Title: Melissa Hipkins (
Rwanda)
Status: Active
URL:
http://melissawanda.blogspot.com/
All Posts Cached via RSS
Photographs - 20/May/2012 16:58 - 4582 days ago
www.flickr.com/people/16265291@N00/CachedHopefully this link will whet your appetite...
The pleasures of being a volunteer - 17/Oct/2011 06:42 - 4798 days ago
The end of our placement in Rwanda is now in sight. There remains a little over 3 weeks if you don’t count the 2 weeks we are ...
Adult Literacy Visits Sept/Oct 2011 - 08/Oct/2011 14:25 - 4807 days ago
The level of interest shown for this pilot has increased significantly over the past year. Apolline, Vice Mayor Social Affairs a...
New volunteers - 23/Sep/2011 07:10 - 4822 days ago
September has seen a fresh intake of eager volunteers; the numbers augmented by not only the need to replace those whose placeme...
Beer and milk lead to strange encounters - 23/Aug/2011 07:25 - 4853 days ago
Last week we had a tragedy in the town. The Monday of our arrival back from Kenya was a bank holiday, celebrating The Assumption...
Alternative to amber nector! - 25/Jul/2011 08:15 - 4882 days ago
It’s great to be back in demand again. Through a series of coincidences, I have been able to team up with an NGO that is keen ...
Adult Literacy Training is going from strength to strength - 14/Jul/2011 09:40 - 4893 days ago
Thanks to the on-going support of VSO and friends in UK, we have managed to expand the pilot to three schools in Cyabakamyi Sect...
The increase in Rwandan nationals - 23/Jun/2011 13:13 - 4914 days ago
Jacky will leave us at the end of this month as her pregnancy becomes more of a hindrance to her. That gives her about 5 weeks t...
Royal wedding Rwandan Style - 30/May/2011 12:51 - 4938 days ago
From time to time the British diplomatic staff in Kigali get it in their heads to meet and greet any Brits in the country. Norma...
Cheetahs of Serengeti - 12/May/2011 14:24 - 4956 days ago
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The ups and downs of living here! - 06/May/2011 11:22 - 4962 days ago
Further to my hunt to change status from househusband to someone actively helping towardsimproving the conditions of livestock h...
Reflections in April - 14/Apr/2011 11:45 - 4984 days ago
This is the middle of genocide memorial week, picked to mark the beginning of the months of slaughter in 1994. April 6 was the d...
The joys of african time! - 23/Mar/2011 08:13 - 5006 days ago
African time is often practised here, a meeting that is scheduled to start at 9.0am could well commence at 10.0am if you are luc...
The patter of tiny feet? Maybe. - 20/Mar/2011 09:34 - 5009 days ago
Jackie had something she needed to say on Friday. I could tell this was more than run of the mill as she murmured“Mademoiselle...
Routine and road rolling - 18/Feb/2011 08:55 - 5039 days ago
Daily routine- now with the likelihood of my employment being still some months away, the days are beginning to merge one with t...
Wedding...the real photos! - 09/Feb/2011 13:19 - 5048 days ago
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Celebrations in Kampala! - 09/Feb/2011 13:09 - 5048 days ago
The big event since Christmas has been the wedding of Melanie and Moses in Uganda. They would have preferred the ceremony to hav...
Celebrations in Kampala - 08/Feb/2011 13:09 - 5049 days ago
The big event since Christmas has been the wedding of Melanie and Moses in Uganda. They would have preferred the ceremony to hav...
Employment prospects - 25/Jan/2011 11:36 - 5063 days ago
In anticipation of my contract with ISAE beginning in January, and in view of contact between myself and the college being prett...
Christmas 2010 african style - 21/Jan/2011 05:46 - 5067 days ago
I realise with surprise that it is over 6 weeks since I last put finger to keyboard. Things have not stopped happening; I’ve t...
Welcome 2011! - 10/Jan/2011 08:27 - 5078 days ago
2011 has started with a bang! New Year on safari in Tanzania followed by a fantastic wedding in Kampala....
Cyabakamyi learns to read! - 15/Dec/2010 06:52 - 5104 days ago
Around Christmas time more than any other period in the year gives one the opportunity to reflect on the past year and look to t...
Our adopted so-called friends! - 29/Nov/2010 07:42 - 5120 days ago
In the canon of aggravations and irritants, the mosquito pales beside the flea. Mosquitoes have a deservedly poor reputation and...
Short back and sides, Sir? - 22/Nov/2010 08:25 - 5127 days ago
Before volunteers are accepted for placements through VSO they go through a pretty rigorous vetting system that requires them to...
Working with illiterate adults in Cyabakamyi Sector, Nyanza District, Southern Province, Rwanda. - 05/Nov/2010 11:42 - 5144 days ago
The introduction, in Rwanda, two years ago of free nine years basic education, soon to be extended to twelve years, has left the...
A situation when my impotence has consequences - 03/Nov/2010 05:46 - 5146 days ago
Zebounissa texted me this morning with a message to say one of her cats was not well, was I at home and would I come and have a ...
More ruminations! - 25/Oct/2010 13:28 - 5155 days ago
Melissa holds informal English classes every Tuesday after work and it’s usually pot luck who turns up to them but one face th...
Our cosy home! - 20/Oct/2010 11:02 - 5160 days ago
We have had a visit from a team of men spraying the insides of houses as part of an anti malaria campaign. When they arrived at ...
Birthday celebrations start early! - 04/Oct/2010 06:34 - 5176 days ago
Melanie and I almost share the same birthday..just one day and a few years separate us! We had a small party for friends at the ...
The tree that is....not! - 01/Oct/2010 13:39 - 5179 days ago
Since finishing my training with the scanner at ISAE, it’s been rather tranquil here in Nyanza. The second session of training...
