August 2009
11 posts
Return to Uganda
I arrived back in Uganda late Sunday, and have spent the last couple of days wandering around the town, revisiting my old haunts (except the legendary Bubbles, which will come later in the week). I’m also catching up on sleep – as you might have gathered from my last post on all the parties in my last few days in Burundi, I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep, and the bus ride was pretty tiring. It’s...
Last days in Burundi
Although I’ve already left, I wanted to post quickly about my last few days in Burundi, which in many ways summed up why I love the country so much. On Thursday, I was able to meet Marie Rose, one of only two female ex-combatants who are Members of Parliament (on which more later), and she told me more about the country’s reconstruction plans and what the government is doing to help women...
Leaving Burundi
I left Burundi at the crack of dawn yesterday morning, and am now writing from Kampala, Uganda. I’m gutted to have left, I miss the country already, with its tiny town centre, its beautiful beaches, its brochettes, and of course my friends, Burundian and Muzungu, who made the country so special.
I feel so privileged to have worked with some great people, Pierre Claver from Survivor Corps and Eric...
History Passing
A couple of days ago I read on the BBC about the funeral of the last British WW1 veteran, who died a fortnight ago, aged 111, and nearly bawled. A part of our history is now gone forever; there are a few others left, but only one who saw action, and none who fought in the trenches. Of course it seems ridiculous to be so upset by the death of a 111-year-old, and even more so to be sad for the...
Burundi Tourism
I’ve already blogged about the fact that there is no tourism industry in Burundi, despite its marketable assets. Today, via my friend Carol, I gained an insight into why that might be. She works in microfinance and will have some bosses from the US visiting next week, and was trying to find out if there were any excursions from Bujumbura that she didn’t already know about, so paid a visit to the...
Being Gay in Burundi
There’s a new report out by Human Rights Watch on Gay Rights in Burundi – which in pretty dire straits at the moment after a law passed earlier this year criminalising homosexual behaviour and making it punishable by up to two years in jail. The law was heavily promoted by the party of the President, Pierre Nkrunziza, who is, surprise surprise, a born again Christian. As well as shepherding the...
Playing with the boys...
Yesterday it was an American called Tom (also known as Chief)’s birthday, so I bunked off work early in the afternoon to go to Bora Bora and play beach volleyball with the marines and other US Embassy staff. Which I’m pretty sure I’ve never played before, but which was actually pretty fun. Considering that I have more or less the worst hand-eye coordination in the world, and avoid ball sports like...
July 2009
48 posts
Death Duties
This week has been a bit hectic. One of Brian’s aunts passed away last week, and Nana spent most of last week looking for a place for her children to stay during the deuil (mourning period). Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to find anywhere, so the only solution was for Brian and Nana to move into Brian’s parents’ house, and me to stay elsewhere – luckily Morgan was able to find me some sofa space,...
A Different Kind of Survivor...
Lisa has already posted about Bujumbura’s Musee Vivante, which we visited while she and Bryan were in Bujumbura. While we were there, the crocodiles had just been fed, so we missed out on the joy of feeding them live guinea pigs. However, when my friend Morgan visited with a couple of the marines, they had better luck. Since she is herself a renowned blogger, I’ll let you read it in...
Staff Benda Bilili
If you want a survivor story with bells on (sort of literally, as it’s about musicians!) check out this article on Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili, who I first learned about while reading the SN Brussels in-flight magazine while waiting to pick up my US visa. All of the band members have physical disabilities, many resulting from polio. They are able to transport themselves on self-built...
Disarmament Ceremony
Last week I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a disarmament ceremony in Muramvya Commune, Rutegama Province, in the middle of the country. Getting there was pretty stressful – found out I needed to be at the Gare du Nord while still in bed and about half an hour before I had to be there, so got a taxi there, and found Amable, CEDAC’s youth coordinator, waiting for me. We got a share-taxi...
Mining Burundi
Nope, not the kind that blow up kids and tanks, the kind that extract nickel. This weekend I was at Bora Bora, and met a South African man sitting alone. It was a slightly awkward conversation – he was very much a member of the distressingly-large number of white people who’ve spent their lives in Africa who always seems to be on the point of saying something racist, but never quite crosses the...
Africa Time
One of the things that drives me, and most of the other bazungu I know, absolutely crazy, is the fact that here it is not only acceptable to be several hours late for meeting someone, with no obligation to call and let them know that you’ll be late, but also that it’s OK to just not show up. But there is, of course, a flip side, and I wanted to share an incident from my trip to Rwanda; while we...
WatchLisa managed to get a video of the acrobats!
rogoffinrwanda:
Walking back from a day at the beach, we came upon some Rwandan acrobats in the midst of a complex and quite impressive routine.Walking back from a day at the beach, we came upon some Rwandan acrobats in the midst of a complex and quite impressive routine.
Visiting Goma
So while I was in Rwanda last weekend, I was able to follow up my long-held ambition to visit DRC – mainly so that I can say I’ve been (already added it to the facebook ‘where I’ve been’!), but also because I’ve always thought it would be really interesting to go and just have a better image of what it’s like than you get from the news (even if only a little bit better). And I’m really glad I did...
A Trip to Rwanda
After Bujumbura, Kigali came as a major culture shock. Rwanda’s roads are well known among old East Africa hands, but it still comes as a shock every time. Riding the taxi-moto, I kept bracing myself for the potholes that didn’t come. Walking to the restaurant in the evening, I kept noticing new things – like street lights and pavements – that in some ways seem so natural but in others are...
End-to-End
My good friends Jenni and Jude, who are either crazy or brave, or possibly both, are today starting a cycle trip from one end of the UK to the other - Land’s End to John O’Groats. They’re raising money for various cancer charities as they do it and blogging about it at Maltloaf or Death? (and Eddie Izzard reference for non-afficionados), so if anyone is bored at work...
"I can categorically state that we have not... →
I don’t have anything to say today. But you can never read this story too many times.
A Sour Note
Over the weekend I had two experiences that got me down a bit about this country. The first was pretty standard – some guy trying to pickpocket me, ineptly as it turned out. But it was a bit scary just because the distraction attempt consisted of another guy grabbing both my arms and shaking me.
The second made me think more. I was waiting for someone in a Bujumbura hotel, and the receptionist was...
Party Like It's Bujumbura
Everyone says it: Burundians love to party. On the plane out here I met a number of Rwandans who went all misty-eyed when I said I was going to Burundi, and told me about the amazing time they’d had on stag nights down in Bujumbura, giving the impression that it was the Ibiza of the Great Lakes region! I admit I was somewhat sceptical, but very soon after arriving it became clear that they knew...
Moby Dick Update
About ten days ago I blogged about Moby Dick, the mosquito that was tormenting me by buzzing next to my ear at night. Had a few responses, on the blog and elsewhere, so thought I’d post an update. Moby Dick is no more; I guess his evolved extra-long lifespan came to an end. But I’m pretty sure there will be others following his path, so on the impeccable advice of Jeremy Macadie, I’ve acquired a...
