Pomp and Circumstance...KHI Style

Friday was the 7th graduation ceremony at KHI (KHI Graduation Links) with 324 graduates in the disciplines of Physiotherapy, Nursing, Bio-Medical Laboratory Sciences, Dental Therapy, Ophthalmology, Medical Imaging and Environmental Health Sciences.  I would have been very happy to simply view the proceedings but as it turned out, I took on a larger role as I agreed to lead the academic procession and carry the institute's mace.  It was quite an honor, but for those of you who need a good laugh, try out this image.  You can well imagine why I was concerned that this short very pale looking person might be considered more of a comic spectacle than a leader of a serious and consequential academic event. 

I am wearing the gowns that those (and there are very few) who have PhD's wear, not exactly my colors - green and pink with a really humorous hat and none of my PT colleagues from SC were there to help me dress.  Here are my new colleagues at KHI, a rowdy bunch when it comes to graduation ceremonies.

The ceremony was held in the KHI courtyard and we were lucky to have a day without downpours

I was actually not the first person to enter the procession, first came the dancers and drummers (here a photo of them relaxing before the ceremony).  These students performed traditional Rwandan dance while other students drummed and sang.  No Pomp, no circumstance for an academic procession here, just drums!

After the dancers two students carried the flags, then me, then the singers, then the faculty and the honored guests who included the Rector, the KHI board and the Minister of Education.  I got to hear for the first time the Rwandan National Anthemn (and for the second time at the end of the ceremony); Rwanda Nziza "Rwanda our Beautiful Country."  For a ceremony of only a few hundred graduates it felt long and hot and I was lucky enough to sit among the honored guests who got water bottles to drink because with the heavy robes and length of the day I was feeling a little dizzy.  There were speeches by the Rector, the Minister and a student speaker.  Awards for the "best students" and of course the conferring of degrees.  The speeches, quite different from the U.S. focused on the idea that these graduates are prepared now to serve their nation and to help with development; I couldn't help but think about the very different nature of US graduation speeches that focus on personal development and professional development as US gradautes leave their institutions prepared for further study, careers, earning money and families.  The ceremony was both similiar and incredibly dissimilar to the commencements I've attended in the U.S. sans the Elgar piece that is probably now running through your head.

After the ceremony there was a cocktail reception for the honored guests and faculty.  I stayed and personally met the Minister of Education (well we talked a bit about the possibility that I might provide some clinical services for his family and my teaching).  The day was long and unusual and 324 KHI graduates are now ready to serve Rwanda.

Weekend in Ruhengeri

This past Saturday morning we arranged for Jacques, who has become our tour guide and driver for our longer journeys in the country, to pick us up and take us to Ruhengeri and Parc National Des Volcans.  The trip is not long, only about 2 hours, because the roads are pretty good.  The park is the location for mountain gorillas (yes, those "Gorillas in the Mist" guys) trekking and some very costly hiking trips.

On Saturday, Jacques took us first to see Lake Burera, a very large lake with a dirt road that goes up and down the steep hills and around the lakes' perimeter of beautiful coves and farm land.  The day was cloudy and the threat of rain was always present but the clouds and rain really made for a more enchanting visual over the lake. 

Lake Burera

Jacques brought us to a lovely spot to picnic and he very nicely chased away the ever present children interested in the Muzungus.  We wanted to walk or hike but having a crowd of children chasing after us made it difficult.  In the end we drove further on the road and then Jacques dropped us off so we could get a bit of a stroll at least just back up to the car.  Along the way we were rewarded by spotting two crown cranes, one in flight.  These are huge and amazing birds!

