First visit to a school

On Friday, I took my first ride out on the back of a motorbike!

I went up this dirt-track road into the countryside to visit a school.

I've found Tricia looking lovely at one of her language classes...

Take a look at this other blog....

'Where's Tricia?' ...well here she is:

looking like she is enjoying her Kinyawanda Lesson!

The Hacienda of Dreams.... is what our house is called.

I have arrived at my new home and it is beautiful!! I did not expect this! After being in Kigali for 10 days I was getting worried that Gitarama would be just a smaller version of the big city , so I was amazed when we drove off the main road and came into a little semi- rural location with goats and turkeys wandering about. Our house has 4 bedrooms, a dining room, sitting room, kitchen, and a bathroom each! We also have a lovely vegetable garden. My housemate is a good cook and she made me a lovely meal on my first evening.

Today I went into the office as requested and introduced myself. The boss was friendly but busy and asked me to come back on Monday morning at 7am (we work 7am -5pm!) So I had a lovely walk home again. Later, another volunteer who has been here since September came to call for me and we went to open a bank account so that my small allowance can be paid in . We only had to wait for 2 hours so that was great! Gitarama is quite a hub for volunteers from all over the place and they often meet up for social occasions.

The local people are very friendly and helpful, stopping to say hello with a smile and a greeting. Today the sun was quite hot with little cloud cover so when I returned I was exhausted with the heat and the walking. I lay down on my bed and slept for an hour – I won’t be able to do that when I start work. Tomorrow I am going to visit a school with a colleague and it will involve my first excursion by motorbike into the rural areas, so I’m really looking forward to it. Click here to see a map of Rwanda in detail.

I hope you are all well, thank you to those who make comments either on here or on Facebook or by e-mail – it doesn’t matter how brief they are they are very welcome.

Going to a new home

Today (Tuesday) is the last day of our ‘In Country Training’ and tomorrow we go to our placements and I see my home for the next two years!

I am lucky because my house has all mod-cons including running water, electricity and gas...we even have a warm shower! There is a photo of the outside of the house on my blog page and I will post photos of the inside when I take some.

Some of my new friends will be taking a whole load of items to their new homes – water filter machine, kerosene stove, kerosene lamp, great big jerry cans for carrying water, pots, pans– you name it – yes even the kitchen sink (plastic bowls). For some of them they will be the only English speaking person for miles round – what a challenge! We are all really keen now to get out and unpack, make our beds up and create a new home space. Not everyone is here for two years, some are here for 3 months, some for 6, some for 12. Some have come with their partners, some have come without their partners. Some are educationalists, others are business managers, advocates, social policy workers for the Disability programme – all sorts in fact!

I’ll probably be out of touch for a couple of days now until I get to find out where I can go on line. Hope everyone is well and that it is not too cold and rainy!! xx

What a Week!!

This time last week I left my lovely friends and family in the UK, not knowing what lay ahead. You will be pleased to know that I have already made new friends here and we have been working things through together. For the 10 days that I am in Kigali I have a great room mate - the danger is that we chat long into the night instead of getting much needed sleep!

There have been so many new experiences this week, it's hard to pick out just a few, but here goes:

'Mwaramutse' 'Amakuru?' 'Ni Mesa'

>>> it means Good morning, how are you, I'm very well

So, we've had Kinyarwanda lessons every morning and I have learnt quite a lot more than this! I'm enjoying the lessons and have tried out some phrases with the kind people around here. I've also learnt how to light a Kerosene stove, how to get on a bus, pay my fare and shop in the market - if you enjoy bartering you would love it here!

Yesterday we went to the Genocide Memorial Centre, as you can imagine it was very moving, but it is important to understand what happened and some of the reasons why it happened. We don't need to talk about it with our friends here but it helps me to understand how wonderful Rwandans are - they have survived this atrocity and are working together to build their country. Below is a photo of the Memorial Gardens and a beautiful peaceful walkway leading to the wall of names of victims.

I have started to notice the bird calls here and can't wait to get to my home and put up my National Trust bird clock on my kitchen wall!!(Thanks, Phil!)

