hold of him, he was already about to board the plane back. Such is life.

I got to talk on the radio! So NAR does a radio show every other Saturday, and my first Saturday working with them was going to be a show day. I decided to come along because I wanted to see what it was all about. I only meant to observe, but they gave me the opportunity to talk on the air which was pretty cool. The theme of their discussion was about human rights, what it means, etc. I was nervous at first but it’s actually pretty easy to talk on the radio because you don’t see your audience, it’s basically just you sitting down and talking into a mic. One thing I learned is that the microphone is heavily magnified, and EVERY little movement you make is heard on the air, which is why the radio announcer was getting irritated when some of the participants shifted papers around or whispered to each other.

I know my contribution to the show was very small, but I walked out of the station on a high. It really feels good to be a part of this.

Pros and Cons

Like I said before, I'm in a transition period right now, which therefore makes my ups and downs here go even more out of wack. I'll explain more about my transition soon (maybe even tomorrow!) Instead of writing a real entry, thought I'd write a list of pros and cons of living here. Sorry if this bores you, but this is more for me than for anyone else. Helps me get a better idea of how I feel about being here. I think I'm happy, but sometimes, I don't know...


PROS
1. Living in the main province.Being in a central,
urban location makes my life here
so much easier. Better access to resources.

2. My neighbors. Some of them in
particular anyway. It's nice to
finally be past that "a white person
is here so she must be rich", having
people try to rip me off, but now actually
giving me the real price. It means they
respect me and look at me more as one of
them. I definitely have a good group of
friends here, all ages, religious
backgrounds, and genders, who hang
out outside my house or who buy me a
beer at the local bar. I learn way more
from them about Rwandan history and
culture than I could ever learn from
any book (which are usually written
by foreigners visiting the country)

3. The kids in my hood. They're
just so nice and friendly.
They're always happy to see me
and greet me. All they ask for
is a hug. They brighten my day.
I have also developed a namesake
trend here.

4. Rwandan landscape. The mountains
and trees are beautiful!

5. Laid back culture. I'm from
Cali, so maybe this is more familiar
to me than my fellow PCVs from
the East Coast.

6. My new transition! I'm really happy and
excited about it! I feel very lucky to have this
opportunity!


CONS:
1. Living in the main province! It's so damn expensive!

2. Ignorance is frustrating. There's a huge
difference between locals who are well educated
versus those who aren't (as is true for well-educated
and poorly educated Americans). I've had it
up to here with being called "umuzungu" everywhere
I go, and having my hair pulled and inspected by strangers.

3. Transportation. I miss having a car! I like having
complete control of where, how, and when I go
somewhere. It slows down my life A LOT
and makes me feel much less free than I'd like to be.
I hate crawling in and out of vans
(buses are in van form here), having people's
asses in my face while others push and shove to get
in the van before people can get out. I'm also tired of
slouching and being squished like a sardine inside
those things. Gotten quite a few bruises.

4. The mountains. While pretty, they're a huge pain
in the ass to walk up and down all the time, especially
when I'm in a hurry. At least I'm burning calories. No
treadmill or gym membership needed!

5. The disorganization. Alright, I moved to Africa.
It has that general reputation, so I guess I'm
not surprised. But it goes without saying that
this slows things down, and is frustrating.

K, that about evens it out. Meant to write the pros and cons parallel to each other but it's hard to do that in this blog format. My next entry will be a lot more fun to read, I promise!

Movement, and Lack of Movement

I recieved some bad news a few hours ago, so I'm not in the best of moods. I won't get into specifics, but I'm in a transition period right now, and it's not going at all the way I'd planned or hoped up until I got that phone call. Sux. However, I just hung out with a friend who accused me of being too negative. She's probably right--so, out of respect for her, I'll fill up the rest of this blank post space to talk about the positive things I've experienced.

I've been doing quite a bit of traveling lately. I'm done grading papers, but when I'm not keeping busy with GLOW, Books for Africa (which everyone reading this should donate to), or working on the draft for the mayor of my district, I've kept busy traveling a bit. I went to the Nrth two weekends ago, and then to the East to visit some friends, then to the South, and I'll be going to the East again for Halloween (probably). I still have a very long list of things to do and places to see before I leave in a year and a half (that's right--I'm a quarter of the way done with service!) Rwanda's a tiny country, but there is A LOT to see here-- in every province.

I went to the site where the new PCVs are having their training. I didn't present as I had expected, but it was really nice to get out of the city, and get to talk more with the new volunteers. I really like them--they're outgoing and friendly.

I didn't stay in the East for very long, just went to a small get together of PCVs to enjoy Malea's homemade Pasta, and other delicious goodies. We didn't really leave the house, but it got me thinking that I really need to get out and discover Rwanda more.



Halloween is tomorrow! So is umuganda (the last saurday of the month where everything is closed until 11, so people can do their community service), and afterwards I'll either go to the East or stay here. Haven't made up my mind yet. Since Halloween isn't celebrated here, finding materials to put together a costume has proved to be much more of a challenge than I would have thought. I really do enjoy going to the market and just looking at the clothes. A lot if it really is nice-- a lot of it is rediculous. It really is filled with what you'd find in a thrift store--basically everything that Americans have thrown out, I'm convinced, gets sent to Africa. It's hard not to chuckle when you see old women wearing shirts that say innapropriate things in English, or styles and trends that were popular in the US a decade ago (I have seen about 100 Eminem shirts). If I had more money, I'd shop more, and get more dresses made from the numerous differnt fabrics they have here just for that purpose. Unlike everything else at the market, that really is authentic and local. Happy Halloween!

