bad plumbing, hand washing , rice and beans-welcome to rwanda

Hey all, soo I finally get around to writing in my blog, its Monday morning here and relatively peaceful except for the odd chain saw and car noise. Its amazing to be back 'home' , after that whole year of thinking and dreaming about Rwanda its good to see that Rwanda is exactly how I had left it.. The trip was not as bad as I remembered I had a nine hour stopover in Sydney and I walked across the harbor bridge etc, and then I walked to the opera house and explored the surrounds of Sydney it was very fun but I had very sore feet from that , the bay was beautiful , and I had lunch on the water front, then reluctantly I had to go back to the airport and I saw Sam and poppy at the airport. They knew which gate I would be waiting at so they came to say hello they were also on their way to Thailand but through a different airline. In Thailand Kenya airlines had delayed the next flight by 6 hours , so we got to spend a complimentary 4 hours in a local hotel , so at least I got some sleep. I met some nice people on the trip too. Finally we were on the way to Kenya , and I waited there patiently but painfully for four hours with a Korean girl who couldn't speak English. Then finally on the way to Rwanda via Burundi, when I finally arrived, I had to restrain myself from kissing the ground , I wasn't sure if it would be culturally sensitive to do because the events that took place at the airport were the events that started the genocide. I caught an expensive taxi , I was too tired to bargain , and went to the nearest hotel, It was about 6pm. But I couldn't wait , I had to see my kids, so I caught a moto (a motorbike taxi) and then went to the orphanage , as I was walking down hill I saw children at the bottom , it was dark so I couldn't see who they were , when I walked down a bit further I heard the inevitable whisper of Mazungu , and I stepped a little closer as the boy went to greet me as he shook my hand he looked in my face and said kiiiiimu, I couldn't see who it was because it was so dark but he could see me , he was so happy. I walked into the orphanage and the children were ecstatic, more and more kids emerged from their rooms and screamed with amazement kiiiiimu, it was a very special moment that I will never forget. They started singing the song that they sang when I was gone , they also got presents from me and we all sang and danced in true Rwandan fashion.. that night I got hardly any sleep , just like my luck that I  had chosen the noisiest hotel in Rwanda and I woke up at 2 am thinking it was time to get up , the one and only time I have suffered from jet lag ..the next morning I went to see the kids again , I played there old favorite games with them, like squirting them with a drink bottle. Then I caught the bus to my next adventure Noel orphanage (orpherina) in Nyundo just outside the lake side city of gisenyi. There are 591 children , although some are at uni or boarding school   , but still you meet new children everyday. The things that I found I hadn't missed were the inevitable beans and rice for dinner and lunch , and the very bad plumbing and electricity we have already experienced many power cuts in the few short days I have been there. The toilet hardly flushes the shower although hot which is an absolute blessing , sometimes goes berserk. Washing my clothes by hand is also not very fun , I can get someone to do it for me  , but I will be as independent as possible until I can bear it no longer :) also feeling like a celebrity is fun for the first 5 hours but after a while you get sick of hearing people talk about you behind your back. Yes I am white, so what? But I must say the good things outweigh the bad a million fold... The orphanage is so much fun , my fellow volunteers are really awesome.I have many new favorites among the children. My all time favorite is Noella , shes 14 years old and has some sort of horrible skin disease , someone said it might be leprosy.. Its awful , she is in so much pain and just lies in bed. She is such a sweet girl , and I spend about an hour and a half with her every day , today we made bead necklaces, yesterday we played card games. She gets tired after a while. One day I went to visit her and she wasn't in bed and I got told that she was in the doctors room , I walked in and her wounds were being treated with some sort of alcohol I think , and she was screaming murder,She was actually swearing , and you never hear anyone in Rwanda swear. I felt so awful, I just wanted to take her pain away from her. Please, give me the pain , I prayed .Unfortunately it isn't that easy. At least I find that when we are reading or playing card games she doesn't flinch or shake like she normally does, I think she forgets about her pain , which is an extra incentive for me to visit her and spoil her , because although playing endless card games , with limited conversation because of the language barrier may sometimes be boring , and I am a very impatient person , it really is making a difference in her life. At the orphanage there is a special needs place , some of the children/adults there run around and play , but there are others that sit on the ground  ,and as well as being very physically malformed or handicapped they also react to absolutely nothing,this afternoon the other volunteers Tara Joe and me  , sorted through things in the donation room that we could bring them  , a few days ago we hung up posters in their plain, colorless surroundings , and they were super excited! We sorted out balls and beach balls and got a bag full of baby rattlers, we also brought a radio and some cds and one of my other posters. They were so excited! It was like a party atmosphere, some of the other orphan children came to join in the fun of ball games , dancing and rattling the rattle. The reactions we got from some of the children was amazing. One boy who just sat there , cracked four smiles at the rattle and the ball bouncing in front of him , it almost mademe cry , he looked so adorable with his smile . It was a very special few hours. Some of the mentally handicapped people , who I never see smiling or doing anything were dancing and singing with each other. One severely handicapped girl and me played catch , well it was more me handing her the colorful beach ball , and then me holding out my hands while sitting on the floor next to her while she slightly moved the ball a little closer to my hands for me to grab, I can almost safely say that most of these children with stimulation will have massive improvements. There are other children such as Jean didier , and oscar , who are mentally handicapped but not very severely they are so sweet , Jean didier nearly only says bonjour and that his name is jean didier and oscar doesn't say a lot but he is very sweet. There are also 3 very nice blind guys who I like to chat too , and many other very nice older guys who I talk to too. The older girls are a lot of fun  , the other day I had to give away two bags of clothes to them , they all lined up with plenty of noise and squabbling for an item of clothing , they reminded me of my sisters and me fighting over clothes. Other things I have done these last few days is helped decorate the 5-12 year old girls room , helped with the gorgeous babies and run two crafts mornings , this morning we had about 70 children (although not at the same time , we had 21 in the room at one time  , and once someone had finished the next person was let in ) , making bead necklaces, which was easy and fun, and the other day we made these flower bracelet things. Its very busy there is always something to do , were in the process of handing out all these donated items , to clear out the room for the new volunteer (shes going to sleep in the donation room). The orphanage is huge , every day I find new things. They have goats cows, pigs , sheep , a cat and a kitten , a turtle , tonnes of rabbits and guinea pigs. The town they live in is a rural village on the main high way.Its beautiful, by the mountains . We went for a long walk yesterday , Tara and I , and it was good to see the surrounding area. Gisenyi is lovely too , Its a 15 minute ride by bus , I went for a swim in Lake Kivu on friday , it was super warm , and we had a drink on the tam tam bar by the beach, we also went to the two borders into congo and actually walked through a paddock in congo. So I have officially been and survived one of the most dangerous countries on earth , I did the whole standing in two countries at once.. it was very fun , pity I didn't have my camera ,(I was stupid enough to loose it on my plane but luckily for me my long suffering family organized for other volunteer that is coming this week to get one for me ) Its rainy season here , and when it rains it pours, I don't even go outside.. and I usually love the rain. I hope that all is well back home. I am very well and being very well looked after and am enjoying it here so much . I hope to blog soon .
Mirigue
Kim(uuuuuuuu) :)