EVERYTHING GOES ON AHEAD(and sometimes on the back of a bike)

carrying, carrying, everything perfectly balanced on their heads:

huge bunches of bananas.

piles of grass (for the cows)

20 litres of water

kerosene

petrol

50 kilogramme sacks of charcoal

suitcases

baskets full of every fruit and vegetable under the (rwandan)sun

a single bed

a dining table and four chairs

A BATH!

women carry everything balanced on an "ingata"- a woven ,padded circle like a donut

men carry loads just so.

bikes are not for riding here(too steep) they are for pushing heavy loads up steep slopes- imagine trying to push 8 full crates of beer up a 50 degree slope!

and of course there are the babies nestling on ther mothers backs while she works or carries a load,so many babies, carried till they are about 4.

LIVING IT UP IN CYANIKA

This Sunday was different!! We had received two invitations, one from a colleague and one from the chief of the village ( who we were very rude to at the beginning, thinking he was a guy wanting a job as our landscape gardener,whoops!) to attend a party to celebrate their childrens' first communion during morning mass. We attended the mass (even John) for 2 hours(for the parents and children it was a 6 hour session!!)There were at least 200 kids involved in making their first communion, most of them wearing paper crowns on their heads instead of the expensive veils which would be worn by European children.

At 3 pm we duly went to find Sylvain's place guided by many children on the way, wondering what to expect. We were welcomed as guests of honour into a very simple but spotlessly clean house made of locally made mud bricks. Every tiny room was packed with people and the centrepiece of every room was a huge pot full of sorghum beer which was consumed through communal straws made of bamboo. Everybody took turns to drink, including babies and children( they don't differentiate as far as alcohol is concerned). At the same time several small gourds were being passed around containing"urwagwa" banana wine, and very good it was. We felt bad that we were first offered bottles of Primus beer and a table to put it on!!

Sylvain the called us outside where dinner was being served.SEE PHOTO!!,watched by the cows and pigs. We had a great time but had to leave when the fantastic rwandan intore dancing and singing was in full swing to go to the next party at Alois's. His two daughters had also made their first communion and we were also made very welcome there and introduced to some home-made fire water stronger than anything we have ever drunk.

Alois is about 59 years old and his wife is much younger. He has 4 young children and Sheila thoughtlessly commented on how young his children were. He then told us that his first wife and 6 children were slaughtered in the genocide.We hear similar stories all the time.

We felt priviliged to be involved in such an important day in the lives of the people of Cyanika.

life is NOT easy

We have to make sure that any receptacles we have are always kept filled with water because the water can go off at any time and has been off for as long as 4 days. those jerri cans and buckets are heavy!

Washing is also hard work, we all enjoy hand washing a few smalls but sheets and bath towels in a bucket of cold water? no thanks. but it has to be done. We certainly dont have trouble drying anything.

Life has certainly improved since we got the charcoal stove but you get filthy lighting it and then keeping it in is a full time job, Sometimes it isnt quite hot enough to boil the water we need for the flasks for the next day and then we have to light the kerosene stove and then you end up with stinging eyes and it stinks!

You cant leave any food uncovered or millions of ants descend on it.

Going to bed is an expedition in itself: you have to remember to take a light with you, the outside bathroom (and i use the term loosely) is dark and you dont know what might be lurking! you un hook the towel and a lizard jumps out. There are droppings on the sink and i dont know what they are from! Before you get into bed you unroll the mosquio net and tuck it in on all sides and climb in making sure that nothing climbs in with you! or is already there waiting.

A lovely lady, Valerie, comes to us 2 mornings a week she has an hour and a half walk to get to us. She works so hard and she usually washes the sheets and towels and she washes the floor by pouring water everywhere and then sweeping it away - it takes her ages. She also usually cooks for us, beans and veg or veg and beans or beans with beans or veg with veg. She cooks everything for hours but it all tastes very good. she really is a treasure and we pay her al of £15 a month!

However, she has nothing on GOLD FISH MAN! .....................................................................

he comes, he goes, he flits, he flows, he has NO MEMORY!!!!!

you can always rely on him to do it today but not tomorrow! sometimes he is coming when he should be going and going when he should be coming but he is NEVER THERE WHEN YOU NEED HIM! he doesnt remember from one day to the next what he should be doing.

sometimes he just appears out of nowhere and sometimes he was there and you thought you were talking to him but he isnt there any more YES he is also DISAPPEARING GOLD FISH MAN!!!!!!!!

he is actually our guard - we dont pay him, VSO do and they insist you have one. We hear other people talking about the wonderful things their guards do for them but we seem to have chosen the short straw. His piece de resistance up to now is to destroy 75,000 r. francs worth of computer equipment in seconds!

it isnt his fault, he is quite simply GOLD FISH MAN! what is his job! well he is supposed to guard us at night from intruders, light the hurricane lamps when he arrives and look after the garden - HA!

we love him really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!