When Dr. Murray (Uncle Paul) is on away from home, he writes letters to his nieces Heidi (6) and Morag (2).  A letter from Rwanda is unlikely to get home so he is posting them here instead so the girls will get them and others might enjoy them.

28/9/2019, 4.50pm CAT.  Good News Guest House, Gikondo district, Kigali, Rwanda

My very dear friends Heidi and Morag.

Yesterday was a very long day.  Our itinerary was as follows…

6.45am (BST): Leave Kirkcaldy High School (bus)
7.30pm (BST): Arrive Edinburgh Airport (EDI)
10.40am (BST): Flight leaves Edinburgh Airport (EDI) – 4h 20min flight time
5.00pm (GMT+03:00) – Flight arrives Istanbul Airport (IST)
6.25pm (GMT+03:00) – Flight leaves Istanbul Airport (IST) – 6h 30min flight time
11.55pm (CAT) – Flight arrives Kigali Airport (KGL)
1.30pm CAT: arrive at Good News Guest House, Kigali

The flights felt very long and this was compounded by the fact that the two flights were right after each other making it essentially 11 h on a plane. However, the food was jolly good.  We were served a spinach frittata type thing on the first flight and a chicken curry (which was particularly tasty) on the second.

Immigration took a while and at one point I wasn’t sure whether the immigration officer believed that I really am a teacher, but I was eventually allowed through.  The others were much quicker once they figured out that we were all together.

Outside the airport we met David, one of the people we will be working with here in Rwanda.  He and his team helped us lug the cases (most of which are full of donations) through the window of a small bus before boarding ourselves to head to our accommodation.  Incidentally, compound containing the guest house also includes a Methodist Church from which I can currently hear some lovely singing as practice for the service tomorrow morning.  The accommodation is really nice and of course, every room includes a mosquito net.  This is a country where mosquitoes can carry malaria so we will all be on medication and slathered with “Deet” repellent while we’re here.  By the time we’d unloaded and found our rooms it was 2.00am so bed seemed a suitable option.

Here’s a bit of history.  Rwanda was several Kingdoms (in a similar way to most countries I guess – hence “Kingdom of Fife”) but became part of German East Africa in 1884.  In 1916, Belgium took control and they held it until the late 1950s when a fairly bloody revolution occurred leading to a referendum in 1961 where the citizens voted to abolish the monarchy.  This in turn led to independence on 1st July 1962.  There was a military coup in 1973 and tensions between the three major clans (Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa) grew over the next few years leading to a civil war in 1990 and then of course, the genocide that lasted from the April to July 1994.  The significance of this cannot be underestimated as somewhere between 800,000 and 1,000,000 people were killed.  This event shapes the country I am in today and I will find out more about it later in my visit.

Modern day Rwanda is a pretty stable country.  They have a democracy and a president (Paul Kagame) who seems to be pretty well respected and is also Chairperson of the African Union .  Poverty has decreased and life expectancy has increased.  The economy has grown and tourists are starting to come here.  Things seem to be going well and I’m so excited to be able to experience that.  End of history, for the moment.

My alarm at 7.00am this morning felt bit rough but I very much enjoyed a breakfast of toast, tea, eggs and fruit al-fresco (in the garden of the Guest House) before departing for the Batsinda street kids project in Batsinda, one of the suburbs of Kigali.  We knew we were getting close as the road quality decreased rapidly leading to what the locals term an “African Massage” (i.e., being chucked around in a vehicle due to potholes in the road).  As we approached the project, we started to be noticed and by the time we got off, there was quite an audience.  Loads of the children accompanied us for the last few meters to the building with hands being shaken, hi-fived and held in many cases.  Once we entered, David explained the project which looks after around 75 kids who otherwise would be living in holes in walls and by the side of the road.  Like in the UK, this often leads to drug and alcohol abuse and while education is free, materials (jotters, uniform etc.) are not (and are compulsory) so attending school can be a real challenge for the kids here.

Today is  “Umuganda”, a day of compulsory community service for all in the country.  Within a short period of time we were in teams preparing lunch, fetching water and sanding and varnishing some tables.  I found myself on the water fetching team and managed to utterly soak myself with a jerrycan of water while trying to carry it with both hands, much to the amusement of the locals.  Looking to ingratiate myself,  I took the shift on the top of the massive water container, decanting the jerrycans in.  I very much enjoyed it up there.  I had a great view of downtown Kigali and didn’t mind the extra soaking I got – the weather was starting to heat up.  Once we’d finished that job, I shifted some rocks, sanded and varnished some tables and before long found myself in a “dance off” to some music being played on a TV inside the house.  My attempts at the “vogue” coupled with a pseudo-Highland-Dance seemed to go down well but I think I was more a figure of amusement as opposed to being celebrated for my funky moves.  I am not a dancer by any stretch, but I threw myself into the situation nonetheless and was proud of myself for doing so.

David showed us some traditional Rwandan dancing (which really was beautiful and very graceful) before the stage was ours.  I strapped on the kilt, picked up the fiddle and the KHS team demonstrated the “Gay Gordons”, “Virginia Reel” and ”Military Two Step”.  The kids seemed to enjoy it and clapped along in time.  They all wanted a shot of the fiddle so that was passed around more people that I could count.  Soon, lunch was ready, so we partook in a fish stew with rice and tatties which was all the more delicious considering we’d been involved in the making of it.  An intense game of draughts then occurred between me and Kieron before I knocked the board in my clumsiness.  We decided that it was everyone’s game.

Sadly, it then came time to leave so we thanked our hosts and told them we’d look forward to seeing them later in the week.  They are such lovely people and involved in such an important initiative.

Now back at the Guest House I have had a chance to shower (I was manky after my adventures with rocks and the water cooler) and unpack before collecting my thoughts here.  I am now looking forward to dinner and sharing thoughts on the day with my KHS friends, all of whom showed amazing resolve today, despite being so tired after the long and late day yesterday.  I will write again with more, but I hope this finds you both well.  I am having a most wonderful time.

I remain as ever your very good and loving friend.

Paul ♫ xx