Domestic Goddess in Rwanda

OK, so usually we are ‘cooking on gas’ but what happens when the gas bottle runs out and how do other volunteers cook all the time?

When volunteers arrive in their placement home we are issued with a cooking appliance. If we’re lucky enough to have electricity we get a two element electrical hob. If there is no electricity we get a kerosene stove. 

But if you live in the Hacienda of Dreams we have a full size gas stove – I rush to inform you that this was not provided by VSO but purchased by the occupiers of the house. It is a wonderful invention because we have an oven, in which cakes (especially chocolate brownies) can be baked, and frequently are! 

But the inevitable happened this week and we ran out of gas

 – right in the middle of baking a collection of chocolate cookies for a friend’s birthday – disaster – although the consolation is that even uncooked cake mix tastes good!

So you can see me cooking on the kerosene stove. It feels like I’m back camping in the Lake District but the kerosene is very smelly and smokey, it does the job however and soon we are eating a lovely meal. We also have the double element stove which is very slow but gets there in the end. I have to say my pancakes are not up to the usual high standard when I cook them on the electric hob. Lots of honey and fruit salad are required.

Oh, just a side issue – one of my targets whilst I am here was to teach a certain Australian to toss a pancake instead of using a spatula – success!!!! I have achieved something in Rwanda!

In August I will be having visitors from the UK and although we have one spare bed, we have an empty room which needs another bed. So last week I ordered a new bedframe from the carpenters and when it was ready I went to collect it. There is an amazing delivery service here. The bed is delivered immediately, even if it has already gone dark. 

The bedframe was loaded onto a wooden barrow and the guy pushed it all the way to my house. You will not understand the significance of this unless you know the topography of Gitarama and how far it is from Gahogo (Plateau) to my house at  Nyamabuye Umurenge. Also it was dark and the road was busy with traffic – I was petrified that he was going to get injured, so I walked along behind him with the light from my mobile phone as a warning to road users that there was a hazard. Passers-by thought I was mad, but that’s ok it made me feel better. Anyway the bedframe got home safe and sound and so did the delivery man, so all I need now is a mattress – how will that be delivered? I’ll keep you informed.

Another week begins on Monday and I will return to Kiyumba to visit the remaining four schools with the objective of 'assessing the impact of the training'. It will also be the last overnight stay at that particular priests house for some time. I will miss them.

Lots of love for now, Tricia

PS Please don't forget to comment or send a message on Facebook so that I know I'm not talking to myself. OK, yes, I know I do anyway, but go on indulge an old lady! x

I hope you're as happy as you sound...

People say to me’ I hope you’re as happy as you sound’ or ‘Tell us about the bad times as well as the good.’

The problem with the bad times is that whilst you are in them you can’t write about them because you’re feeling so bad! But just now I am alleviating the ‘bad time’ by eating a whole bar of chocolate to myself. I bought it as present for a friend but I reckon my need is greater than his at the moment!

So, the bad times! – snotty, running nose through crying and no soft tissues left; wanting to sleep but knowing that you won’t; sitting up in a damp bed far from home, under the mosquito net , yes, but that blasted demon bug means I can’t go to the toilet. Smelly drains in the toilet anyway, why does this house always smell of cabbages? I’m not sure this bed has got clean sheets on it; oh, god, the drip, drip of the leaky tap...

 What’s happening at home? There could be an emergency happening right now and I’m not there to help. Panic, panic, shall I phone home? Oh god, not enough air time – more chocolate required ‘No news is good news, no news is good news’ – repeat the mantra.

Think happy thoughts, - smiling children, lovely black faces, bright eyes open in wonder.

Welcoming greetings. People who are always pleased to see you.

Fascinating conversations.

Cultural differences, learning from each other.

The best of both worlds.

Is it the positive thinking or the chocolate that is working the magic? Shall I try to go to sleep? Maybe just another piece?

How can you resist those eyes??

Singing in the rain!

The best thing about the bad times? I could say ‘the chocolate’ but I’m going to say ‘The best thing about the bad times is that they don’t happen often.’

And the next day  there is a lovely parcel from home – with a handwritten letter. 

Thank you angel.xxx

Sunday afternoon tea in Rwanda

The guys 

This week, I had a great weekend in Gitarama. Sometimes, it’s good to go away for the weekend and visit friends, see new things and find out how other volunteers are getting on in their situations. Last week I went to visit  a friend who is working in a Teacher Training College in the north west of the country. But this weekend I just wanted to stay at home and have a relaxed couple of days.

