Butare Bombed
on Blog From Beyond (Rwanda), 04/Jan/2010 17:58, 34 days ago
I saw this back at Christmas but neglected to include it, now someone reminded me.Good news and bad:Rwanda Will Not Criminalize Homosexuality- Yay! Good!Five Injured in Grenade Blasts On Christmas- Boo! Bad!As a friend in the field explained:We also had a New Year’s night curfew in my district and Huye after a grenade attack on a bar and, you know what, it was REALLY difficult to get anyone to talk about it or even admit it had happened... Even [friends] clammed up when I asked them...The bomb story was just above another story entitled:For 2010, it’s more tourists and millions in revenue to RwandaWith the approaching elections, one wonders if this change of target frombombing memorial centresto bombing hotels is going to be an attempt to hit Rwanda in the proverbials regarding the tourist trade.It wouldn't take much given the legacy many countries still associate it with. Wouldn't be a particularly smart move either because, if the idea is to destabilise the government by bombing tourist destinations, then what would a new government use to re-build their economy?Tourism is a HUGE earner at the moment. Destroy that and there really ain't a lot else going for it. No natural resources on tap like the DRC, no swathes of agricultural land... attacking the country by attacking its earning potential just handicaps everyone: the government of today and tomorrow.Aaaanyway.The job hunting is going slowly. Been making a few applications. TheChristian countis rising steadily. Think I'm up to about five now:MedairTearfundWorld VisionFood for the HungryProgressioAll international NGOs that advertise fantastic jobs if you're a happy-clappy evangelical. Only, the jobs don't tell you that (for example):All applicantsmustbe committed to Tearfund's evangelical Christian beliefs and in agreement with Tearfund's Basis of Faith document which you must read before applying.Until you get to the very bottom of three pages of highly enticing job description. A horrible waste of time, so now I have the black-list of organisation not to even bother reading. But when you fish out all the jobs they advertise between them, it leaves scant pickings for the rest of us.Loosely related, a friend pointed out the following story today:Who asked for Ireland's blasphemy law?The proposed law does not protect religious belief; it incentivises outrage and it criminalises free speech. Under this proposed law, if a person expresses one belief about gods, and other people think that this insults a different belief about gods, then these people can become outraged, and this outrage can make it illegal for the first person to express his or her beliefs.So Irish law has now enshrined the notion that the taking of offence is more important than free expression. If something might cause a motivated group to be "outraged", rather than, say, cause them to live in fear, then it is illegal, with a fine of up to€25,000 payable.Note the ease with which a prosecution could be brought, and the punitive nature of the fine: this is not legislation that simply serves to tie up a few loose ends.Fascinating stuff, and whereas I'd love to come back with a highly intellectual and well augmented argument, it's actually much more fun to join the FaceBook outrage and chuckle along to the funnies:Nakibazu eh?Shake it all out.Had a lovely day back at work today. An extremely sweet guy on the phone. I'm currently in charge of trying to find students for our Level One and Level Two British Sign Language courses starting on the 11th.It's been rather chaotic because we moved offices over Christmas and only just got back online today. Before the move I was sifting through a file of old scraps of paper collected by previous management, listing people interested in BSL courses. So I started phoning up the numbers and creating a database of interest.One guy had wanted to learn for yonks but nobody had got back to him so he'd sort of forgotten. He was totally enthusiastic when I called him the other week, and a nice guy to chat to. So I took his addy and e-mailed the stuff to him. Only I didn't know it bounced until today when we finally got e-mail access back.I was a little mortified because he'd sounded so interested and been waiting for so long. So I called him back with a grovelling apology and the silliest conversation ensued. I think we were both a bit hyper-active being back at work after the holidays. Maybe too much coffee or something, but it was quite a giggle.It would be fun to meet him before I leave, just out of sheer curiosity. But unlikely to happen as I won't be around when the courses are taking place.So it was a fun day back. I love where I work and the people are absolutely brilliant. They've even suggested me for some Communication Support Work (CSW) at a local college, which would be really excellent. Not well paid but still money and keeps me active. Although my signing capability needs work, my British vocabulary has plummeted and I still use AKR (Rwandan) for 'name' and the one-handed alphabet because it's become second nature and is, admittedly, far more useful when you're holding something in the other hand.It's times like this I feel ashamed that I want to leave it all behind and do something different. I feel ashamed because it's always provided for me. My first proper job at the British Deaf Association after a year bumming around Australia. It pretty much fell out the sky the first day I went job hunting. They even let me project manage the procurement and opening of the first British Sign Language Cultural Centre on Newport Road, Cardiff.Eventually: I don't want to work for the BDA any more.That's okay - join the RNID and BSL Futures scheme and we'll train you as an interpreter. You'll breeze through the selection process.Three months later: I don't want to be an interpreter.That's okay, come do your MA in Language& Communication Research. Studying Deaf people as victims of crime in the British legal system - excellent. Here's your qualification.Err...thanks. But I really want to get out of the country, go travel a bit.Okay, well then here's a job in Rwanda developing the first dictionary of Sign Language and writing a curriculum for adult learners....or Kenya if you like, you've got what we want.Oooh, Rwanda please, I've read about the standardisation of sign languages in books, but never thought I'd actually get to participate! That was fun wasn't it. Oh, but now I'm back in the UK. It's cold, wet, miserable and I'm unemployed.Don't worry! There's an obscure local Deaf organisation in the next village. You'll love it and they'll pay you. Isn't that great.....no. No. That is just freakin' spooky.See, it bothers me. Do you ever wonder if your life is fated somehow? Something's all planned out? There's no reason at all I should ever have learned to sign. It was just a fascination - one which I pursued fervently through my formative years. Now with two degrees and a string of experience in the field how do I break free? Just because youcando it, doesn't mean youwantto do it. But when the opportunities just keep presenting themselves and nothing else does, you just keep taking them...It's not like I don't have transferable skills. I do! Plenty of them: Funding, Project Management, Research, Capacity Building, Strategic Planning....It's just I can't get a job. Probably because people read my blog and think my head is somewhere up my arse *shrug*I'm just feeling very uncertain about the future right now. I didn't go for a permanent position with the organisation I'm with. I didn't do it because I really am having a wonderful time there. It's exactly what I wanted. But because of that, and because I'm grateful, I don't want to mess them about. I know that I'd only take a permanent position until I got another job, then I'd be out of there like a shot having wasted their time, money and effort. That's not a nice thing to do.But, having made that decision, I can now hear the clock ticking down until my contract runs out...tick, tock, tick, tock....No pressure or anything. But Ireallyneed a job. And this time, it sort of needs to pay. I'm not money oriented. I agree it doesn't buy you happiness. But how many really poor people have you ever met who are seriously happy? It certainly has its uses and it's way past time I started earning some.This has turned into a bit of an aimless ramble hasn't it.It is a little exciting though. This transitional period. Anything could happen :)[watch this space...]