Goodbye to EGPAF
Today was very nostalgic as it was my last day at EGPAF. Though there are 45 people our office, I generally only work with one other person since I am a consultant and am technically employed by the D.C. office. However, since I drink an enormous amount of coffee (especially in Rwanda because it's so tasty), I have gotten to know many others in the office through the break room. Generally my coffee trips consist of greetings in French and then lead to a short Kinyarwanda lesson. On Tuesday, I was happy to report to them that the lessons had paid-off! At my guest house's breakfast that morning, I'd walked-in and said Mwaramutse (good morning) to Angelique. Another guest had been buttering his toast when I walked-in and looked up briefly then did a noticeable double take when he saw me. When I looked back at him, he laughed and said, "um, did that come from YOU?" I guess he wasn't expecting to see a little mzungu, which makes me think my accent may've gotten better! In the office they say I have a good accent as well, but not as good as Sushant. Sushant speaks at least 5 languages that I know of, so I don't feel too bad about that.
Anyway, on top of my break room socializing, I also found my place in the office as the resident Excel nerd. I spent some time teaching Excel to one of the staff members (in French I'm proud to report) and then taught an Excel class for the entire office this week. I think Wachovia would be happy to know that I actually learned something in their training classes :) Since that class, people have been frequenting my desk asking how to make life easier with Excel. Yes - of course most of you know I'm already a nerd, so teaching people the wonders of Excel is particularly exciting for me. Since that class, I have been given a Kinyarwanda name in the office: Mwiza, which literally means pretty or cute. I'll note however that Mwiza was not the first suggestion; the original idea for my Kinyarwanda name was from Sushant and was Umagoofi (spelled phonetically because I can't find the correct spelling anywhere). It literally means "little girl." The word is funny to English speakers for a nickname because it sounds a lot like "Goofy," as in the dog at Disney World. I like Mwiza better!
So, after meeting so many wonderful people, it was difficult to leave today. The EGPAF Rwanda office is particularly warm and friendly. For example, we celebrate every birthday, childbirth, wedding anniversary, etc of everyone in the office. Whenever anyone goes on holiday, they bring back candy for the entire office and we celebrate again. So I definitely feel like I've made a lot of new friends. As I was saying goodbye to everyone, the first question was always, "when will you be back?" Not "if," but "when." I'll elaborate on this more in my final post, but Rwanda is definitely a place I could come back too!
Goodbye to ROP and Jean de Dieu
When I'd said goodbye to everyone in the office, I left and immediately went to the local equivalent of a Dollar General to buy as many school supplies as I could fit into my backpack. After going to ROP several times, I had an idea of what types of school supplies they needed. As a side note, the supply they need the most is actually textbooks. As I may've mentioned, Jean de Dieu had to borrow a textbook from a friend because there were only a few for his class to share. And, when I say "textbook," I mean a photocopied book bound with plastic spirals. I suppose there is an original somewhere that's been photocopied repeatedly. I have yet to see a real, hardcover textbook the entire time I've been here. You may remember, that's why it was important that I copy the book for him a few weeks ago so that he'd have his own personal one to study with.
When I arrived at ROP today, I took a group of younger boys into the activity center. They are only allowed to go into that room, the room with all of the toys and books, when someone is present to supervise. I was pretty excited to go in there today because when I bought the school supplies, I had also bought a few toys and flashcard games. It was fun seeing them all enjoy new toys today.
While I was watching the younger ones, I also helped Jean de Dieu with his studies. I had given him a rather long list of problems to do for when I came back, and he had meticulously completed each one. As usual, we went through each problem and then talked about how to study going forward. As I've said before, Jean de Dieu is very smart. He's really amazing at doing math in his head, in particular. I felt like the student when he'd divide a number into decimals off the top of his head when I had to write it all out to check his work. I really hope he does well on his exams!
As the sun started to go down, I had to start saying goodbye and pack-up the activity center. The orphanage is pretty far from my house and in a more rural location, so I like to get on the road before dark. As usual, Jean de Dieu walked me to the bus stop. This time in particular he was very insistent on walking me, and I felt like he had something that he wanted to talk about. As we set off for the bus stop (about a 15 minute walk), my suspicions were confirmed as he started to tell me about the scars on his arms. His entire left arm, up to his elbow, is scared with what looks like a burn. As with last time, he caveated the conversation by telling me that it is not common - and I think what he means is "acceptable - to talk about the genocide. Then he proceeded to tell me the horrific story of how he got those burns. I actually think it's a little too disturbing to write here, but suffice it to say that it's not something you could imagine anyone with half a heart doing to a 2 or 3 year old. He then told me about his headaches and stomach aches and how when he hears a lot of noise he feels sick because it makes him think of when people were trying to kill him.
As soon as he finished describing that situation, he asked me if I felt like anyone in Rwanda "had love." From his story, I can see why he might question this, but of course we talked about the goodness of people and that not all people are bad. He then asked me again why it is that I come to help. It's interesting to me that this concept is so puzzling to him, but I was happy to again have the opportunity to explain that kindness begets kindness.
At that point, Jean de Dieu told me that he felt that he had a purpose in life. He said that his purpose would be to go to university, get a job, and then take care of orphans. He explained that since he is an orphan, he feels that he can help orphans in the future and relate to their troubles. It wasn't a blanket statement that someone can make in the heat of the moment. Despite the language barrier, I understood clearly that he was very passionate about this and had thought long and hard about it.
So from then on, the rest of our discussion was about having hope and following your dreams. He always couched every statement with, "but in Rwanda it's very difficult because...." Perhaps I was being too idyllic, but I told him that in America we have a saying, "there's always a way." He liked this very much, and I hope that he will believe in himself and follow his noble dreams.
As we approached the bus stop for me to catch a moto, he said that he was very grateful for my help and that he'd miss me. I was overwhelmed with the situation and trying not to get too emotional and cry when all of a sudden a group of about 8 girls rushed towards us. They were laughing and smiling and staring at me, which lightened the mood a bit since I just stood there with a blank look wondering what was going on. Finally, one girl came up to me and said, "we would like to greet you." So, I shook hands with all of them and they smiled and then said goodbye. I think they actually wanted to practice English. When they left, Jean de Dieu said, "sometimes children here like to look at and talk to mzungus when they see them." He then said, "but I am sure that in the U.S. when you see black people you like to stop and look at them too." I laughed thinking about how off that assumption was and then explained as best as I could why that wasn't the case.
Last night in Kigali
Tonight is my last night in Kigali and I'm going to an Indian restaurant with my friends from Hope Shines! I'll be sad to leave them too, but we still have 2 more meals (dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow). I'll write a final post tomorrow before my flight at 8:10pm Kigali time. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone at home soon! Love and miss you all!
Always,
Meredith
Angel Girl Job well done. Love and miss you..... Nanny
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