Saturday off! Congo Nile Trail

I am so happy I don’t have to work this weekend. Numerien told me to rest as we have a big week ahead. I said sure with a big wink. My ecotourism guide arrived at the hotel this morning with the mountain bikes as promised. I had negotiated in my touring package  that I would get the Nile Congo Trail ride for free. Today was the day! It was a bit chilly outside but as soon as we hit those hills I had the feeling it was 40 degrees outside. Those steep hills are tough, never ending and a real killer. The guide asked me if I was in shape. I told him that I was a Belgian Rowing Champion with the juniors and had a track & cross country scholarship NCAA div 1 in the USA but I hadn’t worked out in about 10 years. I didn’t want to bring shame on myself so I told him not to go easy on me. Why oh why am I so competitive ? The guide has completed the 91km Congo Nile Trail over 200 times in 1 day and has seen 5 tourist finish it in 2 days. This trail is no joke! I understood online that I would be riding next to the Nile Congo river but that is not true. It is called Nile Congo because the river at the end of Lake Kivu ends in Victoria lake in Congo. The mountains in Rwanda on Congo border are called Congo Crescent and the other side it mouths somehow in the Nile but there is no such thing as the actual Congo Nile river. The information online is incorrect. The Congo Nile Trail takes you to Kibuye. I had half a bottle of water with me and drank little by little because I saw there were no stores in this mountain area. People have to walk miles to the town. Half way I asked the guide why he wasn’t drinking. He said he forgot his bottle. Oh nooo ! I decided to take one for the team and gave him the rest of all my water. Now we were half way both without water. This was going to be one hell of a ride. The thought crossed my mind many times to drink from the well or from the Lake. Lake Kivu looks like an ocean and many new hotels are under construction. The hilly dirt roads are so steep that if you don’t watch and ride over a rock, the entire bike flips backwards. Going downhill isn’t a joke either you have to keep your eyes closely on the road and make sure you aren’t going to fast. On this trail you barely get a break. At one point we had gone up a few steep hills but were send down because there was a marine training. The special trainings aren’t allowed to be seen; which makes sense. On the trail we passed by an old German man who had been walking next to his bike for three days already. He asked me where I was going. I said nowhere just relaxing on the trail. He said relaxing ? You are drenched in sweat that’s not relaxing! I said I just passed some steep hills. He said oh the worst part is coming now. I got scared! Out of breath I stopped at a water well to rinse my arms and legs. My entire body was itching, red bumps everywhere. I think the repellent was giving me an allergic reaction. The silver lining was that I got to pump from a local well, which was very entertaining. The children chanted muzungu and screamed good morning all the time. Besides trying to focus on the road, I had to constantly give hi5 and yell hello or good morning back. Sometimes children would scream but they were hidden in the banana bushes so I wouldn’t even know where the noise was coming from. Occasionally goats ran on the road and the guide kept on saying look brochettes. So the brochettes I have been eating is goat meat? I didn’t know. The taste is very good though. I saw children swimming in Lake Kivu and decided to jump in with my clothes on. I was already wet from sweat anyway. It was so much fun. The water was clean and I thought the children how to float. I swam for a good hour trying not to think about the way back on the trail. The kids were joyful and some of them spoke English very well. One of the kids, named Eric wanted to become a professional swimmer. He swims in Lake Kivu about 5 hours a day. I hope he will become an Olympian one day. 

Around 15:00 I was hungry but I was scared to eat. If I ate heavy I would not be able to reach back to the hotel. So we stopped at Inzu lounge. I had read about it online but decided not to stay there as you can only sleep in tents. When we got there I realised it is actually a beautiful place and this is where all the foreigners stay. The area on the shores of Lake Kivu is the muzungu zone. I have been wondering were the tourists were. They had yoga and a lot of alcohol was being consumed my mostly women only. I bet in the night there is a lot of noise of drunk women. It reminded me of a scene of the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love women in search for themselves but the place is nice. The food is great and the service is excellent. The Canadian owner is a darling as well. We are now almost 6 hours into biking and it’s becoming tough luckily we found bottled water. We had to stop more frequent but made it home before the nightfall and rain. When I arrived at the hotel I was craving fast food and ordered a burger with fries. I urgently needed carbs. The bike ride was fantastic ! The blackouts were worth every second. This day belongs to one of the best days of my life!

Night night for now - tomorrow I will be up at 6 AM for another adventure! I forgot to mention today is National Clean up day! Every last Saturday of the month everyone between age 18 and 55 has to help clean the streets. Bravo Kagame !

