The rise and fall of our night guard
on Melissa Hipkins (Rwanda), 28/Jul/2010 07:52, 34 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 have one, and if their placement is in a location rated as being more isolated or dodgy than average, they may even go so far as to have a day guard as well as a night guard . VSO considers the employment of one to be desirable to the extent that it will subsidise his wages. Superficially they act as a deterrent but in practice their duties range from gardener or water carrier through to evening cook and gatekeeper.The area we live in is pretty low risk in terms of crime or danger to the person. In many ways the inconveniences of having someone about the place at night outweigh any possible increase in our security. Because most of the outside area is paved, we need very little help with maintenance or cultivation. When the water is cut off, which at this dry time of the year is most days, watering using the mains is limited. As the water stops and returns at unpredictable intervals, we don't usually wait until the guard turns up before refilling buckets and jerry cans in case it's off again when he arrives. It is an unnecessary faff to wait for the guard to open the gate when all we need do is unlock it ourselves, so we don't need a gate keeper.However, unemployment in general here is high and it's not a big deal to allow for the presence of a third party at times we would normally expect to be alone. So despite there being no real need, we employ a guard. He should arrive each evening at about 6.45, when it's just about fully dark and leave before daybreak at about 5.15. His duties are not onerous, just an inspection every so often around the yard with his torch and a chat with next door. After we have washed up and gone back indoors to watch a film or read, he settles down for the night. He has a key to the gate so is free to come and go.Our present guard, Mathieu, came recommended by Zebounissa. His time keeping is somewhat variable and there has been a suspicion that the heaviness of his eyelids and tendency to sway when standing is not fatigue but intoxication. It has got to the point where Zebounissa has had to talk to him about it.Two evenings ago, Mathieu arrived in a very agitated state claiming to have been robbed. He had a lump on his forehead and a small cut on the bridge of his nose. He still had his phone and his torch but had lost his wallet. We have always had difficulty communicating with him and even with his mimes and the knowledge that "ibisambo" means robbers, we still needed to ring Zebounissa to get a clearer picture. She confirmed that we needed to ring the police to help sort this out. In the interval before their arrival we nervously looked about outside the gate to see if anyone was lurking. Within only 10 minutes police began to arrive, the first on foot and the others by moto taxi. In the end we had about 6 police in the yard, only the constable with the Kalashnikov clearly on the force, as he was the only one uniformed. The interview with Mathieu was polite and initially sympathetic. Mathieu was still upset and when I caught the police using words for beer and drugs. I assumed that his attacker was either drunk or high, but it gradually became clear that it was Mathieu they were accusing of being incapable. It transpired that the robbery had happened, not on our doorstep as we initially thought but towards the town at a small shop. The police decided to escort Mathieu to this spot to help identify his assailant and left to return in 15 minutes with the man responsible.Throughout the police were eager to put us at our ease and were very helpful. The officer the others deferred to told us that Mathieu and his mugger were known to each other and the robbery was as a result of a score between them and not related to his work as our guard. He confirmed that Mathieu was already drunk before coming to us that evening. He felt it best that both parties spend the night at the station and they would examine the case further in the morning.Aphrodise looked in the next morning to ask what all the fuss was about and after hearing the gist told me he had often seen Mathieu drunk. After weighing up all the evidence we could see no other course than to give Mathieu his cards and pay him off. With Zebounissa's help we now have a new guard, Alouis. We'll see how things go with him and hope there are no problems while we are away in Ethiopia.