Wednesday, June 2, 2010
I have a new address…
Faleska, Kimberly
B.P. 28
Nyamata, Rwanda
Air Mail/Par Avion
Favorite things I’ve received in packages so far… unsalted walnut halves, unsalted cashews, unsalted pecans (see a pattern? I love the almonds too… but I currently have three large bags of them!) dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, strawberries, apples), granola bars (any high in fiber), wheat thins (reduced fat or low sodium), sweet tart anything, gummy anything, starbursts… reese’s… packaging things in ziplocs of all kinds is brilliant, they are always needed… and thank you everyone for the peanut butter and baby wipes… they are absolutely wonderful, but I think it will be a long time before I run out now!
Yes, this is a blatant plug for care packages… but I hate to cook, and I have done extremely well living off the generous care packages of my dear family and friends and the fresh fruits and vegetables that I can find at the market! Oh, and I will soon be in need of lotion and shampoo… the cheap suave kind is great… and about 100 times cheaper and better than anything here!
Ok, it’s market day and I need to head out there and see what kind of vegetables I can find. There are always avocado, tomatoes, potatoes, bananas and pineapple… but I saw green beans there once and I am really hoping to find a few today… and carrots would be really nice, but I think I can only find them in the next town over!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Ok, so it rained last night. First time it’s rained for any extended period of time since I’ve been to site. I actually cooked last night… pasta with tomato sauce… very proud of myself… and then it was raining so it had cooled off considerably, so I worked out to some workout stuff I have on my computer. I finished working out, was sitting on the floor in the room that I use as a bathroom/kitchen/everything storage… and a big rat pokes his head around the corner of the door to the room. Seriously. I jump, it runs the other way, which is across the hallway and into my bedroom. Great. I grab my broom, proceed to make a blockade across my hallway with water jugs, buckets, shoes, plastic bags… everything. So the rat is now trapped somewhere in my bedroom and the only way out is into the hallway and then out the backdoor. So I proceed to use to broom to chase it out from behind my luggage, to under my bed, and all over the place, before it climbs up my mosquito net that is covering my bed, realizes that it won’t get anywhere that way, and then falls back to the floor and promptly disappears. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I’m pissed off by this point, I’ve been screaming some not very nice things at a rat, I’m sure my neighbors think I’m crazier than they originally thought. I stand around for awhile… and finally see a long rat tail coming out from my door jamb. The rat had wedged itself in between my door and the wall, and all you could see was its tail. So I took the broom, smashed the tail as hard as I could, rat comes running out, and after another 5 minutes or so of chasing the thing around, I finally herded it out the back door. I then blocked under my front and back door with cloth, paper bags, plastic bags… anything I could find.
After I shower (remember I use that term very loosely here…), and finally go to bed (surprisingly enough, I think I slept better last night than I have since I got to site, after working out and then freaking out about the rat… even with my family of bats that inhabit my house)… I wake up at about three in the morning to the sound of paper on concrete… which can only mean that something is trying to get in my front door, where I had paper bags stuffed under the door. So I got up, turned on the light, and found the biggest cockroach I’ve ever seen inching its way under the paper bags. I can only see about half of it, which I stepped on… then stuffed more bags under the door, and went back to bed. Needless to say, I am no longer a fan of the rain. Brings in way too many uninvited guests.
In retrospect, I’m hoping this is funny… I’m thinking if it wasn’t me, I would think that the image of me creating blockades, cursing and chasing a rat around my house would probably be fairly amusing. As for me, I’m not currently loving all of Rwanda’s residents these days!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Long time...
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
It has been a long time since I blogged, I know… and tons of things have happened… but I have, unfortunately, forgotten all of the good things I should write here. I was sworn in at the Ambassador’s house, ate tons of good food in Kigali… went to Musanze for a week for some minor training with Access project… and then came here to my site in Gashora! It’s everything I remember it to be… small and beautiful… the lakes are gorgeous and it’s quiet. At night, the stars are like nothing I’ve ever seen before… even here in Rwanda. Without a light, it’s completely and totally pitch black at night, unless there‘s a moon… when it‘s ridiculously bright and I can see more stars here than I ever have. I have electricity, but one of the neighborhood kids fetches me water a few times a week. And the electricity tends to go out every so often. The people are very friendly… the market is small, but I can buy tomatoes, green beans, bananas, pineapple, avocado, and potatoes most days. I haven’t figured out where I can buy eggs yet… might have to negotiate with the neighbors… or buy a chicken. But as you can see, protein and fiber are a bit of an issue. I have a small kerosene stove, but haven’t actually used it yet… I do hate to cook! I plan to try it tonight though, because I have an eggplant and some carrots that I bought in town this weekend!
Speaking of, I spent the weekend in Nyamata with a couple of other volunteers while they exterminated my house. I didn’t sleep all of last week because of the noise, which I thought was rats. My house has a tin roof, help up by wood beams, but no ceiling, so they are incredibly loud! Come to find out, it’s bats. Which may be a bit harder to get rid of seeing as last night they were definitely alive and well. So we’ll see how that goes.
The job is going well so far… I have tons of things that I can work on… but I can’t seem to convince the head of my health center (the Titulaire) that I’m not a nurse and I can’t help him with medical protocol types of issues. I’m here to help with bigger management issues. But we’ll see how it goes!
I’m supposed to get a modem here, but it may take a week or two… for now, I can walk 20 to 25 minutes to the one hotel to get wireless… so it’s not bad. And the walk is gorgeous along the lake… even if it is a bit hot!!!
Sunday, May 30th, 2010
Well, bats came back… they exterminated, they closed up some holes in the house, but not all of them, so I still have bats. Less than before, but they are certainly still there! So, let’s just say sleep has been a bit of an issue!
Work is going well… slow, but pretty good I think. I really like the people I work with… so that helps a lot. And this weekend has been absolutely wonderful! Yesterday, I did Umuganda, which was at the health center… we basically weeded the driveway type area, and edged the grass with hoes. Interesting. it certainly wasn’t the showing that I saw in Nyanza. Many people just didn’t participate. But I had a good time. Then I went home, hung up clothesline outside, hung up some hooks in my house (which is interesting when you have cement walls, rusty nails, and a rock for a hammer), did laundry, washed dishes, worked out to P90X on my computer, and made garlic bread (I can actually get good bread here on Fridays)… I felt very accomplished yesterday! The thing is, everything is such a process here… so all of that literally took up all of my day!
