Am I getting too old for these shenanikins?

Last Sunday we made the lovely journey by boat from Kibuye to the village. The lake was calm and beautiful. The sun was so strong that I had to use my umbrella as a shade, it was not very effective but caused some friendly laughter!

Friendly fellow passengers

Past the fishing boats. Goodbye Kibuye!

Past the Methane conversion plant

Out comes the parasol!

Still calm waters today

And here we are again at the landing stage.

We arrived once more at the guesthouse and soon settled in. Jean Baptiste made the best chips ever!

Gabriel and I spent the week in school, trying out new teaching methods and getting to know the new children. They are a fun bunch on the whole, with one or two exceptions – oh- not because of bad behaviour but because of sickness and lethargy. 

Home made puzzles

Counting with bottle tops

Bring me 5 stones

We have had a busy week in school and in addition I have been planning the training sessions for other Nursery teachers in the sector. I must admit I find it very frustrating trying to organise anything here and it is particularly difficult in the rainy season because when it rains no-one can move and you just have to stay wherever you are. If you have an appointment, it is just too bad!

On Friday we walked to one of the Primary Schools where some of our children from last year now attend. We chatted to some of them and agreed to return on Monday. This school is called Viro Primary School and it is about one hour and quarter walk from Gasundwe village. I found the walk in the hot sun, up hill and down dale to be exhausting.

There is another Primary School closer to the village across the valley but it can only be reached by crossings a river. The community have discussed the possibility of building a footbridge but the land is very silty. It would be difficult.

You can just see the school almost in the middle of the photo at the top of the hill. As you can see the valley is wide.

At the school we discussed the training and we hope it can be arranged for next week.

Then, it was onto the motos to road to begin the long journey by road to Kibuye (where I knew a cold beer would be waiting for me) We had only been going a few minutes when the rain started. We pulled over and took shelter in a nearby house. The lady of the house, which was under construction by her, made us welcome and found a bench for us to sit on whilst we waited out the storm. Forty five minutes later we were back on the road – possibly the worst road in the country!

After going through the market town of Muhororo the road became impassable for a while so we got off and walked whilst the guys skilfully manoeuvred the mud bath. I am constantly amazed by these drivers out in the rural areas. 

During the two hour journey to Kibuye we saw several vehicles stuck in the mud, including one of the big ‘Onatracom’ buses. The passengers had climbed off the bus safely and some of them were helping to dig out the thick mud from around the wheels. I don’t know whether they got out before nightfall.

We arrived thankfully in Kibuye and Gabriel went home to visit his wife for the weekend whilst I carried on to that haven called ‘Home St Jean’ – look it up on Trip Advisor, it’s beautiful. As usual, I was given a warm welcome and a cold beer!

Love to you all and thanks for your interest and support. Triciax