A Fish Called Rwanda

The sports section of the Rwanda newspaper reports:

“The national basketball team arrives this morning after a two week tour of North Africa. The 22 man team is expected to arrive at 11 am at Kanombe Airport aboard Kenya Airways. The team has been undergoing a series of build-up games as part of its preparation for the African Cup Basketball Championship that throws off (?) August 15 in the Angolan capital of Luanda. On top of testing their strength against Tunisia and Egypt, the tour was also supposed to help the team get exposed to much more improved court facilities than it is expected to meet in Angola.”

I’ve also been told, quite discreetly, that the Indonesian hockey team will soon be playing scratch matches with Thailand and India in order to sharpen their skills!

Welcome back, friend. I am really getting stuck on this place! Is it just the sheer joy of traveling and working, spending a bit of time on my own (no offense to Jane or the kids!), having quiet dinners, reading the paper, and the exhilaration of meeting new people from a completely different culture? Or is it really Rwanda? Or, as they pronounce it here, ER-wanda.

This morning, when I met my colleague Sifa, I asked her what ‘nani’ means. Rwandans do three interesting things linguistically - they say ‘nani’ a lot, peppered into sentences when providing me with an explanation. “This stonework is, nani tilework”, or “The building is nani a secondary school”. So, it was explained to me that this is a Swahili word for ‘like’ or ‘similar to’. The second interesting thing they express is the sound ‘mmmmm’ - it’s almost used the same way a Westerner would use the word ‘uhhh’, except it’s a bit more of a pause (not without it’s own dramatic effect!). Lastly, the main language is Kinyarwanda, which is universally spoken, with most people speaking English and French as support languages. So when someone is talking to me, they will chat me up in French, switch to English halfway through, go back to French, and so on. I’m beginning to think that I understand them perfectly!

Today we met with the architects for the project we are realizing, and it was an extremely productive meeting. As it happens, I was given a mango juice yesterday whilst on my tour of the city (I professed my love for it!), and lo and behold, this morning the conference room was stocked up with said beverage - that just about sums up how thoughtful the people are here. I declined the extra sugar and went for my customary Rwandan tea - delicious!

We were expected in Rwamagana by early afternoon (province of the site for the work) to make a presentation to the governor of the province. He had arranged for us and the architects to give him, his underlings, and the mayor a powerpoint presentation in an open air salle de reunion (meeting hall). So, off we went from Kigali - one car with three people from the architect’s office, and the other car with Sifa, myself, and ‘Kiki’, the grand patron (boss) of the office - his driver had us in the Mercedes. Kiki (officially, Bertrand) is a dynamic and intelligent guy, smart but sensitive, who started his firm originally in the Congo (Democratic Republic of, are formerly Zaire). He is wealthy by any standards, has two sets of twins (ages 9 and 6), lives in a villa - well, you get the picture. He also looks a bit like a young Idi Amin, but is a much more benevolent dictator!!! I like him a lot, not least because he is dedicated to this project and is really giving of his own personal and professional resources to realize it!

I have driven slash been driven in many places in the world, but today’s journey was ‘white knuckle’ all the way. This slickly dressed driver, Prada sunglasses and all, looked like P-Diddy sans the handgun. He sped deliberately but scarily across the countryside, often times brushing by the colorful pedestrians passing on foot or bike - I literally was dreaming of ‘landing’. But we made it safe, first visiting the governor in his office (meeting in Kinyarwandese). The ubiquitous image of the President, Paul Kagame, was framed on one wall, while the flag of Yemin Orde, the model for our project in Israel, graced another wall. I sat comfortably on the ivory Ligne Roset sofa trying to understand the French-laced conversation. After a few moments we left for our ‘conference’.

We met up with the rest of our team at the open air pavilion, which did have one smooth white wall for projections. Birds chirped all around us while the powerpoint LCD presentation was prepared. A buffet lunch was offered (read: insisted upon) - fish kebabs, go figure. Quite good, actually! Everyone whipped out their macbooks, futuristic cell phones, and other toys - and connected instantly and wirelessly! Amazing! All of the men, sharply dressed, sported cufflinks and pointy Aldo-style shoes. I was asked to make a presentation, and since I practically am fluent in the local dialect, it was no problem for me get across the essential qualities of the concept based on the interdependency and value of the mind/body/spirit tri-part ideal. Can’t really say it in English, either.