Jacques drove us up to see the Virunga Lodge http://www.volcanoessafaris.com/safari-lodges/virunga-safari-lodge/.  Earlier I called to inquire about the cost per night to stay at this fancy and famous safari lodge, and what a bargain it is at $600 per person per night (Nava's stay would have been discounted a bit).  We drove up because I just wanted to see the amazing views and perhaps have a drink.  We were rewarded with $3 sodas and coffees on the lodge porch and some truly amazing views.  The lodge is situated on a very high mountain between Lake Burera and Lake Ruhondo.  We walked a bit around the lodge.  Of course as we got to the edge of the short lodge trails a group of children came running over to...see the Muzungus (by the way I now charge 500RWF a minute for viewings and extra if Nava talks).  Then the first rains came and we sat on the porch watching the storm clouds roll in and out.  As they rolled out we got some great glimpses of the volcanoes.

Volcanoes

Saadya trying to look like a rich Muzungu on the porch of Virunga Lodge

Rains coming in

From the Virunga Lodge we traveled toward the entrance to the park to try to get another small walk and this time we were succesful as Saadya and Nava chose to stay at the car and Patricia and I walked a bit along the road as dusk was approaching.  Not only did the movement feel good (and needed) we both agreed that traveling along the road by foot gave such a different feel.  In the evening we stayed at a hotel in Ruhengeri, and no, we did not stay in the "Dian Fossey" room.

Sunday morning we rose early, had a good breakfast and went to the park headquarters to purchase our Golden Monkey treking passes (at $100 each, much cheaper than the $500 gorilla passes).  Just as we were ready to take off on our trek it started to pour, we jumped in the cars to get to the trail and as we drove up to the trail the rain turned to hail.  Lucky for us, the hail stopped and we hiked in with our guide, a tracker and protection (yes, a man with a big gun.  I thought it was because we were close to the border but actually we were told it was to protect us from buffalo that might attack).  The "trail" was really now a fast running stream and the rain just kept coming.  We got to the edge of the bamboo forest where the monkeys live and the tracker and protection man went in to see what they could find while we waited, and waited, and waited in the pouring cold rain for the signal to join them.  At about this point we began to wonder if this might not be one of the reasons that people think the Muzungus are odd, here we were freezing and soaked and we paid just how much to do this?  After what seemed an interminable wait in the fields our guide got a call on the walkie talkie that they had sighted some monkeys.  We finally got to go into the bamboo forest, and after a short walk saw our first monkey.  Hard to see but we felt OK, now we've seen something.  Then our guide kept us moving and bushwhacking through the forest and as we moved we saw more and more and more monkeys.  It was really getting exciting, we saw babies, adolescents and adults.  Nava was trying to keep count (she says we saw over 200) because the guide promised us at least 20 monkey sightings.

Bamboo forest and a monkey

The guide finally led us back to the wall at the edge of the park where all the monkeys were gathered.  I have tons of photos but this one will at least let you see just how proximate we were by the end. 

Nava wanted to take one home

Wet and cold, we returned to the car, changed up and drove back to Kigali where the sun was shining and it was quite hot.

As a side note, I'm glad we immediately downloaded all of these photos from our camera.  Today, as Nava was walking home from school, she was taking some pictures of flowers on the road to our house when a man grabbed the camera from her hands and ran.  We will still post photos of our trip but the quality will probably be much lower.  Kigali is a "safe" city but like every city petty crime is rampant.

Murisanga (please feel at home?)

Now that we've been here a month, it seems time to describe the ins and outs of daily life for us.  Believe it or not, we are just as exciting (or perhaps just as dull) as we are in the States.

Our House:  We are settling into our house.  Here is our address...we live in Kimihurura/Rugando, travel down the street opposite Parliament, after you pass the corner shop and the signs for ISK you keep going down the hill and then you come to the yellow bar, take a sharp left and look for the bright yellow gate; that's our house.  No, we don't have a street address, noone does and very few streets have names.  Naming streets and providing street addresses are in the long term plans for the future of this city.  In the meanwhile just look for that yellow bar and you know you are near our house.  When you get here, you can find the bell that is hidden in the bushes and ring, one of our guards or our housekeeper will let you in.  The house itself, like all houses here is in a walled in "compound."  We live in proximity to our neighbors but never see them (though trust me, we hear them).  Compared to the wealthy (very very wealthy) ex-pat community our house is quite simple.  We have 4 bedrooms, a guest room, a kitchen, a dining room and a seating area.  The best part of our house is the back porch.  This past weekend we went out and bought some plants and now this is where we sit for afternoon tea if we are home.  Most afternoons we are not here for tea because of work or school but it is still a nice place to sit.



