On a Lighter Note...

Muraho,

The past five blogs I have dedicated to describing significant experiences in Rwanda, my reflections on them, as well as descriptions the various projects that I participated in during my tenure in Rwanda. There were many more experiences that I have not described here on my blogs, but I hope that I have been able to give you a picture of some especially significant experiences.

One aspect of the trip that I have not given you very much detail about is my team. The team was very diverse. Although most of the team was from the East Coast, one person was from Colorado and another was a missionary in Indonesia. Of the ones on the East Coast, most were from Virginia Beach, though North Carolina, Maryland, and D.C. were all represented as well. We were all at different stages in our lives. Several were single. Two were newly married. Several had elementary aged children while others had children graduating high school. Some of us had just graduated while others had recently started our master’s degrees. Some had gone into the graduate program soon after undergrad while others had returned to school after many years to get a first or another master’s degree.

However, despite such diversity, or perhaps because of this diversity, we were able to connect well. There were definitely various personality conflicts, as can be expected on a trip like this, especially when we were working so closely together on time-sensitive projects far away from home. We truly developed a family-like feel during our trip and built friendships and connections that will, by God’s grace, last the test of time.

With such a great team, there were plenty of times of laughter and fun. I became involved in a prank war with several of the teammates which involved stealing each other’s things and culminated in barricading the doors to each other’s rooms. At one point, several of us managed to get hyped on a thrilling hunt of a gecko we found in the guesthouse. Because of my reaction during this time, I became known as the “gecko whisperer”.

As a team, we also went on several excursions, both for the purposes of relaxation after long project days as well as to experience and see as much of Rwanda as possible.

On our first Saturday, we drove several hours north, right near a fairly famous park that is dedicated to preserving the mountain gorillas of Central Africa. Now, from what I was told, tourists generally enter the park in the mornings to see the gorillas and are back at their hotels by the afternoon. In order to provide the tourists with something to do in the afternoons, the Rwandans built a “cultural village”. If anyone has heard of or been to Williamsburg in the United States, you will understand the nature and purpose of this village. The cultural village is basically a life size model of what Rwandan life used to be like before the advent of colonialism. The village is staffed by people who used to make a living as poachers in the nearby park. These people live there year round. When tourists come, they dress up in the traditional garb and basically play-act as the villagers of a Rwanda village frozen in time.

A tour guide led us through the village explaining the history of the model king’s hut (during which time our professor and one of the ladies in the team were selected as the group’s king and queen and dress up accordingly. It was quite hysterical!) as well as the role of the medicine man and the black smith, the method of churning milk into “lotion”, and we were able to do some target practice with a Rwandan bow and arrow.

However, the best part of the excursion came at the end when the men of the village, dressed up as warriors, did a dance for us. Then, our king and queen were brought out into the dance. Soon at least of the team joined in on the fun. It was hilarious and a much needed comic relief after several physically and emotionally draining days.

After the village visit, we drove south west and made a stop at a restaurant/resort on Lake Kivu for lunch/dinner. The view from the restaurant was absolutely gorgeous! The lake itself is very large and is one of the lakes that comprise the “Great Lakes Region” of central Africa. However, despite the beauty, there was a bit of a cloud over it all. We were within a few miles from the border with Congo. On the other side was North Kivu. Just that week, more fighting had broken out and refugees were streaming into Rwanda. We had even passed some along the way to the resort.

At the end of the trip, before we flew back to the United States, we had one last excursion. We had a brief, but fun one night stay at a safari lodge. The Akagera National Park occupies the northeastern corner of the country. From our hotel, we were able to see across the border into Tanzania. Once again, the view was absolutely amazing!

On our safari, we saw many baboons, several giraffes, impala and other types of antelope, water buffalo, some hippos, and several types of birds. We also had the privilege of witnessing two male giraffes fighting one another. Their fighting entailed throwing the head and neck at the other giraffe’s neck. It was quite intriguing and amusing.

But probably the greatest sight was the one elephant we saw. We were driving along on the dirt road. On our left was a river/lake of some sort and on our right was trees, bushes and other types of foliage. As we were driving, we suddenly came upon a solitary bull elephant on our right. We immediately stopped and stared for a second in disbelief. After a second or two, everyone came to their senses and dashed to get their cameras out. Fortunately, I had already had my camera out and ready, so I managed to get a perfect shot of him before he lumbered over ten feet to the right behind a tree.

I hope you enjoy the following pictures of the aforementioned events.

The Mountain Gorilla National Park in the distance

Cultural Village and View of Gorilla Park

Our "King" and "Queen"

Blacksmith at Cultural Village

Churning milk into "lotion"

The Dancing Warriors

Lake Kivu

North Kivu, DRC in the distance

Fishing on Lake Kivu 

Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park

Akagera National Park, Tanzania in the distance

The fighting giraffes