New Volunteers

The new volunteers have arrived! I got to meet them briefly at the PC country director's house. There's something comforting in seeing people who were just like us 8 months ago, and being able to answer their questions. From what I hear, they're going to be placed in rural areas, which means, no one will be near me :(. Oh well, I'm already living near 3 other PCVs, which is more than PCVs in most other countries can say (Rwanda is very small). I'll be visiting them at their training site in a few days, I'm assuming to speak a little about my experience in Rwanda and advice on teaching, since the new group consists mainly of education volunteers. I'm told they won't just be teaching English, but Comp sci, bio, and other subjects. Should be iteresting. I think this group has it harder than we did. We were put up in a compound all together, with regular full meals and snacks prepared for us, our laundry could be done for us, and we almost always had electricity and(cold) running water, which meant regular showers. This group is holding their training in a more rural area, which doesn't have regular running water. It's probably a good thing though, they'll be able to get more of the real PC experience right off the bat.

I went to Mutzig fest (One of the two main beers here-- the other one is Primus), which is basically an all you can drink festival. There was live music that was actually really good, as well as food. Although the majority of the people there were ex-pats and ngo employees (which I guess aren't mutually exclusive) there were still quite a few Rwandans, which I was happy about. Even though I'm honestly more comfortable with other Americans and Europeans, I know that I'm not going to truly appreciate or understand Rwanda unless I spend time with Rwandans. And really, discovering new people and learning new things is what the Peace Corps is all about.

Workwise, it's winding down. This week is finals week for senior 1-6, and in two weeks, finals for senior 1-3 only. It basically means I walk around the classroom and make sure no one is cheating. I caught one girl and made her wash her hands (where she'd written the answers). I only have two classes with finals to grade, which means no more than 40, probably less since I'm sure not every single student was present.

Peace Corps is definately a journey of self-discovery, and I'm starting to realize that, unlike most Rwandans I've met, I like being alone. Although I was nervous about living by myself for the first time in my life, I really like it. After work, I like to come home, cook, and just be by myself for a while. Nightime is when I like to hang out. I'm worried I may have offended some of my neighbors by neglecting to visit them on a regular basis, and I don't really invite people to my house that often, but that's due to trust issues, since there aren't that many of my neighbors i'm that close to (2 of my favorites moved away). Still, I think I need to expand my horizons a little and not be so closed off.

Just got a call from my mom a few minutes ago while I was writing this and I feel a little guilty because I think I should have been more friendly and appreciative of her call-- I didn't even ask her how she was doing or what's been going on. I guess that's what Saturday/Sunday is for (right Mom?). Miss you.

Today was a Good Day

Didn't mean to quote Ice Cube, but today was a good day. This morning I, along with 2other PCVs, had a meeting with the mayor of our district. We are planning to have a big festival at the Nyamirambo stadium (date TBD), which will be geared towards young people. The theme of the festival will be teaching health through the arts- specifically music, dance, and painting. We're planning on having art competitions and dance offs with prizes, as well as booths where the youth (14-24 year olds) can get information on health and art, which are both things that I feel need some improvement here. Of course, I understand that there is a huge lack of resources. I'm really excited about this, and can't wait to get the ball rolling. For the month of October, we're just going to work on the project proposal and budget. Then we'll look into sponsors, figure out the logistics, etc.

Next I went back to my umudugudu and walked to my school so I could conduct the essay competition for GLOW camp. We don't have much time to plan the GLOW camp, so as soon as Meredith e-mailed me the flyer, application, and information for heads of schools, I made sure to tell every single student of mine about it yesterday, and decided to hold the essay competition the next day, Wednesday, since it is a half day for them. I arrived a little early and was able to witness some of "church day". Since the school I teach at is officially a private Christian school, every Wednesday they have a service led by different students from the school. Since I don't teach on Wednesdays (and, to be perfectly honest, since I try to steer clear of any religious ANYTHING here) this was my first time to actually attend this, despite the fact that I've been been teaching at the school since April. Even though I don't usually like church type settings, and I didn't understand most of what was said since it was in Kinyarwanda, it was still interesting to get to see my students who are normally so shy leading charismatic sermons and singing songs in harmony. It made me realize how much the language barrier prevents me from really getting to know my students.

A surprising number of students (28) showed up and stayed after school for the essay competition, so I'm really glad I decided to ask my students if they were interested. I'm still a little worried though. The main requirement for the students to be accepted to GLOW camp is how well they speak English, and most of my students don't speak or understand English well enough to follow a 5 day camp that is conducted almost entirely in English. Last I heard, the camp is going to be very small (about 50 students), and I know most of my students won't be picked, but hopefully I can vouch for some of them. I really do feel like I have a few diamonds in the rough who really deserve an opportunity like this.

I decided to host one of the new PC trainees when they come. It'll be really cool to see their reaction to the way us PCVs live and work (which, truth be told, varies SO MUCH here in Rwanda). It's always fun to see newly arriving Americans reacting to things I now find so normal. Peace out.