Saturday market

Having a laugh with the stall holders

So, on Saturday morning I went out shopping for food in the market. I used to find it overpowering - it was busy and strange and confusing. I could see the fresh vegetables but had great difficulty asking for them and not knowing what price to pay. But now, I'm so familiar with the whole set up that I can have a joke and a laugh with the women. They are very shy about having their photo taken but are also intrigued when I show them the resulting picture and often want me to take more!

After shopping in the market for fresh goods (and I mean straight off the bush, straight into the basket on the head and down to the market the same morning)I go into town to buy bread, tea, milk and other basics. With my arms full of shopping and a heavy bottle of oil I hop on a moto. The drivers are beginning to know me and enjoy my particular brand of Kinyarwanda.

A beautiful baby girl

Following my choir practice in the afternoon, on  Saturday evening three of us got together and had cocktails, home made Indian food, chocolate and watched a film, on the laptop.


Sunday was a day for visiting a 'miracle' baby. She was born 3 months early, and in the hospitals here there are not the same resources available to promote the survival of infants like this. 

She was in an incubator just to keep warm, no feeding tubes or anything.  But look at her now, seven weeks later and she is thriving. Of course I couldn't resist having a cuddle!


Later that afternoon I prepared a traditional Sunday afternoon tea for our guests.Home made scones, jam and cream (yes, we even managed to find some cream but I must admit whipping it with a fork  for half an hour for it to end up looking like curds and whey was probably not worth it)


Proper Rwandan leaf tea, teapot, cups,saucers, tablecloth, sugar bowl, sandwiches cut into triangles - the works! Our Rwandan guests were delighted and delightful! They enjoyed the scones so much that they requested a cookery lesson!


So, a lovely weekend. The next two weeks are four day weeks for work. On Friday 1st July it is Independence Day when Rwandans celebrate independence from the Belgium colonists. Monday 4th July is Liberation Day when Rwandans remember the day in 1994 when the RPF took control of the parliament in Kigali.


At home, I hope you are enjoying many summer days and late evenings, lots of BBQs and fresh chilled white wine. mmmm!!


Love to everyone and don't forget to write. Tx

Summer solstice and Lunar Eclipse

lunar eclipse

This year I’m celebrating the solstice in Rwanda and last week I experienced the total eclipse of the moon for 100 minutes – it was like someone had stolen our moon! It made me very thankful that I had a scientific explanation for what was happening.  It did help me to understand how such a phenomenon could be very frightening for people who didn't know what was happening. That sort of thinking makes me all the more thankful for education but also makes me realise how much ‘awe and wonder’ we are missing in our 21^st century thinking. Anyway, happy summer solstice to everyone and may you have many more long summer evenings.

Here in Rwanda the nights and days remain the same length and the dry season continues (although there are occasional massive rainstorms) The second school term of the year is passing by and the inevitable exams will begin on June 27/28/29, then again in week beginning 18^th July. Examinations take place so frequently for everyone in schools that it leaves precious little teaching time. As a friend used to say ‘You can weigh a goat, and weigh a goat but if you don’t feed it, it won’t make any difference!’

The v sign is for peace!

This weekend I went to visit the home of another volunteer in the north of the country.

I came across this group of guys collecting sticks for firewood and like a group of friends anywhere in the world they were having great fun together. They love having their photo taken, and then to look at themselves on film. No doubt making rude comments about each other's appearance.

www.mangotreeuganda

a room for girls to rest

bottle tops

This week we went to visit some 'Inclusive schools'  and we were very impressed. The teachers and headteachers are really committed to including children with physical and/or mental disabilities into mainstream schools. This is a big challenge in the UK so you can imagine the enormity of the challenge in Rwanda.

There is a group working in Muhanga District called 'Handicap International' and they have designated one school in each sector to be an 'Inclusive School' So in my district there are 12 of these schools. You can see from the photos some of the improvements that have been made.

I don't think I've told you about our Musical Film evenings here at the Hacienda of Dreams. One of the volunteers borrows a projector from work and the film is projected onto the wall of our living room. Lots of volunteers come to watch and join in the singing! This week we had 15 friends; a couple of people cook a meal using our gas cooker - ( a rare opportunity to cook on a proper stove). This week we had delicious Indian. 

