I Know Now - Michael

I knew then that foreign language is a jumble of nonsense words,

I know now, I just can’t understand it.

I knew then that everyone in the world had food to eat,

I know now, that many people are hungry.

I knew then that water is clean an available with the turn of a knob,

I know now, that it can be dirty, disease spreading, and a mile away.

I knew then that all starry skies are the same,

I know now, that they aren’t.

I knew then that milk comes from cows,

I know now, that each glass must first be squeezed from udders.

I knew then few people ride public transport,

I know now, buses are always crammed.

I knew then that 1,000,000 Rwandans were killed

I know now, that there is so much forgiveness.

-Michael-

Jumping Giraffes

Giraffes!!!       
Daniel

We were driving for about 1 hour in Akagera Game Park, when Nathan and I saw giraffes in the distance.  We discovered a track that led to the giraffes and followed it.  Through the trees I could see a baby giraffe nursing. (I wonder how giraffe milk would taste?)  The baby giraffe was as tall as me!!! It seemed to be only a few days old, because its umbilical cord was still attached.  There were birds riding on the back of the giraffes.

In 1986, 2 males and 4 female giraffes were imported to the game park from Kenya.  Most of them were killed from poaching during the genocide.  But now over the years the number of giraffes has increased to about 75, and we were lucky to see some.

The scientific name of giraffe is Giraffa Camelepardalis meaning 'fast walking camel leopard.'  The giraffe is related to deer and cattle, but its closest relative is the Okapi.

Baby giraffes

• A baby giraffe can run for to 24 hours after birth!  
• It knows how to jump within 4 days.
• Drinks milk (or suckles) from its mother, till its about 10 months old.
• It weighs about 110 pounds at birth.

 Giraffe Fun Facts

• A giraffe's heart weighs up to 25 pounds!
• A full grown giraffe's neck can weigh as much as 500 pounds!
• A giraffe can go longer without water that a camel!
• Giraffes have black tongues!
• In 1 minute, a giraffe's heart can pump 160 gallons of blood!
• An adult giraffe can kick so hard that it can decapitate (take off) a lions head!
• Giraffes cannot cough!
• Each marking on a giraffe is not the same! 
• A giraffe can clean its ears with its 24 inch tongue!
• Full grown giraffes can run up to 40 mph!

Akagera Safari - Michael

Driving through Akagera National Park was not the roughest dirt road I have been on since coming to Rwanda but it was long, dusty and hot--though well worth it! We packed food and camping gear to last us the weekend.  We safaried with our British friends with two boys 11 and 8yrs old.  As we drove into the park our conversations and card games ended.  Binocs were passed around, field guides were opened, and cameras gotten out.  

We leaned out the windows and climbed on the roof to watch zebras meander through the bush and a male impala lope across the road with a score of females.  Occasionally we saw a warthog family trot away through the tall grass with their tails raised high or an African Horn Bill or Go-away bird with a call that sounds like:  “Go-a-way! Go-a-way!”

2 of the 5 giraffes we saw. The baby
still had its umbilical cord. 

After a little while the rolling hills and bush spilled out onto a large open plain of dry grass, dotted with groups of zebra.  Here we spotted a family of Masai giraffe:  three adults and two young ones, one was so young it still had his umbilical cord.

After driving through the park, we came to our campsite at dusk on top of rolling hills speckled with clumps of brush and acacia. (For those of you who live near our home town, it was very similar to the hills between Redding and Red Bluff during summer).  To the east, the hills continued but with the glint of metal roofs and the scattered herds of long horned cattle owned by Rwandans.   In the west, lay wetlands and occasional lakes with the Akagera River flowing through on its way to Victoria Lake and the Nile.  Beyond the river lay Tanzania receding in the distance.

I got 2 crocs and a hippo to show it's nose for this picture.
 We saw 8 crocodiles and 5 or 6 hippos in just one small cove.

On day 2 we followed the broken branches
and giant scat piles of this guy till we
at last caught up to him.

Our muffler fell off on our way out of the park
The rough roads weren't very kind to the car.

