Home.
I'm home. And by home I mean Rwanda of course.
It's like I never left. I've been here for 8 days now and I feel like I have been here forever. I even had a brief moment where I forgot what my job was back in New Zealand. I also completely forgot who my flatmate was when she messaged me on Facebook and got a shock to get a message about someone wanting to buy my car (wait-i own a car?)
I take this as a great sign.. it means that I am adjusting well.
I still feel like I can't settle down fully and get comfortable yet.
This is mainly due to my visa. I currently have a one month visa and am applying for a 2 year work permit. I've submitted all my forms and now I am waiting on the decision of immigration. A little part of me thinks that if I dont get the visa I will just go home and forget about the whole going to Rwanda thing. This stems from anxiety around the (super scary) visa process. But the other part of me says that i will just have to find a way. I am not one for giving up. A lot of people have problems getting a visa in a lot of countries and they persevere and persevere and get there in the end. Plan C is getting married to one of my colleagues for a few weeks in order to stay in Rwanda, or so is the office joke!
So please pray for me , that the visa process will go smoothly and that I will be able to stay in Rwanda for at least these next two years.
Even though I don't feel like I can settle down and feel comfortable yet, I am starting to plant deeper roots than i ever have before. For example I opened a bank account in Rwanda and transferred a year's worth of money to my account in Rwanda.
I also bought a whole house full of furniture. A gas cooker, a fridge, 2 big beds, clothes rack, shelves, bamboo cane table couches and chairs. Most of it was locally made and it was amazing to support local artisans. The prices were extremely reasonable compared with new furniture in NZ too.
My house is slowly becoming a home.
I feel incredibly blessed by my beautiful house. I live amongst a banana tree, mango tree and papaya tree. Also less fun -lizards, mosquitos and a scorpion. I also have the most incredible Land Lords/ family. My Landlords are Mama Nono , a super religious (goes to all niģt fasting/prayer meetings) 60 year old lady. Papa Nono (her super sweet husband) lives with her and one of their super shy (of girls) but lovely sons David who is in his early 30s.
I feel so loved by David and Papa and Mama Nono.They make the time every day to meet with Claire and I to make sure everything is okay. Mama Nono brings us food and last night a hot water bottle when Claire had a sore stomach.
Mama Nono loves gardening and has these beautiful huge pot plants with flowers growing out of it. The pot plants were at the front of the property in front of her house (our house is at the back of the property. ) I mentioned to Claire (my friend who is living with me) that i thought they were beautiful. The next day I arrived home from work and Mama Nono had heard about this and had paid for someone to move the massive pot plants to the front of my house so that i could admire them every time I left my home. I mean, how sweet is that??
Mama Nono also decided she didn't want me to using a traditional Rwandan toilet (squat over hole in ground) and decided to convert one of our existing out buildings into a western toilet. For no extra money. I never said anything about the toilet and reassured her that I was fine with a Rwandan toilet, so it was totally her own initiative.
Before I knew it 2 men had arrived to dig a loooong hole in the out building at my home. I looked down it this morning and it was about 15 metres deep (eeeek! ) and apparently it is still going to be 3 times deeper. I'm guessing even though the toilet will be western, the waste will be still disposed of the same way as traditional toilet.
My work at Best Family Rwanda also is amazing. I love that they are all about empowerment and not hand outs. I love the servent hearted nature of the leadership. I love that they dont treat me like a mazungu and expect me to pay for everything. Instead they are the ones buying my lunch, driving me place, buying me gifts, and showing me "Cayaaare" (Care) etc.
My colleagues are the perfect mix of Jesus loving, passion (about making Rwanda a better place ) and hilarity (and not taking life to seriously). As you can imagine I fit right in.
Ive had the pleasure of meeting some of the children on home visits and also at tbe Saturday programme that they run every Saturday for all the children in the programme. I've also been able to help staff by teaching them computer skills and working together with them on creating new systems of organizing files, keeping up to date with home visits and revamping the existing home visit forms.
I think I definitely have a huge task and a lot of it is around organization, which surprisingly is something I quite enjoy. Also some amazing opportunities around micro finance in Best Family Rwanda which I will be getting involved with (outside of my day to day job). BFR is doing many exciting projects in the community such as providing clean water for a community that previously did not have access to a free public water supply. I am so excited to be part of an organization that is empowering and changing lives.
In my personal life I have been busy catching up with old friends, making new friends, organizing furniture etc for my home. I've had a surprise welcome party thrown for me, spent the day doing parent teacher interviews with Noella, gone to a really awesome church, had cold bucket showers, became a local hero for helping a woman on a busy city street who was having a severe epileptic seizure, received a beautiful hand sewn leather bag as a gift from a child (now adult) who I worked with in Kigali 8 years ago, cooked, sung Rwandan worship songs with my friends and so much more!
Currently I am enroute to Gisenyi (where i previously lived) and planning to stay the weekend there. Time is precious here and I am making the most of every single moment. Praising God that I am finally home and praying that I can be here for much much longer!
