A weekend with family.

Le premier janvier 2011! (On January 1st, 2011!)  

Okay, so it wasn’t my family, but when you’re so far from home family is family, right?

This weekend I went with Joselyne, my fellow volunteer in Gisenyi who’s a Rwandan native, to Kigali. There, we were to celebrate her cousin Solange’s defense of her thesis (which was successful) as well as bring in the New Year. Her two aunts and their families live there in a little neighborhood called Kicukiro, not more than a two minute walk from one another.

Arriving at the bus drop-off in Kigali, we then hopped on a local bus that (for 180 francs, equivalent to about 30 cents) took us to the edge of the neighborhood and to the edge of the developed area. Walking from the paved roads onto the red-dirt road, I began to feel a knot in my chest. What did I get myself into? What was I thinking? Had I not realized that Joselyne’s family is poor like everyone else and that it’s not like spending the weekend in Greenwich, CT? How will this change my view of Jo?
 
There was some construction on the road, so all but a 12-inch path overlooking the abyss was left to walk on. Luckily we made it over safe and continued on our way down past a bar-type establishment on the left and some nicer houses on the right (fully equipped with the standard fence and gate). On, on, on down the clay road to where we veer off to the left a precarious-looking dirt and gravel path leading downward. (This being said – Rwanda is full of hills. It’s so hilly, in fact, that it’s called “les Milles Collines” or “Land of a Thousand Hills” (like the hotel where the movie Hotel Rwanda took place).

Following these earthen routes through the quartier where Joselyne calls home, all the pieces of my experience here in Rwanda thus far started coming together. Laura, you’re not in Kansas anymore. Here, having a roof over your head, a family that loves you and food to put on the table is a blessing. And though most Rwandans are in poverty, they tend to also have a very strong faith, which is inspiring. At home in the States, we tend to lose perspective a little bit. We’re always wanting the latest, the best, forgetting that we’re lucky to never want for anything. How fortunate we are to not know hunger, poverty.

Turning down one last (especially precarious) path, we finally had arrived at the home of Tante Jeanette. Opening the large, steel, forest green gate, we stepped inside to see a small home painted a cheery peach with white trim. There is a small porch the size of two twin beds and a patch of grass maybe 15 x 20 feet (going uphill, might I add). The little dirt path past the house to the door had an incredible view of the hilly neighborhoods of Kigali – one thing about hilly terrain is that there’s always a good vantage point.

We entered a small, dirt courtyard between three small dwellings – to the left, one that is rented, ahead, one for storage and on the right the home where her family lives. I had the chance to take a quick look around and notice the water pipe in the corner and the clotheslines running overhead before I noticed Joselyne’s aunt standing in the doorway. A beautiful, joyful woman, Tante Jeanette greeted me with open arms and a multi-lingual salutation. She lovingly ushered me inside and took my bag. As hospitable as humanely possible, she brought me into the very-citrus living room (orange and yellow, she told me, make her happy) and went off to make some tea.

The home of Tante Jeanette, Soso and Joselyne (when she’s not in Gisenyi) is a five-room, one bathroom house. I’m counting rooms, not bedrooms. Soso’s room doubles as an area to cook food on a hotplate, the small room in the corner is where dishes are washed and water to drink (in the filter) is found, the bathroom doesn’t have running water in the sink and the shower isn’t fully functional – it’s more a basin for bathing. Joselyne’s room is also used for hosting people and for putting peoples’ things when there are guests. Then Tante Jeanette’s room and the cheerfully-colored living room.

For me, living in the middle of Africa and not having dependable internet nor running water has been a big change for me, though I’m fully used to it now. In Gisenyi, we have a refrigerator, microwave, deep freezer, oven, water coming from the faucets – in this home there are none of these things. I’ve had to adapt to what I had first seen as “limited,” only to now realize that we’re living quite comfortably after all.

After a cup of tea (which is always served hot here in Rwanda, though the weather is always hot – I’ll never understand), we headed over to Joselyne’s “Petite Tante’s” (small aunt, the younger of the two) house. There, her younger cousins (one being named Kevin and 13 years old – love it) hugged and welcomed me, asking me questions about my time here in Rwanda and asking to compare it to the United States. I get this question a lot, too – “What do you think of Rwanda?” I’m never quite sure what I’m supposed to say, as of course it’s beautiful and of course the people and culture are wonderful, but how am I supposed to rate it? The whole package is so drastically different from home. They were shocked to find out that I’m 23 (and not 18 like they’d guessed) and had already finished university. In Rwanda, the average age to graduate university is between 26 and 28 I would guess. After a while, Joselyne and I said our goodbyes and went off to explore Kigali.

The next morning, the hustle and bustle of party preparations started before I even got out of bed (which was only 7h30, but felt like sleeping in). Cousins, aunts, neighbors came to the house bringing all sorts of food to prepare for Soso’s graduation celebration. I stepped into the hallway to find large sacks of potatoes, peas, rice, cassava, and meat, among other things. Stacked in the corner were six cases of Fanta (Orange, Citron and Fiesta Fanta, Coke, and Tonic) – a necessity at any sort of Rwandan fête. A swarm of people were already busy washing, peeling, chopping, slicing and dicing outside.

Some of us headed off to Soso’s thesis defense while others stayed at home to continue preparing. When we got home, there was plenty more for us to do. We chopped and fried potatoes, boiled rice, shredded carrots and cabbage for a salad, made macaroni salad, boiled cassava root – you name it, we prepared it. It was so wonderful working with these new friends to create such a marvelous feast. Soon it was time for the guests to arrive, and people started flooding through the green gate to Tante Jeanette’s yard. I was able to help seat our guests and then pass out and open Fantas. I snapped into a mode that I’m used to when hosting people at our house at Shenandoah, and I was comforted to realize that I was truly so relaxed there.

I’m so thankful to have had these four days in Kigali with Joselyne’s family. I was hugged, fed, and put to work just like with my true family. What a way to bring in the New Year.