Goodbye, Gihembe Camp.

When I asked my colleague Theophile about the training schedule for my final morning at Gihembe Camp, he told me that the refugees had requested some time to be able to say thank you and farewell.

I knew from other such occasions that this would be in some ways the most difficult part of my stay in the camp, saying goodbye to people about whom I have come to care a great deal and whom I may never see again. And this time was more emotional than most because of the unexpected arrival of Devote, who had made the three-hour trip from Butare by taxi bus to see me, Bernard and Theophile, and to wish me a safe journey.

Struggling to span three languages at once, I tried to explain to the refugees how much more they do for me than I could ever possibly do for them, and the many lessons that I have learned by being with them for even this short time.

But in the end, I think that the words on the handmade drawing that they presented to me say it best:

“What you have done for me shows that you love me.”

Thank you, refugees of Gihembe Camp. À la prochaine.

Rainy Season.

“The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”

--William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”









The big rainy season seems to have arrived in Rwanda. Even here in Kigali where it is so often hot and sunny, I have awakened today to the kind of rainy Saturday morning that tempts you to do nothing more ambitious than make coffee, grab a newspaper and go back to bed.

But the rain is badly needed in this country and especially in its capitol city, where a shortage of water during the dry season can mean that even those who live in modern houses with plumbing and electricity that work most of the time must carry their water home in jerry cans just like the refugees in the camps.

I’m sure it is raining this morning in Byumba as well, watering the thousands of tree and vegetable seedlings that our IGP group is cultivating in the nursery at Gihembe Camp. This activity was started by a group of elderly refugees, who when asked what they were capable of doing said, “We can tend the land.” After all, this is what they have done for most of their lives in Congo, where both land and rainfall are plentiful.

They used the money from their grant to build the nursery that you see here and to purchase seeds and other supplies. Within a very short time the activity has expanded to the point where they are hiring other refugees to help them with their work.

So as I sit inside on this damp and dreary Saturday, I think of all of them on the hillside, tending their land, appreciating the rain and the mercy that it shows.

Devote.

Some of you who have seen my photos from last summer may remember this young woman whose name is Devote. She is now 20 years old and grew up in Gihembe Camp from the age of 11. She was an excellent student in the school in the camp and the head of the girls’ organization.

For two years Devote has worked as a Refugee Assistant in the Income Generation Program, but she has told me that her ambition is to continue her education at the University and to study to become a doctor.

She may get her wish. When I arrived at Gihembe last week I was told that Devote had just left for Butare, the home of the National University of Rwanda. She is among a handful of refugee students to be awarded university scholarships by the United Nations. I was sad not to be able to say goodbye and wish her well, but very proud and thrilled for her and for the opportunity that she has earned.

Bon travail, Devote, et bonne route.

Sunday in Nyamirambo.

Nyamirambo was one of the first parts of Kigali to be settled, and now it is a bustling commercial district typically African and far different from the sedate and heavily fortified expatriate neighborhood that adjoins it. This afternoon I had a chance to spend a few hours in Nyamirambo as a local, and while this isn’t a story of the refugee camps I thought that you might be interested in how at least a few women passed a Sunday afternoon in Kigali.

The smiling woman in the red t-shirt is named Joy. She is the housekeeper for Barry Wheeler, ARC Country Director and my frequent weekend host. I had told Joy that I would like to get a pedicure this weekend—actually, I was in desperate need of one having walked through the camps in my Teva sandals for the past two months. So we agreed that this afternoon she would take me to Musa’s salon in Nyamirambo, nearby where she lives.

Musa’s salon is clearly among the popular in the quartier. Musa himself is a handsome, bearded Ugandan man who obviously enjoys being surrounded by the somewhat vain and appearance conscious women who fill his shop. Needless to say, I was the only one with white skin and for that reason was a major attraction during the two and a half hours that I sat there having not only my feet but also my hands massaged, smoothed and polished.

Two of Joy’s friends and fellow ARC staff, Miriam and Christine, stopped by and I was able to get a photo of them before I had to put my camera away. But there were at least a dozen other women who came to sit, talk, and spend time together in the typical African way.

A leisurely walk home was the perfect end to a few hours that lifted the small cloud of homesickness that I was feeling when I woke up this morning and replaced it with the warmth and companionship of an unscripted African afternoon.

Women Who Work.

When one of my African friends describes the philosophy behind our program, he is fond of saying that we encounter a person who can barely raise her load as far as her knees and help her so that she is able to lift it onto her head. From there she must carry it the rest of the way herself.

Of course the person carrying the load is usually a woman. In one of the photos that you see here, the woman is Riziki, a Refugee Assistant in the Income Generation Program at Nyabiheke Camp. I took this photo one day after we had all finished work, when Riziki passed by the office on her way to her second job selling vegetables in the market.

The woman weighing potatoes had just carried more than 20 kilograms (see scale) of potatoes on her head from the town market uphill to the Gihembe Camp, where she will sell them as part of a trading group.

And the barefoot woman with the rake was in the middle of tending a vegetable terrace where she and her colleagues have established an amazing nursery and garden on the hill below Gihembe Camp.

To be fair to the men, they were working, too, but the largest things that you will see most of them carrying on their heads are their hats, which are de rigueur especially for the older ones. The man you see here is a friend from my last visit, who dressed in his Sunday best and came to find me when he heard that I was in the camp.

If you want to have a glimpse of what it is like to be here, just spend a moment studying the faces of these refugees and try to imagine yourself in their place.

Helping to make the load easier to carry is the least we can do.



P.S. I apologize if the photos are out of order—I haven’t yet figured out how to control that function in the blog template—but I hope that from the descriptions I’ve given you will understand what you are seeing.

In Case You Were Wondering...

Yes, I am enjoying this work, immensely. And the people you see here are some of the reasons why.

This picture was taken after one of our training sessions for new IGP clients at Gihembe Camp. The man on my left is Bernard, himself a refugee and a teacher in our program, and the women are clients.

During the past three days at Gihembe I have learned and photographed enough for several blog postings. Now I just need to write the accompanying notes. So stay tuned, and enjoy!

"You Are Welcome."

This is what my Rwandese friends and colleagues always say to me when I arrive at their homes, at the office, or at the camp. They say it whether I have been gone for an hour or for a month. And I truly believe that they mean it.

So now here I am, back in Rwanda after a very lovely break in London, and feeling welcomed by one and all.

The next few weeks will be filled with homecomings and farewells, a blend of emotions that I already know will cast a different light on the work that I am doing here and the urgency that I feel to do it as well and as completely as possible before I step back on the plane to Minnesota at the end of April.

I’ll be moving around a lot in the coming weeks, so will update as often as I am able. It has been an incredible journey so far and it is great having you along.