Employment prospects
on Melissa Hipkins (Rwanda), 25/Jan/2011 11:36, 34 days ago
In anticipation of my contract with ISAE beginning in January, and in view of contact between myself and the college being pretty bitty, Melissa and I decided to spend a couple of days in Musanze. We could combine some pre-Christmas shopping at their splendid market and a meeting with Dr Juvenal to firm up the arrangements.We chose not to patronise Bamboo guest house again but to try somewhere a bit less basic and out of range of the muezzin calls. The Muhabura hotel looked good on paper and it was closer to ISAE but further out from the town and the restaurants. On arrival it was clear that the room was well away from the car park; one of the bugbears of Bamboo was the proximity of the room to all the vehicles. The drivers lodged there had the daily task of ferrying clients to and from the gorillas in the Virunga national park. For some reason each of them found it necessary to start their engine half an hour before their actual departure, then proceed with all those fiddly maintenance tasks, sweeping out the compartments, washing the truck, changing wheels, slamming doors to make sure they made the right type of noise. All the while, diesel fumes would infiltrate into the room under the door or through the air bricks. Because heating is never a requirement for a room, little is done to fill gaps or make doors and windows fit properly. Even in expensive hotels, sound proofing is not uppermost during construction. But I digress.We explored the markets; Musanze has the luxury of two, one that is as good as most you’ll find in a large town and another, bigger market that just sells anything to wear. This market is entirely enclosed by brick walls and about 100 metres square. There is a wide alley way forming a perimeter where the larger higher class stalls have their pitch. For the brave but discerning shopper there are connecting claustrophobic passages dripping with clothes on hangers and material for dresses. It’s like pushing into a dark wardrobe.It’s a revelation what can be bought; 90% of it second hand and probably has been donated by you or your friends at your nearest recycling point. So long as the clothes are subject to the minutest scrutiny and haggling skills not abandoned in the chase, bargains are plentiful. I have bought most ofmy shirts and shoes from there, but I draw the line at underclothes.After a good dinner of rabbit and chips and a fairly restful night I caught the early bus to Busogo to have a long meeting with Dr Juvenal about how the contract would work out in practical terms. The contract is simple and short, perhaps too simple in that it has many points open to misinterpretation and many clauses common to other contracts omitted. After about an hour or so we seemed to have sorted out all the major stuff and I promised to send a letter of understanding so that we both had some record of things agreed but not stated directly in the contract.I had remembered from my summer bus journeys to ISAE that the veterinary clinic that caters for the gorillas was not far away from our hotel. I asked Juvenal if he knew anyone there and he gave me a contact number. As I was finished at the college by late morning and we had already explored the market, I thought I would see if Melissa and I could visit. It’s run by a team made up of Americans and Rwandans and we were met by Dr Jan Ramer who ran a small animal clinic in the US. We spent a couple of fascinating hours being shown their facilities and being told some of the practical difficulties in trying to treat 2-300 Kgs of potentially stroppy gorilla.They nearly always deal with cases in the field. Finding them is not that difficult but the only practical way of getting hands on is to dart them; the gorillas know the shape and significance of any rifle-like object, and object they often do. The trick is to try and hide the dart gun until the final moment but it still sets off great consternation and uproar in the troupe when the dart and its effects are made obvious. The daily visits by tourists and their accompanying guides are a good surveillance system so that intervention can be planned with the minimum of delay. I’m not sure what the most complicated thing they have managed to do under these conditions, it’s mostly wounds and snares that need attention. Post mortems are done back at base; the image of a fully grown gorilla being dissected on what is no more than an adapted kitchen table filled me with awe. As to the problem of getting an animal that size away from the grieving troupe and out of the park; respect.It had been agreed that I should have sight of the final version of the contract and see a copy of the letter of invitation, a necessary formality validating the contract, before Christmas. They would probably be sent by email if not by the post. We were also in accord that I should sign the said contract somewhere towards the beginning of January in order that we could begin planning before the official start of the term. It was necessary that we sign together but there was only one weekend that I would be free to meet Dr Juvenal before early January rolled round to the beginning of February.Our appointment was due the second Saturday of January but I had heard nothing recently from ISAE; the contract and accompanying letter had been sent a week ago. What’s more, the contract emailed to me bore no relationship to the one discussed at our meeting. A phone call to Dr Juvenal on the Saturday to confirm the time found him embarrassed and apologetic. He spoke of an amalgamation between the only two veterinary schools in Rwanda and that all the studentshad already gone over to the new site way up in the north-east at Umutara Polytechnic near Nyagatare. There was no contract to sign with ISAE and for him to explain in more detail we agreed to meet the next day.He was punctual and agreed to let Melissa be present. It seems the whole scheme is government policy and out of his hands. Moves to amalgamate and save costs had been around for months; a survey and audit was completed some time in mid-2010. The decision had been taken early December but communication has been slow to trickle down. Umutara had agreed to take some lecturers with the students and to honour the letter of invitation I had been sent. So not all doom and gloom. Juvenal was not entirely clear what the present situation was at Umutara but there seems to be no practical work done there; any surgery training has had to take place in Kampala, at least an 8 hour bus journey away. It actually presents something of an opportunity to get in and plan facilities instead of trying to adapt what’s there. I began to feel a lot more positive.It remained for me to meet the Dean at Umutara to get more information and look at their contract. This I arranged for the following week. Because of the distance to Nyagatare, I had to stay overnight; it was not possible to have a meeting and get back to Kigali for the last bus to Nyanza.Having arrived in Nyagatare by lunchtime as arranged, the Dean could not meet me until later in the afternoon as he had another important meeting to attend. When indeed we did manage to come face to face, he said he had been with the vice-rector discussing my situation. We only had about half an hour to talk and he had no time to meet me in the morning. I had a list of questions to ask but he soon spiked my guns by saying they would not employ anyone who only had an ordinary degree. It was pretty apparent that the interview need not last more than half an hour; indeed five minutes was probably more than enough. I have no master’s degree and that had been known from the outset. My experience counts for nothing though of course the Dean hopes there will be a softening of attitudes in respect of the academic requirements.I am grateful to have had an opportunity to explore the countryside and read some books on the 12 hour journey there and back and the chance to sample the finest hotel Nyagatare has to offer.So here I am back in Nyanza with no useful employment for the time being. I have sent off some emails and made some phone calls but I’m not holding my breath. Juvenal perhaps can use me in production (reproduction, fertility and obstetrics) at Busogo but they have no budget; it will be re-assessed in July. At least I may have another spell with the scanner that looks as though it will stay at ISAE.