Hi!
I thought in light of the fact that my time here is almost over, it might be a good time for me to do a bit of a fun post to give you some more insight into what has been my life here. Let's look at what a week in my life typically looks like :)
So during the week (before graduation - see previous post), I spent Monday - Thursdays at the "DuHope house", as we call it, just being present with the women and the staff, giving feedback, and generally bugging people for English translation of conversations taking place around me.
Wednesdays and Fridays were staff meeting days. I particularly enjoyed the Friday meetings as this was a time to regroup with all the DuHope staff, including the social workers, and hear about how the women were doing at home, their families, their health, etc. This time became a very important support for our staff as it was quite therapeutic in nature (thanks to Rwanda's best ever counsellor, Therese, who we call "Mama") :) A lot of the topics that came up in these meetings are the things we will be addressing as we try to perfect our program.
I have been so grateful for the community I have outside of DuHope here too.
On Monday nights, I usually help out at YoungLife here at the international school. I was never involved in YL in the States, but it's been so much fun to be a part of here and I am so impressed by my friends' leading of this group. It's a great space for kids to come and have fun and socialise when they may not have many other opportunities to do so here.
Tuesday nights a women's Bible study meets at our house and we have a really fun group of women from all over the world.
On Wednesdays is a little institution known as "Wednesday Night Buds" where a group of us youngens get together for a meal and a movie. For me, as someone who is a mix of both introvert and extrovert, this weekly social event has been really helpful and enjoyable.
Sundays are another fun social day. I have been attending Christ's Church Rwanda, which is an American-run church in my neighbourhood, but has a large (maybe even majority) African congregation. This is another fun multi-cultural/multi-national experience - a mix of English and Kinyarwanda worship songs lead by some beautifully talented young Rwandans. Every Sunday after church, a group of us head to a local restaurant for lunch.
The rest of my time is spent either playing games with friends, shopping at the market, or just watching a movie.. pretty regular stuff.
I'm so grateful for the safe space I have to just relax at my house with great housemates who understand that sometimes I need to just lock myself in my room and hide from the world, but also great friends who I can be social with when I need to escape sitting in my room hiding from the world :D
This has been my life for the past 3 and a half months, and in 3 weeks I'll be leaving what has become so familiar and will need to try to readjust back into my life in Australia, which was still kind of new even when I left. This is met with some anxiety, but I am also excited to see friends and family back home (for someone who moves as much as I do, I'm really not very good at transitions...)
Thanks again for reading. Now enjoy some snapshots from around Kigali/Rwanda :) (check out my Facebook if you'd like to see more)
I thought in light of the fact that my time here is almost over, it might be a good time for me to do a bit of a fun post to give you some more insight into what has been my life here. Let's look at what a week in my life typically looks like :)
So during the week (before graduation - see previous post), I spent Monday - Thursdays at the "DuHope house", as we call it, just being present with the women and the staff, giving feedback, and generally bugging people for English translation of conversations taking place around me.
Wednesdays and Fridays were staff meeting days. I particularly enjoyed the Friday meetings as this was a time to regroup with all the DuHope staff, including the social workers, and hear about how the women were doing at home, their families, their health, etc. This time became a very important support for our staff as it was quite therapeutic in nature (thanks to Rwanda's best ever counsellor, Therese, who we call "Mama") :) A lot of the topics that came up in these meetings are the things we will be addressing as we try to perfect our program.
I have been so grateful for the community I have outside of DuHope here too.
On Monday nights, I usually help out at YoungLife here at the international school. I was never involved in YL in the States, but it's been so much fun to be a part of here and I am so impressed by my friends' leading of this group. It's a great space for kids to come and have fun and socialise when they may not have many other opportunities to do so here.
Tuesday nights a women's Bible study meets at our house and we have a really fun group of women from all over the world.
On Wednesdays is a little institution known as "Wednesday Night Buds" where a group of us youngens get together for a meal and a movie. For me, as someone who is a mix of both introvert and extrovert, this weekly social event has been really helpful and enjoyable.
Sundays are another fun social day. I have been attending Christ's Church Rwanda, which is an American-run church in my neighbourhood, but has a large (maybe even majority) African congregation. This is another fun multi-cultural/multi-national experience - a mix of English and Kinyarwanda worship songs lead by some beautifully talented young Rwandans. Every Sunday after church, a group of us head to a local restaurant for lunch.
The rest of my time is spent either playing games with friends, shopping at the market, or just watching a movie.. pretty regular stuff.
I'm so grateful for the safe space I have to just relax at my house with great housemates who understand that sometimes I need to just lock myself in my room and hide from the world, but also great friends who I can be social with when I need to escape sitting in my room hiding from the world :D
This has been my life for the past 3 and a half months, and in 3 weeks I'll be leaving what has become so familiar and will need to try to readjust back into my life in Australia, which was still kind of new even when I left. This is met with some anxiety, but I am also excited to see friends and family back home (for someone who moves as much as I do, I'm really not very good at transitions...)
Thanks again for reading. Now enjoy some snapshots from around Kigali/Rwanda :) (check out my Facebook if you'd like to see more)
dirt roads are a little tricky to drive on, but unavoidable
but there are also many lovely paved roads :)
Rwanda produces a huge amount of bananas and banana leaf/fibre products. These trees are everywhere!
the lovely front yard of our compound featuring Diego the dachshund who thinks he is a guard dog..
the city market where everything must be carried on your head!
never unusual to see people perched on top of trucks driving around
one of the many modern buildings in the city centre
need a mattress?
Rwanda is famous for it's coffee, and I am grateful for it's coffee..! (even with UHT milk..)
brown water in our magical filter making it safe to drink
in one of my first posts I mentioned some of the many mansions around Kigali..
I didn't take this photo, but just to show some of the contrast there is in housing here
leaving the city is always a favourite - Lake Kivu in Kibuye in the Western province
and you can even find some wildlife out on a safari!