Les 3 petits panier Rwandais

I hadn’t finished the book on the plane as I was to busy talking to Karina from Fxb. So I finished the book last night. Last night the Dutch girls and I decided to stay in as it was raining too hard. Emily and Maartje as their names are suffer from hydrophobia. While finishing the book I realised how much truth there is in it. It describes being in Nyundo, Gisenyi, the village people, the hills, microfinance and poverty. Very similar to my life here. The name of the little Rwandan girl in the book is Impana which means gift in Kinyarwanda. I was touched as my middle and Igbo name is gift as well. Francine Gift Carron in Kinyarwanda I’d be Francine Impano Carron. I am going to keep in mind if I ever need a new screen name.

The book describes microfinance in its complete reality, the struggles and the job. It also talks about the meaning of poverty. The tale of a rich man that has everything wants to experience poverty. I can totally relate to this because in life we always aim to have more and become richer. We are convinced that by becoming richer, we automatically become happier. However in order to realise that wealthy doesn’t make happy you have to be rich first. Only when you are or have been rich you can appreciate the happiness in leading a basic life. I live myself a very nice life but being here in a basic room makes me realise that I don’t need anything but food and a place to sleep. People who have little can’t appreciate what they have because they have never been rich. Well most of us in the Western world have never been poor and hence need to experience poverty to learn.

I passed the lovely book as it is requested by the author Koen to Maartje and Emily, the Dutch girls. Emily is a nurse going to work in Uganda and Maartje is a Doctor. Talking to them I learned that the kid who jumped in the taxibus was actually infected with rabies. This explains the crazy reaction of the women pushing him with their feet of the bus.

Thank you Koen for lending me this book! I am sure Maartje and Emily will continue to pass it on on their journey in East Africa. Ceux qui ont les dents blanches rient.

“When you have 60% of women in your government, your country will advance. = Rwanda !”
— #francinecarron

The story of Numerien and Betha Numerien came to work perfectly dressed as always. I rather decided to go natural today. It’s chilly outside today. Numerien was very anxious this morning because his wife Betha was coming. Numerien lives in Gisenyi in a hostel while the wife lives in his town with the 4 kids. In his home town near Rutegroc, we will be there on Tuesday are the salaries very low. Numerien makes about 370 USD a month This is still too low for the responsibilities relating to his function and the time he invests. On top of that he pays a hostel / lodgement 5 days a week. His oldest son is in boarding school and comes home 4 times a year. The smallest is 2 years old. The other 2 are in primary school. While the wife came to Gisenyi to return to Rutegroc with Numerien in the evening, the 12 year old is responsible of the 2 other children. Numerien’s wife named Betha is a primary school teacher and makes 40 USD a month. Horrible ! I knew that Betha was coming today so I went through my suitcase to find a gift. Everything I brought can be left in Rwanda. That was my initial plan every outfit, accessory or whatsoever can be given away as a gift. So I decided to give her earrings, a bracelet and a ring that I had bought in Antwerp from Enchante Fine Jewelry. It’s very nice black pearls, white pearls, silver and CZ stones. I also had a big bottle of expensive Guerlain perfume with me that I had received as a gift myself. I decided to pack this in the local brown bag and gift it to her. She was so happy she had never owned a bottle of perfume in her life! I can’t imagine that as a woman. Since I was 4 I had been collecting perfume. The ring was flashy and her size. I don’t see many women wearing jewelry so it was the perfect gift for her. This afternoon, Numerien is giving me a break he is going with his wife in town and he wants me to nap. Not realizing the strategic plan is a lot of work and I will be working from my hotel this afternoon. I plan to nap all day on Sunday. The taxibus on the way home was full of babies not even 3 months old. Literally full full! It was reeking like pipi diapers considering I didn’t eat breakfast complete nausea hit me. As a result Numerien and I decided to discuss family planning. He thought I managed my family planning with 1 kid. He said his wife has tried all birth control pills, the injection, everything and it makes her very sick. So they had decided to carefully play Russian roulette in the bed but she got pregnant at 41. I had to laugh so hard when he told me this. I am telling you people always share their personal things with me and Oops now I am writing it on a blog. Numerien said the government has programs everywhere to introduce family planning but the pills give moods wings to the women. 

 I bet he will be doing a lot of family planning management this weekend. Now I am alone in Gisenyi because the bookkeeper is in Kigali for training. Back to work.

Pfunda Tea Farmers and Workers - Saving and Credit cooperation. PTFW SACCO

I went to visit the savings and microcredit agency of the tea farmers today. Their procedures are almost exactly the same as the procedures we use at Microstart. The biggest difference is that they take much more securities and also to the payroll management of the workers. So they can deduct instalments from salaries before it gets to the customer. They barely have recouvrement or contentieux. The Rwandese government made a big effort to educate people in credit and savings.

Hi5 Pres. Kagame!

Credit and savings goes hand in here something we could work towards at microStart. They are a member of Amir, Association of microfinance agencies in Rwanda that provides them with micro savings and credit trainings. It’s nice to that the procedures in Belgium and Rwanda are similar this means we both are still very close to the original Grameen system.