My First Rwandan Wedding

On Saturday 20^th November, I had been invited to the wedding of a local Headteacher (Leandre) that I have met several times since I arrived in Rwanda. I was very excited to have been invited and keen to experience all that a Rwandan wedding would have to offer; I certainly wasn’t disappointed!

I knew that Rwandan women wear a traditional dress called a mishanana to weddings and Leandre was keen for me to wear one too. I had found a shop in Kibungo on Wednesday that sold the special cloth and a tailor who had agreed to sew the skirt part for me. I found it reasonably tricky to walk in, as I am not used to wearing anything of floor length, but the local people seemed delighted that I was wearing a dress from their culture!

My mishanana!

I had been told by other volunteers that Rwandan weddings are very long (taking up the whole day) and you don’t get fed! This worried me greatly, so I got up early to eat a big breakfast before departure and snuck some sweets and a bottle of water into my bag. Cathy (my housemate who was also invited) did the same and by half past 7, we were very full and glad of the loose floaty cloth of our mishananas! Leandre had asked us to be ready by 7.40am (which ended up being 8.15am Rwandan time) and had insisted he would pick us up in a car. He had explained that we had to travel to his house first, then to the house of his bride-to-be and then to a place called ‘Kazo’, where the Dowry ceremony would take place.

Before long, we arrived at the home of Epiphanie – his fiancé and we were welcomed by the many women standing outside. As we were led into the living room and my eyes adjusted from the bright sunshine outside, I was greatly surprised to see many people sitting with huge bowls of Rwandan ‘melange’ on their laps, happily spooning rice, plantain and beans into their mouths. The moment I sat down, a steaming piled-high bowl was given to me too and I realised that my huge breakfast had been a huge mistake!

Once I had eaten as much as I possibly could and the other guests had polished off their platefuls, it was time to depart for the Dowry ceremony. This is where the family of the bride are given a cow as they are ‘giving away’ their daughter. Cathy and I clambered into our seats in the women’s mini-bus and were soon clapping away happily, taking our lead from all the women who were singing songs about marriage. All the women were so full of life and clearly had their favourite songs that they kept singing throughout the journey. Just as I was beginning to work out the sounds in some of the kinyarwandan words in the songs, we turned into what truly was a plantain jungle and began trundling slowly up a real dirt track. As we came around a corner, I could see a bamboo fence surrounding some kind of marquee. I asked Robert – Leandre’s brother, who was acting as our translator – if this was where the dowry was, to which he replied, “No, the dowry’s grazing over there” (gesturing to a nearby field with a cow in it!)

The dowry ceremony, as I should correctly call it, was fantastic to watch. Friends and family of the bride and groom were seated on separate sides of a marqueed ‘arena’ inside the bamboo fence. Leandre and his ‘best men’ were dressed in animal skin cloth, wearing long banana leaf shoes and carrying a special stick. They were all sitting at the back of the marquee and I was yet to see the bride! Much of the ceremony was taken up with debates between the two families about why Epiphanie would be a good wife and Leandre a good husband. Eventually there was some hustle and bustle and the dowry itself was brought in – a large Friesian cow, who seemed very happy chomping on the hay that it was given and took the huge fuss very much in its stride. Two women and a man in traditional dress walked up to the cow and began stroking it, blessing it and singing to it for a very long time. I was quite spellbound by the whole process and have never taken as many photos of a cow in my life!

When the cow was finally led away, Leandre and his ‘best men’ walked into the arena, presented Leandre’s father-in-law to be with a black cowboy hat and took their seats in the centre of the arena to wait for the bride. Her arrival was preceded by some fantastic Rwandan dancing and a procession of men with spears who gave Leandre a brown cloak that matched the dark brown outfit Epiphanie was wearing. As the couple sat together on wicker chairs, ladies in pink mishananas brought them milk and plates of food. Before I knew it, I was also presented with an aeroplane-style foil container containing, yes – more food! This time meat was on the menu, but the people sitting next to me were very happy to take it off my hands and I was happy with the plantain and peas, still full from the two enormous meals I had eaten earlier!