It's like I never left. I've been here for 8 days now and I feel like I have been here forever. I even had a brief moment where I forgot what my job was back in New Zealand. I also completely forgot who my flatmate was when she messaged me on Facebook and got a shock to get a message about someone wanting to buy my car (wait-i own a car?)
I take this as a great sign.. it means that I am adjusting well.
I still feel like I can't settle down fully and get comfortable yet.
This is mainly due to my visa. I currently have a one month visa and am applying for a 2 year work permit. I've submitted all my forms and now I am waiting on the decision of immigration. A little part of me thinks that if I dont get the visa I will just go home and forget about the whole going to Rwanda thing. This stems from anxiety around the (super scary) visa process. But the other part of me says that i will just have to find a way. I am not one for giving up. A lot of people have problems getting a visa in a lot of countries and they persevere and persevere and get there in the end. Plan C is getting married to one of my colleagues for a few weeks in order to stay in Rwanda, or so is the office joke!
So please pray for me , that the visa process will go smoothly and that I will be able to stay in Rwanda for at least these next two years.
Even though I don't feel like I can settle down and feel comfortable yet, I am starting to plant deeper roots than i ever have before. For example I opened a bank account in Rwanda and transferred a year's worth of money to my account in Rwanda.
I also bought a whole house full of furniture. A gas cooker, a fridge, 2 big beds, clothes rack, shelves, bamboo cane table couches and chairs. Most of it was locally made and it was amazing to support local artisans. The prices were extremely reasonable compared with new furniture in NZ too.
My house is slowly becoming a home.
I feel incredibly blessed by my beautiful house. I live amongst a banana tree, mango tree and papaya tree. Also less fun -lizards, mosquitos and a scorpion. I also have the most incredible Land Lords/ family. My Landlords are Mama Nono , a super religious (goes to all niģt fasting/prayer meetings) 60 year old lady. Papa Nono (her super sweet husband) lives with her and one of their super shy (of girls) but lovely sons David who is in his early 30s.
I feel so loved by David and Papa and Mama Nono.They make the time every day to meet with Claire and I to make sure everything is okay. Mama Nono brings us food and last night a hot water bottle when Claire had a sore stomach.
Mama Nono loves gardening and has these beautiful huge pot plants with flowers growing out of it. The pot plants were at the front of the property in front of her house (our house is at the back of the property. ) I mentioned to Claire (my friend who is living with me) that i thought they were beautiful. The next day I arrived home from work and Mama Nono had heard about this and had paid for someone to move the massive pot plants to the front of my house so that i could admire them every time I left my home. I mean, how sweet is that??
Mama Nono also decided she didn't want me to using a traditional Rwandan toilet (squat over hole in ground) and decided to convert one of our existing out buildings into a western toilet. For no extra money. I never said anything about the toilet and reassured her that I was fine with a Rwandan toilet, so it was totally her own initiative.
Before I knew it 2 men had arrived to dig a loooong hole in the out building at my home. I looked down it this morning and it was about 15 metres deep (eeeek! ) and apparently it is still going to be 3 times deeper. I'm guessing even though the toilet will be western, the waste will be still disposed of the same way as traditional toilet.
My work at Best Family Rwanda also is amazing. I love that they are all about empowerment and not hand outs. I love the servent hearted nature of the leadership. I love that they dont treat me like a mazungu and expect me to pay for everything. Instead they are the ones buying my lunch, driving me place, buying me gifts, and showing me "Cayaaare" (Care) etc.
My colleagues are the perfect mix of Jesus loving, passion (about making Rwanda a better place ) and hilarity (and not taking life to seriously). As you can imagine I fit right in.
Ive had the pleasure of meeting some of the children on home visits and also at tbe Saturday programme that they run every Saturday for all the children in the programme. I've also been able to help staff by teaching them computer skills and working together with them on creating new systems of organizing files, keeping up to date with home visits and revamping the existing home visit forms.
I think I definitely have a huge task and a lot of it is around organization, which surprisingly is something I quite enjoy. Also some amazing opportunities around micro finance in Best Family Rwanda which I will be getting involved with (outside of my day to day job). BFR is doing many exciting projects in the community such as providing clean water for a community that previously did not have access to a free public water supply. I am so excited to be part of an organization that is empowering and changing lives.
In my personal life I have been busy catching up with old friends, making new friends, organizing furniture etc for my home. I've had a surprise welcome party thrown for me, spent the day doing parent teacher interviews with Noella, gone to a really awesome church, had cold bucket showers, became a local hero for helping a woman on a busy city street who was having a severe epileptic seizure, received a beautiful hand sewn leather bag as a gift from a child (now adult) who I worked with in Kigali 8 years ago, cooked, sung Rwandan worship songs with my friends and so much more!
Currently I am enroute to Gisenyi (where i previously lived) and planning to stay the weekend there. Time is precious here and I am making the most of every single moment. Praising God that I am finally home and praying that I can be here for much much longer!
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