Today, I woke up, avoided going to church (which makes me a bit of a bad volunteer… it’s the best way to integrate into the community because it is such a Christian society…), took a long walk down to the lake down little paths and through some serious brush (for as close as it is, it took awhile to find me way to the actual lake side), then went to the military base here with my titulaire to see monkeys! Because they have large areas that are actually kind of wooded, tons of monkeys hang out there. So I took tons of pictures (which I will hopefully post to Facebook soon), and saw monkeys goofing off up close. I actually saw one chase a rooster… which was pretty funny. Then, we headed to the other lake in my town, where the police and army operate their marine functions… and headed out on a little speed boat and just kind of toured the lake. The guy driving had a rather good time chasing off groups of ducks, and although we didn’t see any crocodiles or hippos, it is really beautiful. I’m warming up to the birds here, they are just so pretty! I just don’t want to be too close to them… particularly the big crows and hawks! Then I walked down to the resort here… and realized I am quite sun burnt. I did put sunscreen on, but the sun here is ridiculous! And you don’t even realize it because it’s not very humid. But I figure that my day was very fulfilling, and I integrated with the people who do not go to church, which may be more worthwhile for me anyway!
So it’s been a great weekend… I’m realizing things about this culture that drive me absolutely insane every single day… and I hate going home and then all of my neighbors and the children want to talk to me… the people here just don‘t understand the benefits of having time to yourself… and let me tell you I am dirty! Everything I own, and me, is almost always covered in a thin layer of red dirt, and bucket baths don‘t quite do enough… it’s ridiculous… but it really is wonderful here overall. I wouldn’t be having this experience any other way.
It has been a long time since I blogged, I know… and tons of things have happened… but I have, unfortunately, forgotten all of the good things I should write here. I was sworn in at the Ambassador’s house, ate tons of good food in Kigali… went to Musanze for a week for some minor training with Access project… and then came here to my site in Gashora! It’s everything I remember it to be… small and beautiful… the lakes are gorgeous and it’s quiet. At night, the stars are like nothing I’ve ever seen before… even here in Rwanda. Without a light, it’s completely and totally pitch black at night, unless there‘s a moon… when it‘s ridiculously bright and I can see more stars here than I ever have. I have electricity, but one of the neighborhood kids fetches me water a few times a week. And the electricity tends to go out every so often. The people are very friendly… the market is small, but I can buy tomatoes, green beans, bananas, pineapple, avocado, and potatoes most days. I haven’t figured out where I can buy eggs yet… might have to negotiate with the neighbors… or buy a chicken. But as you can see, protein and fiber are a bit of an issue. I have a small kerosene stove, but haven’t actually used it yet… I do hate to cook! I plan to try it tonight though, because I have an eggplant and some carrots that I bought in town this weekend!
Speaking of, I spent the weekend in Nyamata with a couple of other volunteers while they exterminated my house. I didn’t sleep all of last week because of the noise, which I thought was rats. My house has a tin roof, help up by wood beams, but no ceiling, so they are incredibly loud! Come to find out, it’s bats. Which may be a bit harder to get rid of seeing as last night they were definitely alive and well. So we’ll see how that goes.
The job is going well so far… I have tons of things that I can work on… but I can’t seem to convince the head of my health center (the Titulaire) that I’m not a nurse and I can’t help him with medical protocol types of issues. I’m here to help with bigger management issues. But we’ll see how it goes!
I’m supposed to get a modem here, but it may take a week or two… for now, I can walk 20 to 25 minutes to the one hotel to get wireless… so it’s not bad. And the walk is gorgeous along the lake… even if it is a bit hot!!!
Sunday, May 30th, 2010
Well, bats came back… they exterminated, they closed up some holes in the house, but not all of them, so I still have bats. Less than before, but they are certainly still there! So, let’s just say sleep has been a bit of an issue!
Work is going well… slow, but pretty good I think. I really like the people I work with… so that helps a lot. And this weekend has been absolutely wonderful! Yesterday, I did Umuganda, which was at the health center… we basically weeded the driveway type area, and edged the grass with hoes. Interesting. it certainly wasn’t the showing that I saw in Nyanza. Many people just didn’t participate. But I had a good time. Then I went home, hung up clothesline outside, hung up some hooks in my house (which is interesting when you have cement walls, rusty nails, and a rock for a hammer), did laundry, washed dishes, worked out to P90X on my computer, and made garlic bread (I can actually get good bread here on Fridays)… I felt very accomplished yesterday! The thing is, everything is such a process here… so all of that literally took up all of my day!
Today, I woke up, avoided going to church (which makes me a bit of a bad volunteer… it’s the best way to integrate into the community because it is such a Christian society…), took a long walk down to the lake down little paths and through some serious brush (for as close as it is, it took awhile to find me way to the actual lake side), then went to the military base here with my titulaire to see monkeys! Because they have large areas that are actually kind of wooded, tons of monkeys hang out there. So I took tons of pictures (which I will hopefully post to Facebook soon), and saw monkeys goofing off up close. I actually saw one chase a rooster… which was pretty funny. Then, we headed to the other lake in my town, where the police and army operate their marine functions… and headed out on a little speed boat and just kind of toured the lake. The guy driving had a rather good time chasing off groups of ducks, and although we didn’t see any crocodiles or hippos, it is really beautiful. I’m warming up to the birds here, they are just so pretty! I just don’t want to be too close to them… particularly the big crows and hawks! Then I walked down to the resort here… and realized I am quite sun burnt. I did put sunscreen on, but the sun here is ridiculous! And you don’t even realize it because it’s not very humid. But I figure that my day was very fulfilling, and I integrated with the people who do not go to church, which may be more worthwhile for me anyway!
So it’s been a great weekend… I’m realizing things about this culture that drive me absolutely insane every single day… and I hate going home and then all of my neighbors and the children want to talk to me… the people here just don‘t understand the benefits of having time to yourself… and let me tell you I am dirty! Everything I own, and me, is almost always covered in a thin layer of red dirt, and bucket baths don‘t quite do enough… it’s ridiculous… but it really is wonderful here overall. I wouldn’t be having this experience any other way.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Leaving Nyanza...
