18,000 trees

from the new times sport section today:

saturday results: burundi 0-0 tanzania; ethiopia 0-0 sudan

tanzania's kilmanjaro stars are up for a busy task as they face sudan in the quarter finals of the cecafa senior challenge cup at the national stadium dar es salaam, tanzania. a slim 10-1 win over somalia on wednesday as well as a goalless draw against burundi on saturday provoked local fans here to lose hope.

sudan didn't perform as expected as it earned its points from draws against ethiopia and zanzibar. ethiopia had lost it fixtures against zanzibar 2-3 on thursday, following djibouti and somalia in the exit chamber. eritrea is the only surviving team from the horn of africa.

hmmm ... wonder why sudan is so distracted these days?

once again, i am unable to sleep at a normal hour - ugghhh! despite feeling zonked, i work out in the wee hours of the morning, and enjoy an early sumptuous breakfast on the terrace in the hot african sun. my roasted tomatoes with cheese are back - oh, the simple joys of life. piping hot rwandan coffee sends me on my way!

we go to the site today - finally - after rendezvous-ing with the team at the contractor's office to review and approve samples. once again, we seem to be only talking about toilets and the price of cement (how many times can i hear that it's going up - i have my own problems!) ... but it is all very convivial and helpful, and our convoy speeds away. we wind through the hills - the countryside is spectacular, as the 'light' rainy season has just ended, and everything is green(er) than july. we weave through magnificent vistas, looking down into deep valleys - like driving in vermont, but with bananas (everywhere!) and statuesque african women in their multi colored print dresses.

we arrive to the huge construction zone, the future home of the agahozo shalom youth village - incredible. what was once just two large hills separated by a valley with views to burundi is now taking shape as a real, habitable place! there are 350 workers on site - making foundations, laying masonry, making blocks on site - it's amazing. there are workers quarters, a canteen, an office, and people everywhere. suddenly, homes for 524 orphans are rising!

we tour the site, making decisions whilst deciding what it is that is still undecided - basically, planning out our work for the next few days. there are lots of things to address, and we move in a pack, driving the entire site first, then walking to the key locations - the central plaza, the school, the library ... amazing!

it is 80º and sunny, a spectacular day, and we look beyond to the terraced fields that lie beyond. suddenly, the mayor and governor arrive, and we all mobilize to greet them! they hold the key to making the village's realization 'smooth', and have popped by just to say hello. the governor, a genial man with all the accoutrements - pierre carden shirt, prada glasses, latest mobile phone, etc. has us all sit at a makeshift conference table in the construction office. he has come to let us know that the prefect is donating 18,000 trees to the effort, including the actual planting of the species (mango, eucalyptus, etc.) - amazing!

this is an incredible thing, particularly since the site feels denuded by the work going on. and not only is this a politically positive development, it is also layered with meaning ... the number 18 - chai in hebrew, which means life - perfectly suited to a village housing children who survived the genocide here. the gift of trees - green both in color and earthly attitude - giving life and oxygen. upward growth - the children - and sustainability for this fractured country. we are delighted!

but there's still lots to be done, so we head back to kigali in the mid-afternoon, for a meeting and a bite. i'm totally exhausted - from lack of sleep! additionally, i discover that i am incredibly sunburned, not having thought of the need for sunscreen before i left this morning - duhh. hot equatorial sun on in open area - feeling better though.

after the pow-wow, i hop into town, and snake my way through the market - it's dusk and gorgeous! no one smokes here, and they're constantly sweeping the streets, so it is not overwhelming in that sense. everyone is out and it's hopping - and is everything that you would think of, if you were to think of a sub-saharan bazaar. incredible, and i score a pair of funky rwandan boots - the standard issue item here - for a great price!

back at the serena, i grab a quick bite, a mutzig draft beer, and it's time for zzzzzzz's - good night all!

h

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