April 24, 2016
It’s hard to believe that nearly 6 months have passed since we left Ann
Arbor! Since saying farewell to friends and family last Fall, we have managed
to get settled into our lives and routines here in Rwanda.
Life in equatorial Africa has a different rhythm than the Midwest of
the USA. Seasons are now defined by the amount of rain we receive, rather than
by temperatures, falling leaves, budding flowers, and blowing snow!
Temperatures here range from the upper 60s at night to around 90 during the
day, with most days in the 72-86 degree range. Sunshine abounds, and the trees
and grass are always green.
Rwanda is known as the “Land of a 1000 Hills,” and we can confirm that
this country has virtually no flat ground, except along some river basins in
the valleys. Agriculture is the primary economic activity here, and the hills
are absolutely covered with crops, including maize, banana, beans, potatoes,
cassava, sugarcane, rice, coffee and tea.
We live in the capital city of Kigali. Even with a population of over 1
million, and development happening at impressive speeds, there are still plots
of land used by residents to grow their essentials. Ruth Ann and our guard,
Simeon, have managed to cultivate and plant a fairly successful garden in a
portion of our property that is essentially an unused driveway. The soil
quality on our property is very poor, but things are still growing.
Isaac and Naomi have just 5 weeks of school left. For Isaac, this third
term of the school year, which started at the end of February, is all about
preparing for and taking the Cambridge IGCSE exams. There is virtually no new
material taught in the 3rd term. Rather, teachers spend class time
“revising” previously taught material, so students can be ready for the nearly
month-long exam period. Isaac made the honor roll for the 2nd term
(his first term here), and he seems to be ready to do well on the exams in May.
Naomi also made the honor roll last term, even after being promoted
from 5th to 6th grade after the Christmas holiday. She is
doing well in the new class, and aims to be one of the top performers in her
class this term. Outside of school, Naomi is taking violin lessons, spending
time with friends and passing time reading books. She has taken a bit of an
interest in running, which in this part of the world is more demanding than in
Michigan (altitude and hills are the biggest challenges!).
John has devoted a lot of time to working on consulting projects for
his Michigan clients. His plan to work with the local water utility in Kigali
fell apart after the utility decided they needed a full-time person working for
2 years on the project, rather than a part-time person for 9 months. He has had
a few conversations with local non-profits, who might be interested in his
experience in local government and water utility issues.
Peak season (for coffee) has started! The coffee cherries are coming in to the 250 washing stations that dot the mountainsides. So Ruth Ann has been crazy busy with related items for the MSU project that brought us here,
as well as efforts to grow her coffee importing and coffee consulting business.
Selling consulting services to local coffee companies is proving more
challenging than first imagined, so Ruth Ann is doing some independent research
and visiting coffee washing stations to develop a better understanding of where
she could best apply her skills in the coffee value chain.
[Note: in May Ruth Ann realized part of the problem to selling services like "lean training." There is an ingrained culture in Rwanda and other African countries that the trainer must pay the trainees to spend time in the classroom. It's bad enough that there is an assumption that all training is free, but add to that the expectation that all trainees will receive a per diem, sometimes as much as $10/day, and you can see why very little training happens and when it happens (with per diems paid), it is only marginally appreciated therefore it's impact is greatly reduced.]
We enjoyed a visit from Noah in January. He was stressed while here, as
he was waiting for final grades and final acceptance from Ford for a job in the
sales division. All has worked out for him, and he is now living in Memphis,
TN. He is responsible for sales to all Ford dealership service departments in
the state of Arkansas. He’s only been there 2 weeks, so he is still not
entirely familiar with the work and territory. If anyone has experience living
in Memphis, please let us know. Noah has so far found it very difficult to
adapt to living in that area. He doesn’t know anyone there, and the culture is
vastly different than what he is familiar with. Any tips to help him adjust
would be appreciated! He hopes to be there only one year, but his assignment
may go 2 years.
Locally, we have managed to see some of the country, and we hope to see
more after school is out. We spent a few days at a lake resort in Gisenyi,
which is on Lake Kivu, right on the border with DRC. Noah, Isaac, Naomi and
Ruth Ann spent a few days in Musanze, visiting Volcanoes National Park. Noah
and Isaac hiked to the top of Mount Bisoke (exhausting and muddy). They were
lucky enough to see some gorillas on their hike. Naomi and Ruth Ann visited
Rosamond Carr’s homestead and took a hike to see the Golden Monkeys. John
stayed home to work on projects those days. We all travelled together to visit
Akagera National Park, where we saw lots of baboons, some elephants,
hippopotamus, bird, velvet monkeys and other wildlife.
Two weeks ago we were in Uganda for a few days. Rwanda was essentially
shut down for the annual Genocide Memorial week. Many expats take the time to
leave the country to visit other places. We were amazed as we drove through
Rwanda to the Uganda border and saw not a single business open. The road was
practically all ours, as Rwandans were meeting in their local villages to
discuss the genocide, and learn about preventing future genocides.
[Author: John]