Don't forget to keep in touch, but remember that the blog is a public space, so you can send an e-mail instead or write to me on Facebook. xx

Hi everyone! I have arrived safely in Rwanda and the journey was straight forward – I even slept well on the plane , so thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

We were greeted at the airport by workers from the VSO headquarters in Rwanda. I’ve always wanted to be met by someone holding up a sign and giving me flowers!! (Remember that for when I return home ,please, family)

There is quite a large group of us, most from the UK, but also from Philippines, Australia, Canada and Netherlands. We will all be in Kigali for 10 days and then we will disperse around the country to go to our own placements. These next 10 days will give us time to acclimatise, but there is also quite a heavy schedule of training and we have already been given an enormous folder of paper and workbooks – that did not go down well believe me! But I suppose I am here to work.

Today, our first day in Rwanda, we caught the bus into town and visited the bank and the supermarket and the shop where you buy dongles! Best of all we went to a ‘luxury coffee shop’ - it is the capital city after all and it has it’s trendy parts. I had iced cafe latte to cool me down, I’m so hot and sweaty, but hopefully my body will adapt fairly quickly – so no madcap dancing for a while!

Although I can get internet access it is very slow and unreliable so I will just need to keep on trying. Skype would be best but the connection keeps dropping, so it will take me some time before I can have regular contact.

Don't forget to comment xx

Guest House in Kigali

Just been chattin with Tricia...she was outside her guest house in Kigali. This is where she will be spending the next 10 days with the other British VSO volunteers while they have their initial training. She is sharing a room with a woman from the group. They have mosquito nets up and are settling in today including making a right mess with their unpacking! She has had omelet and fruit for breakfast and coleslaw/fried eggplant for lunch!

The weather is bright, warm, and a bit sticky! I saw a couple of locals walking past and they looked very cheerful/smiley. So we can look forward to hearing more from Trish about the people she is meeting. I suspect you will get slightly more riveting updates from Tricia when she is able to post on here but at the moment her connection is slightly wobbly! Tomorrow (Monday 17th Jan) is the first day of training, so watch this space for more news!

Have you seen this woman?

Calling all followers in Rwanda:

Please post a comment when you have seen Tricia.

Kind of like 'Where's Wally?', but this game is called... 'What's Tricia Doing?'

We like a good game so join in the fun!

Happy Hunting...x.

Tricia has Arrived...

Just had international incoming call from Tricia!

She is safe and sound with her other travel companions. The journey was fine, but she said she was hot and sticky and tired! Sounded in high spirits and was in a hotel room with a friend from VSO.

"So I'm here and had my first meal in Rwanda - coleslaw, beans and rice - delicious

GUESS WHAT - they have fizzy Vimto here produced in a bottle by Fanta!!! So that should draw the northerners to Rwanda."

She will be spending the next 10 days in Kigali on training and then off to her placement!

Nearly There!!

Thank you to all the friends and family out there who have already donated through the 'Just Giving 'page. I've almost reached my Fundraising Target of £900 - it would be fantastic if I could achieve it by the time I get on the plane at 6.40am on Saturday January 15th 2011. If anyone is reading this before then PLEASE think about donating. Just click on the icon to the left of this post. Thank you , thank you , thank you. x x x 

Party! Party!

My Bon Voyage Party...

We had a wonderful time at the Bon Voyage Party on Saturday organised by my beautiful daughters and son. There was lots of dancing, live music, food and fun. Thank you Sara, Naomi and John xxx

The band linked up for one night only and disbanded because the singer is going to Africa for two years.

I was determined not to be late with my birthday cards this year so I gave them out early!

Packing up and moving on ...

Well, what a week of frenetic activity! This photo shows me and my eldest daughter, Naomi, in the lift at the mill where I am storing my stuff for two years.It was a really good exercise to look at all the things I own and decide what I wanted to keep and what could be disposed of. Items which hold a great deal of meaning like old photos and diaries are being held for me by close family and friends. My paintings are also distributed amongst various households for them to enjoy or hide away once I am out of the country!! But other things are being stored in an old mill which has specially designed storage facilities and this week we have been busy fetching and carrying. 

