Surveys and more

Hello! It’s been a while but I think I have some good stuff to share!  We were very busy getting ready for the surveys, and it went really well last week. We had three days in the villages and it was great! It’s awesome to finally be out there accomplishing everything we’ve been working on. I feels pretty good!

But the stress levels have come back up since last Thursday as we have started to shift our focus to our next project—Sprinkles.  Since the surveys were underway and we felt confident that everything was going well we started looking forward to November. We were finally able to get a meeting with the head nutrition specialist at UNICEF last Friday in Kigali and it went REALLY well! We were worried that they weren’t going to want our research, but they are very supportive! We will be going forward with our focus groups in 2-4 districts of Rwanda in the last 2 weeks of November. So we spent the weekend doing research and trying to wrap our heads around this important research. I will write more about it soon.

We went out to the villages again today and tried to get some work done in the bus while the students were doing their surveys but it’s difficult! I have a lot of pictures to share so I’ll get started...

The team in Kigali. This is the main round about in the city. We spend most of our time in this area. 

this is a picture Kathy took while on her moto. That’s me and Gurjeet in front of her! The next picture is me on a bike in Kibungo. It’s my second favourite mode of transport in Rwanda. We use these if we’re in a hurry in Kibungo to get from one side of town to the other. The bike ride lasts for about 7 minutes (up and down some pretty big hills) and costs 40 cents...

These pictures were taken at the Rwanda Educational Expo where Sung Kyu had a booth to present his compost machine. That is it painted in the Rwandan colours. This is one of the interventions he came up with to improve the agriculture techniques and food security in Ngoma district. Composting doesn’t really exist here so this would be a great way for farmers to get organic fertilizer. The machine will be set up at INATEK for some further research before trying to market it to farmers.

We went to Tanzania a few weeks ago! We were going to the border to see the Rusomo Falls, but the guard let us cross into Tanzania even though we didn’t have our passports! He said we had 10 minutes, but we took about 40 and had drinks and took pictures in Tanzania. It was lovely! 

Happy as a clam in Tanzania

Kathy, Eric, Obed, Gurjeet, me and Sung Kyu in Tanzania with Rwanda in the background

On the bridge between Rwanda and Tanzania--Rusomo Falls behind us.

We’ve met a few other muzungus in Kibungo, and we were invited over to dinner last week by one American girl. She has been in Kibungo for 1 year and 9 months on a Peace Corps mission. She lives in a tiny little house and we made sushi! I couldn’t believe it! It was delicious. We also had spring rolls, tea and fresh pineapple (bought directly from the pineapple farmers in the field) for dessert.

Speaking of dinners...the next one was taken on Sung Kyu's last night. The guys from the old survey team took us all out for a big dinner at Chez Theophile. They ordered for everyone--2 giant Tilapia from Lake Victoria. The fish came out on 2 big platters fully intact with roasted potatoes and fried bananas on the side. As you can see everyone just dug in with the fingers! (A waiter came by with a basin of water for hand washing first, don't worry). I was hesitant to eat this way at first and opted for a fork, but then I joined in :)

I took this picture while getting some work done on INATEK campus. All of the buildings are brick, but those are just small buildings to store chairs...I'll get more pictures of the campus another day.

This is the school and the church that are right beside St-Joseph. Behind these buildings is the orphanage and to the right is a big soccer field.

Power outages have become more frequent lately. There are no generators so it's very dark and the stars become more visible and the restaurant uses candles--it's very nice.

A few different houses...

Cow house--barn?

In one of the villages the kids were carrying around these bugs in their hands. Apparently they come out in the rainy season, and the kids cherish them and eat them alive...they were quite large and squirmy!

A woman carrying mangoes

Survey Day 2- Lake Sake (sah-kay)

 

Some locals took us out on a fishing boat and we jumped in from it. It was wonderful and warm. 

A crowd of people watching us swim

Bosco, Kathy and me in Lake Sake

The next few pictures were all taken of kids looking in at us while we waited in the villages. They LOVE seeing their pictures on the camera screen. 

 I think this picture was taken on the first day. We had gone for a walk through the village and then ended up back near the bus and were all of a sudden surrounded by kids!