The East African animals are not as numerous in Akagera Park as some parks in Kenya or Tanzania. The park’s land was reduced to nearly 2/3 to provide land for returning refugees after the ’94 genocide.  Lions, if any, have been reduced to a few and rhinos were all poached during the war. But elephants and giraffe have been brought into the park and are increasing. Crocodiles and hippos thrive in the lakes and there are over 500 species of birds.  There are also leopards, but we didn’t get to see any this trip. )-; 

Driving across plain in search of giraffes

Life with Cows -Nathan

When we moved into our house, we took on the responsibility of taking care of 3 cows belonging to our landlord--a calf born in October, the young mother, and another female.

About a month ago, our landlord gave away one of the cows, because he owed a friend who had done him a favor. In a poor African culture where there is not a lot of money, people depend on help from each other to get things done. Giving a cow is not just a nice thing to do, but an obligation. There was a small ceremony and the landlord gave away the healthiest cow, and left us the sick cow.



cows pen



After a few days the mother recovered, and we discovered she was pregnant again!! Her last pregnancy was triplets, and only one survived. We called a local cow vet to check for brucellosis, a disease that can kill the cow and make people sick. Thankfully, the test came out clear. We also took a 3 day training in animal husbandry and gardening to learn more about caring for the cow and preparing for the birth in November.

Since the training we have developed a routine that includes washing the cow, cleaning the stalls, and Michael and I milking. We get about 4-5 liters a day but hope to get more after the baby is born. We haven’t yet started making cheese, but make yogurt and kefir daily, and we sell any extra milk. Our cows don’t give very much milk because of their breed—local and a small part Friesian. There is another local cow-the long horned Ankole cow-that also doesn’t give very much milk (only 1-2 liters a day).

 We have really enjoyed having cows, we have learned a great deal, and are having a very good experience. And I hope to expand to chickens, rabbits and maybe goats in the future.

A Schooling Adventure- Michael

A few weeks back we visited a rural primary school 1 ½ hours south of Kigali with a volunteer who was working with teachers to improve teaching techniques.  We observed and helped the teachers as we could. We came the week before final exams and the end of the school year for Rwandans.  The students were reviewing and preparing for the tests, which is a big deal for most of them.  The attitude about school is very positive.  It is the only way for people to rise above the poor farmer status.

We split into groups and helped in different classes.  I helped and observed in P5 (5^th grade) English and math class and P2 (2^nd grade) math.

The P5 classroom, 25ft long and 15ft wide, was very basic with two large blackboards and a few hand drawn posters on the wall.  About 70 kids shared 18 wooden desks with 3 or 4 others.  The desks were only a meter long.  The class had kids of many ages.  Most looked around 12-13yrs old (it is hard to tell because many are malnourished and smaller than they should be).  Some were 15 and 16yrs old.

We listened to the local teacher and observed the kids work.  They copied a paragraph in English and answered questions about the paragraph.  When someone answered correctly, the class would clap and chant:

“Clap for him!

Another day

do the same.”

The teacher gave them a comprehension test about the paragraph.  I observed the students around me work; a few answered correctly, but most did not seem to understand or know what to do.

So English classes in Rwanda are a bit rough.  The country switched from French to English in the schools 2 years ago.  Teachers needed to learn and teach English overnight.   All the teachers have a strong accent, making it difficult for the students to get the correct pronunciations. 

Most teaching in public schools involves writing information on the board and having the students copy and memorize with little or no understanding.  A lot of the kids in P5 could not hold a conversation beyond “How are you.” with me. 

In Math class, we worked with the local teacher and set up a quiz to review.  The math was in English so it was easy to communicate. We divided the class into teams and kept score so that there was competition. We quizzed them with simple problems like finding the area of a square and circle.  The kids were good, but when we asked them to find the area of a triangle they tried to solve it with the Pythagorean Theorem!?!   

We learned a lot and appreciated the experience.  It made us appreciate our ways of learning and doing school.  Also made us realize the need for helping teachers to learn English better. 

  

                       Handball with the School Kids-  Nathan

For 3 hours we observed and sat with the patient, energetic, and eager kids without a break.  Along with my mom, brothers, and friends I helped teach colors with bottle caps to the P1 class (1^st gr), explained prepositions and helped explain the meanings of difficult English words to the P5 class (5^th gr), reviewed simple geometry with the P6 (6gr)class, and also observed classes taught by the Rwandan teachers.