Since I came in January we have had four such evenings. The first was Bugsy Malone, followed by Mama Mia (my favourite) then Grease and most recently The Sound of Music. We are hoping to get hold of Calamity Jane, Mary Poppins and the Jungle Book. 

It can be very tiring when you are constantly surrounded by a different culture and language particularly when you are trying to do a job of work as well. So, we work hard and then we relax.

Sometimes I relax with other people but I also appreciate time on my own. I haven't done much art work yet and I feel the lack of it. I have materials but there always seems something else to do. I read, knit and mess around on the computer! I am determined to take a short break away soon.

I know how lucky I am to have this opportunity to live in Africa for two years and I want to make the most of it. As my daughter says - I am making new memories for the future (she's very wise, my daughter!!)

So, I hope you are also making good memories for the future.  With all my love, Triciax

Six Fantastic Days Training

Periodic table in bottle tops

Microscope Work

All my plans have come to fruition – not necessarily in the exact way I expected but certainly very close. You will remember from a previous blog, I wrote about a big training project in one of the focus sectors in the north of my district? We have now completed the third stage of the plan!! The fourth stage will begin in 4 weeks but we are already planning the fifth stage!! Ha Ha!

During the last two weeks we have spent 3 days each week training teachers. We have been staying in one of the northern sectors with the priests. (I told you about the big celebrations last week). Each morning we go out on the motorbikes to a school which is fairly central to the sector. Most of the teachers can walk there from their homes (short journeys of about 1- 1 ½  hours) There is one school in the sector where the journey is too long for the teachers so we will be going to spend a whole day in their school, doing training just for them. However, teachers from the other schools have managed to get to the various training days. The first day was training for Senior Science teachers, the next day Primary Science, then Social Studies, Maths, English and Nursery.

What is this crazy white woman doing to me?!

Oh the Hokey Cokey

All the sessions were successful because the teachers really wanted to learn and were very enthusiastic. Many of them had had hardly any teacher training at all. Each day included teaching on how children learn and the importance of active participation. It involved lots of playing games and using a variety of teaching strategies and, of course, making teaching materials. As you can imagine, teaching resources are few and far between so we use any available resource. The main items are bottle tops from Fanta bottles (or Primus – whatever you can get hold of!), also rice sacks, empty tins of dried milk powder, cardboard boxes from triangle cheeses, plastic bottles etc  etc

There is a highly developed curriculum in Rwanda but I have doubts about its relevance apart from passing exams, however VSO is working with the Ministry of Education to lobby for change. The biggest change may come from Nursery upwards. Most schools have a nursery class and one of our schools has 81 children in that class, with one teacher!!!! The Nursery teachers design and plan their own work, which is hard for them because they have not had training in child development or how children learn. So the Nursery day was filled with games and activities, songs and stories – my favourite day! I hope that, maybe, I can be of assistance in working to develop guidelines for teaching in nurseries throughout Rwanda – that would be such a wonderful opportunity.

No need for childminders
when you can bring your
baby to work on your back  

So our six days of training are over and the next stage of our plan will take place in 4 weeks time when we re- visit each of the schools to see if the teachers have been able to implement any of the strategies. My job is to persuade the headteachers to use money from their school budget to support the making of teaching aids, and to persuade headteachers of the importance of lesson observation and the quality of teaching and learning. This is not an easy task when there are so many other demands made on their time (sounds a familiar story to me!) Our plan has a fifth stage but I’m keeping that under wraps for now.

The Motos

The Comedy Duo Moto Drivers

By popular request I am including a photo of the Moto Drivers who give us such a laugh - see below. There's nothing like free wheeling downhill for twenty minutes after a hard day's work - the red dust blowing in your face and knowing that the driver can't see a thing cos he has no visor on his helmet! Seriously these drivers are amazingly skilful on these mountain tracks.

So, thanks guys for getting us to schools safely and especially for delivering the Fanta and mandazi!!!

Keep safe everyone and enjoy the long summer evenings. Let me know what you are doing.

Lots love T xxxxx

Suddenly it's the Dry Season....