Soon after the meal, the ceremony came to a close and I stepped outside into the sweltering midday heat. There was no shade and a lot of people to organise before we could make our way to the church, but after trying my best to explain that I could not stand in the sun without burning, I was thankfully allowed to wait on the bus. As we set off for the church in Kibungo, the women once again began to sing songs of marriage, even more excitedly than before, banging on the side of the bus and raising their voices whenever we passed by houses. The difference on this journey was that I had a little girl called Angie on my lap, who then became my shadow for the rest of the day! Not to be outdone, her much younger sister had soon squeezed herself onto Cathy’s lap, making for rather a warm bus journey!

The big white wedding ceremony was held in a Catholic Church and lasted about two hours. Epiphanie and Leandre had changed into what we would think of as traditional wedding outfits. There was a fantastic choir, who began by singing what seemed to me to be quite serious songs, but became more joyful as the service went on. Straight after the service, we were told that there would be official photographs. I managed to take a couple of snap shots myself!

One more short bus ride, including several laps of the roundabout in Kibungo with horns beeping in celebration, took us to the final location of the day. A reception was held in the hall of a local private primary school. Embarrassingly, Cathy and I were led to seats at the very front of the hall, even though we had tried our best to slip in and sit on the benches at the back. There were a huge number of people present and, once again, everyone was fed! This time my aeroplane style container held a boiled egg, a bread roll and a banana. I managed to eat the latter two with my shadow on my lap; a shadow who was very glad of a second boiled egg, especially one which had been peeled for her! There was more amazing dancing as we ate (unfortunately it was too dark by this time for my camera to catch it properly), speeches were made and the bride and groom were presented with some traditional gifts by the dancers (including a milk jug and a spear), before they were given gifts from the wedding guests.

After giving our gift, thanking Leandre and Epiphanie for a wonderful day and excusing ourselves from the party at the groom’s house that was to follow, Cathy and I began the short walk back to our house, hitching up our mishananas to try and keep them out of the dust as we walked! Our clothes meant that we caused even more interest and amusement than we usually do! But we walked purposefully as we were both looking forward to a shower (happily – the water was working!) and our beds after a long, but very enjoyable day.

Rusumo Falls

Out of my mishanana from the day before and into my combat trousers, I was feeling much more comfortable as I walked down the road from my house towards the bus park. I was meeting other volunteers at Rusumo Falls this morning (Sunday 21^st November), which lies on the border between Rwanda and Tanzania and is only about an hour from where I am currently living. I had heard it was a small waterfall, that was most impressive in the rainy season and so this was the best time to go.

There was no sign of rain today though as the sun glinted off the hillsides on the journey into Kirehe District. I had had to wait a very long time to get on a mini-bus and was feeling a little grumpy when I finally did set off in the right direction, but the views here have a wonderful effect on my mood! I couldn’t help but smile as we journeyed down valleys and up hillsides, alongside banana trees and lush rice paddies and with waving children around every corner.

When I arrived and met the others, I had to show the officials my passport and then I was allowed onto the bridge which is a sort of ‘no mans' land’ between Rwanda and Tanzania to watch the waterfall crashing onto the rocks below. I was very excited by the fact that one side of the bridge was officially Tanzania and the other was Rwanda! I was also delighted that the river I could see is linked to the River Nile!

Me, Rose and Cathy about to cross the bridge to see Rusumo falls.

A Week of Workshops

From 15^th – 19^th November, I was once again back on my moto in the early morning on my way to school. The children are all on holiday, but the teachers are still keen to learn and November is the month in which they are expected to attend training. There are 4 schools quite close to where I am living which had asked for help with creating ‘visual aids’ – posters and flashcards to put in the classroom to help children to learn. My housemate Cathy and I decided to plan a workshop to do with them.

We spent the weekend after we had moved house in scruffy clothes, kneeling on our living room floor, creating visual aids on rice sacks and card to use as models for the teachers and so we could discuss what helps children to learn in different subjects. We use rice sacks because they are cheap, they last well and they are more easily available than paper and card. After spending Sunday evening burning the edges of our creations (and occasionally our fingers too!) so the rice sacks wouldn’t fray, we were ready!

The four workshops were great fun to run, each one slightly different in its own way. After talking about why visual aids are important and what makes a good visual aid, the teachers were given the chance to plan and make their own visual aids. We had been told that Rwandan teachers might be nervous about drawing pictures, but we experienced no such thing! When it came to the ‘making’ part of the session, they had fantastic ideas and no worries whatsoever. (Thinking about it, they had probably realised that Miss Lamborn is no good at drawing anyway!) It was lovely to see the teachers having the chance (and having the necessary resources) to be creative and I learnt lots each day.

