Odds and ends...

One of my participant's has the name Jean Marie Vianney which is the name of the Catholic School Alex went to up north...St. John Vianney. Wonderfully lovely name and the man is also!

This is just a photo of our training the other day. Stephen was presenting Rwanda News Agency's goals, objectives and tactics.

The night before last when I worked late at the office, I heard water running for the longest time. Went in search to see if we had a leak or something...nope, employees taking their showers at work. Makes sense...water is costly here and people have to walk a long ways to get it and then carry it home. Just cannot imagine taking a shower at work while my colleagues are around...unless, of course, it is during hurricane season.

I have been up for awhile and we have something going on around the house that I am unsure of. Sounds like a sprinkler system is one, but there is NO water spraying anywhere so not sure what to do about this or if I should try to call someone from the Embassy because this IS Eddie's house. Diana slept over last night in Eddie's room, so when she gets up, I am hoping she knows what is going on, where and why.

Diana and I went out to dinner at a local hotel last night. Dinner was tasty...I had a lamb and spinach dish which is supposedly Sengalese but tasted rather Moroccan but maybe they are the same type of food. Guess I will need to go check Senegal out! Lois wrote about a female Dr. who lives in Flint but is from Cameroon and the article talks about the difficulties families there have with polygamy and issues that causes for women, children and families, especially in terms of their mental health. Polygamy is against the law here but practiced widely.

Today, we are meeting with owners/partners of the media companies I will continue to work with...those who had the highest marks on their assignments over the three seminars put on my IREX. Then, of the seven I will work with, IREX will ultimately choose five to fund over the next few months as they begin implementing their plans. An interesting process and I am happy I got to be part of it.

Working....

Yesterday was a long day...12 hour work day with about 8 interviews to see how well each of these media folks were weaving their training together. Today, which is to be a non-work day by contract, is ending up another full day. Interviews in the morning and then, I have an appointment to meet a guy from Contact FM, the biggest radio group here.

There are two bathrooms at the IREX office and one of the men I interviewed needed to use one...he used the one off the conference room which we were using and where I was sitting. He went in, didn't shut the door and did his business while I was sitting five feet from him! I couldn't get up and leave because I would have had to have walked right past...seeing who knows what! Awkward.

And Kigali, pronounced by the natives sounds like "Tchgali" and I like it. Learning a few words more each day. Today, I want to learn to swear!! Betting they don't have many strong words in that area...anger is not displayed much. Learned yesterday that there are serious issues with spouse abuse and polygamy here.

Should soon have some photos if ever I can get out of the office. Diana came over last night and we ended up having spaghetti and meatballs, which Beatrice made. Thank God...I made it home at 8 p.m. and was pooped. I need a maid in Florida, badly.

Frustration and other joys....

Today was rather intense, interviewing media companies who had participated in my seminar. They had "homework" for me and for the marketing session which was conducted earlier. All groups, except two, copied the marketing template for a reader survey. ONLY two thought about whether the example would give them the info they would need to do what their media company needed to do. And then, their homework for me was to create a couple of goals, two objectives for each goal and two tactics for each objective. What a few did was to use exactly the exercise we did in the seminar which had NOTHING to do with their own company.

And so, I am needed. Today, there were no lunch plans so I walked down the street and had the world's best fish cooked in cassava leaves and wrapped in banana leaves and baked. With that were wonderful plantains and freshly cooked peas. Yum and the serving was so large that I will be able to enjoy the same thing for lunch. Beatrice, the house help here made ratatouille? (sp??) for me for dinner with rice and some fish. NO way I can eat all she prepared in one or even two days. She also cooks extra for herself and for the gardner but I could have six to dinner and we wouldn't eat it all.

I left her 30,000 Rwandan francs for shopping today and she gave me change plus I have a fridge and freezer full of food and this included her taxi fare both ways. So, less than $55. for meats, fish, veggies, fruits, rice, taxi and still some change. Not bad, at all.

Am enjoying my driver, DieuDonne (gift from God). He has an interesting take on race relations and had some stories to share about a trip he took to Germany which didn't end too well for him and his buddy from Cameroon. He appears to think I come from a very exceptional family which allowed for good relationships across races. Wanted to tell him about my dad disowning me when I dated Charles, a black man from Virginia but didn't. Dad came around eventually but that had more to do with the relationship ending, I think. But that whole experience did open my eyes and make me think and act differently...well, I was acting as I wanted, as usual. But it did affect how I approached races and cultures differently with my kids.

Speaking of whom...missing them terribly! Have a new publisher finally in Ft. Myers. Makes me miss Carol and the team she/we had. Oh well...progress and change are inevitable.

Wandering....

I wrote an email yesterday to my friends and family and told them to read here...not keeping in touch as faithfully as I usually do. And I indicated I am/was "lonesome." Several wrote worried about my state of loneliness, which I appreciate. Need to clarify, however. When I am "lonesome" and far away, it just means that I am missing that closeness one has in a personal conversation in front of or with the people you care about and love. Yesterday, I was only able to connect via Skype with Alex and then, much later, Richard. But I tried many people...all of whom I love and care about but all of whom were engaged in their immediate lives, doing what they do with whom they do it. That is life...and as it should be. That I am far away is my choice and so, if a day or a few days go by and I don't hear your voice, just know that I am thinking about you and looking forward to those moments when we will share more than the written word...I will get to hear you.