The road building continues

 For weeks it has been raining almost constantly – just like being in the Lake District, only the mountains are more numerous and closer together. Then one day it didn’t rain... and the next day it didn’t rain... and now it hasn’t rained for over a week. The roads are already very dry and dusty. The tarmaced roads are ok, but riding on the back of a moto on an earth road in the wake of a lorry , bus or car is very challenging. The driver is hard pushed to see where he is going, especially if he doesn’t have a visor on his helmet. So we travel slowly and arrive at our destination covered in a light red dust.

 

Imagine the dust cloud from this lorry

I watched a mum with a baby on her back and shopping in her hand get on the back of a moto. Before they set off she passed her shopping to the driver who put it in the front, then she wrapped an extra piece of cloth around the baby so that his head was completely covered by the cloth to protect him from the dust. Then she put her helmet on and off they went... I wish I had a photo.

Making teaching materials

I can't resist... 

This week’s travelling has been up to one of the beautiful rural areas. The training is for three days and so we travel up on Monday mornings, stay overnight at the priests’ house and return on Wednesday afternoon. This week we had a science training day for senior school teachers, followed by a science day for primary school teachers and then a social studies day for primary teachers.  Our main aim is to encourage pupil participation and active learning methods, to make learning fun and effective. We certainly had fun, and it was great to see teachers taking on board all the new ideas and methods. We introduced role play and as Rwandans have a great sense of fun they really threw themselves into it.

The lads enjoying themselves

Health and Safety Exec eat your heart out!

A day off school and best clothes

Whilst we were at the priests house there was an amazing celebration at the church including an outdoor service of Mass for 6000 people!! The singing and music and drumming was wonderful. The crowd was enormous and we had difficulty getting through but a kind man cleared a path for us.

Everyone was enjoying themselves and many many people in the community were involved, it was a very special day. 

The clearing up afterwards took no time at all with all the willing helpers.

The local children had the day off school. Some of you will remember playing with a similar toy when you were young!!

After such a strenuous week I was glad to get home and relax with my knitting. Thanks Cat – my scarf is going to be beautiful, and warm during the next rainy season xx

Lots of love to everyone. I hope you are enjoying some lovely long summer evenings. 

P.S. I think the 'Comments' gadget is not working and I don't know how to fix it, sorry about that but please feel free to send an e- mail. 

This week's Education Conference

The last three days of this week were spent in Kigali at the Annual  Education conference for all volunteers and staff of VSO who are involved in the education Programme.


VSO has three main priorities in Rwanda, namely, Education, Disability and National Volunteering. The Education Programme is the largest. 


The best session of the conference was the one in which the students, teachers and headteachers and DEOs (District Education officers) were involved. They were asked to discuss and  draw pictures of what the education system is like now and what they want it to be like in the future - ie by 2020. I was working with a group of Primary School students and their perspectives were very interesting - on the whole they were happy with the schools as they are now and it was difficult for them to visualise a school of the future until we went and showed them what a computer can do - they had never seen one before. At the end of the session the students stood up in front of the whole conference and said what they wanted to see in the future. These comments ranged from 'clean schools, with concrete floors and roofs that don't leak' to 'running water, electricity and good quality teaching, more textbooks and computers in the classrooms.


In the afternoon we had a  panel of experts, including a member of the National Inspectorate and representatives of UNICEF - who are doing a brilliant job here in Rwanda (I am pleased to say this because I have supported UNICEF financially on a monthly basis for about 20 years now!!


I'm back in Gitarama and looking forward to Saturday night with some friends who are coming to our house to cook a meal - there are great advantages to being the only house in town with a proper cooker!!

Massive advertising hoardings

I'm including this photo to show you the size of the advertising hoardings here. Impressive? Yes, but not as impressive as the guys who shinny up to the top with no rope or safety harness to change the pictures every couple of months - rock climbers eat your heart out!!!!


Lots of love to everyone - hope the summer is going well. 


PS I'm told the Rainy Season will come to an end soon - I'll let you know when it does!!


Tx

A typical Saturday??

I pass this poster every day on my way to work

Ok,  so this is a typical Saturday when I’m not going away for the weekend.

Saturday morning, no work so I have a lie-in until maybe 7am at the latest – can’t seem to sleep any later than that , although I may go for a sleep later in the day eg early  afternoon. I get up, put the kettle on for a cuppa tea (very much like home really!) Whilst the kettle’s boiling I open the curtains and switch off the seciurity light and the front and back porch.