The meeting was great, the governor totally supportive and responsive, pressuring the mayor to throw behind his own city resources to help us get the work done. Very impressive, and we even extended the conversation to upgrading the nearby town (schools, health clinic, market) and attracting foreign investment and tourism at a nearby provincial lake.

Speaking of foreign investment, you’ll be happy to know I’m not the only person from the Syosset Central School District here. Our own (former) Natalie Portman is visiting (as is the head of Macy’s - gorilla treck). I believe I heard that Ruth Messinger will be here soon - it’s becoming like the Meatpacking District on a Saturday night here - did someone just say Nobu Kigali?

We ended the afternoon with an incredible stop at the site - it was spectacular this time, even more so than the other day. Our whole team was present, the sun was going down, the hills were alive with (not musical) goats, and a large group of local kids descended upon us. It was just one of those magical moments.

Another terrifying drive back to town (seatbelts working!) brought me home feeling exhausted, challenged, and exhilarated. I’ve had my beer, a burger and fries, hot apple pie (creature of habit), and after a quick video chat with my lovely wife, I’ll be off to sleep.

A demain,

Harley

Les Etudiants

Excerpt from today’s edition of The New Times:

“Students do not respect elders they share public transport with. School girls put on like market women vendors. Boys dress like American gangsters. This is crazy! Discipline in Rwandan schools is still lacking. Uniformity is a key in schools’ discipline. Pupils need to dress uniformly - socks, shoes, and uniform shirts/trousers/dresses. Some parents argue that they are too poor to buy their kids uniforms, yet afford much more expensive gangster attires. The shabby way students dress here cannot be the Rwandan way! What kind of adults shall we have tomorrow if kids dress like gangsters?”

Hey! Just because your behind is hanging out of your pants doesn’t mean you’re a gangsta!

And speaking of discipline, let’s not forget the genocide that happened in Rwanda 13 years ago. President Paul Kagame officiated at ceremonies marking this anniversary on July 4th, with an optimistic eye towards the peaceful reconstruction of the country. Not only are intensive efforts underway to solve the social problems of the country, but this tiny East African nation is actively seeking, and getting, economic investment from around the globe. The old notion of peace through prosperity (or hopeful prosperity) seems to have taken root here.

The interesting and jarring thing for me, as a foreigner, is the dichotomy between the people here and the very recent events of the past. The typical Rwandan, to me, is humble, quiet, well presented, honest, and reserved. How did a nation comprised of such individuals implode, bringing death to approximately 1 million people in 3 months? More astonishing is the ability of the populace to actively forgive and move forward - Tutsis and Hutus live side by side, hand in hand now. They work together, eat together, and run this country together. There are those who have killed, who, after admitting guilt, are free - they live in the same communities as the survivors of their victims. And there seems to be no outward animosity, mistrust, or division in the society.

Today, the author Immaculé Ilibagiza, who wrote the best-selling book ‘Left to Tell’ about the genocide, was at the hotel for an interview (I missed her). Her biographic tale spells out her own story of survival, faith, and healing here. It seems almost naive in its faith based explanation of the genocide, the ever present genocide (in the press at least), yet this is how she and many others survived.

Interestingly enough, this is one of those rare countries where America is ‘tops’ as someone told me today. The US is constructing a new, huge embassy here ... and is actively seeking to garner more support and create a base in this stable republic. In light of the not too distant embassy bombings in neighbors Kenya and Tanzania, I can only assume that the American presence allows our administration to monitor events in East Africa. I have been told that the current airport in Kigali will become a military base for the US, and that they will construct a new civil airport for the capital. Additionally, and all of you out there that scoff at my love of Paris, macarons, St. Germain, Citroens, and all things French - you will be happy to know that France is positively vilified in Rwanda. Their embassy is vide - empty - and in recent days the press here has run accounts of how the French government tacitly gave their permission for, or at minimum turned a blind eye to the slaughter here. The accounts, which first ran in the French papers, has been reproduced widely. Paradoxically, the Belgians, who formerly had a presence here and have offered their apologies for not doing more, still thrive here - building projects, aid workers, etc..