  For the break we played sports with the kids:  volleyball, football (soccer), a Rwandan version of duck, duck, goose, throwing javelins, and handball.  Daniel and I went with the handball group.  My brother and I had never played handball before, but we learned fast with the kids help. When we came to the handball field, I could not tell a difference between it and a football field, except the smaller topped off goals and semi-circles. 

Handball is a combination of rugby, and football.  It is mostly the same as football except using hands instead of feet. Passing the ball in the air, we made our way down the dirt field to the goal. To score, we had to throw the ball into the goal and not cross the semi-circle line around the goal. There were a lot of long throws, so the ball traveled fast, and we traveled fast to catch it.

Though they played hard, many of the kids were malnourished. Some had distended bellies, others were very short, possibly from lack of good food.  Most of the kids were 12 and up, and I was about 1 ½ feet taller than all of them, including a 16 year old boy.  

We played and played, sweating in the scorching midday sun. I sure got tired out, but the kids though malnourished, gave us a run for our money. 

Rwandan Pottery by Daniel

 Creating Pottery - by Daniel

Early one morning we got up to go birding and discovered a pottery operation in the marsh we were exploring.  We decided to visit the shop, and when we got there the Rwandan staff gladly gave us a small tour. We saw how they grind the clay into powder, how they make small pots on a wheel, and how they fire pots in the furnace.  Whenever pots need to be put into the furnace, hte brick wall has to be torn down and then built back up!

After the tour we saw a man creating a pot on the wheel.  When he was done he motioned for us to come and try it.  So we had a little lesson at the wheel. 

It was very interesting and fun.  At the bottom of the wheel is a bigger wheel that I turned with my foot to keep the small wheel up at the top spinning really fast.  After finishing they said that we could come back in three more days and it would be fired.

                                                                           

A couple weeks after we made our pots,  Mom’s  b-day and Father’s day came so we decided to go back go back.  We made some more pots and I molded a crocodile for mom!!                                                                                               

Swim Race

Swim Race - by Michael

One advantage of living near the capital is a sports club where we can swim, play tennis, and use the internet. Our house just outside Kigali doesn't have good internet though coverage is all over the county through cell phone towers.  The club is also a peaceful place to bring our books to settle in and do our school work. 

          At the pool we have befriended Moses who works daily as lifeguard/manager.  When he saw us swim he invited us to sign up for a swim race to be held at the pool.  His English is broken so we didn’t learn until we arrived that the swim race was Rwanda’s 1^st National Swimming Championship! 

There were about 100 swimmers categorized in age groups from 9+yrs.   There are so few swimming pools here in Kigali I was surprised to find so many swimmers.  A lot of them came from Lake Kivu (see our last Blog post) including Jackson, Rwanda’s #1 Olympic swimmer, whom we met at Kibuye 3 weeks ago. 

We arrived 20 min late—still getting used to the drive into town—but we were some of the first to arrive-- chairs and lane-markers still needed to be set up.  The opening ceremony was scheduled for 8:00 but was 1 ½ hours behind.   A traditional dance group performed on the pool deck for nearly 30 min (followed by a lengthy speech by the president of the Rwanda Swimming Federation).   It was the second time we had seen Rwandan dancing. The men wore a head band of colibus monkey hair and carried a spear and small shield.  The ladies danced with woven baskets.  Each wore shakers on their ankles and rhythmically stomped as they danced.  A drummer hammered away on three large drums next to a group of singers.  Their lyrics sounded like stories that changed in mood and energy.

           Then the swimming began.  The announcements were all in Kinyarwanda, which made it difficult to know when we were to race. We listened closely for the words Abahungu—boys,  Abakobgwa—girls, and the age.  We were the only white swimmers; the rest were Rwandans.   The majority were teens and younger kids from a few schools that had swim teams and access to pools around Kigali.

