Kamonyi

Mar 27th

Hard work today. Went to Kamonyi to help Christine do a training day for primary head teachers. Kamonyi is the district in between Muhanga, where I am, and Kigali, the capital city. I pass through it on the matata every time I go to Kigali but this is the first time I’ve stopped there. Christine is on a short term placement; she came after me and will be leaving at the end of April so she has to get this training session in before the spring term ends. It’s the last day of term today, and all the teachers are grouchy because they’ve just been told (at a week’s notice) that they’re going to spend virtually their entire Easter holiday period doing in-service training organised by MINEDUC (the Rwandan Ministry of Education). To anyone reading this in England it must seem amazing, firstly that INSET could be organised at such short notice, and secondly that people would be willing top give up their entire school holiday period to do it. BUT, and here’s the thing, they get paid extra for doing it. They get a “per diem” and a square meal every day. And on a rural primary teacher’s paltry wages that makes the whole idea very attractive. Plus, of course, you can train the entire nation’s primary teachers during holiday time without disrupting any classes. Don’t tell our people in Westminster whatever you do, or they’ll have a brainwave and try out the idea in England!

At the bus station in Gitarama there’s one of the sights that stop you in your tracks. A young lad, around 18 or so, with a hideously disfigured face. His teeth project almost horizontally from his gums and his mouth area is covered in eruptions. He looks revolting. I’ve got no idea what the cause of his condition is, but the poor lad is doomed to rejection. A huge shame, because he’s a brilliant dancer. All round the bus station there are shops blasting out Congolese music on huge speakers, and this kid’s got all the moves. You can tell by his clothes that he’s a street child; I wonder if anybody feeds him or talks to him?

On the way to Kamonyi we pass a nasty accident where a full size bus has rammed into a lorry full of sweet potatoes. As we pass the bus passengers are waiting at the side of the road to flag down matatas to fill any spare places, and the road is covered in potatoes. So far nobody is helping themselves to the cargo, but it probably won’t take long. Drivers here don’t take any notice of wet, greasy roads now the rainy season is in full swing, and they also tailgate each other. And the big buses tend to drive very fast and make it a point of honour to overtake anything they come up against.

At Kamonyi I find there’s a wonderful view in all directions; it must be at the highest point between Kigali and Gitarama. Long valleys, low clouds hiding the valley bottoms, and everything green and lush. All around the big church and church hall where we are meeting there are coffee trees, and the latest craze in compost heaps – conical, with a frame of twigs and earth heaped up all round the sides; you feed the compost in at the top.

The training seems to go well; I’ve got Marisa who has come down from Nyamata to observe, but it doesn’t take long to get her fully involved! It’s not hard work, but as at the Gihembe camp it’s difficult just trying to get ideas across in my fractured French. Where I can think things out beforehand I’m reasonably fluent, but when I get asked questions in rapid fire, Rwandan French I have to ask them to repeat while I try to click brain into gear!

Best part of the day is that we get fed, too, and also paid – once by Christine from an NAHT fund and again by the Kamonyi District. You can’t refuse the money ‘cos it will upset everybody’s accounts if you do, and at the moment it’s very useful! The Rwandan head teachers all pile their plates as high as they can at lunchtime – it’s like one of those salad bars where you pay a certain amount how ever much you put onto your plate. And every single scrap is eaten, too. We English are much more restrained in how much we take from the dishes; silly really because there’s no chance of going up for second helpings. Never mind, I’m learning to be a Rwandan!

Back home and I feel really weary, so watch a video all evening. Just before it finishes and I go to bed at the unheard of late hour of 10-30, the lounge is invaded by huge flying ants. Apparently they swarm at the start of the rainy season and they’re attracted to light. It shows just how big a gap there is under the doors in this place if flying ants the size of daddy long legs can get in. They don’t bite, and as soon as I put the lights off they stop coming in. Next morning the whole of the balcony outside our flat is littered with wings – whether the things shed their wings or whether they’ve been eaten by birds and the wings left behind, I don’t know.

Best thing about today – coming home with all the materials I need to run a head teacher training course in my own Muhanga District
Worst thing about today – turning round at dead of night and seeing lots of horrible creatures flitting around the room. Thank God it wasn’t a science fiction film I was watching!