Theater Festival

Now that it's mid-May, NAR's 2010 Theater Festival is in full swing. We've had 5 performances so far, and I'm happy to say that they've all gone really well, with the occasional mishaps that are always expected.

The theater program at NAR is composed of several actors between the ages of 19 and 31 who call themselves "One Family". They're semi-professional-- some have had their acting filmed for the Rwandan Prosecuter's office! They're such dynamic, intelligent people and I'm really lucky to be working with them. I did dance and drama for the majority of my youth (elementary school, high school, and college) and it makes me realize how much I miss both those things. It really is such a huge relief to be able to express yourself in a creative way like that. I also realized how much I miss being around people who regard the arts as something important. Being in Peace Corps, living in Rwanda, forces me to get creative in other ways, but I feel like there are a lot of creative outlets I haven't explored in quite some time. I work, visit neighbors, hang out with friends, but I feel like I need to step up and add something more, or i'm going to make my life very dull and boring.

Enough of my rant. Of the many actors in One Family, 14 of them are involved in the 2010 Theater Festival, and 11 of them are acting in the play. The play is about a Rwandan girl who transfers to a boarding school where she experiences human rights violations by both the administration and her peers. The play was written by two members of One Family and one professional writer. The story isn't particularly complicated but it is well written, well performed and has been well recieved by the audiences. Overall, the troupe will perform at 15 secondary schools. After each performance, each actor holds a small group discussion with members of the audience about human rights, both in the play and in their actual lives. After the discussion the students fill out surveys, which include the questions,"What human rights were violated in this play, Inzitane mu Rugamba, and "Give one example of how you can promote or protect human rights". I'm really pleased to say that so far, the students really like the play and really seem to understand the message. Since this is a play by and for students, it's a release that the students don't normally get. It's a platform for them to express their views and experiences with their peers, who support them and can empathize.

So what's my role in all this? Mostly logistical- I went to the 15 schools, met with the headmasters, and checked out the performance space. I left them with a letter explaining what NAR's theatre program was all about. Some fo the schools already knew us well, since we have youth clubs there. I made the performance schedule, was present at the writing of the play and rehearsals, and gave feedback. I did some directing and stage managing. I go to each performance and make sure everything is running ok. I also collect the surveys and record the answers. I really like my job- I like being able to work partly in the office, partly out and about in the community. I love communicating with the actors and seeing different student's reaction to the play. I'm definitely happy about this.

Before ending this post I should mention that I was able to see my relative, Jean! After a huge headache and hassle with a hotel reservation which wasn't kept, I was able to book him and his collegues a nice room, and I hung out with them for a few hours (they were only in Kigali one night). Amahoro.

Genocide Memorial Week

This week marks the 16th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide that took place in Rwanda. While this was a huge tragedy that marked every person living here and elsewhere), it's unfortunately the primary thing Rwanda is known for.

On April 6th, Philip Gourevitch, the author of the book, "We Wish to Inform You", came to Never Again to conduct an interview with some of the staff. I was fortunate enough to get to meet him. I told him how much I loved his book, and how I felt few Westerners really understood Rwanda the way he did.

April 7th marks the beginning of the genocide, and it is a national day of mourning. I joined a handful of my fellow staff members as well as some of the members of Never Again youth clubs in participating in the "Walk to Remember", hosted by Aegis. The march started at the parliament and ended at Amahoro Stadium. I was surprised by the lack of speeches, which seem to always accompany public events here. When we arrived at the stadium, there were many people, mostly Rwandans but also a good percentage of ex-pats. I ran into a few people I recognized, including some of the Peace Corps staff.

Most of the event included musical performances, gospel singing in particular. The singers were extremely talented, and I recognized some of the songs. Some of the songs were general, others were about the genocide in particular and the reunification of Rwanda. I opted to stay sitting on track instead of in the stadium seats- it made me feel closer to the people there. I ended up sitting right in front of Paul Kagame, who was in the stadium seats. He did not stay very long, at least from where anyone could see him.

As night fell, the stadium lights were turned off and we passed around the flame between the individual candles that had been passed out to us. This was the first time in my life I'd ever participated in a vigil, and it really touched me. Two years ago, before I knew I'd be living in Rwanda, I never could have imagined participating in this event. I remember hearing about the Rwandan genocide many years ago, but I never thought that I would one day get to know so many Rwandans, and be able to listen to their stories and take part in their traditions. Reading about some far away place in a newspaper article is so drastically different from actually participating in an event that, up until recently, seemed like it had nothing to do with my life. I don't pretend to know or understand everything about Rwanda and it's people, but while I stood there among thousands in silence, with the wax drip burning my fingers, it suddenly hit me. I may not be Rwandan, but I feel deeply connected to this country, and its forevor burned into my life and memory.