Kigali is, as it turns out, a large city after all - not huge, but bigger than I thought. There are neighborhoods that sprawl out from the city center, fanning out across the hills - although there is certainly poverty here, the city seems quite orderly (and is positively spotless!!!). Certainly in relation to a more developed country like India - which is a swirling mass of color, noise, teeming masses of people, livestock etc.. I was able to take a 3 hour tour with my Rwandan colleagues today, looking at architectural projects and construction sites. At the technical college we visited, I was the freak show - a stranger first of all, and a white stranger at that! Now, once again, believe me - these students seemed sophisticated in matters of dress, mannerisms, subject content, etc.. Maybe it’s just me - all those rings on my fingers, my hip huggin’ pants, etc.!!!

In addition to my ‘tour’ I had a good working day. I met up with my colleague Sifa in the morning - she was meeting with the head of an NGO which provides assistance to households that are headed by children (ie. orphans who are living on their own, caring for siblings in many cases). This particular non-governmental organization works with about 5,000 such individuals! He was kind enough to give us a lift to the architects’ office, where we basically hammered out more concepts for the village being built in the countryside. Tomorrow we will travel there, meeting with the governor of the province, who has given his support for the work. If only everyone could be as accommodating! Our group recently purchased a Land Cruiser for use here - it was bough in Dubai, where it is about half the cost of what it would be here, in this landlocked country. The car was shipped to Mombassa and driven across East Africa, finally entering Rwanda on Sunday. It has been in customs awaiting (ever-changing) paperwork before it is released - a guarantee by a bank that if the car is sold the tax will be paid on it (we are tax exempt). Even that status has to be re-ratified by an ‘act of congress’!

I love how Rwandans shake hands (which absolutely every male does as a sort of ‘hello’ greeting) ... they kind of slap their hand at you (almost a horizontal ‘high 5’) then grasp your hand firmly. It’s very hip. Others just kiss 3 times, kind of putting us 2-cheekers to shame! I get the handshake from everyone, including 3 of the hotel porters who spotted me in town the other day and are now so happy to see me in the lobby every time I go out.

Food was great today too - I had lunch with Sifa and Alain (aka Will Smith) at an Indian restaurant - very good indeed, nothing fancy. I was so exhausted this evening I went to the main ‘fancy’ restaurant at the hotel and had a huge, absolutely delicious meal. I inquired today as to why there are no fast food chains here, particularly in light of the aforementioned love of America! We’d love to get our hands on those trim Rwandans and ply them with a dose of our own saturated fat and corn syrup! I was told flat out that the one thing Rwandans do not import is food - everything is locally grown or produced, and is always fresh. Bravo!

A bientot,

Harley

Gettin' Jiggy With It

Excerpt from The New Times, the main English language newspaper in Rwanda:

“Household electronics should not be a priority acquisition for those with a limited source of income. It is a bad financial move to buy items that take money from your pocket and continue to suck out money to maintain them. A tv will increase electricity bills in addition to the monthly subscription to the pay tv provider. It is preferable to acquire productive assets like buying a hen or goat or cow [ do they make flat screen cows?]. After a few years, these assets will yield enough money to acquire the electronics that every urbanite so much desires.”

And where, pray tell, would said urbanites house the much touted blue chip livestock?

Hello from the comfort of my 5 star cocoon!