The rains cometh? - 13/Sep/2010 07:03 - 5197 days ago
It looks as though the rains have begun, but they may be a bit early according to precedent. Late September or early October is ...
Other primates spotted plus other things! - 01/Sep/2010 12:19 - 5209 days ago
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My new family! - 31/Aug/2010 10:55 - 5210 days ago
Visiting this troupe of wild chimps was a huge adventure in many ways...more later!...
Ethiopia: Down south - 25/Aug/2010 11:27 - 5216 days ago
Guides really make or break a holiday and you're bound to get a fair spectrum on the index of compatibility during a 2 week trip...
Ethiopia: a tourist’s tale - 20/Aug/2010 05:55 - 5221 days ago
Ethiopia would not have been top of the list of our holiday destinations while huddled round the fire on a winter's day in the U...
A taster of Ethiopia - 17/Aug/2010 07:57 - 5224 days ago
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The rise and fall of our night guard - 28/Jul/2010 07:52 - 5244 days ago
You may recall that since the end of February we have employed a man to act as night guard for the house. Most of the volunteers...
The dry season continues - 22/Jul/2010 11:36 - 5250 days ago
For all it's the dry season, the sky is often dull and overcast, especially in the mornings. There is a breakthrough by the sun ...
Whirlwind week - 11/Jul/2010 12:19 - 5261 days ago
A whirlwind week which will stay with me for a long time! On the first day of July, the Rwandese celebrate, albeit modestly, Ind...
Our house and grounds - 01/Jul/2010 14:07 - 5271 days ago
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Final teaching for now - 01/Jul/2010 13:49 - 5271 days ago
I have finished my spell of teaching and practicals at ISAE and now I have the sobering duty to mark the exams I have set. It's ...
The parcel has arrived! - 21/Jun/2010 08:26 - 5281 days ago
May I first say thank you once again to all those involved in organising and contributing to the parcel. I believe Linda was the...
Training sports day - 16/Jun/2010 08:07 - 5286 days ago
We had fun with rice sack races, potato and spoon race and the three legged challenge!...
Quiet weekend away - 07/Jun/2010 06:48 - 5295 days ago
We have just spent a couple of nights this weekend at a hotel beside Lake Kivu a few miles outside Gisenyi in the north west of ...
Training Rwandan style - 01/Jun/2010 14:33 - 5301 days ago
The mechanised alarm resonates in my dream. I turn over open one eye, the sound continues. It is five o'clock in the morning, th...
Gisenyi photos - 31/May/2010 07:04 - 5302 days ago
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Animals still live! - 28/May/2010 04:41 - 5305 days ago
My sheep prosper, albeit I have to constantly remind the staff at the clinic to provide water for those tethered sheep felt to b...
School facilities! - 24/May/2010 08:17 - 5309 days ago
These are typical of the rural school's basic facilities: hand washing, toilets, Director's office, staffroom and sport's pitch....
There’s good news and bad news! - 19/May/2010 05:17 - 5314 days ago
To continue the story of the unfortunate ram and the complications of a relatively simple op, it was still alive this morning an...
First day nerves! - 12/May/2010 05:19 - 5321 days ago
Well, the day has finally arrived; I am in a cheap hotel in Musanze having done my first day lecturing and taking a practical. I...
My journey home - 04/May/2010 18:13 - 5329 days ago
After the familiar chime ofwindowsclosing, I shut my laptop's lid, zip it up in its padded powder blue carrying case. This is on...
Majestic maasai - 03/May/2010 05:41 - 5330 days ago
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The joys of ICT2 - 27/Apr/2010 17:01 - 5336 days ago
It's been a quiet spell since we got back from Tanzania, last week we were both in Kigali for "in country training" run by VSO t...
The marvels on safari - 24/Apr/2010 07:43 - 5339 days ago
We not only encountered the vast serene magic of the wilderness..the animals were magestic as well!...
On safari! - 15/Apr/2010 05:36 - 5348 days ago
We are just sitting down and taking stock having just come back from a trip to Tanzania. This was our effort to keep out of the ...
Week away on safari - 12/Apr/2010 14:42 - 5351 days ago
These are just a taster of what we have been up to over the last week..............more to come!...
Ankole cattle - 02/Apr/2010 10:52 - 5361 days ago
Gravity works in odd ways here! The horns seem in need of a certain blue pill?...
Pictures of the happy couple - 02/Apr/2010 10:30 - 5361 days ago
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Rain has its uses! - 31/Mar/2010 13:04 - 5363 days ago
Aphrodise and I had a productive day yesterday. There has been a piece of guttering that's been lying around in the courtyard fo...
Even we scrub up well! - 30/Mar/2010 17:40 - 5364 days ago
We attended the social event in the Nyanza calendar this weekend. A wedding and a half. I was lucky enough to be asked to wear t...
Neighbours dressing up - 26/Mar/2010 15:44 - 5368 days ago
Sunday is the day for church, parties and, of course, dressing up. Last sunday there was a party atmoshere down our road, with f...
Up north! - 23/Mar/2010 10:58 - 5371 days ago
Aphrodise came round last night to bring the carpenter to fix the gaping hole that has been a feature of the bathroom ceiling si...
Gorillas were ........ - 22/Mar/2010 13:06 - 5372 days ago
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Wow gorillas...taster photos - 22/Mar/2010 12:49 - 5372 days ago
Our first sightings of mountain gorillas. Absolutely amazing....................!...
A mad sparrow - 14/Mar/2010 15:52 - 5380 days ago
This bird spent half an hour attacking itself!...
Wildlife at Lake Kivu - 14/Mar/2010 12:48 - 5380 days ago
There were some great birds at Lake Kivu...
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