Here's Ellie and I re-living the days when we stored all our art equipment in another old mill and had to carry heavy trays of tiles up 3 flights of stairs. Ahh! those were the days - the pure luxury of having a lift!


I'm really looking forward to seeing lots of friends and family at my 'Bon Voyage' Party on Saturday night - then next week I can concentrate on packing my bags!!

Thankyou for a Happy Christmas

What a lovely Christmas season I have had with my family and friends - thank you all sooo much. From christmas stockings outside the bedroom to to lovely crisp walks in the fresh Lakeland air, not to mention the laughs, food and drinks. 

Helmets and other things

What a carry on - or not a carry on depending on which airline you speak to!!! lol Most of the group who are going to Rwanda in January have to take a new motorbike helmet, but arrangements for the carriage of 10 helmets on board is extremely complicated. Fortunately Stephen is acting on behalf of us all and he has spent many hours trying to get a clear and accurate response. It is not necessarily the fault of the airline because they are subject to security regulations. Our helmets could be used as protection against an attack and therefore should be carried in the hold. However, even 'fragile' baggage is thrown around which would invalidate the effectiveness of said helmet in the event of a motorbike crash. So, at the moment messages are flying around right left and centre - which is more than can be said for the aeroplanes!


Sorry! That isn't funny especially if you are trying to get home for Christmas. It's not only the planes but also train travel and motorway travel is hazardous at the moment. Sadly Ken's train was cancelled and so we had to abandon our arrangements to meet up in Manchester today. Ken has been doing the job that I will be doing in Rwanda and has sent me lots of information useful to the work with schools. I was looking forward to talking with him face to face and still hope to do so before January 15th. Ken has been fantastically helpful and supportive and is not used to this cold weather!


As far as motorway travel is concerned, two very dear friends set off on Saturday morning to visit their daughter, who had just gone into labour, and got stuck on the M40 for approximately 10hours. They arrived safely at 3am to see mother, father and baby doing very well - but that grandchild will hear the story of 'The Struggle through the Snow' on every birthday for the next thirty years!!! xxx to Jessica, Duncan and Benjamin.


As for me I have a had a super Christmas weekend with my pals - concert of Christmas music on Saturday night, followed by visit to Real Ale pub. Sunday morning - the 'Pals Christmas Day' we opened our pressies and then had fun preparing our Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. In the evening, down to the 'Hollins and the Ivy' event at the Hollins in Macclesfield and a first sighting of new baby Darcey. Aaahhhh x 


Today? Back home to the nitty gritty organisations still going on for my departure in January. 


Travel safely everyone and remember 'Don't make unneccesary journeys' But my journey to spend Christmas with my lovely family is definitely necessary. xx

Oh! Panic! Panic!

 I have several lists going and I'm feeling really pleased cos I've just ticked off 12 out of 20 tasks on 'Supplementary Page 1'of the spreadsheet that my brilliantly organised daughter, Naomi has set up for me!However, I have 4 other pages to go and I haven't looked at them yet - they include things like transferring the van insurance into my son John's name (done),booking and organising storage of my effects, getting a gas safety certificate , writing a will etc, etc. Add to this the 'do' on January 8th, (organised by my other brilliant daughter, Sara) and ... Christmas is coming!!


This weekend though,saw the last of my shifts on the market in Rochdale. I am a founder member of a group called 'Fair For All' and every Saturday for four years we have staffed a stall in the centre of a very cold and draughty 

outdoor market.I have moaned a lot over the years but I will miss the comaraderie and friendliness of the market traders and the interesting people that pass by. Sometimes, they even stop to buy things!!I notice that the latest rota does not say that yesterday was my last shift on the market but instead it stated 'Tricia will not be available to do the market for two years' Oh Monica, Jan, Jenny and Diane you are all wonderful!!!!Happy Days :)

New skills and new friends

I have just returned from the last weekend of training before I go off to Rwanda. When I arrived back home last night I had to dig the snow and ice away from my front door before I could get in - I don't think I will be having that particular problem in a few weeks time!