Take cuppa into bedroom and decide what to wear – Saturday morning, it’s usually my African wrap and a loose top. Go for a hot shower and fill up a bucket of hot water so that I can do my ‘smalls’ washing. I wash my own ‘smalls’ and my towel because I like them washed in warm rather than cold water. Also I think it’s not nice to ask someone else to hand wash your smalls! Your views on this are welcome!!

Get dressed in loose clothing, do my washing on the back porch , say  ‘Maramutse, Amakuru?’  to Jean Paul who is already working in the garden. Tidy up the kitchen from the night before, have some toast with peanut butter or Marmite. Put the kettle on for fresh Rwandan coffee. Sit on the back porch and maybe do some knitting or reading Ken’s Weekly Guardian  ( keep it coming!! Or let me know when you cancel it so that I can take out my own subscription – thank you x)

Mid morning I take myself and/ or April off to town to get some shopping . I usually call in at the dressmakers to see how she is getting on with my latest outfit. This week I called in to ask her to make the skirt longer - I got told off by a Rwandan lady for my skirt being too short (mid calf length) Hop on a moto to get my shopping home safely.

A loaded lorry stuck in the mud

A brick oven in the school grounds

 This Saturday I joined an African choir and it was great fun - didn't understand a word I was singing but we're going to have the best alto line up in Rwanda (all 4 of us!)We are now an International choir since I joined - ha ha!!

I've been exhausted this week and so spent most of the weekend resting. Judy and I spent three days in a northern sector visiting the last 5 schools up there. We start the training in two weeks. Three days almost continually on the back of a motorbike is physically tiring and communicating with teachers and headteachers when our languages are different is mentally challenging. Added to that we stay in the Priest's house whilst we are there so we have to make polite conversations all evening - actually it's quite good fun because they are such characters and it is quite  amusing watching Judith struggling to explain her 'off the cuff' comments which are intended to be lighthearted but turn out to be taken very seriously and need to be explained in great detail.

Washing hands after visiting the toilet

Many of the schools do not have electricity or water and so headteachers have to be very creative in thinking of ways to help children keep clean. The headteacher of this school had managed to install solar panels and sells the electricity to the local community so that they can charge their mobile phones. He also has a'Hairdressing salon' on site and 1/4 of the money raised goes to pay the hairdresser and 3/4 goes into school fund. The children usually have shaved heads for hygiene reasons, so it's an excellent idea!                                            

Play equipment for the Nursery children

I seem to have strayed from the topic of Saturdays, but never mind! I am coming to the end of my weekend and it's Sunday night so going to read a good book before bed time. I'm reading my fave book of all time - Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen - I  always read it to give me comfort and a laugh!!

Lots of love to everyone. Please don't forget to comment - I always check if anyone has written anything. Thank you for any prayers you may have offered for our safety on the motorbikes - please continue. Tricia xxxx

Shall I write about the weather or about my work???

The Centre of Operations

Ok, so I’ve been asked to write about what I do when I go out to schools on these trips. The answer is that it depends....

The latest trip is the first of several that we have planned to one of our remote sectors. As you know, I work at the District Office in Muhanga which is in the Southern Province. This is our ‘centre of operations’ and from here all the plans are made!! Sometimes the plans come to fruition and sometimes they don’t! But this week they did. I will try to give a brief outline of my work programme:

When I arrived I analysed the Examination results for the P6 children in all the schools in Muhanga District. From this analysis I was able to determine which of the 12 sectors needed support.  One of these sectors is the one we visited this week. We have planned a programme of visits and training which will last most of this term. There are 9 schools in the sector and this week we visited 4 of them, we will visit the other 5 next week. Our aim for these first visits is to gather information and to observe teaching so that we can work out what improvements need to be made, and what training we can offer. The next part of the programme is to deliver 6 days of training for every teacher in the sector. The teachers wanted us to do this on a subject by subject basis.  After the training days we will give the schools 4 weeks to try out some of the new strategies, then we will visit each school again to evaluate the impact of the training.

 So that’s the ‘work bit’, now the logistics!! The sector is a 2 hour moto ride from Gitarama and so we decided we would stay overnight whenever we could so that we would cut down on these arduous journeys. A friendly and helpful headteacher has found us accommodation with the Catholic priests in the area. So this week we carried out our first 4 visits, we had safe journeys and decent weather.

