Arriving in Rwanda

Home away from home

It’s a full moon day today. I’ve been in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, for just over a week now and am still feeling my way around. I arrived here last Saturday night at about 10pm after a long day of travel. It took three flights over 12 hours to get from Cape Town to Kigali, via Johannesburg and Entebbe. I was so happy to see Marcel at the airport holding a sheet of paper with my name on it. We chatted a little as we drove the short distance from the airport to the We-Actx guesthouse in Kiyovu, where I will be staying. I had my head to the window most of the way, peering out over the darkened city enjoying, the night-lights liberally dotted around the numerous hills. Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills.

The house sleeps 8 people in 4 bedrooms. The open plan living area has French windows on opposite sides of the living-room/ dining area, giving the space a light, open feel. The veranda looks out onto a sizeable green, leafy garden that is home to some interesting looking birds. None that I recognize, but they wake us up at 5.30 am and are a delightful to listen to in the cool stillness of dawn. The sun rises swiftly a little before six and the weather is very accommodating. It’s the long dry season now, which runs from June to August. The days on the whole are bright and not too hot although it will get hotter as the season wears on. There are 7 of us here at the moment with people coming and going all the time.

Anyone from abroad who is affiliated with the We-Actx organization is welcome to stay at the guesthouse. At the moment we have Jessica and Shereen, two public health workers; Lisa, a gynaecology and obstetrics doctor; Mary, a Dr of psychologist specializing in trauma; Hanna, a multi lingual yoga teacher from Finland (we will be co-teaching yoga classes at the various We-actx projects during our three month stay); Jeff who just passing through on is on his way back to working on a project that offers economic empowerment and trauma counseling to child soldiers in Burundi and myself. Guests are well looked after by Candida who cooks delicious mostly vegetarian food for us and meat occasionally for those who want it; Josse helps with laundry and cleaning and Joseph guards the compound. The house is situated in a well-heeled part of Kigali. President Paul Kagame’s residence is just round the corner. The streets are wide, lined with shrubs and clean. There is little traffic on the roads in this art of the city so it’s relatively quiet and peaceful. I’ve only ventured out alone once so far and, apart from the anxiety associated with being in a new place and not knowing ones way around, I feel fairly safe. Lisa and Shereen leave today. Cathy the director of We-act arrives t and more volunteers will be here in July. I have my own room, the view isn’t bad, and I feel nicely settled in my new home away from home.

Preparing for work


The first couple of days this week were taken up with the handover from Gail, who has just completed 3-month yoga teaching here. She introduced Hanna and I to staff at the central We-actx clinic, in the city centre, where antiretroviral medicines, trauma counseling and yoga is given to service users. We were shown good places to have tea, to shop for provisions and gifts and to change money. We were shown several routes linking the guesthouse and the clinic and given a verbal run through of the various groups we will be working with.

Participating in Gail’s last few classes was useful preparation for teaching. She taught mostly I Kinyarwanda, the first language of Rwanda with a smattering of English and perhaps French too. French and English are spoken by those who have had access to education although French usage is dwindling slowly as English is officially implemented as the second language of the country. Kinyarwanda is not an easy language to get master so it’s going to be a challenge working with a co-teacher and an interpreter while picking up Kinyarwanda and French as I go along.

Driving up and down the numerous hills, on the way to and from various classes, it was a joy to get my first sight of the city in daylight. Every so often, another expansive view of the city would appear, giving a wonderful sense of space. Some hills are much more densely built up than others, but in every direction you look you will see green. The city centre and business district area are noisy, bustling and packed with people go about their daily business. People are not at all afraid to stare and hawkers abound selling airtime for mobile phones, sunglasses, tourist maps of Kigali and no doubt a hose of other goods that I haven’t registered yet. Although the traffic could be much worse, there are countless 4-wheel drive vehicles and seemingly hundreds of motorcycles, motos, all of which give off uncontrolled amounts of exhaust, leaving a toxic haze of fumes lingering in the hot Rwandan air - somewhat distracting from the natural beauty of the landscape.

During the second part of my first week I started teaching proper. As imagined, I’m on a steep learning curve. It will take a little time for everything to come together: To get to know the women and children I will be teaching, their bodily strengths and weaknesses, their energy levels and how best to serve them. For Hanna and I to establish the best approach to teaching the various different groups we will be working with while keeping it enjoyable and fun for us all.