At 5:15 in the morning, Numerien knocked on my door. Here we go again ! Madame Francine we have to leave at 6 AM, will you be ready ? You want hot water ?Numerien ! Go Away! I was planning to get up 5:50 to be ready at 6! I don’t want water!!!! Ok Madame Francine. 6:00 o'clock Francine are you ready ? Shit! I forgot to get up! Numerien give me 5 minutes I will be readyyyyy! We were heading for a long walk to the town. Rutsiro looks like the Flemish country side. It is a very charming landscape and the buildings are very religiously Flemish. The school in town was also called Stella Maris. Go figure. We arrive in town, ready to take the taxibus but the driver wasn’t there yet. I thought to myself, Numerien you are in Africa; why did you expect him to be on time?? If it was up to me, we would have arrived late and been technically on time. I don’t know how he survives. Numerien must be waiting all the time and going loco. He got pissed off the wait so he wanted to go eat an omelette. We enter a very basic place and I didn’t want to risk eating anything. Numerien promised me it would be safe. Go ahead, I say. He had been talking about this omelette lady for 2 days. He craves her omelette all the time. The lady asked me omelette with chapatti? Chapatti Yes go ahead, for me a chapatti omelette. Numerien didn’t lie; the omelette was good but the chapatti wasn’t all that. In the meanwhile the taxi driver had arrived and we had to go. Numerien said no keep eating. He is the one late, he can’t leave without us. It’s our only way out of town. Taxibus started his engine, we ran outside. He wasn’t going to wait. Again, Numerien TIA. Numerien wanted me to have the best seat, right next to the driver. It was the worst seat ever. I fell asleep on the driver, my foot fell on his gas and my sleeping bag on the break. This was just the beginning of the ride. I was going to sit there for 7 hours. From 7 AM to 2 PM in a matatu. This was for me a hard limit. The road is impossible and with an overly packed taxibus, my mood began to change. It wasn’t until someone got on with chickens that I was getting really pissed off. My limit had been reached! I was tired, uncomfortable, suffocating and the stank of the chickens was becoming unbearable. Two chickens got lose and were acting a fool underneath the seats. A baby was crying and an old woman was sick. I gave her strepsils as I couldn’t handle the throat scraping and spitting through the window anymore. There was no end to this ride. I told Numerien that I wasn’t going to get off at Pfunda but go straight home. This was too much and it has broken me. I still have a plan to finish and right now I am beyond tired. Numerien wanted me to cash my DSA check but I couldn’t care anymore. I needed a shower and food. I arrived in the Centre in Gisenyi at 3pm. I entered the shower but the water was off. The day was getting worse and worse. After being in the shower for an hours trying to get the drops out, while handwashing my clothes. ( tip from the Dutch girls.) I went for late lunch. All of a sudden I feel a hand on my back. Numerien ! No ! Seriously! We have to go cash your check. FML! Fine! But first Francine, I noticed you got a little uncomfortable so I am giving you your going away present early. Go open it in your room, Numerien says. I go to my room and open the gift. I got so happy, it’s a Rwandan panier ! I really wanted one and he knew that. Considering the last taxibus experience, that was his way to soothe the misery. I thanked him gratefully but then he said take off the African shorts and change into long pants. There we go again ! Ugh! Obedient as I am on this mission, I change my shorts and head out to the bank. It was a 2 hour wait to cash my check. My head kept bopping as I was so sleepy. I didn’t even want the check ! Ugghhhh…. Back at the lodgement, he said we have to hide our money. No one may see it! Aghghh, Numerien this is Rwanda. No one steals here! It’s safer than freaking Dubai. Goodbye I see you tomorrow at 7AM. No blogging for me. The tiredness was too much.
