Muraho. It’s fantastic to be back in Rwanda. I’m back for a month to finish the work Viv and I started earlier in the year at Centre Marembo. I received such a warm welcome by the boys and staff - little Emmanuel’s face was a picture when I entered through Marembo’s big green and yellow gate. I don’t think he could quite believe it and his big smile brought a lump to my throat.
My first weekend was spent with the boys watching a cricket match – the British Ambassador’s XI verses a Rwandese select XI – but not before being run ragged by the boys in an impromptu football match. The standard of the football, at least from the youngsters was thankfully much better than the standard of cricket and a fun time was had by all.
My second visit to Rwanda has been marked by two short trips so far. Irish Coffee Man, Paul Stewart, led the first trip deep into the hills of north east Rwanda to a brand new coffee washing station located 2,000m above sea level – ideal coffee growing conditions. Paul works for Technoserve - an NGO which aims to reduce rural poverty through economic development programmes. In the case of the coffee industry, they are helping to reposition Rwanda as a leading producer of speciality coffee providing security and a much needed boost to farmers’ incomes.
The second trip was to Kayonza, a small town 65km east of Kigali to see the magnificent work being done by the Streets Ahead Children’s Centre Association – www.sacca.org. SACCA not only run a residential centre where street boys live and study in return for three daily meals, but also a centre for street girls who are often the victims of rape and prostitution. It was amazing to meet some of the children and both humbling and saddening to hear their awful stories. However there is real optimism here as SACCA help to offer them hope for the future as part of a family and members of the wider community.
I had been invited by the wonderful Tessa who failed to tell me was that I had to work for my keep decorating their volunteer centre. The street children assisted us although at one stage it was hard to tell whether more paint had gone on them and the floor rather than the walls. However many hands made light work and we finished in time to watch the FA Cup final on satellite TV – this in a town with no running water. About one hundred of us packed into a tiny room and the noise was deafening when Chelsea scored their lucky winner. But the best bit about the footie, was meeting a Rwandan wearing a Norn Iron and David Healy t-shirt. We waxed lyrical for hours!
Cheers
Andy
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