Burundi, Betrayal, and the Kasubi Tombs

A few years ago, my father gave me some words of advice. He said that I had to be extra cautious about who I let into my life, because I wasn't good at reading people. There are many things my father has told me that I did not feel were accurate, but in this case he's 100% correct. I can't read people worth a damn. Due to an instance that recently happened, I realized I sincerely have no clue who's genuine and who's fake. There were two people in my life who I held rather close and thought respected me. I was completely wrong. I got double stabbed in the back, and it's definitely forced me to re-evaluate how I read people. It's unfortunately made me feel like I really can't trust anyone, and it sux.

We all lie from time to time for various reasons-we did something we weren't supposed to do and we don't want to suffer the consequences, we don't want to hurt someone's feelings, we're unsure but don't want to admit it, etc. However, I had no idea how much people lie, and I honestly believe I'm one of the more honest people in this world. I really don't like lies and deceit, and most of the times I have been dishonest, I later came clean cause I can't handle the guilt. Maybe that's due to my upbringing. From now on, I'm going to be extra catious about who comes close to me, because I don't want to get screwed over again and played for a fool. Moving on...

I went to Burundi! I had a three day weekend due to Good Friday, so of course I took advantage. I flew in (it only took about 25 minutes)and walked out of the airport to see the most perfect rainbow in my life! My roommate, Emma, took the bus and met up with me at the hotel. We had an awesome time, and I can say with much confidence that this was one of the best vacations I've ever had. I got to eat and drink things I haven't had in ages, and I barely spent a cent! Emma and I spent most of our time hanging with this one group of people, going to the beach (sand by lake Tanganyika), and just walking around the streets of Bujumbura. It did rain for part of the time, but when it did we'd just drink mojitos at Bora Bora, this cute little bar on the beach, and watch the storm.


Burundi's not drastically different from Rwanda, and it was nice to be able to use my Kinyarwanda. In Rwanda, us PCVs constantly experience the following situtation: We ask a stranger something in Kinyarwanda. They laugh for a bit and before answering the question, they always go "uzi Kinyarwanda?!" (You know Kinyarwanda?) In Burundi, it's the same scenario, except people kept saying "Uzi Kirundi?", which was a nice change of pace. (Other than a few minor differences, it's the same language). I got to jet ski for free, lay out on the beach, and swim in clear water with waves! I found Burundians (Burundese?) to be very friendly and outgoing. After visiting both Burundi and Uganda, I've realized how reserved and quiet most Rwandans are.

Emma and I danced the macarena with some teenagers, and they told us that we needed to spread the word that Burundi is a good country with good people. Therefore, that's what I'm doing through this blog. Without going into too much detail, let me just say that this vacation was much more luxurious than I ever could have anticipated.
In sadder news, the Kasubi Tombs burnt down. Emma and I were fortunate enough to see them about a month prior. From what I read, there were some casualties, during and after the fire. The Kasubi Tombs is considered a world heritage site and active religious place in the Buganda Kingdom. It is the burial ground for the previous four Kabakas, therefore, the Kasubi Tombs is a place where the Kabaka and others in Buganda’s cultural hierarchy frequently carry out important centuries-old Ganda rituals. The fire is truly a tragedy, and I'm deeply saddened to hear about it.

The Perfect Birthday

Haha, well, almost...
This weekend was kind of crazy. Friday night Peace Corps put on the benefit concert at the small stadium in Kigali to raise local money for Books for Africa. THe event itself was pretty cool, and almost every single volunteer from our group was there, plus many other volunteers and people who work with PC. While the performances were cool, the turnout was very bad. Most of the people who came and bought tickets were people we personally knew, which leads me to believe that promoting did nothing to recruit people. I'm not sure if the event raised enough money to cover the amount of money that is supposed to come locally. I unfortunately left a little early, and missed a happy birthday serenade by the Ben, the closing act, which the other PCVs had set up for me, so I was kind of bummed. It was really nice of them to set that up, though I do feel a little bit bad since my birthday wasn't till Sunday, and it was actually Brandon's Bday!

The next day I went to Gisenyi, my favorite part of Rwanda, with 3 friends. We spent the night there and swam in the lake. We ate two meels at the Serena and ordered drinks while we laid out on the sand and pretended we were back on the beaches in our hometowns.