The first part of the course was about health and security issues, so people of a queasy disposition got their chance to ask about creepy crawlies and naughty worms. The key learning points seem to be:

• have all your vaccinations and keep them up to date
• keep taking the anti- malarials
• only drink clean boiled water
• don't eat food from street sellers
• sleep under a mosquito net
• don't swim in the lakes

There is a small group of seven going to Rwanda in January and it was great to meet some of them this weekend. It's amazing to find out about the variety of placements available. People go out for 3months, 6 months, 12 months or two years, depending on the type of work that needs doing. My job involves long term change of attitudes and skill development, whereas another volunteer is going out to help some craft workers set up a small business and it needs to be time limited.

It was a busy but fun weekend and strangely enough we were sharing the conference centre with a large group of women and children from all over Africa - it was great to join in their very noisy celebrations and gave us a taste of what is to come.It was weird to think that we were going out to their countries just as they had arrived in ours!! Fantastic

From the hills of the UK to the hills of Rwanda

This weekend I was enjoying the hills and beaches of North Wales, last weekend it was the hills of the Lake District, in a few weeks it will be the hills of Rwanda. I don't think they will be snow covered though!


I received confirmation of my flight details last week and so I will be leaving these shores on January 15th 2011 from Manchester airport. I will be meeting up with the rest of the group in Brussels because they will be flying from Heathrow.We continue our journey to Kigali (the capital of Rwanda) together. There is sooo much to do before then, however.

• letting my home to good tenants
• storing furniture, goods and tackle
• organising finances, including tax!
• enjoying the company of friends and family
• improving my written French
• learning some spoken Kinyarwanda
• preparing for the last VSO training course
• planning what I need to take

I think that list is long enough for now, I'll get panicky if I write anymore.

Looking forward to seeing my sisters, sister in law and brother for our Christmas lunch next weekend xx

Love Tricia

20 passport pics...

The 20 passport sized pics required for all the visas and official paperwork are printed and ready to be sent off. Tricia's mug shot will be all over Rwanda by January!

Job offer confirmed

Hi everyone

I received a message from VSO to say that the employers have confirmed acceptance of me to work for them - hurrayyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soooo 8 weeks from today I will be off. I'm going to miss so many people and friends so I've got a lot to fit in before January 14th 2011.

Everything I do at the moment I am thinking -'Oh, I won't be able to do this in a while, because I won't be here, I will be there' This weekend I had a lovely time with a special friend going for our annual late Autumn walk in the Lake District. As none of us is up to our usual extremely high level of fitness we did my favourite low level walk - the Elterwater Round. It is a walk that has so many beautiful memories as well as two great pubs complete with blazing log fires and at least two Afternoon Tea stops (Tea lady: 'It's very warm in here when the wood burning stove is lit, it really kicks out the heat!' Us: Shame it's not lit! Thanks for telling us!')

Also:

• been looking after George the house rabbit this weekend - who's going to do this when I go away?
• took my turn on the Fairtrade stall in Rochdale market - hopefully a new 'kid' is starting soon to take my place
• organized Christmas lunch in November with my 2 sisters, sister in law and brother - will it happen next year? Who will I eat christmas lunch with in 2011?
• I need a posh frock for a do next weekend but is it worth paying out money just to put it in store for 2 years? Answer: No .... so what to do ? I have to wear something. ooh problems

Now it's Monday morning and I need to get on and finalise my documentation to send to VSO headquarters - 20 passport photos, 2 copies of passport, 3 notarised copies of qualifications, original of CRB certificate etc, etc.

Also need to make arrangements for the Lettings Agent to come and view my home so that I  can let it out whilst I  am away, continue to sort my material possessions and make decisions - but that's a whole other story.

Please don't forget to visit my 'Just Giving' page and leave a message for me. If you have any questions etc about the whole thing please ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Love to everyone, Tricia

Doing my CBT in preparation for biking in Africa!

VSO advises you to take your CBT in preparation as much of my travel while out in Africa will be on a trail bike.  You also have to take a helmet with you that passes UK safety standards.  They also recommend taking a spare visor as the dirt, mud and stones thrown up while travelling about on dirt tracks damages the visors easily.  I bought a bright white helmet made by 'box'! I passed my CBT at Valley Bike School, Rossendale. It was great fun on my scooter!  Sara and Karen passed their's too...we all got into it after having a 'get on' taster session.