'the views expressed in this blog are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of VSO'.
Monday 5th October 2009
Happy Birthday Melanie!!! I am back to cold showers in the morning...partly as I hate not having clean hair in the morning and partly because the weather has cooled a little so the shower doesn’t get as warm...walking to work in the morning sun, there was the sound of skidding breaks behind us...I turned to see the Executive Secretary in a pick up truck...skidding to a halt outside a house on the roadside...I think he might have just been checking his brakes worked...he then pulled alongside us and gave us a lift the rest of the way to the office...it was like being in the death mobile...if any of you have had the pleasure of travelling with Tom in the Caddy you will know exactly what I am talking about...apart from this one actually had the seats bolted to the floor and was much newer! On reflection I am unsure as to why I accepted the lift as it only meant that I was arriving in office earlier...and it was the dreaded 2 hour weekly meeting...oh the pain!!! Today however, the 2 hour meeting became the 3 hour meeting...all in Kinyarwanda...but I go the gist of what was being said...people not being paid properly, what everyone had done the previous week and what they had planned for the week ahead...following this it was over the sector office (which is right next to the education office). Today is INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS DAY...so what do we do...we close all the schools!! All the teachers from Ndora Sector were invited to a celebration ceremony...or as they like to call it...a party! (each sector had their own ‘party’) Thankfully, this time I had remembered to take a book...as per usual the celebration which was supposed to start at 10am...had only just started at 11.20!!! Oh my word...seriously!!! we were ushered to the front where we sat in ‘comfy’ chairs...while the teachers were squeezed onto benches...2 and a half hours later...with a bum about as numb as can be...it was over...again the whole thing was held in Kinyarwandan...so...I understood NOTHING! The up side of such occasions being the drinks which follow...I thought it would be frowned upon for me to have beer before lunch (having said that it was 2 in the afternoon...) and also being a woman I wasn’t sure this would be ok...instead I opted for coke...only minutes later to see a female teacher wolfing down a bottle of Rwanda’s finest Primus beer...crap it! So coke it was for me...then lunch was served...2 goat balls, 1 meat samosa and one dry bread roll...I was only brave enough to eat the bread roll...then I was given my second coke...I was so full of pop!!! I mean...I like pop...but I don’t usually have the sugared variety...but they only have sugared drinks here! After a couple more speeches...we made our excuses...’we had a very important meeting at the district office’ collected our things and headed to the office...by the time I left the office...it was really cold!! The weather is definitely on the turn...
Monday 5th October 2009
Happy Birthday Melanie!!! I am back to cold showers in the morning...partly as I hate not having clean hair in the morning and partly because the weather has cooled a little so the shower doesn’t get as warm...walking to work in the morning sun, there was the sound of skidding breaks behind us...I turned to see the Executive Secretary in a pick up truck...skidding to a halt outside a house on the roadside...I think he might have just been checking his brakes worked...he then pulled alongside us and gave us a lift the rest of the way to the office...it was like being in the death mobile...if any of you have had the pleasure of travelling with Tom in the Caddy you will know exactly what I am talking about...apart from this one actually had the seats bolted to the floor and was much newer! On reflection I am unsure as to why I accepted the lift as it only meant that I was arriving in office earlier...and it was the dreaded 2 hour weekly meeting...oh the pain!!! Today however, the 2 hour meeting became the 3 hour meeting...all in Kinyarwanda...but I go the gist of what was being said...people not being paid properly, what everyone had done the previous week and what they had planned for the week ahead...following this it was over the sector office (which is right next to the education office). Today is INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS DAY...so what do we do...we close all the schools!! All the teachers from Ndora Sector were invited to a celebration ceremony...or as they like to call it...a party! (each sector had their own ‘party’) Thankfully, this time I had remembered to take a book...as per usual the celebration which was supposed to start at 10am...had only just started at 11.20!!! Oh my word...seriously!!! we were ushered to the front where we sat in ‘comfy’ chairs...while the teachers were squeezed onto benches...2 and a half hours later...with a bum about as numb as can be...it was over...again the whole thing was held in Kinyarwandan...so...I understood NOTHING! The up side of such occasions being the drinks which follow...I thought it would be frowned upon for me to have beer before lunch (having said that it was 2 in the afternoon...) and also being a woman I wasn’t sure this would be ok...instead I opted for coke...only minutes later to see a female teacher wolfing down a bottle of Rwanda’s finest Primus beer...crap it! So coke it was for me...then lunch was served...2 goat balls, 1 meat samosa and one dry bread roll...I was only brave enough to eat the bread roll...then I was given my second coke...I was so full of pop!!! I mean...I like pop...but I don’t usually have the sugared variety...but they only have sugared drinks here! After a couple more speeches...we made our excuses...’we had a very important meeting at the district office’ collected our things and headed to the office...by the time I left the office...it was really cold!! The weather is definitely on the turn...
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