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010
Tomorrow’s our last day in Nyanza and it’s just unreal right now! A bit scary that we’re completely out on our own soon… a bit unbelievable that training is over… and really exciting that we’re going to be actual Peace Corps Volunteers as of Wednesday! I’m definitely going to miss it here. As much as it has driven me crazy from time to time to have more than 35 people around all the time… there are some amazing people here and I’m going to miss them. I’m going to miss our house of 17 people, my three roomates… and definitely the staff here. Our LCFs (language and cultural facilitators) have taught our classes and answered our questions and just been there to talk to us. They’re all close to my age and they’re definitely friends and colleagues… so I’m going to miss them. Our training director is Mupemba… and I can’t even begin to describe him… he’s Papa Mup to all of us here… and he’s incredible. He runs training and takes a ton of crap from our group… from our complaints about classes, our worries about tests and site placements, to our basic complaints about the food here. We get sick, homesick, stressed out, and cranky and he takes care of us all while running the logistics of an intense training program that supports more than 50 people. And he does an amazing job and really does care about each and every one of us. I can’t imagine having had this experience without him.
And here shortly we’re out into the real world… but before that we get to run around Kigali… eat decent food and shop… not to mention getting sworn in at the Ambassador’s house! Now if I can just manage to pack everything up in the next day or so… which is more of a task than it would seem since it won’t stop raining long enough for my clothes to dry on the line outside! I’m definitely much more aware of how amazing many of the creature comforts we have are… washers, dryers, and refrigerators in particular… let me just say that ice cubes are going to make me ridiculously happy in two years!
Tomorrow’s our last day in Nyanza and it’s just unreal right now! A bit scary that we’re completely out on our own soon… a bit unbelievable that training is over… and really exciting that we’re going to be actual Peace Corps Volunteers as of Wednesday! I’m definitely going to miss it here. As much as it has driven me crazy from time to time to have more than 35 people around all the time… there are some amazing people here and I’m going to miss them. I’m going to miss our house of 17 people, my three roomates… and definitely the staff here. Our LCFs (language and cultural facilitators) have taught our classes and answered our questions and just been there to talk to us. They’re all close to my age and they’re definitely friends and colleagues… so I’m going to miss them. Our training director is Mupemba… and I can’t even begin to describe him… he’s Papa Mup to all of us here… and he’s incredible. He runs training and takes a ton of crap from our group… from our complaints about classes, our worries about tests and site placements, to our basic complaints about the food here. We get sick, homesick, stressed out, and cranky and he takes care of us all while running the logistics of an intense training program that supports more than 50 people. And he does an amazing job and really does care about each and every one of us. I can’t imagine having had this experience without him.
And here shortly we’re out into the real world… but before that we get to run around Kigali… eat decent food and shop… not to mention getting sworn in at the Ambassador’s house! Now if I can just manage to pack everything up in the next day or so… which is more of a task than it would seem since it won’t stop raining long enough for my clothes to dry on the line outside! I’m definitely much more aware of how amazing many of the creature comforts we have are… washers, dryers, and refrigerators in particular… let me just say that ice cubes are going to make me ridiculously happy in two years!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Finishing Training...
Friday, May 30, 2010
I know I’ve been MIA for a bit, but I’ve been busy! It’s been an interesting couple of weeks and they have flown by! A couple of weeks ago we took a “Mock LPI”, which is the Language Proficiency Interview and the test which determines whether we can swear in as Peace Corps Volunteers. The Mock test was run just like the final was supposed to be and we were given scores which range from low, mid, or high Novice or Intermediate, then Advanced and high Advanced, and then there is Superior, which is basically fluent. We have to score high intermediate in order to swear in. The LPI runs just like a conversation… but it follows certain topics which are used to determine how good your grammar usage is, what your vocabulary range is, etc.
I thought I did horrible on the Mock LPI because I was a bit stressed over it and felt like I hadn’t learned very much in seven weeks. As it turns out, I scored high intermediate! I do think the test is very subjective depending on who your tester was, but it still felt pretty good to do well on it! So it was motivating and I feel like I have improved dramatically in the last couple of weeks and I actually feel pretty good about this language. I still have so much to learn… but I can actually make myself understood, which is an amazing feeling. The last couple of times that I went to see my host mom, we could actually make conversation… on the topics I know anyway! But it was really great. So today we took our final LPI, and we find out our scores tonight! So I should have them before I get around to posting this blog…
I also cooked with my host mom the other day which was quite fun! They cook on traditional charcoal stoves, so everything is quite the chore here. We made a peanut sauce and ubugali, which is a doughy kind of bread made from the cassava root that you eat by pinching it off with your hands and dipping in sauce. And it was good! We took a few pictures… so hopefully I’ll be able to post those on facebook. They’re entertaining because the first thing my host mom did when I showed up was hand me igitenge (colorful African fabric they wrap around themselves to dress in and also wrap to use as an apron) and a head scarf.
The girls here have also taken quite a few trips to the umudozi (tailor) to have dresses made for swear-in! So I have a cute wrap dress made out of the colorful igitenge to wear… we are going to be a very colorful group at the ambassador’s house on Wednesday!
So now I just have to pack and get ready to head out to Kigali on Tuesday, we swear in on Wednesday, hang out in Kigali until the weekend, and then I have two weeks of training in Kigali with my organization, Access Project, before I head to my site in Gashora. So I should be able to get a decent internet connection every so often while I’m in Kigali… in addition to some good food! From what I hear, there’s a great Indian restaurant and a good Thai restaurant… which makes me really happy!
And right now I have a ton of healthy good food, wonderful Easter candy, and loads of baby wipes and batteries from the last couple of care packages… I have the greatest friends!
I received Advanced on my language interview! Yay! The testers said that I have a full grasp of the grammar… I can describe any situation… my speech is fluid and coherent and I easily understand questions… I feel so accomplished! And yet so aware of how much I have to learn… but I’ve never been to this point with a language before where I can actually make sentences and talk to a native speaker even just a little. It feels so good to be at this point in training… I’m going to be a Peace Corps Volunteer by this time next week!!!