Another New Home!

On Wednesday 10^th November, I said a sad farewell to the lovely sofas in my first Rwandan house, packed up all of my belongings and got ready to move house. For a number of reasons Cathy and I had decided to move into the house that 2 other volunteers called Jeremy and Jason had been living in (about 20 minutes walk away) and that is where I am currently writing from.

Our new house is huge for 2 people and in a much better location than our last one, as it is closer to the market and to St Jo’s – a guesthouse/restaurant which has a mini-supermarket that sells the best bread in Kibungo! Other highlights include the fact that we have a sink in our kitchen with running water (when it’s on anyway) which makes cooking and washing up so much easier; another spectacular view (apparently I should be able to see all the way to Karisimbi – the tallest volcano in North Rwanda on a clear day) and our garden, with an avocado tree and a lettuce patch! (The downsides are the fact that we are located very close to a prison and next door to a nunnery, meaning that on weekdays we are woken by the prisoners drill at 5am – which involves drums - and on weekends we are woken by the nuns’ singing!)

The unpacking and cleaning took a fair amount of time once again, but now we are settled and I am very much hoping this is where I will spend the rest of my time living in Rwanda.

A quiet Sunday afternoon...

After a long day at Akagera on Saturday, I was looking forward to a quieter Sunday. The sun was shining and so I decided to go for a walk. For a while, I had wanted to venture down into the beautiful valley below my house and I had been told of a path that was not too tricky to walk down.

I went with my housemate Cathy and, as usual, we were greeted by many people as soon as we stepped outside the front gate. In Rwanda, people always greet you in the same way – by saying good morning/afternoon, asking how you are, asking where you have come from and asking where you are going. Trying to explain that you are just ‘going for a walk’ is very difficult because people in Rwanda are usually far too busy fetching water, planting crops, looking after children etc. to have time to just ‘go for a walk’!

As we turned off the main road and began to walk down into the valley below, it was suddenly peaceful. We left behind the trucks, motos, bikes and people and concentrated on making our way down the steep muddy path, stopping to look at the wonderful views. Since the rainy season has begun, it is incredible how lush and green the landscape has become. This moment of peace was not to last... as we turned a corner, we came across eight children who were happily playing in a foresty area. They were shoeless, covered in mud, all wearing their school uniforms (although it was Sunday, so this was probably because they don’t have another set of clothes) and were incredibly happy to see us! For the rest of our walk, we were joined by these eight children, two goats and a piglet. Unsurprisingly, we did not get very far. On the climb back up the hill, the children wanted to play and I ended up chasing many of them, who squealed in delight as they were able to run much faster than me!

Can we come for a walk too?

Catch me if you can!

When we finally reached the top of the valley, we said goodbye to our new friends and headed home. Looking at the sky, Cathy and I thought we had timed things just about perfectly as we could see that a storm was coming. Mist and dark clouds were descending as we quickened our pace and soon you could no longer see down into the valley because it was just a mass of swirling fog. We made it home just as some large drops began to fall. I jumped straight in the shower to have a much needed wash (I was hot and muddy from chasing the children) and listened to the rain pummelling on the roof and against the windows, safe in the knowledge that I was in my dry house... or so I thought! Just as I was dressing, (while thunder rumbled, lightning flashed and raindrops turned into huge hailstones outside) I heard Cathy shout from the living room, “WATER!” I ran in to see muddy water gushing under our front door, which leads straight into our living room! The drain outside had overflowed!

We grabbed the shoes we’d left by the door, pushed the sofas and tables as far back as possible and then looked at each other in shock as the water continued to rush in! I then shouted, “Rice sacks!” (which we have a store of for making posters for the classrooms in our schools) and we ran to grab them and tried to stuff them under the door. It helped a little, but not for long and soon the sacks were floating around the living room and the water was ankle deep! Suddenly, Dorney Rowing Club sprang into my mind! I remembered that when the boats get full of water at rowing club, the children use plastic milk bottles with the tops cut off as scoops for bailing out. So Cathy ran to get the large basins that we wash clothes in and I ran into the kitchen with my pen knife and sliced off the tops of litre bottles of water. I then pulled on my wellies (their first use in Rwanda was in my living room!) and we began to bail out. For much of the time, we were just keeping the water at ankle level, because the flood continued to pour under the door, but eight huge basins later, we started to win! After 6 or 7 basins, when most of the water had gone, we even had the humour left to take a photo of our flooded living room!