 

One of the schools we visited is particularly remote and the families are very poor. You will see from the photo that they haven’t got proper desks, the classrooms are very old and the floors are just hard packed earth. The children cannot get to school in the rain because the area is very mountainous and if they get wet they can’t get dry and will be more susceptible to illness. The nearest medical centre is a day’s walk away. They may only have one set of clothes (usually their school uniform) and if this gets wet they have nothing to change into. So there are many barriers to learning, but the teachers try very hard in difficult circumstances.

And so we continue, inspired by these dedicated teacher who get paid absolute peanuts – in fact if they got paid in nuts they would be better off!

Love Tricia

Roads in Rwanda

The roads in Rwanda are AMAZING.


There are several Principal Roads throughout the country that are tarmaced and are a credit to the engineering skills of the Chinese and the hard work of the Rwandan people.These roads connect the major towns to the capital city, Kigali. They also connect the country to neighbouring countries of Uganda,DRC, Tanzania and Burundi.


When you see the beautiful mountainous terrain in this country you can appreciate the difficulties of travel.

 Out of the towns, travel is more difficult. I had the great pleasure of being able to do a tour of Muhanga District in a 4x4 with my Director of Education. Our district stretches to the north of the country and there are some remote, out lying areas. 


There is a massive road building programme going on throughout the country. Most of the work is done by people power. Earth is moved away from the hillside to the other side of the road in order to widen the carriageway. In the rainy season the roads become incredibly muddy and the earth is loose and treacherous. 

Drains are dug along the whole length of the road to provide run off for the heavy rains. After this the drains are fortified with rocks held together with cement. The drains become a thing of beauty with their multi coloured lining. 


When the roads are finished the communication links for everyone, including education and health workers will be much improved and access to remote areas will be much easier.


 Until then, we persevere in all weathers!!


Judy and I will be making such a journey on Monday and Tuesday to visit four schools so think of us and pray that the rains hold off for another night.


Thank you, sending my love to you all. xxxxx

A typical Day in Rwanda??

Outfit for working in the office

I’ve been asked to write about a typical day in Rwanda, which is very difficult because often what you think is going to be a typical day turns out to be anything but!!

Here am I in my office work clothes. But when I go out to schools I look very different - dressed in trousers and smart top but covered from head to foot in waterproof gear and safety helmet.

Typically,  I get up with the sun at about 5.45am. I drag myself off my Rwanda Foam bed and escape via the mosquito net.( I like sleeping under my mosquito net , it’s like a cocoon or tent and makes me feel safe.) I go to the kitchen and put the kettle on for a cuppa – just like home really. Into the bathroom for cold stand up wash – if I’m feeling in need of luxury I add some of the water from the kettle into the bowl. We do have a hot shower but I only use it in the evenings and only once or twice a week. Perversely I prefer the refreshing cold wash. I know – it’s the puritan in me!

Breakfast and out of the house by 6.30, walk down to work along with lots of others, some of whom are becoming very familiar to me. Ladies off to cultivate their land, growing food for their families, children off to school always wanting to practice their English with me, young men in white wellingtons off to wherever they are off to, well dressed men and women off to the office. I pass the young girl looking after the turkeys (what’s the collective noun for a group of turkeys?) I pass the goats chewing anything they can reach, the noisy cow in the neighbours garden and the gaggle of moto drivers looking at me hopefully,  thinking I may, just this once,  ride on the back of their bike down to work. But no, I like my walk to work too much.

I arrive at the office for 7 and say my ‘Good Mornings’ to all and sundry. From then on I never know what is going to happen. I may plan things and be determined to carry them out, but more often than not something unexpected happens and the plans change.

So, on Judy’s first day at work I’d planned to take her to visit one  school. The trip involved a motor bike ride, the headteacher was expecting us, the drivers were booked. But the rain rained and the boss said ‘You must not go on motos today!’ So, instead we got to drive around the whole district in a 4x4, visiting lots of schools. We had a wonderful day, albeit a very long day – a drive of about 8 hours, with no food or water! We spent about one hour in a remote school, entertaining children with ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and....’ etc whilst the boss went off to supervise the girls' vaccinations against Rubella. 

So, having set out on a typical day it turned out to be yet another amazing experience in Rwanda.

But on a Fridays we are continuing a fine tradition, started by my predecessor. The clue is in the photo!!