Two women walking from Kimiranko Market

DAY 3

Day three was also spent continuing work on the bathroom house. We weren’t able to accomplish much today because we could not get the parts we needed. I got some pictures though! After dinner Nick and I took a taxi and met up with two girls from the U.S., a guy from Scotland and a girl from British Columbia. Together we all went to the Pangea Film Festival in downtown Kigali. It was very good and kind of a strange experience here because it felt like being back in the states. It was very modern and almost all of it was conducted in English. It was a stark contrast from the previous experiences here.

About the pictures. From top – A view down the road next to the compound with Kigali in the backgound. (Middle) Me sitting in the doorway of the bathrooms being built – (Bottom) Two kids supported by African New Life

DAY 2

Words will not describe what I have seen in the past two days. It’s about 9p.m. on Friday as I write this. Yesterday and today were spend laying pipes for the restroom building that will be used for the school and church that are also under construction. The construction sight consist of me, Jerry, Nick (who is a man from England) and then about 45 local workers. Most of the worker are street kids about my age that sleep in the garbage dump not to far away. They work from 7a.m. until 5p.m. seven days per week. The wage they recieve for their ten hour day is about two dollars american. They work very hard, most of the time… Most of them don’t speak any english. The native language is called Kenyarandan. Some of then speak very limited english, so we have fun pointing at things, then trading the words back and forth and playing catch with empty water bottles or pieces of pipe. The work goes very slow because of difficulty getting the parts that are needed. Shopping at the hardware store and getting the workers to do the right work while trying to explain what you want and them having not a clue of what you mean takes alot of time and patients. The workers are extremely friendly though, they always have a smile when we show up and they love trying to teach me their language.

Tomorrow I will have some pictures of the sight and people I’m working with. Hopefully then I can further explain the experiences here.

Oh yah, and tonight for dinner I had goat and fries. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten goat before.

RWANDA!

Wow! So I made it to Africa! Haven’t seen any gorillas yet:( did see a bumble bee the size of my own eyeball though.

I left Seattle on Tuesday morning at 7a.m., I arrived here to Kigali this afternoon at 12p.m., it’s thursday! The trip was exciting though. I’ll try to get the pictures posted soon and try to write more after dinner but the internet here is kinda hit or miss so who knows. 

Moving on, listen to this, getting through security at an Ethiopian airport isn’t anything like getting through in the US. However, trying to do it while the soldier sitting next to you is holding an AK-47 and wearing full on blue fatigues makes the experience quite a bit more nerve racking. That little scenario led up to my landing here in Kigali and had me in an “on edge” kinda mindset. So when I landed the people supposed to be picking me up were late. Not a big deal. But as I stood there and looked around I realized I was the only white person in the entire airport which was fine until the police officers walked down the stairs. I should try to get a picture of their uniforms because all I can say about them is that they are immensely intimidating.  Hardcore commando style… with boots almost to their knees.

More soonish… Mike

What about it?

This web page is designed so that all of you can keep tabs on me while I travel to the very distant land of Rwanda.  Thank you for your interest and prayers while I am away.  I’m not sure exactly of what nature my trip will be, but I plan on doing my best to update you daily with information and pictures that will give an idea of what meaningful, exciting, crazy, insightful, dangerous, boring or pointless endeavors I partake in.

If you have any question, comments or ideas, please leave them as I look forward to reading each.  I’ll do my best to respond and keep you well informed about the life that is lead in Rwanda.

Mike Chinn

Travel to Rwanda May 7th – June 3rd 2008