I am having fun. Learning new things. And really, I am not alone. Diana is becoming a friend and we cooked brats on Eddie's grill last night and while she skyped her family and friends, I worked on my Somalia Media Management Manual that I am writing. That is coming along quite well.

Shopping Rwanda style.....

This craft shop went on for about 30 shops...dark, very small each one, and hotter than hell! Several men were doing what the guy in the white shirt was doing...relaxing, sleeping and waiting for a customer. Shopping is a bargaining experience like in many countries. I bought a few Christmas gifts which I am sure the girls will enjoy tremendously...and just for the record, I have passed along the "grandma" duties to Eddie. I suggested that every good grandma buys musical instruments for the grandkids...so she bought a small drum to take home to Germany for her grandaughter.




These guys were playing Mankala, an African game which I could not understand, although they tried to explain. Finally, one man asked if I couldn't speak some French?? Sad to say, in a country where most speak three languages and we Americans can only speak one or two?? Hmmmm??

More later.

Training

We finished our three day seminar yesterday and Monday, I begin working on their projects and begin working one on one with them to see how they have accomplished their homework assignments. This is part of my group...John (many, like in Uganda, use their Christian names) from BLINK, a very fun youth magazine is in red. Derek, in grey is a Ugandan working here at Radio Flash. Fidele in white sports coat is from a newspaper and Maria Josue, was the only woman in the group. Charles is from the Rwandan News Agency and the guy closest to the door is Jean Pierre and he works with IREX. So, welcome to the training world in Rwanda. Note the room.....

We had group work and because there was little to no ventilation in the room, no fans and lots of body heat, people would choose to go work outside.

And this is the room I worked in...conditions were pretty rough, but it worked out just fine. I am looking forward to getting out to the actually companies to see what their working conditions are like.

A few interesting things I have learned recently:

I ate andazi, a sweet wheat ball and if I had eaten two of them, they would have been mandazi. This format for making plurals is consistent in Kinyarwanda. There is no word for "shirt" in Kinyarwanda because in the old days, no one wore one. So, the word they made is "ishati". Kinda sounds like shirt.

"Bite" is how we say, "hello" and "murabeho" means goodbye. And it is bite like "bite me" it is bi-te.

Most people do not have running water so they carry big plastic jugs to a station to buy the water every day for their consumption. Bathing is difficult, yet everyone has clean clothing.

Went to "Heaven" last night with Diana to have dinner and see, "The Hurt Locker." Very intense movie but very well done. Now, the question is, how did they get it here so quickly? An American couple own this restaurant, clean, well run, toilet paper and even something to wash your hands with!

Did I mention that all plastic bags have been outlawed here in Rwanda? Against the law...so people get their groceries in paper, you store your bread in the paper they wrap it in at the store etc. Very eco-friendly but unusual for me.

Expected to not sleep last night being in this huge house all by myself, but no issues. It helps knowing there is a guard outside all night...he is sleeping but there is someone on the grounds.

Going to proof Deb's paper now...love

First Saturday...Kigali

Today is a work day for me...Eddie is leaving to go home to check out Romania, which will be her next posting and to see Brigitte, her partner living/working at home in Germany. Got to talk with Brigitte for a few minutes last night on the phone...brought back many super wonderful memories of dinners, talks and laughs in Tegucigalpa. Since I have been working....no photos but tomorrow is a day for exploring and tonight, Diana Perdue, a faculty member at Virginia State University and a Fulbright Scholar here and I are "going to Heaven." Heaven is a restaurant here that shows movies. There are no movie theatres!!! Now, I am not a movie theater kind of gal usually, but none in town??

And I had heard about the national HIV/AIDS campaigYen here using Rwandan personalities but I just saw a billboard yesterday and what is cool about this is...these personalities are holding up a condom, not a condom in a wrapper...they show the condom. The country is also on a mission to lower the birth rate. The president is very pro-modern and making this a well organized, well constructed country with education for all and special programs for women/girls. There are issues with control...one TV station, government ads only go to pro-government papers, stations but apparently corruption is down, the system is working, people go to school, traffic is regulated, seat belts are worn, and crime is not the issue it is in neighboring Kenya and Uganda.

Yesterday's training went much better...one man told me my accent got better to their ears! But also, I realized what I had prepared for today made no sense in their context so I have changed it all...fortunately, Louise, the woman who contracted me said that would be fine. This change mid-stream has occured in every country I have worked in. Thank God for computers. What would I have done 20 years ago in this situation with no hard copy to work with/from?

Saw my first dog and cat yesterday. A white woman was walking her dog and a cat appeared to want in the gate when I opened the door to look for my driver. Cat ran but Eddie says it can just come under the gate if it wants. Doesn't appear to be many unkept animals and yes, I did ask if they are eaten here and I was told, NOT.