2 day trip to Rutsiro - Day 1
As every working day in Rwanda starts incredibly early I had to rise and shine for Rutsiro. The green bus was another adventure. It is way too big for the bumpy hilly road. The view was amazing but I fell asleep. Numerien woke me up to let me know we had arrived. We were both starving. We left at 7 AM and it’s noon time now. We went to have lunch which was a dish I call ‘everything on a plate’. Basically a small volcano on your plate of potatoes, rice, bananas, manioc, meat, carrots, peas, cabbage and red kidney beans. Awful ! Most veggies grown here are the Belgian winter veggies. I am not fan. Numerien said : 'On va bouffer’ ! I thought to myself, you are going to bouffer; this chick is going to munch a little. I asked him to finish my plate but he was too full. The bookkeeper from Cotrago came to get us and again we were in for quite the walk. In the office, I interview everyone and made a big effort trying to stay awake. Narcolepsy was hitting me again, but the days are so long ! If Rwandans wanted to advance, they had to work for it themselves. No need to wait for help. It is clear that the people have understood. I have never in my life seen such hard working people. Rwandans all mutually agree that they are here to advance and put a stop to poverty. Numerien said the same thing. He said: 'we can not slack off or we die’. Poverty is an ugly battle and hard to get out. That’s why I brought you out here, you have to help us with an action plan and I will follow it religiously. He continued: 'We are copying Europe and we will excel’. I totally loved it ! & laughed hard. Dude is a character. Dressed like a clown. Now with the skirt wrapped over the jeans I went to meet the plant manager. The plant manager looked Indian mixed with African. He spoke Kinyarwanda, understood French but replied in English with an Indian accent. I couldn’t figure him out. He must like me a mix of everything. I asked Numerien whether the man was Rwandan or Mohindi. Numerien said he is Rwandan but his behavior is different like Mohindi. I said isn’t he mixed ? Numerien said oh that’s maybe what it is. LOL Then I asked him whether the cooperative manager was Chinese and African. Numerien asked if I was feeling ok ? The cooperative manager was black but looked completely Chinese. I am sure the cooperative manager as well was intermixed somewhere in his family line. At the end of the factory visit, I got to taste the fresh finished black tea. OMG! It was delicious. In the factory I found out that all tea is made from the green leaves. I thought black tea was from black leaves. No the process to create white tea, black tea or green tea is in the factory. It has nothing to do with the leaves. Dummy ! The sun was setting and we were heading back to the cooperative office. There a random man starts talking to me and asked if I was Canadian. Canada? Out of all the countries I have been labeled, Canada is new on the list. He asked me if I wanted to have a drink in his house. Then Numerien shows up and says: Oh you have met my best friend, he is the owner of the house in which the tea cooperative resides. Hence, all the questions. I had no choice but to say yes to the house visit. Tired and packed with my backpack, sleeping bag and overloaded Salvatore Ferregamo purse, I drag myself to his house. He pulls out a pink juice, I felt my stomach turning. He pours the pink juice in wine glasses for a special occasion. His Canadian guest. I just let him call me Canada as being of Belgian origin isn’t something to be proud of in Rwanda. The awful things the Belgian colonials and Catholic missionaries did out here is horrifying. So Canada it is ! I quickly drink the pink juice which was by far the sweetest drink I ever had in my life. I think if you mix Hawain Punch with every soda pop on the planet, you’ll get the level of sweetness. Well I wasn’t going to get sick from that. After a bit of chit chat and Numerien telling him that since he has an international consultant; he had become a big man. ( A grand homme ) I had to laugh. Having an Exchange BNP Paribas Benevolab expert can elevate your status in life. Well done Numerien! We had a budget for lodging but incredibly stingy Numerien wanted to check out the cheapest lodging in town. I was sleepy and tagged along. He decided upon a church with guest rooms. The town had no electricity since a day. The convenant was dark and dirty but I was prepared. Fitted insect sheet over the bed, pop up net and sleeping bag, towels and soap. The toilet I won’t even mention but I did kill the worms on the floor. I thought the day was over and then Numerien came knocking on the door. The manager wants us all to go out for dinner and drinks. With the flashlight on my head, we hit the darkness. (Thanks Guy Callebout for the tip.) Even with the flashlight, I didn’t see anything and almost twisted my foot. Numerien knew a shortcut. A steep mini rocky path down. Seriously ? We arrived in the darkness in the town and people are swarming around me. They heard that the Canadian was in town. There I was looking like a clown, with a flashlight on my head. The head of district said they never have visitors and was sad he wasn’t informed of my arrival. He would have done a parade. Thank God that didn’t happen! I would have been completely embarrassed. We head to the bar and the guys turnt it up! They chucked down the 65 cal of beer too easily. As usual I order water. They didn’t like that, party pooper. Is it so difficult for people to comprehend that I barely drink. Well, I still hold it down though with my jokes. We had a good time and I ordered the brochettes and grilled banana. I love the grilled banana. When I was eating my second brochette, I had a strange taste in my mouth. I asked them why does the second one taste different ? They replied: oh it must be a different organ. ORGAN !? I spontaneously shouted ? Yes intestine, they replied. What ? No my lovely brochettes I had been eating was intestine? FML! I couldn’t eat anymore. #screwd After dinner we headed back in the darkness to our logement. I had asked the Church acolytes, if I could have hot water. They knocked on the door and left me a dirty plastic jerry can with hot water. With the flashlight on my head a green bucket and the dirty jerry can I make an attempt at washing myself. I treated the water as liquid gold because I would only get one. I was so grateful for the hot water that it turned out to be a pleasurable bathing experience but no way I would repeat this in the morning. Exhausted I fall asleep, not touching anything.