I know I’ve been MIA for a bit, but I’ve been busy! It’s been an interesting couple of weeks and they have flown by! A couple of weeks ago we took a “Mock LPI”, which is the Language Proficiency Interview and the test which determines whether we can swear in as Peace Corps Volunteers. The Mock test was run just like the final was supposed to be and we were given scores which range from low, mid, or high Novice or Intermediate, then Advanced and high Advanced, and then there is Superior, which is basically fluent. We have to score high intermediate in order to swear in. The LPI runs just like a conversation… but it follows certain topics which are used to determine how good your grammar usage is, what your vocabulary range is, etc.
I thought I did horrible on the Mock LPI because I was a bit stressed over it and felt like I hadn’t learned very much in seven weeks. As it turns out, I scored high intermediate! I do think the test is very subjective depending on who your tester was, but it still felt pretty good to do well on it! So it was motivating and I feel like I have improved dramatically in the last couple of weeks and I actually feel pretty good about this language. I still have so much to learn… but I can actually make myself understood, which is an amazing feeling. The last couple of times that I went to see my host mom, we could actually make conversation… on the topics I know anyway! But it was really great. So today we took our final LPI, and we find out our scores tonight! So I should have them before I get around to posting this blog…
I also cooked with my host mom the other day which was quite fun! They cook on traditional charcoal stoves, so everything is quite the chore here. We made a peanut sauce and ubugali, which is a doughy kind of bread made from the cassava root that you eat by pinching it off with your hands and dipping in sauce. And it was good! We took a few pictures… so hopefully I’ll be able to post those on facebook. They’re entertaining because the first thing my host mom did when I showed up was hand me igitenge (colorful African fabric they wrap around themselves to dress in and also wrap to use as an apron) and a head scarf.
The girls here have also taken quite a few trips to the umudozi (tailor) to have dresses made for swear-in! So I have a cute wrap dress made out of the colorful igitenge to wear… we are going to be a very colorful group at the ambassador’s house on Wednesday!
So now I just have to pack and get ready to head out to Kigali on Tuesday, we swear in on Wednesday, hang out in Kigali until the weekend, and then I have two weeks of training in Kigali with my organization, Access Project, before I head to my site in Gashora. So I should be able to get a decent internet connection every so often while I’m in Kigali… in addition to some good food! From what I hear, there’s a great Indian restaurant and a good Thai restaurant… which makes me really happy!
And right now I have a ton of healthy good food, wonderful Easter candy, and loads of baby wipes and batteries from the last couple of care packages… I have the greatest friends!
I received Advanced on my language interview! Yay! The testers said that I have a full grasp of the grammar… I can describe any situation… my speech is fluid and coherent and I easily understand questions… I feel so accomplished! And yet so aware of how much I have to learn… but I’ve never been to this point with a language before where I can actually make sentences and talk to a native speaker even just a little. It feels so good to be at this point in training… I’m going to be a Peace Corps Volunteer by this time next week!!!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
It’s been quite a long week for me here and I’ve been a bit uncommunicative… but the reality is that I haven’t had a whole lot to communicate either. I’ve been quite sick and my stomach is very unhappy with me… it just hasn’t responded to the food here very well! They cook everything in quite a bit of oil, and very few spices, so my thought is that it’s the insane amount of oil that my stomach just can’t handle. So needless to say I’ve spent quite a bit of time in bed, and I haven’t eaten very much. I live on bread, rice, fresh fruit, and boiled eggs. It works for now. Once I get to site in a few more weeks I’ll be able to cook for myself… and I welcome any and all food supplemented from home! Kashi granola bars and those Fiber One bars with chocolate… are AMAZING and would be much welcomed!!! I received my first care package from home yesterday and it was a definite morale booster, and much needed. After being sick for so long I was mentally worn down and hit my first low here and proceeded to get very homesick. But, it was short-lived and I’m feeling much better now!
So besides being sick, this week was also Genocide Commemoration week, where the entire country mourns the events of 1994. I wasn’t able to attend the events scheduled here, but they were in a language I barely understand anyway. But it was interesting to see that the entire country really does shut down for a half a day every day for activities that encourage mourning and remembrance. The incidences of mental illness go up during this week each year, and it’s the only week where people are really allowed to mourn openly. The Rwandan culture does not really accept crying or mourning in public at all… and when you’re sad, the common result is “Komera,” which translates roughly into “Be Strong.” Openly mourning or crying is not encouraged at all.
But things are back to normal around here, and I’m still looking forward to my site. I was able to send one picture to my Mom, so she should be posting a picture of my house in Gashora on facebook sometime soon! I have more pictures, which I will hopefully be able to either upload to email or to facebook sometime soon. I have, however, given up on trying to post pictures to the blog… the internet connection here just isn’t good enough for that… but maybe when I have my own internet and modem at my site it will be faster… cross your fingers!
Keep commenting, sending emails, and mail of any type… I LOVE hearing from everyone! And keep in mind that internet is slow, and I don’t talk to everyone very often, so actual printed pictures sent in a real envelope would be WONDERFUL! I miss everyone and would like to see your faces over the next two years…
Take care!
It’s been quite a long week for me here and I’ve been a bit uncommunicative… but the reality is that I haven’t had a whole lot to communicate either. I’ve been quite sick and my stomach is very unhappy with me… it just hasn’t responded to the food here very well! They cook everything in quite a bit of oil, and very few spices, so my thought is that it’s the insane amount of oil that my stomach just can’t handle. So needless to say I’ve spent quite a bit of time in bed, and I haven’t eaten very much. I live on bread, rice, fresh fruit, and boiled eggs. It works for now. Once I get to site in a few more weeks I’ll be able to cook for myself… and I welcome any and all food supplemented from home! Kashi granola bars and those Fiber One bars with chocolate… are AMAZING and would be much welcomed!!! I received my first care package from home yesterday and it was a definite morale booster, and much needed. After being sick for so long I was mentally worn down and hit my first low here and proceeded to get very homesick. But, it was short-lived and I’m feeling much better now!
So besides being sick, this week was also Genocide Commemoration week, where the entire country mourns the events of 1994. I wasn’t able to attend the events scheduled here, but they were in a language I barely understand anyway. But it was interesting to see that the entire country really does shut down for a half a day every day for activities that encourage mourning and remembrance. The incidences of mental illness go up during this week each year, and it’s the only week where people are really allowed to mourn openly. The Rwandan culture does not really accept crying or mourning in public at all… and when you’re sad, the common result is “Komera,” which translates roughly into “Be Strong.” Openly mourning or crying is not encouraged at all.