I’m beginning to feel like I live here, but I know I don’t (as I never get turn down service at home!). The hotel feels a bit like the movie Casablanca - everyone is a foreigner, and all seem intently focused on some sort of project. Every single person is in a meeting with someone else, and it seems as if they are all talking about the Clinton Global Initiative or the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. So-and-so recently gave up investment banking for early retirement so they could put their time and resources into building a village school here. The couple at the next table had Bill Clinton over for a parlor session when he was back in their native Arkansas to help with their efforts in higher education in Kigali. Mr. X and Mrs. Y wouldn’t think of bequeathing their stocks to anyone other than the Gates Foundation ... Everyone else seems to be a displaced resident from the US Embassy, an NGO aid worker, on the 5 star safari circuit (with Rwanda being the gorilla in the mist stop), or part of an Evangelical group that is doing outreach and comminity building in this African nation. Anyone that is not part of the aforementioned groups is casually discussing their recent business dealings in Uganda, Mozambique, Kenya, or Burundi (who knew that there WAS such a place?). A bit different than the geography soup that I’m used to hearing daily - Aruba, Venice, Hawai’i, etc. - and very cool!

The other thing that’s kind of funny is that the entire hotel, including the grounds, is wi-fi, so every single person is walking around with a laptop, typing quickly between meetings, or checking emails, etc.. A whole other culture, and new to me - I haven’t stayed in an upscale ‘business’ hotel in some time - funny!

Today was a work day, and I got picked up at 9am. It has been lovely here today, 80 degrees and sunny, dry, and clear, so it made getting into my black clothes very easy! My colleague Sifa and I had a long morning meeting with the local architects who are working on the project ... they are warm, gracious, and generous, and we have a lot of work to do this week! We conducted our meetings in French and English, switching back and forth as necessary to clarify concepts and get the meaning across...

We went for coffee and a panini (yes, that’s what I said) to a spot overlooking the many hills - as mentioned the city has the topography of Jerusalem, but the look of San Diego or Coral Gables (but more worn, of course) ... lots of broad boulevards, but small scale buildings that look as if they could be raised and replaced with huge office blocks - it’s already starting to happen as Kigali lurches forward. At our lunch spot (Bourbon Café) the inhabitants, all connected to the internet via wi-fi again, were incredibly dressed - slick, sharp, and formal - quite unbelievable (think Iman gone Rwandan!). I KNEW I should have packed my white patent shoes!!! Alain came back to get us, and did I mention that he is a carbon copy of Will Smith? No joke! Fresh Prince!


Back at the hotel, I worked all afternoon on the terrace overlooking the grounds and the pool, and even ‘IM’ed’ with Jane sporadically - I feel like a pre-teen!

I had a nice dinner in one of the hotel’s open air restaurants (and saw a few mosquitoes, may be malaria ridden by the end of all this!). All of the tourists were dressed in nativer Rwandan clothes (a cross between South African and Indonesian batik), while all the Rwandans were slickly outfitted in Juicy - the Serengeti is always greener on the other side! Linda Rondstadt’s Blue Bayou wafted softly through the night air, feels like I’m living a soft rock commercial (although I am a fan!).

LOL
Harley

First Full Day in Africa

The sun rises on Africa!

Still not quite used to the time zones (I'm notorious for getting jet lag if I go to New Jersey) and had a self-imposed wakeup call at 6 am today ... it was nice and quiet at the hotel, and I was fortunate to go down for an early breakfast only to find that I had the hotel to myself. I had a huge, yummy petit-dejeuner on the terrace overlooking the pool and the hills of Kigali (Rwandan coffee is delicious, French press style)... and the yogurt with honey from the countryside - great! After a quick workout (damn that treadmill!) I got ready for the day ahead.

My peer, Sifa, picked me up at the hotel, along with her two children, ages 9 and 7, who are adorable and polite (it's their first time in Rwanda too; the family lives in Boston the rest of the year). Sifa's husband Joseph, and her brother Alain, also joined us, and we headed off from Kigali for the countryside - and more specifically, to Rwamagana (closer to the border with Tanzania). It was early Sunday morning, so there were a fair number of people out, on their way to church ... Christian faith being a legacy of the Germans and Belgians who were present here. People in Rwanda are fairly formal, so there were men in suits and women in colorful dresses headed down the streets. The roads, both in the city and in the country (highways) are well marked and paved, so we had an easy ride for one hour. The countryside is beautiful - bananas growing everywhere, sorgum, corn - all along rolling hills and deep valleys. As Rwanda is 2000 metres above sea level, it is not the 'dry and dusty' Africa many of us imagine. It is green and fertile, with a deep red soil. It seems as if every inch is cultivated, and the homes in the country are relatively simple affairs - mud and branch, often with tin or tile roofs. There are domesticated animals, but not a lot of them. Additionally, despite this being the most densely populated country in Africa, it seems very open and un-crowded to me.