Look who is riding along with me from #Rutsiro to #Gisenyi with the taxibus ? 7 hour journey back. Never knew chickens stank so bad! #tumblr #blog : #microfinancemasala
#RwandanMountainTea #Rutsiro #Rwanda … (Numerien made me wear the jeans like this; when he introduced me as the international consultant to the plant manager in this outfit I was embarrassed.) oh well #TIA
#whatthemediadoesntshowyouofafrica #Rutsiro is a cute little town in the mountains. Looks like the Belgian country side and it was cold up there. Rutsiro barely ever has visitors and the district head was sad he wasn’t made aware earlier of my coming. He would have planned a welcome parade for me. Luckily that didn’t happen. Rwandan #hospitality is fantastic though!! #rwandalicious #tumblr #blog #microfinancemasala
Sunset over the #millecollines above #LakeKivu #rwandalicious Picture taken in #Rutsiro #Rwanda #tumblr #blog : #microfinancemasala
They wanted photos … This is more like a 12 year old Holy Communion card 😂 but the view is awesome though! #Rwanda #millecollines #tumblr #blog : #microfinancemasala
I call this “everything on a plate”; walking the hills on the daily isn’t going to make me lose weight eating this little hill. It had banana, manioc, rice, potatoes, cabbage, meat, carrots and red kidney beans. In case you don’t know what to order… nothing but #carbs #Rutsiro #Rwanda - on the #tumblr #blog: #microfinancemasala
Heidi in Tirol aka Francine in #Rwanda - 2 day trip to #Rutsiro (Numerien made me dress like that) Read more on the #tumblr #blog: #microfinancemasala
This is the bus that finally got us through the mountain dirt roads (only road) to #Rutsiro 5 hour journey for a distance that isn’t that far. Impossible road but it will soon be asphalted. #development #Rwanda #millecollines on my #tumblr #blog : #microfinancemasala
Who wants what ? Bringing back local #crafts to support these #cooperative ladies. Just let me know #Gisenyi #Rwanda
These are the #cooperative #crafts ladies #Rwanda #Gisenyi
Fitting #African shorts at a #cooperative for #women Supporting local #crafts Like my shorts ? #Gisenyi #Rwanda
Mission week 2 ! I forgot to call Numerien last night to ask him what time we would start today. I woke up before 8 and decided to call him at 8 on the dot. The phone rings no one picks up. Aha, I have the opportunity to eat breakfast ! I order myself a cheese omelette with ham and a glass of warm fresh milk. I don’t like that powered milk that they love to serve in Africa. While eating my breakfast, Numerien calls. I asked him if I could come alone to the office. He finally agreed that I no longer need a chaperone. I finish breakfast and head out. It feels hot today. Puffing I climb on the mountain and get in a taxibus. My body is aching from the excessive exercise this weekend. The tube of flexigel that I had brought with me will definitely come in handy. The taxibus was pretty empty today. Numerien keeps calling wanting to know where I am. My taxibus was slow and the driver waited everywhere. Doesn’t Numerien know that anything can happen while on the taxibus? He send the bookkeeper to wait for me at the end stop. I walked in the office and Numerien wanted to know everything about my weekend. My iPhone is his iPhone. He scrolled down the pictures. He couldn’t believe my adventure. He really wants to visit the gorillas but can’t afford the entrance fee. $50 dollars I think for locals and 750$ for international tourists entry fee. It’s sad but most locals can’t afford to visit the exciting places. I told him this weekend everything was free and he should go.