But things are back to normal around here, and I’m still looking forward to my site. I was able to send one picture to my Mom, so she should be posting a picture of my house in Gashora on facebook sometime soon! I have more pictures, which I will hopefully be able to either upload to email or to facebook sometime soon. I have, however, given up on trying to post pictures to the blog… the internet connection here just isn’t good enough for that… but maybe when I have my own internet and modem at my site it will be faster… cross your fingers!
Keep commenting, sending emails, and mail of any type… I LOVE hearing from everyone! And keep in mind that internet is slow, and I don’t talk to everyone very often, so actual printed pictures sent in a real envelope would be WONDERFUL! I miss everyone and would like to see your faces over the next two years…
Take care!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Nyamata, Rwanda Tuesday, March 30, 2010
I have to start this with how absolutely wonderful this week has been. On Sunday, we all left Nyanza to head to Kigali to meet our counterparts/supervisors and then visit our sites. We arrived in Kigali to learn that we were staying in a very nice hotel… we had our own little bungalows with two of us in each one… running water, a pool, and a very good restaurant… well, at least by our standards these days! Our standards for food are pretty low these days… so garlic on the fries, fresh vegetables, french toast at breakfast, and a fruit salad that was amazing one night… so good! And we had African tea, which I just love (it’s more like hot spiced milk), for breakfast and tea time. So on top of all of that, we met people from Access Project (my organization) on Monday. Dr Blaise, who is the country director for the project here in Rwanda, is also my supervisor… although he is a bit up the chain. I had heard great things about him, and I had also heard that he has very high expectations… and I heard right. He was very excited to meet the six of us who will be working for him, and was excited about our backgrounds. But at one point in time he pulled me aside and filled me in on what he expected of me. He told me that he had heard my name long before I was placed with Access because our APCD (Assistant Program Country Director for Health) and the other volunteers I met that work with him had told him about me and highly recommended me for this project. One of the volunteers recommended me specifically for Gashora Health Center. So Dr. Blaise told me that Gashora is their “baby” and he expects me to help turn it into a model to show the Rwandan government what a health center should look like. He wants to put everything we can into it and said that he would support me in any way I needed. There is already the books and supplies to start a library there, it has electricity, running water, and within the next month or so it will have internet. They want to put in a greenhouse to help with nutrition programs, and make the health center an all-around model for overall community development. It’s an AMAZING project… and it’s my project for my Peace Corps service!!! I couldn’t be happier.
I also met Dr. Jean Marie, my direct supervisor and my district’s health advisor for Access. He’s incredible! He speaks English, he’s well-educated, he’s been to America, and he understands that we have questions about integrating culturally. So between him and Dr. Blaise, I have the best management that I could possibly want. I also met the Titulaire (head) of my health center, Lando. He speaks very little English and was introduced as my counterpart. He is very nice, but also very busy. So while Dr. Blaise was talking to me about his expectations for Gashora, I asked who my contact in Gashora would be that could help me with translations in the beginning to get started… since Kinyarwanda is such a slow process. Dr Blaise actually told me not to waste my time worrying about the language, he said that it is very hard, and it will come as I use it more. So he said that he and Jean Marie will ensure that I have a counterpart/community guide at Gashora who speaks English and can work hard with me to better the Health Center… and also help me with my Kinyarwanda. That took so much stress away form me because it assures me that they don’t expect me to be fluent when I arrive in May, AND they think I can still do my job effectively in the meantime. I can’t say enough good things about this organization and it’s people.
So for our site visit, myself and the two other girls in my district left Kigali with Jean Marie today to go to Nyamata (which is where the district “headquarters” of Access are, and where Jean Marie works), where we are staying in a guest house attached to the hospital. We went out, saw the town (this will be the closest town to me… 20-30 minutes away by car… probably closer to an hour away by bus), had a drink with Jean Marie and a couple of his colleagues, came back, ate dinner, and now I’m here, super excited about tomorrow, when we’re going to visit Gashora, the health center, community, and my potential house!
And did I mention that it’s beautiful here?! We’re only about 30 minutes away from Kigali by car, but it’s still very rural, green, and there’s huge rolling hills… and a river running through the district… which just happens to be the source of the Nile. It’s so pretty I can’t even describe it. The only drawback… there are definitely more mosquitoes here… the scary malaria mosquitoes… but I have my anti-malarials and my mosquito net, both of which are highly effective. And the dry season here is supposed to be horrible… it gets much hotter here than in most places. But with that… I still feel lucky to be placed here!
Nyamata, Wednesday March 31, 2010
We spent the morning at my site today! Amazing! It’s about 20 minutes outside of Nyamata by car, and it is VERY rural. And beautiful… there is a very small market that sells fresh foods, a small bank, and a few very small shops… and that’s about it for the town. Then there is the health center, which is gorgeous. Running water, electricity, very big and very clean! It has four wings, one for in-patient stays, one for maternity, and I think two for HIV/AIDS treatment and counseling. Plus there are areas for patient consults, a conference room, and a room for nutrition education and demonstrations. And there’s plenty of administrative space. It should be getting all of the new equipment and be fully staffed in the next two months. The staff is mostly already there, because right next to it is the very small, very old health center, which is currently operational.
Now, the town of Gashora is right between two lakes, so there is also a very nice hotel on the lake there that people in Kigali come to on the weekends in order “to get away.” It’s a very nice place… rather upscale for such a small community. And guess who is also getting a house on the same lake?! Yep, I have a house in the umudugudu (village) that is on a dead end road, and at the dead end, you’re on a hill overlooking the lake. The house actually has electricity, but no running water, it has three bedrooms I think, and the “kitchen” is in a small building out back, right next to the “bathroom” (just a room with a drain), which is in the same little building as the pit latrine. And I have quite a large yard (don’t picture grass here…) where there is currently a chicken running around (belongs to the neighbor), a banana tree, and a bunch of cassava growing. So I’m definitely going to have a chicken of my own and a garden! I’m so excited about the entire situation. Oh, AND I have a tin roof! Which I love in the rain. And did I mention that there are hippos and crocodiles in my lake?! This is going to be such an amazing experience!
