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!