After discussing our weekends, we go to the meeting with FXB Gisenyi which I am dying to have a partnership with. We met with Berthilde, the manager. She is a beautiful and tall Rwandan woman (as you can see in the picture). She had light brown eyes and naturally long hair. Berthilde looked very intelligent. I knew this was going to be an interesting meeting. Berthilde explains what FXB does exactly in Gisenyi. I help Numerien explain our cause. Numerien is the type of person that you would like to kick underneath the table during a meeting. Occasionally he discussed the problems of the tea Union putting a foot in his mouth. The problems of the union is something I am solving at the moment. Berthilde was clever enough to not mind his comments and look at the win win situation. FXB has a lot of young unemployed people and we need people in the tea sector. After discussing a possible partnership, it is clear a tea program can be created with FXB. Berthilde had the same thoughts and remarks as I. Women in management position is always best. Berthilde and Numerien informed her colleague in Kinyarwanda. This is when I got sleepy and didn’t understand a word but the information needed to be translated for everyone to understand. The next steps are discussed and a trial program FXB * UCTCCN will soon be launched. Step 1 of the strategic plan is ongoing. If Numerien follows my plan, he will have a powerful union by 2020. Across the street of FXB office, I saw a woman cooperative that made local arts and crafts. I had to go inside.
The store was fantastic. Lovely African dolls for little girls, headbands, bags and clothing. I saw some cute little shorts and tried them on. They were my size! I didn’t want to haggle on the price because this a cooperative supporting women but Numerien did it anyway. I got a reduction of 1000 Rwandan Francs on 2 shorts and a wrap skirt. I took pictures as usual because I loved the place. They had a crocodile that I wanted to buy for my son but that was 30,000 Rwandan Francs. Numerien said he knows a place where I might find it cheaper. I doubt that so I might go back and get it. I will definitely buy him three mini paniers for his room. At 11:00, we were back in the office and I asked Jean de dieu to work on the financial projections 2016-2020 with me. We worked the entire day. When the bell went for the pause, I told Numerien we would continue working. He didn’t like that idea and went out to break. When he came back he brought us grilled peanuts and coca cola. If I didn’t want to eat and pause; the food would come to me. I was grateful though! The peanuts gave me lot of energy. The bookkeeper and I kept on number crunching. Numerien insisted on an afternoon break. I said no. I have a lot of work to do and have no time to break. The financials are important and in Rwanda because of the valuta, you are easily calculating in the billions. At 17:00 o'clock, Numerien was stressed out of his face. I had worked enough, the rain was coming. He couldn’t handle it anymore. I asked him for 10 minutes. My time that’s 30 min. After 10 minutes he said ok enough, this it. You don’t have an umbrella and it’s going to rain. I pulled out my rain poncho, put it on and told him I was fine. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He said you are like a Rwandan and was granted 10 more minutes. Just enough to finish the finances of the financial plan :) He put me on the taxibus and I got home before the rain. I know in Rwanda there is a long gap between the sky darkening and it actually pouring down raining. I am going to sleep early today as tomorrow Numerien and I are going on a two day trip to visit another tea cooperative.
#Rwanda #rwandalicious #EastAfrica #Goodmorning - Anyone can feel at home here !