New beautiful planting on right

Daily life:  Just like in the States, I am the first one up each morning (well, our night guard is supposed to be up all night but I think I've seen him snoozing in the early hours of the morning).  When I arise around 5:00am it is 10:00pm in Northampton so I get up in today while the most of you are living in yesterday and about to get into bed.  At about 6:00am our guard plugs in the water heater so we can have hot showers (if we have water and if the heater works).  By 7:00am the house is really hopping, Saadya and Nava are getting ready for school and Chantal our housekeeper has arrived.


Chantal in our Kitchen

 Breakfast like most meals here is a struggle.  The food we eat is always just a hair off, for instance we have tried so many different forms of milk but none of them taste right in cereal or tea so now we only use milk for cooking.  Breads are tricky because they tend to last about one day and then you can use them as baseball bats.  I'd say that thus far the biggest complaints in our house are food based complaints.  To her credit, Chantal tries very very hard to please our disciminating palates.  Once breakfast is over Saadya and Nava walk to school and I get picked up by a driver for the trip downtown to KHI.  In the afternoon, Saadya and Nava return home, most often walked by Patricia, and once my work day is over I get driven back and we try our hardest to enjoy dinner.  Most dinners are declared a success when 2 or more of us enjoy the food! I think both Saadya and I have lost at least 10 pounds here (Dr. Atkins look out, have I got a diet book in my future...).

I do have a new "vice" in my day.  I took a membership at the Serena Hotel spa.  The Serena is the fanciest hotel in this city, 5 stars, and it is a couple of blocks from KHI.  Now each day at lunch I go to a very chic, western style gym (well the TV is usually set to Al Jazeera, not exactly like Hampshire YMCA), I workout and then enjoy the fresh juice and other amenities of the spa.  It is luxurious and I get my exercise.

School, ISK (http://www.isk-rwanda.org/), has thus far worked quite well for both Saadya and Nava.  Nava has already had a number of playdates and gets along well with her classmates.  Saadya is involved in an afterschool activity for students at international schools in which he is trying to create a news story for a competition.  One of Saadya's new subjects is debate and, not surprisingly, he seems to enjoy it very much.  Both children are also having French class though I'll be surprised if they leave here being able to say much more than croissant and baguette.

Weekends:  Thus far, weekends have been tricky because we don't have a car and have discovered that being in this city carless is very difficult and gives one a land-locked feeling.  We do sometimes take bus adventures and a couple of times have hired a driver.  Last weekend we hired a driver to help us get the plants for our yard.  The weekend before we took a bus adventure to Caplaki, a crafts market.  We got to the market easily enough with just a brief interlude under a tree with some school children while it poured.  Shopping for crafts was fun...

Nava at Caplaki learning the basket balancing skill

but the return trip home was frustrating as we stood at the bus stop while bus after bus passed us by.  I guess we don't know the secret signal to getting buses to stop for us as yet.  Patricia is now our most savvy bus traveler as she has used busses both within and outside the city.  We hope that we will do some more travel outside the city in the next weeks.

Weather  OK, you New Englanders have had a snowy winter and I shouldn't be complaining but the heat has been tough on us all.  Last week it was in the high 80's most every day.  This week we have had amazingly hard rains and tremendous thunder/lightening storms.  We are not shoveling snow but we have been too hot and too wet in between being just right and seeing the rainbow.

Yes, our daily life, like daily life everywhere, is the sum of things that work, things that don't, moments of feeling homesick and disgusted, and moments of pleasure and happiness. 