We did arrive at the site, after veering down the 9km dirt road off the highway ... a bumpy red patch, but we landed safely. The project I am involved with will be built on this property, which is huge - it is likewise hilly, with sweeping views down and out towards Rwanda's southern neighbor, Burundi. I was totally inspired walking the site, which is really gorgeous, and is rather wild right now ... we even picked ripe mangoes and brought them back to Kigali with us! It is hard to believe that this open, parklike land will one day be the village for 500 orphans of the genocide of 1994, plus support families, staff, a huge school, library, clinic, dining hall, computer lab, etc.! We will return to the site on Wednesday with the rest of the local team, and will really dig our heels in. Many of the people I encountered in the country were shocked to see a 'white' person and didn't quite know what to do with me (I don't bite!). Interesting...

We headed back along another dirt road towards the highway to Kigali, bypassing the 'town', a relatively modest square with people passing through. We did stop to pick up a snack for Sifa's kids at a 'grocery' which had perhaps 12 items in varying quantities for sale - medical soap(?), cookies, Portuguese wine - all incongruous and very few items seemed necessary! By the time we headed back to Kigali, we had a lively discussion about Rwanda's recent history, and the reconciliation and confrontation that is inevitable when victims and perpetrators continue to reside together ... no easy solutions, and Rwanda has pulled together somehow to make sure that the country moves forward peacefully - incredible, really.

We went to the famous 'Hotel Rwanda', actually called the Hotel des Mille Collines (1000 Hills, as both the capital and the country is made of very hilly terrain - in fact, Kigali has the exact same topography as Jerusalem). We were too late for lunch, so I headed back to my hotel, the rest of the crew went their way, and I was able to have a video chat with Jane between her many engagements (she never seems this socially active in my presence!!!). It was nice catching up, and I had a quick lunch (Rwandan beer and lamb samosas - yum! - even though a small band was very hiply belting out Shakira and Madonna tunes) before venturing out for a walk downtown ... it was a great stroll, very quiet and peaceful, and as the temperature rarely rises above 80 degrees here, most comfortable. The buildings in Kigali are simple and semi-1950's ... the city does have a nice scale, and when I got downtown (mainly a fountain and planted area which could be found at the Fountainbleu in Miami before it was renovated) I bumped into three of the 'doormen' from the hotel (furitively calling me out despite my attempts to ignore them, until I realized who they were - incredibly friendly!). I visited a huge supermarket (Spiderman plates, cookies imported from Dubai, toys made in Pakistan) and Bourbon Café - a protegé of Starbucks, strategically placed overlooking the hills.

I took a long walk back, and Sifa called me to arrange a meeting for us to review the schedule for the week (I even have a Rwandan cell number now, handy for arranging appointments!). By the time I made it back it was meeting time, so Sifa, Alain, and I had a drink on the terrace and strategized how to best approach our work this week to gain the maximum benefit. I believe we were successful!

One more draught beer, a nice goat stew while watching the tennis matches on the flat screen in the outdoor bar, and it's time to regroup for tomorrow...

Wishing you all the best from the heart of Africa,

Harley

Hello from Kigali, Rwanda

Hello all!

Greetings from Rwanda's capital Kigali. I arrived a few hours back from Bruxelles, after having a wonderful 18 hour visit with our dear friends Debbie and Dino. We had a terrific time catching up - we haven't seen each other since we were in Amsterdam together in November - so it was great arriving to their home in Belgium, hanging out, i-chatting with Jane, and enjoying a glass of real Belgian beer and frites with them. So nice to have such good friends, even if they are a plane ride away! Thanks Debbie and Dino for your hospitality, warmth, and good times!