Nyamata, Thursday, April 1, 2010
Sidenote: This blog entry contains yet another visit to a genocide memorial. And while it can get rather graphic, I feel the need to relay the stories just as I hear them during my visits. It seems that we should be aware of exactly what happened… and do what we can to spread the knowledge, as horrific as it may be, to do what we can to make the world aware… and do what we can to make sure it never happens again.
We visited the site of one of the other volunteers in my district today. She was placed at the other new health center and is about 40 minutes outside of Nyamata by car. Her town in even more rural than mine, but it’s very nice… So we have some very exciting project going on in my district.
We also took part of the afternoon to visit the genocide memorial here in Nyamata, and that was certainly intense. It’s a very small Catholic church, and when you walk in the front gate, they show you where the grenades were thrown in and blew apart the gate. All of the clothes of the 10,000 people killed there are laid on the pews, and there are bloodstains all over them, all over the walls, the ceiling, and covering the white altar cloth that is still laid on the altar of the church. There are holes in the tin roof where the grenades blew through it. The machetes that were used to finish killing the people that were spared by the grenades are still in the church., laid out on the altar next to the rosaries of those killed. In the basement, there are bones stacked on display with a single coffin. In the coffin lies the body of one woman who managed to survive the grenades just to be raped repeatedly, and then killed when they shoved a long stick from her vagina all the way through to her head. Absolutely horrifying.
Outside of the church, there are two mass graves filled with the bodies of 41,000 people killed in the area during the genocide. There are multiple coffins stacked inside, each filled with the remains of many people. And in one grave, there is a section of stacked bones… just shelves and shelves of human bones. And I know all of this because on the surface of the graves, there is an opening with a stairwell that descends down into the graves, where you can pay your respects. It is disturbing, and sad, and just all-around heartbreaking that such a thing even happened. And it was cases like this one here in Nyamata that allowed more than 800,000 people to be killed in one summer. 10,000 people sought refuge in this one, very small church. And they stayed there for a week before they were ALL killed. It is still astonishing that such a thing happened here and it was only 16 years ago.
Nyanza, Saturday, April 3, 2010
Back in Nyanza! A group of us from the East returned to Kigali yesterday, and then made our way back to Nyanza last night. It’s good to be back… but I’m definitely looking forward to returning to my site in May! In just over a month, we will all be sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers! It’s so strange to think that training will be over in just a month… I really need to work on this Kinyarwanda…
I have to start this with how absolutely wonderful this week has been. On Sunday, we all left Nyanza to head to Kigali to meet our counterparts/supervisors and then visit our sites. We arrived in Kigali to learn that we were staying in a very nice hotel… we had our own little bungalows with two of us in each one… running water, a pool, and a very good restaurant… well, at least by our standards these days! Our standards for food are pretty low these days… so garlic on the fries, fresh vegetables, french toast at breakfast, and a fruit salad that was amazing one night… so good! And we had African tea, which I just love (it’s more like hot spiced milk), for breakfast and tea time. So on top of all of that, we met people from Access Project (my organization) on Monday. Dr Blaise, who is the country director for the project here in Rwanda, is also my supervisor… although he is a bit up the chain. I had heard great things about him, and I had also heard that he has very high expectations… and I heard right. He was very excited to meet the six of us who will be working for him, and was excited about our backgrounds. But at one point in time he pulled me aside and filled me in on what he expected of me. He told me that he had heard my name long before I was placed with Access because our APCD (Assistant Program Country Director for Health) and the other volunteers I met that work with him had told him about me and highly recommended me for this project. One of the volunteers recommended me specifically for Gashora Health Center. So Dr. Blaise told me that Gashora is their “baby” and he expects me to help turn it into a model to show the Rwandan government what a health center should look like. He wants to put everything we can into it and said that he would support me in any way I needed. There is already the books and supplies to start a library there, it has electricity, running water, and within the next month or so it will have internet. They want to put in a greenhouse to help with nutrition programs, and make the health center an all-around model for overall community development. It’s an AMAZING project… and it’s my project for my Peace Corps service!!! I couldn’t be happier.
I also met Dr. Jean Marie, my direct supervisor and my district’s health advisor for Access. He’s incredible! He speaks English, he’s well-educated, he’s been to America, and he understands that we have questions about integrating culturally. So between him and Dr. Blaise, I have the best management that I could possibly want. I also met the Titulaire (head) of my health center, Lando. He speaks very little English and was introduced as my counterpart. He is very nice, but also very busy. So while Dr. Blaise was talking to me about his expectations for Gashora, I asked who my contact in Gashora would be that could help me with translations in the beginning to get started… since Kinyarwanda is such a slow process. Dr Blaise actually told me not to waste my time worrying about the language, he said that it is very hard, and it will come as I use it more. So he said that he and Jean Marie will ensure that I have a counterpart/community guide at Gashora who speaks English and can work hard with me to better the Health Center… and also help me with my Kinyarwanda. That took so much stress away form me because it assures me that they don’t expect me to be fluent when I arrive in May, AND they think I can still do my job effectively in the meantime. I can’t say enough good things about this organization and it’s people.
So for our site visit, myself and the two other girls in my district left Kigali with Jean Marie today to go to Nyamata (which is where the district “headquarters” of Access are, and where Jean Marie works), where we are staying in a guest house attached to the hospital. We went out, saw the town (this will be the closest town to me… 20-30 minutes away by car… probably closer to an hour away by bus), had a drink with Jean Marie and a couple of his colleagues, came back, ate dinner, and now I’m here, super excited about tomorrow, when we’re going to visit Gashora, the health center, community, and my potential house!
And did I mention that it’s beautiful here?! We’re only about 30 minutes away from Kigali by car, but it’s still very rural, green, and there’s huge rolling hills… and a river running through the district… which just happens to be the source of the Nile. It’s so pretty I can’t even describe it. The only drawback… there are definitely more mosquitoes here… the scary malaria mosquitoes… but I have my anti-malarials and my mosquito net, both of which are highly effective. And the dry season here is supposed to be horrible… it gets much hotter here than in most places. But with that… I still feel lucky to be placed here!