Bailing out muddy water, once the worst of the flood was over.
Thank goodness I packed my wellies!

Akagera

There aren’t many things that will make me leave my bed in the early hours of the morning, but on Saturday 23^rd October, I crawled out from under my mosquito net at 5.30am, pulled on many layers of clothing and grunted a good morning to the four other volunteers, ready and waiting in my living room. After a honey and banana sandwich for breakfast, I was soon as excited as them, because this morning, we were going on safari in Akagera National Park!

I am lucky to be living in Kibungo, which is only an hour away from the southern entrance to Rwanda’s National Park, which is named after the Akagera River. Rwanda is known as ‘The land of a thousand hills’ and so it was very different going on safari here to when I went to Lake Nakuru and the Maasai Mara in Kenya. My experiences had been of wide open plains, but in Akagera it sometimes seemed very similar to the Chiltern Hills back home! I was left with a sense that the zebras I saw grazing could easily have been horses in the English countryside! However, being stared at (in not the friendliest of manners) by a large male buffalo and seeing several hippos emerge from a lake soon reminded me that I ‘was not in Hazlemere anymore’!

Zebra grazing in Akagera National Park.

An impala in the bush.

Look! A giraffe!

I saw a wide variety of wildlife throughout the day as I stood up looking through the roof of the pop up safari truck I had hired with my volunteer friends. This included seeing the buffalos, hippos and zebras that I have already mentioned, as well as impala, waterbuck, eland, monkeys, baboons, eagles and many exotic birds (that I cannot remember the names of!). As expected, we were not lucky enough to see the elephants or the two remaining lions that day. I was very keen to see giraffes and was delighted that, when I spotted them in the distance, we drove through the bush to where they were, got out of the vehicle and walked towards them (keeping a safe distance) to take photos. Another exciting moment was when our guide shouted for the driver to stop and a HUGE black mamba (the most dangerous animal in the world) slithered right across the path in front of our vehicle. Apparently it is rare to see this snake and I was quite shocked by its size!

My first workshop

On Wednesday and Thursday I ran my first training workshops for all sixty five schools in the district that I work in. I have been working with another VSO volunteer named Jeremy who has been working here since January to try and help teachers and Headteachers to improve teaching and learning in their schools. This is to make sure that the children of Rwanda enjoy their lessons and learn lots, like you do in England! Many of the teachers in Rwanda have not had the chance to learn how to be a teacher and so I am hoping to be able to help them see what a fun job teaching can be and show them how they can make sure the children in their classes learn.

Schools here do not have computers, interactive whiteboards or even displays on their walls at the moment, so when I did my training, I tried to use things that the teachers can use in schools themselves. Lots of the pictures and writing I used when talking to the teachers and Headteachers were on rice sacks! I had to learn how to draw and write on rice sacks myself and how to burn the edges of each sack with a candle to stop the sides fraying. It’s quite tricky to do!

Making rice sacks in the District Education Office.

Teachers and Headteachers from thirty one schools came to the training on Wednesday and thirty three schools came on Thursday, which was great. I was quite nervous as because I am used to speaking to large groups of children, but not large groups of adults. Luckily I needn’t have worried! It was a fantastic experience for me and the teachers and Headteachers joined in really enthusiastically in all the activities we had planned for them. I am now looking forward to going into schools in the new term to help teachers in their classrooms.

Teaching teachers a name game, to help them learn the names of all of the pupils in their class.
(Many classes have about 50 children).

Working with a group of teachers to discuss how important it is to include every child in their lesson.

Five seconds of football fame!