I left Bruxelles this morning for my flight to Africa ... after arriving with my characteristically lone piece of luggage, I was able to pass immediately through security so I could quickly grab my second café - the first was with my bleary eyed hosts this morning in their kitchen, poor souls! I enjoyed my latté and was able to quickly write to the kids in camp, espousing the virtues of Belgian chocolate, beer, and frites!

At the gate for my Brussels Airlines flight, I felt like a real schlepper! Although the majority of those flying seemed to be non-African (a good number of American missionaries, young people, and Europeans), the Rwandans boarding stole the show. Talk about grace! Youthful, incredible smiles, humble, yet confident, it was clear to see what I was going to experience this week in Kigali. Each person was dressed more fashionably than the next, and not in a self-conscious or pretentious way ... simply gorgeous. Slender, fit, and with the most glorious chocolate colored skin I've ever seen, they boarded the flight with charm and ease, wearing Roberto Cavelli belts, Prada shoes, ties and slim fitting jackets - very 'cool' looking, ipods in hand. I had been warned in all honesty - recently I attended a meeting for the project I am working on here, and as it was an advisory board conference, I uncharacteristically wore a suit. At the end of the afternoon, I remarked that I knew I wouldn't be doing that in Rwanda, to which my colleague Sifa responded that the people I would be meeting with take their positions seriously, and dress accordingly! (So off to H&M I went, looking for business attire!).

We left Belgium a bit late this morning, but flew through fantastic weather with clear skies, affording me the opportunity to peruse the landscape below ... I was surprised to see that we were flying over the Greek islands, directly above Mykonos, Crete, Santorini - then across the azure Mediterranean to what I thought was Libya, but was in fact Alexandria, Egypt. Down the Nile we followed our flight path, into Sudan just to the east of the infamous Darfur region. After reading a book yesterday by a survivor of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, it was disheartening to think of what is going on in that area, and eastern Chad, while the world seemingly stands by. For those who have not had the chance, Vanity Fair is running a series of articles addressing this, and other issues in Africa this month, which makes worthy reading.

Upon leaving Sudan's airspace, it was a quick hop over Uganda, just to the west of Entebbe, and at that time the sun set (it goes away early here, 2 degrees south of the Equator - around 6:30pm, as opposed to Northern Europe - last night in Bruxelles the sun set at 10:30pm!). From there, it was a final jaunt into Kigali ... a smooth approach, quick disembarkation to the terminal, and very quickly through immigration (and yes, that French is really coming in handy!). I was met immediately by my colleague Sifa, and her brother Alain - they are native Rwandans who's family were touched by the horrors of 13 years ago, yet retain the characteristic grace and good nature of the Rwandan people. It was a comfortable 70 degrees when I landed, and having traveled to India and Morocco recently, I can guarantee that Rwanda is tame relatively speaking! The people are gentle and solicitous, warm and friendly (that ever present smile!) - Kigali is a city free of plastic bags (to eliminate trash and to be 'green' this was ordered by Paul Kagame's government last year). Today was a monthly 'cleanup' day for the city - similar to what I used to do at summer camp as a kid (the 'sweep') - anyone out before noon is required to work on beautifying the city by picking up trash, gardening, etc.. Even foreigners, if out and about, are required to participate!

I arrived to the hotel, which is gorgeous in an urban/resort way, and was offered fresh orange juice while checking in (which took no more than 30 seconds!). I was quickly shown to my room, on the top floor overlooking the grounds, with all of the amenities one could imagine from a 5 star hotel ... wifi, fluffy robes, oversized safe, etc.. After unpacking, I went down to the pool for a large 'pression' of Rwandan beer and had a light dinner (10pm) of more frites, and a baguette sandwich stuffed with Rwandan grilled vegetables - aubergines, tomatoes, and particularly good sweet green peppers.

Off to bed now, as I'm going to visit the site for our inspiring project at 9 am tomorrow morning ... wishing you all the best from Africa, and looking forward to sharing the rest of my story with you during the week!

Love Harley