          Once the races started, the meet was surprisingly well organized, but very slow, sometimes ten minutes between each race. Breaststroke was a favorite of the Rwandan swimmers; nearly half swam it. Some swam very well with good form.  Others swam with funny variations of strokes: two kicks to a pull, swinging arms like windmills, or/and swimming through the water like a weighted barge.

          We had a great time—once the swimming began.  My bros. and I swam two strokes of our choice. We swam well though it has been a few years since we swam on our hometown team in Redding.  Daniel and Nathan swam with kids 9-14yrs; I swam with kids up to 19yrs in breaststroke, free and back.  I placed first in the 100m breaststroke race and won a backpack. 

          Swimming in Rwanda is not common as a sport.  Besides Lake Kivu, there are only a few swimming pools in Kigali; I was very surprised that Rwanda has a pro swimmer (from Lake Kivu).  Other sports like football (soccer), basketball, volleyball and tennis are played much more—football especially.  Daniel, Nathan and I are practicing with a football team near our house. (more in next blog post).  Rwanda’s National football team has also done well among other African teams and the U17 team just competed in the U17 World Cup in Mexico a few weeks back.    

          Last week, as Nathan, Mom and I were swimming, Jackson, Rwanda’s pro swimmer, and two of his teammates were swimming right alongside of us . They were training before flying to Beijing to compete on the 19th . In the States I never would have thought about swimming with someone like Michael Phelps, but here we have met Jackson at the lake, competed in the same competition, and have swum together in the same pool!

Birthday Hike -Nathan 

On my mom’s birthday we went for a hike.  We looked at our map of the area and picked a mountain to climb, driving on windy ‘moon dust’ covered roads to get to it.

About a mile before our destination, we saw kids playing football (soccer) on a dirt basketball court.  Of course when we stepped out of the car to play, we had a crowd around us.  We divided into teams and started to play.  They were very good, quick on their feet and good with the ball.  During our game, a church service let out and we had another crowd, laughing, pointing and smiling at us as we played.  We must have looked funny.

 After some time some kids brought out 2 spinning tops. They whipped the tops with a string (strip of cloth) tied to a stick.  The spinning top itself was an upside-down cone, a little smaller than my fist, whittled from a piece of wood.  Each time they whipped the top, the string made a snap when it wrapped around the top, and set it spinning.  Each kid took turns whipping the top until it stopped.  When we tried we found it was a lot harder than it looked; my brothers and I, whipped the dirt more than the top at first, but soon we got the hang of it. While we were playing, mom and dad were talking with the high school students from the school next door. They were laughing. 

We played with the kids for a while longer before we started our hike.  As I walked away, one of the kids came to me saying “Gift for me” (meaning ‘gift for you’) and handed me the spinning top!!  I was honored by his generosity, and thanked him in my beginner Kinyarwanda. 

The hike took us to a small peak.

The peak was practically next to the road, but we followed a small trail winding its way around the hillside to many houses.  At each of the houses kids came running to join us.  We stopped for lunch at a point overlooking the valley, gave each kid a piece of bread, and ate together.  I took out the spinning top, and the kids immediately asked if they could try. (Spinning tops were probably one of the favorite toys of EVERY kid!!) They were very good at it, and each time we came to a flat spot on the trail, they begged me to have a try.

We continued on around the hillside, walking over a patchwork quilt of cultivated landscape—maize (corn), beans, carrots, cabbage, sorghum, wheat, pineapple, cassava, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, and flowers.  

sorghum

cabbage

maize (corn)

wheat

flowers

We even saw for the first time rosemary, thyme, and a strawberry patch.  We would not have seen the strawberries except the kids led us to it.  We pulled out our lunchboxes and filled them to the brim with small sweet strawberries.  Mom picked rosemary and thyme for her garden at home.

Near the peak we came to a small eucalyptus forest. (These trees are grown for their tall straight wood and are also used whole in the framework of mud huts.)   The air in the forest smelled very clean and sweet, unlike the fumy air in the city. 

On the other side of the forest we climbed up to the high point and could see the road again.  As we gathered by the car at the end of our hike the kids played with the spinning top until we had to go; they sure loved it!!

 It was an enjoyable hike, especially for just picking a place on the map without knowing anything about it! And my Mom enjoyed it very much, (so that passes the test!!)