I spent the weekend just passed meeting up with other volunteers in the Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. It was good to share stories of how we are all getting on, now that we have all been in Rwanda for over a month! On Saturday I went to ‘Amahoro Stadium’ to watch an ‘African League of Nations’ football match between Rwanda and Benin. It only cost me about £3 to buy a ticket and I had a fantastic seat with a great view of the pitch. There were groups of Rwandan supporters who were dressed in the Rwandan flag and blowing green, yellow and blue horns to show their loyalty. What was quite strange is that lots of people did not even arrive until nearly half time! (African time is much slower than English time!)



The Rwandan team warming up for the game

The stadium was very grand and there was a big screen that showed that the President of Rwanda was in the crowd, quite close to where I was sitting! This big screen also showed a red-haired teacher that you might have recognised! I did not even realise that I had been shown cheering for Rwanda on the screen, because my seats were so good, I had no need to look at it! The only reason I know I appeared is because during the second half, my mobile phone rang and a Rwandan named Musafari (who is helping me to organise a trip to a nearby safari park) told me he had seen me on the TV! He also wanted to know if it was true that Rwanda was losing, which sadly it was!

The final score was unfortunately 3 nil to Benin, but Rwanda played well and were the better team in the first half. The winning team was given a round of applause and everyone left the stadium sensibly and calmly. The Rwandan team were cheered for their efforts as they left in their own bus. I feel that some English football fans could have learnt a lot about the best way to behave at a match!

After stocking up on chocolate (yes – I can even buy Dairy milk!) and cheese (which comes in a can!) at the supermarket in Kigali, I am now happily back in Kibungo. I still love the bus journey because of the amazing views, even though I do frequently get my hair pulled in amazement and had a baby on my lap for most of the 2 hour trip!

Miss Lamborn on a moto

On my way to Zaza with my driver Theogeme

I love visiting schools on the back of a motorbike! It is the most fantastic way to see the beautiful Rwandan countryside (especially now we are starting to get a short but heavy rain shower most days). You can be speeding down the road, then suddenly twist onto a bright red dust dirt track, wind through a ‘plantain jungle’ and then have a bumpy ride down to the green rice paddies. Wherever you are, you always hear cries of ‘Muzungu!’ (which means a person with white skin) which become louder and louder as people come running out of their houses to see you. If I am closer to home, I sometimes receive happy cries of ‘Louise’, which makes me feel even more special! When I wave to greet them, people give me the most lovely smiles, wave back happily and often groups children chase behind you until they are too tired to run anymore.

When you arrive at a school, you are quickly surrounded by curious faces that turn into smiling faces when you say “good morning”. This, in fact, is not only true of moto-rides, but of going anywhere. The other day, I was walking home from the office, when a group of about seven children, aged between about 6 and 10, began running to catch up with me, tell me their names, shake my hand and walk all the way to my front door with me. On market days, the women walking with bananas, pineapples and tomatoes piled high on their heads laugh happily when I try to greet them in Kinyarwanda and walk with me, asking questions I usually don’t understand! (I am having Kinyarwanda lessons twice a week, which is helping). I feel very lucky to receive such attention and feel very welcome here.

I have now visited 9 primary schools and today I went to Zaza ‘Teacher Training College’, which is where older children and young adults study to become teachers. I helped teach an English lesson in a class where some of the students were nearly as old as me! It was a new experience for me, but I really enjoyed it. The students were wonderful, so enthusiastic and eager to welcome me to their school and keen to make the most of having someone from England, who might be able to help them improve their English. They all live at the school and I enjoyed looking round, seeing the classrooms, kitchens and where the students sleep.

The students at Zaza using my camera

Next week I am going to be doing two days of training for the 65 headteachers who work in the same area as me. I think it will be quite scary to have to talk to that many people, but I am looking forward to it because it will help me work out how I can best help the children here to learn.

My Rwandan House

As promised, please find below some pictures of my house in Kibungo!

My house in Kibungo (front view)

Luxury living room complete with sofas! A great surprise!

My bedroom

A weekend treat - eating pancakes for breakfast in my kitchen!

New country, new home

I can’t believe I landed in Rwanda only two weeks ago and so much has happened! I hope you are all settling back into your new classes at school, I’m sure you have all been very busy too. Thank you to everyone who has left comments on my blog. My school email account has been closed now that I don’t work at Dorney School anymore, so this will be the best way to get in touch with me.