Nyamata, Wednesday March 31, 2010
We spent the morning at my site today! Amazing! It’s about 20 minutes outside of Nyamata by car, and it is VERY rural. And beautiful… there is a very small market that sells fresh foods, a small bank, and a few very small shops… and that’s about it for the town. Then there is the health center, which is gorgeous. Running water, electricity, very big and very clean! It has four wings, one for in-patient stays, one for maternity, and I think two for HIV/AIDS treatment and counseling. Plus there are areas for patient consults, a conference room, and a room for nutrition education and demonstrations. And there’s plenty of administrative space. It should be getting all of the new equipment and be fully staffed in the next two months. The staff is mostly already there, because right next to it is the very small, very old health center, which is currently operational.
Now, the town of Gashora is right between two lakes, so there is also a very nice hotel on the lake there that people in Kigali come to on the weekends in order “to get away.” It’s a very nice place… rather upscale for such a small community. And guess who is also getting a house on the same lake?! Yep, I have a house in the umudugudu (village) that is on a dead end road, and at the dead end, you’re on a hill overlooking the lake. The house actually has electricity, but no running water, it has three bedrooms I think, and the “kitchen” is in a small building out back, right next to the “bathroom” (just a room with a drain), which is in the same little building as the pit latrine. And I have quite a large yard (don’t picture grass here…) where there is currently a chicken running around (belongs to the neighbor), a banana tree, and a bunch of cassava growing. So I’m definitely going to have a chicken of my own and a garden! I’m so excited about the entire situation. Oh, AND I have a tin roof! Which I love in the rain. And did I mention that there are hippos and crocodiles in my lake?! This is going to be such an amazing experience!
Nyamata, Thursday, April 1, 2010
Sidenote: This blog entry contains yet another visit to a genocide memorial. And while it can get rather graphic, I feel the need to relay the stories just as I hear them during my visits. It seems that we should be aware of exactly what happened… and do what we can to spread the knowledge, as horrific as it may be, to do what we can to make the world aware… and do what we can to make sure it never happens again.
We visited the site of one of the other volunteers in my district today. She was placed at the other new health center and is about 40 minutes outside of Nyamata by car. Her town in even more rural than mine, but it’s very nice… So we have some very exciting project going on in my district.
We also took part of the afternoon to visit the genocide memorial here in Nyamata, and that was certainly intense. It’s a very small Catholic church, and when you walk in the front gate, they show you where the grenades were thrown in and blew apart the gate. All of the clothes of the 10,000 people killed there are laid on the pews, and there are bloodstains all over them, all over the walls, the ceiling, and covering the white altar cloth that is still laid on the altar of the church. There are holes in the tin roof where the grenades blew through it. The machetes that were used to finish killing the people that were spared by the grenades are still in the church., laid out on the altar next to the rosaries of those killed. In the basement, there are bones stacked on display with a single coffin. In the coffin lies the body of one woman who managed to survive the grenades just to be raped repeatedly, and then killed when they shoved a long stick from her vagina all the way through to her head. Absolutely horrifying.
Outside of the church, there are two mass graves filled with the bodies of 41,000 people killed in the area during the genocide. There are multiple coffins stacked inside, each filled with the remains of many people. And in one grave, there is a section of stacked bones… just shelves and shelves of human bones. And I know all of this because on the surface of the graves, there is an opening with a stairwell that descends down into the graves, where you can pay your respects. It is disturbing, and sad, and just all-around heartbreaking that such a thing even happened. And it was cases like this one here in Nyamata that allowed more than 800,000 people to be killed in one summer. 10,000 people sought refuge in this one, very small church. And they stayed there for a week before they were ALL killed. It is still astonishing that such a thing happened here and it was only 16 years ago.
Nyanza, Saturday, April 3, 2010
Back in Nyanza! A group of us from the East returned to Kigali yesterday, and then made our way back to Nyanza last night. It’s good to be back… but I’m definitely looking forward to returning to my site in May! In just over a month, we will all be sworn in as Peace Corps volunteers! It’s so strange to think that training will be over in just a month… I really need to work on this Kinyarwanda…
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Ndi Umuhinzi!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
I spent this afternoon with another trainee, drawing a very skewed map of Rwanda on concrete in front of our training center so that we could all get our site placements and stand on our spot on the map. So we all know the area where we are going and which of the other trainees are nearby. So I have my site placement!!! I will be spending my two years of Peace Corps service in Gashora, Rwanda, in the Eastern Province. And it’s the exact site I was hoping that I would get! I’ll be working for a program called the Access Project, and I’ll look up some more specific information when I can, but for now I know that it’s a new health center and I’m the first volunteer there, so I have a ton of work cut out for me. The organization has a few other current health volunteers at other sites in the country, and from everything that they said, it is a great organization, well-structured, and there is a ton of work to be done. Particularly in human resources! I’m absolutely floored, so excited… I feel like I will actually be useful for the next two years and will be able to make a difference. From what I know, the area isn’t incredibly rural, but isn’t big city either… there are two or three really pretty lakes… it’s flat, and really hot, and drier than the rest of the country… it’s close to the Burundi border and not too far from Kigali, the capital city… and apparently that area has some kind of interesting genocide history. I’m using the term interesting very loosely… but… didn’t join the Peace Corps because it was going to be easy.
So on Sunday we leave for Kigali, where we will meet our supervisors and community guides… we’ll stay in Kigali for a couple of days, and then all leave for our separate sites and stay there until next Sunday. I’ll be staying in a hotel at my site… so who knows what that will be like, but it means that wherever my house is, it isn’t ready yet… but hopefully they will know where it is and I’ll be able to see it! Site visit is supposed to be one of the most stressful times for a trainee/volunteer and supposedly we will all hit a slump after the visit… but we’ll see. I know it will be awkward and I don’t know enough of the language… but I’m still excited. We will receive our job descriptions tomorrow and spend the morning doing “site visit preparation” so hopefully I’ll get a chance to write another blog with more info and get to the internet to post. For now, I need to go to bed… I’ve been waking up at 3:30 in the morning for the last three or four nights… hopefully I’ll sleep better now that I know what my site is, and I got what I wanted!
