Almost invisible

Birds in a very high tree outside my house

Beautiful girls on the road stopping to say Good Morning

And more getting water - a large part of life for many people here

Getting water

Getting water

Catholic Institute of Kabgayi

Catholic Institute of Kabgayi

This is the university where I work in Gitarama.

Blandy - a student I mentor

 

Hidden under a load

I am constantly amazed by how many things and how much people carry. Unlike Senegal, Rwanda has no horses that I can see. People sometimes use bicycles but more often themselves as beasts of burden. 

Children in the hills

Our walk took us past the reservoir and across the rice fields into some of the "thousand hills" of Rwanda. We met so many people on our way and had many opportunities to greet with Mwirawe (Hello), Amakuru (How are you?), and Ni meza (fine). These chidlren were happy to pose for us. The young girls typically have such short hair, I can only tell they're girls by their clothes.

Women on road

I'm always reluctant to take people's photos without permission, but these women were quite happy to pose for us! We had forgotten our cameras the day before and were so frustrated becasue we were collected by a group of 15 children who surrounded us and walked along with us for about 20 minutes.

Children working and playing

Tom and Margaret and I went for a walk last weekend and were temporarily adopted by these charming children, who danced along with us for quite a while. They were so playful, we had to remind ourselves how hard they were working to take wood home to their families.

The Librarians - Part of the family

Tom (USan) and Margaret (German) live in Germany and are here for six weeks setting up a library which came from an army base that closed in Germany. The library (with 20,000 books) is housed at the university and is the largest English language library in Rwanda. In the photo we were celebrating Tom's 74th birthday; he's very well preserved!



My family! Telesphore, Jean Claude, Deo, and Celse

It seems so very wrong to live alone in a three-bedroom house in Rwanda, and it's lonely too. I was lucky to find La Petite Seminaire right across the road, and now I have lunch and supper with the priests. They are so kind and funny, and we have a lovely time and great food from their dairy herd, goats, and gardens. I told them that being with them is like being in my own musical because they frequently break into song during the meals.
My favorite lunch is goat liver brochette (!) with fries and aubergine with lovely lovely cabbage salad.