Mean, Median, Bill Gates and Prof. Julia

The first module I am teaching at KHI is biostatistics for the 3rd year physiotherapy students.  Like the American students, very few of them enjoy it but they seem to be tolerating my teaching and teaching style and we are getting used to each other.  Last week, I was teaching about measures of central tendency and talking about choosing the right measure to match the data and the distribution.  In describing the choice of median over mean as a measure I asked the students to think of a measure that produce a skewed distribution.  Since they could not, I decided to give them the tried and true example of income.  I asked them who the richest person they could think of was and they all easily answered Bill Gates (he visited Rwanda and his foundation funds projects here).  I then asked them how much income they thought he generated each year and his net worth they guessed around 1 million dollars of income and 6 Billion worth (underestimate but who knew??).  I drew Bil Gates on a graph on the board and then I asked them what they thought my income might be and where the "average" American income would sit on my graph.  They thought that I must earn close to Bill Gates because, like him, I come from THAT country.  I proceeded to draw on the board a graph that looks like this one:

Then I showed them that my income while quite generous by both US and, of course, Rwandan standards is not pulling the distribution as much as Bill Gates.  It was surprising for them to learn.

They seemed to understand median as a measure and more importantly, they seemed genuinely surprised that Bill Gates' current worth is in the millions while Prof. Julia's current worth...well...its just not worth discussing.  They learned about skewed distributions and I learned about their skewed beliefs.

Sorwathé

February 1, 2011

Kigali

Tuesday was National Heroes Day (somewhat like our Veteran’s Day) so we all had the day off.  We decided to hire a driver and take a trip north to visit the Sorwathé (Societé Rwandanise pour la production et le commercialisation du Thé) tea factory and tea plantation.  The factory is located about 75Km from Kigali in a small town in the north.  The Sorwathé tea is the only fair trade and grown without pesticides tea in Rwanda.  Both tea and coffee are exported from Rwanda.  Sorwathé produces about 3 million kilos of tea annually which is 15% of all the tea production in Rwanda.

This was my first chance to get out of Kigali to really see the countryside.  The trip started on a paved and potholed highway which, we turned off of after an hour of driving onto a dirt road that wound through fields and fields of tea.  When we arrived at the factory, our driver arranged (in spite of the holiday) for all of us to go on a tour and learn how they produce the tea. First we needed to garb up.

Tea Fields

The latest in tea factory fashion

The tea making process has 7 steps:

1.  La Cuillette (plucking/harvesting) - every ten days the top three leaves of a plant are picked by hand

2.  Le Transport (transport) - baskets of tea leaves are dropped into a truck and then brought up the mountainside to the factory

3.  Le Fletrissage (withering) - in the factory the tea is laid out and allowed to wither and then it is sorted and a sample is weighed to determine if the tea picked is of sufficient quality to continue with the process

Box for sorting tea

4.  Le Roulage (rolling or twisting in the case of “orthodox” tea) - over many stages machines roll the tea leaves and move it to the machines in which it ferments


Rolling tea

 

Tea as it is rolled and fermented

 5.  La Fermentation (fermentation)

6.  Le Sechage (drying) - huge fires are kept burning from local wood which they cut down and then replant

From tea leaves through the stages to tea

7.  Le Triage et L’emballage (sorting and packing) - tea is sifted and different grades of tea are used for different purposes like medicines or drinking



The train is a mystery since Rwanda does not have a rail system

At the end we went to the tea tasting room and had a chance to buy some of Sorwathé tea.  We tried to walk in the village a bit but the number of children following us (they rarely see Muzungu) and trying to touch Nava and her hair was intimidating so our walk in the country was extremely short. 

As we drove off our driver offered to take us to Ruhengeri/Musanze to see the volcanoes.  We had a lovely late lunch in Ruhengeri as we waited for the clouds to lift but the clouds never lifted so we had no view.  Ruhengeri is both home to the Volcanoes National Park and the start of most gorilla trekking expeditions so I am sure I will return at some point soon.  In spite of the clouds and the rain we had some amazing views of the mountains and hills of Rwanda.