26th of February , 2018.
Hitchhiking in Rwanda: First day in Musanze
I do not want to talk too much about me experience in the schools in Musanze. It is just that… it bothers me. To make it shorter: I went to three and the is a huge bureaucracy to become a volunteer; it has to be for at least one month; they do not offer food or accommodation.
Perhaps in some villages it would’ve been different. I do not know. But that is the thing here: you never know what is a village, or something else. Plus, at Excel school, together with the school director, we go to some kind of Education District, where its director told us that you have to make a registration at the Education Ministry, and gather some documents to be able to do be a volunteer even in the small schools in the villages.
I go to Excel School and talk to the headmaster, Alexander. A very polite and empathic man. Always laughing. Unfortunately they could not having me as a volunteer for all the reasons mentioned above. They actually had one, Ken: a nice retired teacher, who is doing volunteer work in countries in Africa. The difference lies not only in his experience as a teacher, but also in the fact that he has a place to stay for good, he is maintaining himself and he was first staying for one whole month and now trying to extend for more three months.
My first afternoon is about using the wi-fi to find a solution. I might not have a place to stay but I don’t want to leave Rwanda just after one week.
I send an email to Elias because he said I could stay with him back in Gisenyi. What should be a simple stay for a few days it became something complicated: firstly, he would in Kigali for three days. I though OK, let’s make camping for three days and then I go over there. He had agreed and even told me I could come earlier and stay in his brother’s house, just by myself, because he would be out of town. But because it took me one day and a half to answer him about it, his brother left town and took the key with him.
But back to my first day, I had also a great time with the kids in the school. Alexandre just suggests for me to go outside and in a few minutes I made some good friends. They are all so smart and communicative, they know about what was going on around them (like in Congo); they have some good taste for music (as Bob Marley); and they all look really nice kids. They tell me some personal things like about their parents getting divorced, their favorite stuffs and they even offer me to stay with them. I really enjoy my time with them in a way I could not had imagined before. Because of that, I decide I want to put their names in my book, so I give them a piece of paper, and ask them to write their names down. Following, it is the whole list, with a few observations about it, including someone who wrote the name but then scratched out (?):
– Buko Silver (he likes Bob Marley)
– Bizima King
– Ganza Aslan (“Will Smith Jr” – I thought he just looked like him)
– Ishimwe Pacifique (knows about richness in Dem. Rep. of Congo)
– Ishimwe Franken Simon (oldest sun)
– Ganza Nard Gustave
– Shenza Patrick
– Kenny Kevin Murenzi
– Gitangaza Emmy
– Nzabanita Sammuel (for some reason, he scratched his name out of the list)
– Shema Joseph
– Cyubahiro Brian
– Munanira Stephen Keith
– Jancy Hilwa (smart and curious)
– Mufasha Joseph Salomon
– Herve Kabera
– Arnold Manzi
– Ineza Mary Belize
– Mugorenejo Ketia
– Niyigaha David
– Iranzi
When I am almost leaving, Alexandre tells me to go and talk with the director. After a quick pep-talk with Nataniel, he tells me to come back next morning, at ten o’clock, and we will going to a school in a village he knows.
For some reason, instead of just buying some vegetables and bread, I decide to look for a cheap meal restaurant (like the one I ate in Kibuye, something around 1000 RWF, or 0.60 Dollar cents), a buffet style, which are very common here in Rwanda.
Just a little after I reach the main road, two kids approach me. In the beginning, I am apprehensive but then I just forget about it and we keep walking and chatting.
John and Ben become a big great surprise to me. They are smart and kind, and of course curious about me. But mostly they are happy in having that short time with me. They guide me to a restaurant and even talk with the owner to not charge me more then he supposed to just because I am a foreigner.
We exchange email contacts and because John wanted to give me a present, we make an appointment to night o’clock next morning, in front of Dian Fossey’s Fund, which I was planning to visit.
I am sitting at the table, taking my time until get very hungry and then I could eat more. The food is simple but good, and I could eat as much as possible, for just 1000 RWF. I have rice, potatoes, beans, chips, vegetables and cassava.
While I am still eating, two men pass by me and as usual I greet them in Kinyarwanda. For them, my attitude is so interesting, that they decide to approach me after dinner to talk. It is when my good friendship with Sayid and Celestine starts.
Sayid offer me to stay with him, in his house. His sister would be in Uganda for one month, so I could stay in her room. I accept with joy because these guys are the best! Celestine even insists on paying for my dinner before we leave.
We keep chatting all the way to Sayid’s house. Once in there, he shows me his siter room, where I will sleep in a big bed with a mosquito net. Perfect!
10 Years Around the World 