When I finally arrived in the capital of Rwanda, Kigali (after my plane took a detour and stopped in Uganda for an hour!), I was greeted by people from VSO Rwanda who gave me a flower and the warmest welcome. I was very pleased that all of my luggage and my motorbike helmet (which I had filled with chocolate!) had arrived safely too. I was taken, with 18 other new volunteers, to a guesthouse for some training about my new job. I spent ten days learning about the country of Rwanda, learning more of the local language and learning practical things like how to set up a water filter and light a kerosene stove! This is because all the water here has to be boiled and filtered before you can drink it and there is often no electricity to turn on a stove or oven to cook your tea. I was also taught lots of other important things about the way people act in Rwanda and how important it is to respect these differences. For example, you must NEVER eat or drink in public here, yawning means you’re hungry and you greet people by touching heads three times!

Towards the end of my training, I was treated to a ‘family meal’, where all the old and new VSO volunteers get together (there are about 50 in Rwanda at the moment) and have dinner together. There was also traditional Rwandan dancing, which I later had to try for myself!

Traditional Rwandan dancing

On Tuesday evening, I arrived in my new home in a town called Kibungo, which is two hours away from the capital city. I was very happy when I opened the door because the house is much bigger and much cosier than I expected. I will take some photos soon and post them on here so you can see for yourselves! The house has three bedrooms and at the moment I am sharing with another lovely volunteer called Cathy. In my bedroom I have a huge mosquito net hanging over my bed to protect me from any nasty biting bugs at night! There has not been much electricity or water since I have arrived, so we have been cooking on the kerosene stove and washing using buckets of water that we have stored up from the outside tap when the water has come on. The best thing about my new home is the view! If I peep over the fence at the back of my house, I can see for miles down into the valley below. You can also see loads of banana and plantain (green bananas) trees everywhere you go.



The view from my house



I start my job of working with teachers in the different schools in my area tomorrow, but I did visit a school on Friday to begin to see what schools here are like. I took my first motorbike ride to get to the school, which was great fun! The children were very excited when I arrived. Many of them have never met somebody from England before and have also not seen somebody with my colour skin and hair! Lots of handshaking went on and there were huge smiles all round! The classes are much bigger than at home – about 50 children in a class, but they are very well behaved and really keen to learn. The visit has made me really look forward to starting my job and working with the people here.

Kindergarten at Gahurire School

Excited Butterflies

After buying a brand new (LARGE) purple, spotty suitcase (and thanks to a very patient Mrs Lamborn a.k.a my mum!) I am now well on the way to being packed. The items on my very long to do/to buy/to take lists are now crossed off and I feel pretty much ready to get on that plane at 9pm tomorrow. There are butterflies in my tummy, a few are nervous, but most of them are very excited butterflies.

I hope you are all looking forward to starting the new school year on Monday, have a lovely weekend in the sunshine. Next time I write, I will be in Rwanda!

Rwanda, here I come...!

Boxes, boxes everywhere!

Everytime I walk into my room I am confronted by small piles and large boxes that I really must sort in to some kind of order... and I only have 11 days left in which to do this! The children who are reading this know that I am quite a tidy teacher in the classroom, often asking for chairs to be tucked in and even appointing a pencil monitor in an effort to win the 'Tidy Classroom Cup'. Well children, I think you would be shocked if you saw Miss Lamborn's bedroom!

The 'Boots' voucher I was kindly given by Year 3 parents at the end of the year has been put to very good use. I bought so much that I actually had to go and ask if they had a trolley I could use! Thet didn't and the man at the checkout desk looked at me in horror when I arrived with a number of over-flowing baskets full of bottles and boxes, lotions and potions. It is very difficult to predict how much shampoo and mosquito spray I will need for a whole year! I have also made many other purchases that I am very excited by, such as a 20 litre Solar Shower!

I know a little more about where I will be living now and was even lucky enough to meet up with somebody that I am going to be working with and living 10 minutes away from. I will be living in town called Kibungo, which is about 100km from the capital city Kigali. I should be able to access the internet (although it will be much slower than what I am used to) and so I will use this blog to keep you updated about my adventure.

I hope all the children reading this have had a fantastic summer holiday and you are looking forward to seeing all your friends back at school soon. I would love to hear what you are up to, so do please post a comment on here. I had better get back to my to do list, as I still have many things to organise and lots of friends to see. Write soon!