Breakfast

Thought I'd take some pictures of a typical breakfast here. Our housekeeper Olive cooks for us, and breakfast is simply toast and fruit every morning. Usually just margarine on the bread, or peanut butter and jelly if we feel rich. Then bananas and coffee or tea.





Today, instead of bananas, passion fruits (maracuja) and tamarillos (tree tomatoes). Passion fruits are filled with little seeds surrounded by juicy pods, which you just slurp down whole. Tamarillos are very sweet, they sort of taste like blackberries/kiwis/tomatoes mixed together.

What I've Been Doing Exactly

I wasn't 100% clear on my assignment before I got here, so it's a good bet you aren't either. Basically, World Vision is starting to implement a brand-new program called World Vision Micro. They've been involved with micro-finance with Vision Fund International (VFI) for a while now, buying MFIs (Micro-finance institutions) all over the world and giving loans through these local banks. The new Micro program sort of combines WV's traditional sponsorship program with micro-finance, allowing donors to select a specific business to fund.

In Rwanda, most of these loans go to people who run small shops for food and drink in their communities. The various branches of VFC (Vision Finance Company- the MFI in Kigali that I'm working with) are responsible for finding good clients, disbursing the loans, and collecting payments. With both Kiva and Micro providing their funding, they are also responsible for filling out three forms per client:

1. An introduction to the client's business and family and expected use/impact of the loan
2. A shorter form halfway through the disbursement period that shows what they've used the money for and their progress on repayment
3. A final form that's basically the same as the 2nd form.

These forms are very important for the donors, so they can see what is being done with the money they have donated. Unfortunately, VFC has not been prioritizing these 'journals' and by the time I got here, about 210 loans were missing one or both of these updates. Many were due over four months ago. Since arrival, I have posted 135 midterm updates and 45 new loans, but upon reaching the end of the stack of papers waiting for me, I found that there are still over 160 loans waiting for an update. It seems that the branches haven't been collecting these updates for some time, even though the loans have been paid back entirely.

I'm told that business in Africa can be like this, hearing promises (We'll get them by this Friday...by next Tuesday...by the weekend...) but not seeing many results. But I can only comment on VFC in this regard, and it's clear that my work is cut out for me- not just in posting all the late material, but in motivating the head office management and the branch managers to prioritize the journals.

Hypochondria

I am not a hypochondriac by any stretch of the imagination, but if I were to become one, this would be the place. A trip such as this begins at least a month beforehand, as you go to the travel clinic for the first round of shots. You are given a packet that lists all the potential side effects, especially for live vaccines such as the Yellow Fever vaccine which apparently has killed more travelers than the disease itself in the last couple decades. So the couple weeks following the vaccines are spent wondering if the mild fever or upset stomach is the first sign of a serious side effect. At the travel clinic, you are also given a prescription for an apparently ineffective anti-malarial drug, which is accompanied by the warning 'don't get bit.'

So now you're in the foreign country! Start out your stay with a weakened immune system from 36 hrs of sleepless travel with a poor diet. Also, the new malaria drug causes nausea, so you don't know if your nausea is an actual sickness or a real disease. Realize you don't know how to use your mosquito net properly, and wake up with five new bite marks on your first morning.

About a week in, read the label on your anti-malarial which reads "Take on an empty stomach with plenty of water." Fine, you've been doing that. "Don't lie down for 10 minutes after taking." Shoot, you've been taking it before bed to avoid the nausea. Then see the sticker that says:
"CAUTION: TAKE THIS MEDICATION AT LEAST 2 HOURS BEFORE OR 2 HOURS AFTER MAGNESIUM OR ALUMINUM CONTAINING ANTACIDS, OR OTHER PRODUCTS CONTAINING CALCIUM, IRON, OR ZINC."

And realize that every. single. bottle. of water in Rwanda is top-quality mineral water, which has been helpfully fortified with calcium, iron, zinc, and magnesium. You decide to read all your labels a little more closely, where you are instructed to call the doctor if you have mucus or blood in your stool. This is one of the less-serious side effects; call your doctor immediately if you have more urine than usual.

So you open the travel packet again, which has several pages to warn you of the dangers of eating or drinking anything in a foreign country. You are permitted only to eat lumps of charcoal, provided you boil them for at least ten minutes. If you dare to eat unpeeled fruit or shower in the tap water, you're asking for trouble.

All this to say that I was forced to make the decision to not care if I get sick. The alternative is much more stressful- and I think most parts of America have more mosquitoes than we do here in Rwanda.

Transportation

One of the easiest ways to get around Kigali is via moto(rcycle) taxis (or boda-bodas), which are basically Rwandans on dirt bikes. They have green vests and green helmets, and are easily found as there are approximately 15 taxis for every resident of Kigali, and since I’m a white person, there is never a problem finding one. Noob foreigners such as myself are used to prices in the Western world, and will gladly pay 1500 RWF (less then $3 US) for a five mile trip into the city, thinking we’re getting a great deal. (I did this twice.) I was told as I headed off for my third ride that 500 RWF- less than a dollar- is still fairly generous. So I called my next driver with a head nod and offered him 500 RWF to take me to the Union Trade Center (UTC), the downtown shopping area with a Forex and Internet café. His excitement at picking up an Umuzungu faded, but he agreed as a man across the street yelled, “That’s a good price!”

So I put on the helmet he offered me (and didn’t think about when it had been washed last) and jumped on behind him. We weaved in and out of traffic up the hills to the city centre, and I paid him in coins.

Originally posted on Friday April 9, 2010:

My hands shake as I write this, having been goaded into putting something approaching the typical Rwandan amount of sugar in my tea this morning (I actually only put in 3 of the recommended 5 spoonfuls). I was already jittery from my coffee w/ breakfast, which was probably some of the best coffee I've ever had.

Trip over was very long, still fighting off jet lag. Very warm and humid here, so between that and the jet lag didn't get much sleep last night. Feeling fine now (see above.)

The internet is still a disaster, so I'll hopefully post some pics later. I don't have administrative privileges on my computer, so I'm still waiting to be able to access in the office. As a result, haven't done any real work yet, and am still trying to get set up and figure out who I will be working with.

Kigali is very beautiful, with tropical vegetation and very hilly. Will post more later.