...You know when one evening sit a talk...       A travelogue from Marie

You know when one evening sit and talk and your friend Ann (Hageus) tells you about her travels to Rwanda. You think that that would be so cool to experience, and so Ann says; tune in next time! I am so grateful, happy and actually a little proud that we took the plunge and actually went.

It is difficult to describe everything that we experienced during the 10-day trip, but with a few key words and pictures I hope to be able to describe some single emotional impressions.

Mountains and valleys

The bus journey between Kigali and Gisenyi takes a few hours and you have time to see many fantastic views. What I first thought was wild nature, like we have in Sweden, was mostly cultivated, inhabited land. It is a fantastically beautiful landscape.

I saw that much of the work on plantations was done by hand, basically without machines. Since Rwanda is at a high altitude, the temperature is pleasant, around 20 degrees.

Curiosity

The first evening we took a walk outside our inn. Very soon it was realized that our pale, Western appearance stands out in the street scene. I made eye contact with a little girl who was walking with her mother. She stared at me shamelessly and as we passed each other she took the opportunity to feel my winter-pale arm. We smiled at each other. A nice meeting.

I felt friendly and perhaps a little curiously greeted by most of the people I met during our trip.

Resources

One day we went hiking in the mountains at Gisenyi. Between a couple of houses, along a larger street, began a steep path that led straight up the mountain. The path was heavily trafficked by goats, school children and "commuters" on their way to work in town. The path took us through villages, banana plantations, past small houses and sugar cane plantations. Several of Baho Neza's students certainly live here. Their standard of living is low, as is the level of education. We saw a lot of beauty during our hike, but it also gave a strong sense of how unfairly the world's resources are distributed.

Color

There are so many beautiful colors in Rwanda, on houses, clothes, decor and food. It's like when you are wearing too dark sunglasses and take them off. Everything suddenly becomes clearer and more beautiful. Scents, smells and sounds also gave a stronger impression. I felt so at home in the vibrant environment.

The color and taste of all the fruits we ate! Avocados, mangoes, bananas... can't be compared to what we find in our fridges.

Finally:

I want to say a big, big thank you to Ann and Mudi who guided us during our trip. I gained a deeper understanding of the important work Baho Neza does in Rwanda and we had the opportunity to see with our own eyes the impact of their work when we met some former course participants.