Makanyaga

Beautiful view of the hills from my gate.

Although the kids next door have discovered they can climb up the tree by the wall so that they can shout 'muzungu!' at us whilst we're having breakfast on the porch... ho hum.

Washing Day Next Door

Can't really complain, it's a lovely garden and my housemates are great. 

Picked up my official certificate of registration from RDB on Thursday. 

Now tackling Immigration, which is not quite so simple. They give you fifteen days after registration to submit your application for a work permit, otherwise you need to apply for an interim permit. The full permit is around FRW 100,000 (£88) for two years, and the interim three-month work permit is 50,000 (£44). Completing the full application wouldn't be a problem if it weren't for the fact you need a police clearance certificate from home. This in itself is likely to take 15 days - two to process fast-track, and about two weeks to get here. 

I'm hoping I can just apply for the full permit in time, but it would help if they extended the grace period to thirty days, or even twenty-eight.

Still, it's interesting to learn how all of this works. Been busy as a bumblebee all weekend, getting my website ready. Hoping to go live on Monday.

All Legal Now

Friday was fun. An old VSO colleague, who has since become a friend, invited me for a night out. We met up at the new VSO office, which has moved since my days. It's now situated nearer to Amahoro Stadium, in a very swanky building. I was much impressed.  

That's not the only thing that's changed - they now have over 90 volunteers in-country! That's quite a fair few more than when I was a volunteer. Also a lot more African volunteers, which is good to see. 

Plus, I spotted two faces from five years ago on the board! Christiane, who I'm hoping to meet up with soon, and Morley, who is back doing a short stint with Aegis Trust in Gisozi. Also bumped into Sarah, who was a volunteer who arrived in my second year and ended up taking over from my Programme Manager, Amanda, as head of Disability. It was a slightly spooky flashback.

Didn't have too much time to think about it. Hopped in the van with Amina and stopped to pick up her sister Asna, who is completely lovely. Had a good catch-up on the drive. We were off to the Great Lakes Energy Company launch.

These guys are so clever! This is me taking a photograph of a solar-powered lamp which lasts for up to 36 hours and is being used to charge my phone!

Seriously revolutionary. Especially as new research suggests that two million deaths per year in the world can be attributed to pollution from kerosene lamps, and over 50% of premature deaths in under fives are related to poor air quality and soot inhalation. The amount it saves a household on candles and fuel is quite substantial too.

With funding from The Light Foundation and support from UNHCR, they have been distributing these lamps throughout refugee camps in Rwanda. But they don't give them away for free. In return, refugees have to get involved in local tree-planting initiatives to re-forest the country. 

One amazing statistic is that they were told 'if more than 30% of your products haven't been stolen or sold on, you're doing well.' They recently found out that less than 0.6% of their lamps had gone missing. Most likely this is because a) people see a real need for the lamps and b) the community tree planting adds value to them, so the community takes responsibility for protecting the lamps.

They truly are amazing little things. I'm thinking of getting one for the house - useful during power outs, and for our guard to read at night. At the moment he has a plug-in torch, but this would be much more eco-friendly. They're about FRW 27,000 (£24) to buy individually, but cheaper wholesale.

Plug-in Torch

The launch was held on the rooftop at the building opposite Chez John. It provided an incredible view of Kigali by night, and there was plenty of free booze and posh nosh (even smoked salmon!).

They showed us a really interesting film. I've looked for it on YouTube but can't find it. I'll get a link from Sam (founder of Great Lakes Energy Company) and add it to this post soon.

A Little Early

After the presentation, there was this excellent band, and we all started dancing. One of the highlights was my friend Amina meeting her childhood idol, Rwandan singer Makanyaga, who donated his music to the project's video.

We danced and drank our fill. It was a really fun event. I also met Jon, an American guy who is becoming rather famous in Rwanda. I first heard about him from my friend Jo. He's set up a shared office space in Kigali where you can rent a desk for around FRW 3,000 a day. Useful for internet, focusing, and networking. The project is simply called The Office. Check it out. Fully intend to pop down there once I get my business going. Very cool idea.

Like I say, I've been chained to my keyboard all weekend. The website is coming along well, considering I'm trying to do everything on the cheap at the moment. Had a minor HTML meltdown last night, but managed to resolve it. My friend Jessica has done me a fantastic corporate logo. In fact, the entire business is built on friendship - Rik and David naming it, Jessica branding it... it's a labour of love.

Better get back to it. I've been sustained by coffee and toasties. My housemate went into town yesterday and when she asked if there was anything I wanted, I replied 'a toaster and a toastie maker... and some cheese to go in it.' Happy days are here!

Anticipation...

Happiness!