Sunday we got back to Kigali. Most PCVs were in Kigali this weekend to help out with Operation Smile, which is a week long campaign to give surgeries to people with cleft pallet. Sadly, there are only so many surgeons who volunteer their time, and half of the people who travel to Kigali and show up don't get picked for corrective surgery. I saw some pictures and videos, and it looks like a really awesome project.

Monday was a holiday so a lot of people stayed on in Kigali Sunday night, and we went out to my favorite resuraunt in Kigali. It was nice to have everyone together, including two of Ahmed's friends who are here visiting from Chicago. I asked if I could get a free desert and I got serenaded by the waiters who gave me an ice cream and fruit plate.

Monday was nice since I didn't have to work-God I miss 3 day weekends! I'll be working pretty much every weekend from now until July so I'm going to be a very busy bee! I thought I'd write a blog entry while I"m on a high instead of when I'm stressed out, so it might be a while until I write again! Miss all my friends/fam abroad and thanks for the bday wishes!

French-Rwandan Relations

Sarkozy is in town, and French flags have sprouted all over Kigali to welcome him. I doubt I'll get anyting more than a glimpse of his car as it rides by (it will undoubtedly pass my house), but it's comforting as a French citizen to see that the two countries have officially renewed diplomatic relations. Even though I didn't vote for Sarkozy, I am definately glad to bear witness to this move he's making. It'll be intereting to hear what he says to Rwandan political leaders.

I'm definately not proud of what happened here in 94, and I know the past can't be buried. I'm sure a lot of people are still understanably very angry with France, but lets hope that this is a step in the right direction.

I'm not sure when the embassy will officially open, but I definately want to go! They're going to re-open the French school and my Belgian friends are telling me there's going to be a lot of rivalry between the Belgian school and the French school. I'm discretely rooting for the French school, of coure. I'll end this post with the official slogan, "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite"!

Uganda!

So I just got back from 4 days in Uganda, and needless to say it was an awesome experience! I'm so sore from rafting I'd kill for a massage.

Having not left the country since my France trip back in August, I felt like it was high time I break out of Rwanda for a bit and see what else Africa has to offer. Living in a small country with few vacation days has been waring on me, and since I'll be crazy busy March until July with the theater festival (including and especially weekends) I felt like I needed to get Uganda done with a quickness.

I really like Uganda and wish I could have stayed a little longer. There's a lot to see there and the culture is pretty different from Rwanda. I saw people kiss in public (NEVER see that here), bump and grind in clubs, and witnessed more outgoing behavior in general. The Ugandans I met in the 4 short days I was there were outgoing and loud, in contrast with the quiet, more reserved Rwandans I know.

We (Emma and I) left for Uganda at the butt crack of dawn (6 AM) and arrived around 4:30 to Kampala. It was a hell of a long bus ride, but was bearable due to the scenery and fully charged ipod. Emma and I were really impressed with Kampala-we had no idea how big it was! It really felt like being in the United States: Big buildings (including the Sheraton hotel) wide sidewalks, and variety galore. I'm assuming Uganda does a lot more international trade, because there were definitely way more products than I could ever find in Rwanda. Shopping was a fun experience--there was just such a huge amount of clothes, shoes, everything! I'm not used to that. I really liked the hustle and bustle of the city, the noise, the livelyness, the well lit streets. Of course, I don't want to completely diss Rwanda. Rwanda's definitely cleaner, but I had been warned about this so I wasn't suprised by all the litter in Uganda. Also, people drive like maniacs there-every time I crossed a street I feared for me life! It's seriously unreal how many times it feels like you're going to be smashed by an oncoming vehicle.
The food wasn't that different, just more variety readily available, like watermellon, chicken and fish. I'm told that it's illegal to cook food for sale outside on the street in Rwanda-- when you're hungry you usually have to settle for tiny bags of peanuts, hardboiled eggs, or the occasional popcorn. It was nice to be able to walk down almost anywhere and find barbecued chicken, sausuage, and a variety of other items for cheap.

