Pineapples and Avocados...yum

First things first, I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer…however, I think most of you following along knew that because I would have called people if I were home. There is an article about our swearing in ceremony on the Peace Corps website and it includes a picture of us…Click on it to see me...I’m in the back on the right. Two Peace Corps Trainees went home right before swearing-in due to personal reasons. They are a married couple around my age. I'm glad I met them and I know we'll keep in contact. So anyhow, I live in Kamonyi District and it’s about an hour away from the capital. I wasn’t the closest volunteer near the capital up until the 2nd day at site because the closest volunteer had her site switched for several reasons…and it’s a bummer for me because she was close enough to me that I could have ridden my bike to her place and get there within 1 hour probably. We had planned on going all over this district, but I guess this just shows there should be no expectations while here and things can always change. So moving on to a little bit of info about my district; It has no electricity (completely dark after 625pm) and there is no running water in homes here. Water is a major issue here and luckily I met a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (who happened to serve in Ecuador…what are the odds) at the swearing in ceremony and he works in Rwanda now focusing on water sanitation. He told me that he is going to start working in my district so that’s definitely a contact I hope to use while here. Aside from that, my site is on a dirt road from the main road and the road isn’t that great. I found a place that sells pineapples and various other fruits, so that is amazing because I thought I would need to travel far for these things….but I do need to travel to a big town if I want chocolate or sweets of any sort…ugh, but oh well, better I am not near it. The view from here is amazing and I could even see a Volcano located near Ruhengeri. We each have a counterpart who will guide us at out site as we arrive, but since mine is the Director of a Hospital; he is extremely busy and travels a lot…meaning I was pretty much left on my own this first week and not really having an idea what I should be doing. In addition to the counterpart, we have a Supervisor and he works in Kigali, so that’s also kind of tough considering he isn’t here to ask questions. I called him up the 2nd day here to ask him where should I go to meet the people I will be working with (I found out at Training that I was placed here to work with a Cooperative of People Living with HIV/AIDS, or PLWHA for short, that does home based care). I was waiting to find the representative of this group that my Supervisor said I should look for and I met the President (not the rep I was waiting for) but she seemed confused as to why I was here when I first met her the 2nd day here and asked point blank what I can do for them. According to her, they need better material to make Agaseke (weaved traditional baskets) and members of the Coop needed to be trained on how to make it…kind of tough to help out in that area considering I don’t even know how to make it, but at this point I am just nodding my head, grunting, and taking down notes. They also need materials to give to patients when they do their home care rounds because they just go around empty handed and only words. So during this 1 hour meeting I have someone helping me translate because the President only speaks Kinyarwanda and I definitely don’t have the level to explain my interests and abilities aside from the basic sentences of what Ill be teaching as a health volunteer. After that meeting I become a bit frustrated because of various things, such as language issues, still not meeting the rep., not having a counterpart or supervisor to help guide me along this first week and then finding out my closest volunteer moved away. Later in the day, I talk with one of the lab techs and he takes me around to show me where I can get fruit from nearby because I was given the Impression I needed to travel to the next town over…but not so, it’s just down the road from the hospital entrance. I buy a pineapple and 2 avocados (I didn’t like Avocados till I came here) and my day goes from “What the…” to “I can definitely make it here”. This past Friday, the Coop of PLWHA had their monthly meeting and I attended to introduce myself and let them know I will be working with them for the next 2 years. The meeting must have had over 50 people present and I found out that it consists of 4 Associations and its membership is over 300 people. They meet once a month and the group is 90% women and 10% men. They spoke about their issues; having meetings but then not knowing what to do, members of the Coop owe other members money for providing Agaseke and selling them but not giving payments, increase cost of membership to join (still confused about this because the person who translated said people have to pay 500RwF (less than a 1USD) for lifetime membership but the overall membership costs that they pay to the govt doesn’t add up), people not attending the meetings, trying to determine when they should meet 1x a week to make Agaseke here and really that’s just a few things I picked up from the not so great translation I got from one of the members…but this meeting lasted over 3 hours without a break. There were 2 new members to the group and they also introduced themselves at the beginning and the person who translated said one of them was not right in the head…but I wasn’t sure what that meant considering she looked fine and even had a baby tied to her back…until I saw her peeing in her seat (she’s in the 1st row in front and I am facing everyone…basically a Muzungu show for them) while the meeting was still going on. I thought it was her baby, but her baby was sitting on her lap and the urine ran behind her leg and did not stain the front of her dress if it were to come from her baby…and to top it off, she rubs the urine off her leg with her hand and just sits there. Even though the meeting was long, plenty of other members easily got up and walked to the latrine that was 20 feet away…even members with a baby on their back. After that, I sort of understood what the translator meant. Aside from that, I was so glad I met the group because I knew there was work to be done. The President of the group (after that 1st odd meeting, she warmed up to me) spoke for about an hour and basically read out info about HIV/AIDS and some opportunistic infections, but the look on their faces said they already knew this info and they even laughed at her advice of eating 5 meals a day considering they can barely eat 2 proper meals a day according to the translator. They argued back and forth about what day of the week to come in to work on Agaseke and some wanted Friday, but for others they couldn’t because of religious reasons, and some wanted other days but that was also problematic…and it continued for a good 10 mins. At that point, I ask the guy translating, “Why must they all be here on 1 day? Is there a specific reason why and maybe I just do not understand? If they are unable to attend one day then they should be able to come another scheduled day.” He said he didn’t know either why it must only be one day. He then tells the President and group that I suggested that they choose 2 separate days because it will be difficult to choose 1 day and having all 300¬ members agree to come that one day. The group thinks it’s a good suggestion and decides to choose 2 days and see how it works and if people attend then. After the meeting, members of the Coop thank me for being here and welcoming me to their association. It felt good, I am not going to lie. In addition to working with the Coop, I will be working with a school (still not sure which one considering there are 3 near me- 2 govt owned and 1 by the Church) teaching English, starting Health Clubs and possibly Science clubs. I’ll also be working with the hospital helping supervise 12 Health Centres and the activities they are doing pertaining to the prevention of HIV/AIDS; Malaria, Tuberculosis, Family Planning, Hygiene and sanitation in general. I still haven’t seen the 12 Health Centres because my counterpart is still away and the guy who I will be going with to the Health Centres has been sick this week. All in all, it has been an interesting week and there are lots of things I can be involved with while here. It was a rough few days, but things should be getting better. The only thing that continues to be annoying is that the main generator for the hospital is still out and since it was providing electricity to my room, I sit in the dark with a small candle. They aren’t sure when its going to be replaced…they said a few days, but it may actually be a few weeks. I’m realizing the key to surviving these next 2 years is Patience….I’ve waited hours to meet people at a time they said they were going to arrive, I’ve waited hours for food to come and I’ll be waiting for many more things I’m sure…just part of the experience…but also not letting the word Muzungu and constant staring bother me so much. It’s really annoying, but until I say Mwiriwe or Muraho (Hello), they smile and wave back. Before I forget, even though my site has no internet, I couldn’t imagine not having it and travelling over an hour to get to it, so I bought the Internet Modem. Since I only have a room to really furnish and not 4 or 5 rooms like other volunteers, I was able to have enough money to buy it. It’s not cheap, but it’s better than nothing. I can use it for Skype (Most likely catch me on weekends if you are in the States) and getting resources off the internet to help me along on my projects. Plus, I’ll be able to upload blogs and pics more frequently. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. I miss everyone back home and I really wish I was able to go with my entire family to Ecuador next week, but I’ll just have to wait for the wedding next year. Thanks again everyone for the comments.