back in august

we are off to uk and France tomorrow for a taste of civilisation - bring on the cheese, red wine and prawns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KIGALI

We have been in Kigali for 2 days attending an education workshop with VSO. It is a two and a half bus ride plus an hours walk (or 15 minute taxi ride if we have a lot to carry) from Cyanika.

Every time we come to Kigali there is something new, so many new ultra modern buildings are shooting up, more and more things can be bought in the shops and the traffic is horrendous! Thousands of brightly painted mini buses - mostly advertising british football teams (especially Arsenal) vying with huge four wheel drive jeeps, many driven by 'muzungus' working for aid organisations and earning fat salaries! pollution is becoming worse and worse. You just wouldnt believe that only a few miles away there is nothing - no electricity, no water, no traffic and abject poverty! It seems that all aid is concentrated in kigali. There are still many many poor people trying to survive here and a very large concentration of people who survived the genocide but were terribly maimed - had legs and arms hacked off and there is nothing they can do but beg - its so terribly sad to see and you wonder if it was such a good thing that they survived.

The mini buses compete with one another for customers, there is a boy whose job it is to fill the bus and collect the money, so the buses dont leave until they are absolutely full to bursting - every ride is an adventure!

We do like Kigali though, its an exciting vibrant place and so wonderful to have some civilization, Bourbon coffee sells the most wonderful cappucino! and last night we went for a wonderful pizza. Also, because ther are so many 'muzungus' here we are not the centre of attention all the time which is also wonderful . Most of the volunteers and other muzungus who live here have absolutely no idea what its like to live in the rest of Rwanda.

who's the daddy!?