Sunday the day of rest
Ok I decided to go along to climb the mountain Muhungwe. The 3 girls I was going to hike with I saw them getting waisted in Inzu Lodge. ‘The Eat, Pray, Love place’ I think I called yesterday in my blog ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ Funny! The first thing I said: u guys can drink ! We all laughed and the tone was set for the beginning of a great adventure. Amanda, Liz and Brooke are their names. Liz and Brooke are from Texas! I couldn’t believe it. I immediately began talking about how I was recruited by Lamar University in Beaumont on a track scholarship and my 2 high school years in League City, Texas. Liz was from Palestine, an area which I know and Brooke was from near Dallas. They both had gone to Texas A&M. I got flashbacks from the many cross country meetings at Texas A&M. Even though they went to the same college, due to the size they didn’t know each other. Brooke and Liz met each other in Colorado. Brooke works for a coffee trading firm in Kigali. Liz had come to visit her friend in Kigali and ended up staying. She loved the place so much; I don’t blame her. Rwanda is an easy place to love. Liz got a fantastic job out here. She works for a program that helps Rwandans and other Africans into college in America. They have send students to Ivy League’s in the USA. I was impressed and asked her a million questions on the way.
Amanda was from Georgia but had studied at Boulder, Colorado. She worked for an organization Streetboyz. A completely privately funded organization that helps street boys. I was impressed again. These three women were clever and it was a joy trekking with them.
We had porters, local guides helping us up the mountains. Innocent had brought us all lunch packs and extra water. The lunch was great. He proudly told me I have the chicken sandwich lunch. It felt beyond amazing to climb a hill and eat lunch in a random place in the bush. We were the third tourist to ever climb this mountain. The villagers ran behind us, welcoming us in their village. We said Muraho, hello every time we passed someone. They screamed back good morning. They were very happy to see muzungu’s on their mountain. At one point we had passed the village and for 3 hours we didn’t see anyone. We got passed the first peak after 5 hours of climbing and then we saw cows grazing and people again. The sight was beautiful, the vegetation in the mountains is exactly like European mountain vegetation. At one point I thought are we in Scotland, are we in Holland or in the Belgian Ardennes. All of a sudden I realised maybe it’s time I do a trail trek in the Belgian Ardennes.
We climbed and Brooke had hurt herself. Aha I get to use my medical items that I have been carrying with me everywhere! The girls were shocked that I had everything with me including baby wipes. Liz asked for a nail clipper on the peak and yes I had that with me too. We took a picture of her clipping her nails on the mountain top. :)
The hike down was hard too, you have to watch every step you take. It was a hard 7 hours but another day that goes into the top 5 days of my life. I had never hiked before and made it. I am ready to climb Bisoke mountain now.
At the bottom of the mountain, I said goodbye to Liz, Amanda and Brooke as they headed back to Kigali. Amanda’s hangover had been cured by the mountain air.
After the trek, I went to a fancy hotel. While sitting on the terrace the largest lightening I have ever seen broke out. Fire in the sky! The electricity in the hotel got hit. Lights out and a full thunder storm. The waitress went hiding on her knees behind the bar. I got scared and ran inside. The head of UNHCR was also having a drink and tried to calm me down. I eventually ran to the car and went to the Lake Kivu Serena hotel. A five star hotel in Gisenyi. The UN man told that they have lightening blocking equipment. We would be safe there. My Centre D'Acceuille Francois Xavier wouldn’t be safe. I found out that my hotel is actually from the Church right behind it. This explains why every waiter here is a priest. I am actually in some sort of covenant. The head priest asked me to join his choir. I said if I join your choir, you will have no more church members.
Serena Hotel is nice. I haven’t been in luxury since I left Chez Lando 9 days ago. I enjoyed the food and waited for the storm to pass. I got to enjoy good wifi for the first time in Rwanda. I ended the day at the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. p>
Tomorrow I am back at work fighting for the poor tea farmers. If Numerien finds out I didn’t rest. I will be in trouble ….
Night night
P.S: Muhungwe is the highest non volcanic mountain in Rwanda. I will hike for life from now on !
Ended another amazing day in #Rwanda at the #Congo border #Goma #Gisenyi
I will never get tired of the view. #Rwanda #rwandalicious
I can not get enough of the #landofthousandhills #millecollines #Rwanda #gopro on ready for the hike
This could be a picture taken in Europe, cows grazing. #Rwanda #Muhungwe highest non #volcanic #mountain