New volunteers
on Melissa Hipkins (Rwanda), 23/Sep/2011 07:10, 34 days ago
September has seen a fresh intake of eager volunteers; the numbers augmented by not only the need to replace those whose placements are soon to be at an end but also in response to VSO International’s assessment of the worth of Rwanda as a volunteer destination. Rwanda is the one country in VSO’s gamut of global placements that has been deemed worthy of an increase in the number of volunteer positions available. When we came out there were about 50 of us in the country; now there are plansto have in the region of 75 by the end of the coming year.Consequently, the intake has been larger than usual; nearly 30. Training and orientation is essential for them to bond as a group and to ease the doubts in their minds. It is common for them not to feel up to the task or not to grasp the practical requirements of their particular assignment. Melissa has been busy using her experiences to guide those in the education sector and she rates the intake as a whole well above average and she is confident they will be more than able to meet the challenges.Part of the process of getting the volunteers used to the resources they have available is to get them to meet the volunteers already established in the country. In the course of their almost 2 weeks spent“in country” training they are led in the sessions by experienced volunteers best placed to use their skills and understanding for that section of training. Only about a quarter of the available reserve of volunteers is used for training and in order to meet the rest the Programme office organises a “Welcome Dinner”.For those who have been to previous dinners there are two things not to look forward to; the“bonding” process at the beginning consisting doing daft things to show what good sports we all are, but worse than that to have had the ill-luck to be chosen to run it all. Those with a weaker disposition hide in the pub over the road until rousted out. This year was actually good; we as seasoned volunteers, split into groups, had each to present an experience gained in Rwanda-two true and one made up. The newbie’s had to decide which was the false story. It went quite well except that the venue is a barn of a place and you could do with some sort of PA system.After the meal we were entertained by Intore dancers. We’ve seen Intore dancing no end of times but it still looks good when done as well as that. Again those who’ve been before know it’s time to slip off to the loo when they get to the end of their set to avoid the audience participation.It has been known that Coral was to be the replacement for Melanie this autumn; the plan was that she would be here to help Coral settle in. However, with Melanie’s premature return to the UK, Coral was going to be up against it. Coral and Melissa had met and had time to talk about Nyanza and the district during the in country training. If we had had the keys to the house, Melissa would have been able to tell Coral what she needed to buy, but as the landlord still had them in order to do repairs and some painting; the state of the house would be a nice surprise for us all.In order for a volunteer to get all their luggage and stuff they’ve bought for their house at the beginning of their placement, the District organises a pick-up truck to ferry them from Kigali to the house they have been allocated. It’s possible to do it using public transport but lugging everything to the bus and then organising transport to a house you’ve never been to and trying to explain where it is to a taxi driver who speaks only Kinyarwanda is a nightmare. Our first sight of the house since Melanie left at the end of May is a bit of a shock. The landlord has indeed been in but not done any of the repairs to the plumbing that were promised. Hehas done a fair job of painting the rooms. The floors are misted by droplets of emulsion interspersed with larger gobbets; a star map on the dark rendered finish. The feeling of a tropical night is augmented in the kitchen where the whole room is a rich dark blue, the gloom relieved only slightly by the room’s tiny window. As a practical solution for a place where you need to see what you’re doing it has not been well thought out.We felt a call to the landlord to change the colour would probably not go down well so it was decided to do the job in-house and buy something in a lighter shade. The landlord’s blue was an oil paint but in order to get on with it quickly and be able to wash the excess off easily we went for a water based product. So it was with much emulsion that we contemplated the task ahead. It took four coats but in the end the effect was startling. With each successive layer theroom gradually emerged from obscurity. The whole of the 20 litre jerry can of “French Stone” went on the walls, the floor, Melissa and Coral and their clothes.We had called upon Aphrodise’s aid to select a plumber to do those things that had not been done by the landlord. To reconnect the loo to the mains water was easy enough but to replace the bathroom basin was a bit trickier. There hadn’t been a washbowl of any sort for some years so he had to start on the assumption that the waste and water pipes that still peeped from the wall would work. Because we had picked a day when the water was off, no check was possible. At least there would be a place to wash hands even if it has to be filled from a jerry can.Melanie has had her baby; it was induced to come and arrived on Friday September 16 weighing 8 lbs 8oz named Namayanja Marian. Moses is ecstatic. He has reason to have his cup running over; he looks as though he finally has had his UK visa granted so it won’t be too long before he can see Melanie and Namayanja in the flesh.Jacky is back to work; 3 days a week instead of 5. I’m not sure whether she welcomes the additional 2 days rest or whether she could really do with the extra money. Kevin is proving a handful. I don’t know how he is at home but here he hardly seems to have been laid down after a feed than he’s bawling again. She’s pretty good with him but shecan’t manage to feed him enough herself; she showed me she had a really nasty sore spot on one breast so she bottles him as well. It’s not that obvious what the problem is and I didn’t feel it my place to have a closer look, there being just the two of us at the time.It’s gone quiet with the milk project; Mackenzie and I spent some time in Gisenyi producing a film of how udder preparation should be done bearing in mind the practical considerations necessary. You can see it on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suVranSMiZM All the commentary is in kinyarwandabut you get the idea. The reason for the hold up is one of marketing; a lot of effort and research is going into the concept of mobile milk stalls to sell the products in Kigali. I was in the loop on the discussions early on but it soon became apparent that any veterinary input was superfluous. Oneproposal from the marketing men related to my declaration that cloths for cleaning and drying the udder should not be shared between cows. We had worked on this principle with the farmers and none had objected to the initial outlay. Paper towels would be better but in the long run they are expensive and disposal is a problem. Cotton towels, provided they are washed and dried daily, are very acceptable and being reusable not too expensive over the long term. The suggestion from the marketeers was for leaves or husks to be used instead of cloths in order to save the farmers money. If they are still serious I will have to see how they get on cleaning their own hands like that before sitting down to a meal.