I’m boiling water right now for our filter. Better to do it now while there is water. It has gone off each day I’ve been here but thankfully for not that long. We have two jerry cans of emergency water and a basin in the bathroom to flush the toilet, should the need arise. When the water goes out, we use a saying I learned as a kid staying at Lake Lebarge – “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.” But for now, I count myself as the luck volunteer with running water and electricity. I thought I would give you a description of our house here in Kibungo. I’ve taken some pictures and am hoping that internet somewhere will help me upload them. You should know that picture taking was an ordeal. Inside shots I use my little camera but the battery died. No problem! I’ll use the ones I bought in Kigali. They are FANTASTIC. So fantastic that everytime I “took” a picture, it shut off. You know how little things can make you cry? Well, this did! Why? I don’t know. But I do know that keeping this little blog is my outlet. I know most of you won’t be able to make the journey to Rwanda – (hasn’t it always been somewhere you’ve wanted to go?) – so I need to share my experience with you as a way of keeping myself sane. But I digress….Suffice to say, I took some pictures.
Our house is off the main highway to Tanzania. It’s not in Kibungo town itself but I don’t think there is a distinguishable town centre anyway. Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa so there are houses, schools, shops and people everywhere. The front of our house is a white gate, so you really can’t even see the house. When we enter, though we walk along the gravel with the mango tree to our right. It’s dying and there will likely be no fruit. There are 3 bedrooms and one “dodgy” room, as Tina calls it, where we store extra water. The floor is concrete and the wall might be brick. The floor in the entire house was probably painted green at some point, but that’s mostly gone now. The furniture in the house is probably the best attribute. Normally each volunteer is entitled to 2 chairs, a big table, a small table, 2 sitting chairs, a bed. That’s it. But the landlord has his furniture here and so we have 2 sofas and three arm chairs (all which had fleas until recently), a large dining table with four chairs and a large hutch for storage, plus a coffee table. It’s great! The bathroom is dodgy. The shower drains into a hole in the ground and there is no curtain as such. When I got here, Danny made sure to show me the splash zone so I knew where not to keep my dry clothes. The toilet flushes – most of the time – even if it’s constantly running and the sink works. Granted, you can’t use the water for your teeth or anything. The view is the best part! Hills and valleys and banana trees. The kitchen includes two stoves (kerosene stoves) on the floor, a large water filter, two bins of fruit and vegetables, a storage shelf and a cooking table. My bedroom is large but dark. I have, according to most volunteers, the best VSO bed. It even has little shelves to put my head lamp and books. There is a large built in shelf for my clothes. I’ve asked VSO for my lockable cupboard and small table (which I’m entitled) to fill the room. Plus, there is a local craft shop where I hope to buy a mat this weekend. The back yard has a large brick fence but you can still see the banana trees over the top. It’s all stone with a fire pit in the middle. We should be using it this weekend (I hope!). The laundry lines chris-cross (is that how you spell that) the back, as well. There are some “outbuildings” – one is a traditional African kitchen which I think we’ll try some day and one is a place for our guard (Jean) to keep his things. They are pretty sketchy so I wouldn’t spend anytime there.
All in all, it’s a great little house – complete with geckos, ants, and grasshoppers. Tina has seen more vermin and rodents and bugs so I’m sure I will too. I am not looking forward to that day but suppose I will survive. Personally, I don’t need to “prove myself” in Africa by killing and dealing with them so I’d be happy if they all hid away for the next year. I count myself lucky though. Many volunteers have no water or power. Many move into empty houses alone. Jason, himself, had to sleep on the floor (bed was no good) with mice in a house where locals are taking his water. I have a cozy little house with two great roommates. You are all welcome to come for a visit!
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