Emma and I were supposed to go rafting the next day with Nile River Explorers, but were unfortunately uninformed that the time zone in Uganda is one hour ahead of Rwanda. We woke up at what we though was 6 AM and were ready and waiting outside for Nile River Explorers to pick us up at 7 AM to take us to the campsite in Jinja. After waiting for a good 15 minutes a few of the other people staying at the hostel nicely informed us of the time difference. At first we were worried, since we didn't have much time to spare, and it would have been extremely expensive to rent a car to take us all the way to Jinja. We therefore postponed our rafting for another day, but since we'd reserved the campsite for that night, we decided to leave for Jinja that evening.
So we walked around Kampala, did some shopping at the huge markets, and went to the tombs of the kings and the kings palace. The tombs were kinda cool (even if you don't get to see the actual tombs, they're covered by a curtain and only family members can look), mostly just to meet the decendents of Ugandan royalty and learn more about Ugandan history. I definitely wouldn't recommend the king's palace, since you can't even go inside.
After looking for and failing to find Ugandan crafts, we jumped on a bus headed to Jinja. Jinja's a nice place with a cool nightlife as well. It also reminded me of America--of a nice, suburban neighborhood. The next day was the big day we'd been waiting for for so long! We got in the raft and the guide gave us safety instructions. With us in the boat were a Dutch couple, a Yastonian couple, and a 62 year old British woman. We had met her at the hostel in Kampala the day before and had convinced her to go rafting with us. She used to be a traveling photagrapher and now she writes for guidebooks in Africa. I love meeting people like her because it lets me know that when I'm that age, I can still travel the world and do all the same things I do now. I hate when people use age as an excuse to not do things. People who don't travel don't do it either for lack of funds, fear, or medical problems. Everything else is just an excuse in my opinion. I love bouncing around from place to place, seeing new countries, discovering new cultures and trying different adrenalin-filled activities. Hopefully I'll be able to do that periodically throughout my life.
After hearing how terrifying rafting on the Nile was from several people, I was a little dissapointed. 70% of the time was spent just rowing, and the rest involved rapids (most of which were not that intense), and a few minutes of swimming. It could be due to the wheater-it was raining so they may have felt they had to keep us warm. The most fun part of rafting was falling out of the boat. The very last rapid was pretty intense and all of us flew out. I let the river water bounce me and move me wherever it pleased-it was like a water park. I would love to take a day and just swim down that part of the Nile (with kayakers there for safety of course).

Our last night in Kampala we went clubbing with some people we met. Kigali is quiet on the weekends-there are 3 clubs and they all equally suck. Kampala has so many different clubs with really good DJs. I haven't gotten clubbing out of my system, I just have no desire to dance if I'm not feeling my surroundings.
The bus ride back took about 12 hours due to two accidents on the road. Both times, we were in stand still traffic for over an hour a piece. The roads weren't that bad, but I guess accidents there are pretty common. It really is tragic. I spent that time walking around, talking to people, buying food, playing with kids, peeing on the side of the road, and reading. It felt like a lifetime.
I definately want to go back to Uganda, and spend a good week or more there to get a real feel of the country. I highly recommend it to anyone.

It's been 1 year!

First and foremost, I want to assure anyone reading this that I got an e-mail from Felix and he is alive and well. Huge relief. My condolonces to anyone who has lost someone they loved in this horrible earthquake.

Now on to more selfish things. Today marks exactly one year since 34 of us wide-eyed Americans stepped off a plane to start a 2 years+ adventure. Safe to say none of us had any idea what we were getting into. I remember how exciting it was to go to DC for staging, only a few days since Obama was sworn in. On the plane rides to Rwanda, I was so nervous. I remember opening up my plane window on an almost constant basis wondering if I could handle being a PCV.

Of course there have been ups and downs, and, like everyone i'm sure, times where I just wanted to throw in the towel. I don't blame those of us who have left, I feel like they all had legit reason. Our original group of 34 has shrunk slightly to 28, but we have another group of 35 in country now, and the new groups keep on coming.

Since it's the one year anniversary, it's inevitable that I begin to reflect. I've definitely learned a lot in the last year. I don't feel like I've changed drastically, I just feel like I have a better understanding of my limits, my capabilities, and the ways of the world. I learned that living amongst people with a completely different culture than myself is very challenging, but not impossible. We're all human beings after all. I have definitely made sincere friendships with the locals, even those who don't speak a word of English or French. (Thanks Peace Corps for the language training!). I've learned when to be agressive and when to just go with the flow. I've also realized there are many problems I'm not able to solve, and the the definiton of a "problem" is fluid.

I don't miss America necessarily, I miss the people in it who I was close to. For my friends and fam who I haven't seen in quite some time, I hope you understand that this was something I had to do. I needed to prove to myself that I could live in a developing country for 2 years, and that I could evoke some kind of positive change no matter how small. I know that what I'm doing is nothing extraordinary-- plenty of people live abroad and work towards positive change. Still, this experience has incluenced my thinking, my attitude, and will stay with me for the rest of my life. I hope that some of the Rwandans I've known feel the same.