Mwaramuke!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Hoping to make it to the internet café tonight or tomorrow… but for now I’m still extremely excited about my site placement. We got our job descriptions today, and mine basically says that everything needs to be done! My site is in the Bugesera district, and the health center is the brand new Gashora Health Center. I’m placed in the district with three other volunteers in the district, and quite a few will be pretty close. My job’s primary function will be managing the health center. Training and mentoring the staff… and working to get sustainable programs in place to make the center more efficient, even after I leave in a couple of years. It’s a huge job… and I can’t wait.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
I farmed today!!! And for those of you that would never believe it… there are pictures! Although it may be awhile before they’re seen depending on the internet speed…
So on the last Saturday of every month, everyone in Rwanda is required to participate in Umuganda, which is basically work done in your community, organized on the community (umudugudu) level. It’s amazing. Anyone who doesn’t participate is reported to community leaders and issued a fine. So, our group went to a large project where a community was tilling a huge grassy field, on a rather large hill, in order to plant cassava for the community. Hundreds of people working together in a line with nothing but hand-held hoes tilling this field… and not one of them was getting paid for it. It is such an amazing concept. Can anyone actually see Americans doing the same thing across the country on one day a month? So we got right in there and tilled this field with the Rwandans… who of course laughed at us, and then showed us how to do it right. So I got my technique down pretty good and was actually called “umuhinzi mwiza” (good farmer) and one guy said I was strong… in sign language. It was a really great experience. Although I do have some rather amazing blisters on my hands from the work… some gardening gloves would have been a good idea! So the last Saturday of every month I will probably be spending half of my day helping my community in the fields. How awesome is that?!
Not much else going on here… last night we had the group talent show, which was hilarious… I can’t even put that into words! And now I’m trying to prepare for my site visit this upcoming week… doing laundry (by hand, in a bucket… every simple task is redefined here!) and hoping it doesn’t rain so that it will dry!
Ok, now sitting at the internet café with no power, a storm rolling in… and therefore no internet connection… love it! So this morning while I was doing umuganda, I was having one of those moments that I periodically have here where I am just amazed that I’m here. This really is the experience of a lifetime and I’m so disappointed in myself that I can’t explain it properly! I mean, it’s not just about the location, and the scenery, and the experiences themselves… it’s about the people… and the fact that we are in the middle of a completely different culture, communicating (little by little… buhoro buhoro…) and being involved in their lives… it’s incredible.
Success! And check out www.theaccessproject.com for more info on my organization...
I spent this afternoon with another trainee, drawing a very skewed map of Rwanda on concrete in front of our training center so that we could all get our site placements and stand on our spot on the map. So we all know the area where we are going and which of the other trainees are nearby. So I have my site placement!!! I will be spending my two years of Peace Corps service in Gashora, Rwanda, in the Eastern Province. And it’s the exact site I was hoping that I would get! I’ll be working for a program called the Access Project, and I’ll look up some more specific information when I can, but for now I know that it’s a new health center and I’m the first volunteer there, so I have a ton of work cut out for me. The organization has a few other current health volunteers at other sites in the country, and from everything that they said, it is a great organization, well-structured, and there is a ton of work to be done. Particularly in human resources! I’m absolutely floored, so excited… I feel like I will actually be useful for the next two years and will be able to make a difference. From what I know, the area isn’t incredibly rural, but isn’t big city either… there are two or three really pretty lakes… it’s flat, and really hot, and drier than the rest of the country… it’s close to the Burundi border and not too far from Kigali, the capital city… and apparently that area has some kind of interesting genocide history. I’m using the term interesting very loosely… but… didn’t join the Peace Corps because it was going to be easy.
So on Sunday we leave for Kigali, where we will meet our supervisors and community guides… we’ll stay in Kigali for a couple of days, and then all leave for our separate sites and stay there until next Sunday. I’ll be staying in a hotel at my site… so who knows what that will be like, but it means that wherever my house is, it isn’t ready yet… but hopefully they will know where it is and I’ll be able to see it! Site visit is supposed to be one of the most stressful times for a trainee/volunteer and supposedly we will all hit a slump after the visit… but we’ll see. I know it will be awkward and I don’t know enough of the language… but I’m still excited. We will receive our job descriptions tomorrow and spend the morning doing “site visit preparation” so hopefully I’ll get a chance to write another blog with more info and get to the internet to post. For now, I need to go to bed… I’ve been waking up at 3:30 in the morning for the last three or four nights… hopefully I’ll sleep better now that I know what my site is, and I got what I wanted!
Mwaramuke!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Hoping to make it to the internet café tonight or tomorrow… but for now I’m still extremely excited about my site placement. We got our job descriptions today, and mine basically says that everything needs to be done! My site is in the Bugesera district, and the health center is the brand new Gashora Health Center. I’m placed in the district with three other volunteers in the district, and quite a few will be pretty close. My job’s primary function will be managing the health center. Training and mentoring the staff… and working to get sustainable programs in place to make the center more efficient, even after I leave in a couple of years. It’s a huge job… and I can’t wait.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
I farmed today!!! And for those of you that would never believe it… there are pictures! Although it may be awhile before they’re seen depending on the internet speed…
So on the last Saturday of every month, everyone in Rwanda is required to participate in Umuganda, which is basically work done in your community, organized on the community (umudugudu) level. It’s amazing. Anyone who doesn’t participate is reported to community leaders and issued a fine. So, our group went to a large project where a community was tilling a huge grassy field, on a rather large hill, in order to plant cassava for the community. Hundreds of people working together in a line with nothing but hand-held hoes tilling this field… and not one of them was getting paid for it. It is such an amazing concept. Can anyone actually see Americans doing the same thing across the country on one day a month? So we got right in there and tilled this field with the Rwandans… who of course laughed at us, and then showed us how to do it right. So I got my technique down pretty good and was actually called “umuhinzi mwiza” (good farmer) and one guy said I was strong… in sign language. It was a really great experience. Although I do have some rather amazing blisters on my hands from the work… some gardening gloves would have been a good idea! So the last Saturday of every month I will probably be spending half of my day helping my community in the fields. How awesome is that?!
Not much else going on here… last night we had the group talent show, which was hilarious… I can’t even put that into words! And now I’m trying to prepare for my site visit this upcoming week… doing laundry (by hand, in a bucket… every simple task is redefined here!) and hoping it doesn’t rain so that it will dry!
Ok, now sitting at the internet café with no power, a storm rolling in… and therefore no internet connection… love it! So this morning while I was doing umuganda, I was having one of those moments that I periodically have here where I am just amazed that I’m here. This really is the experience of a lifetime and I’m so disappointed in myself that I can’t explain it properly! I mean, it’s not just about the location, and the scenery, and the experiences themselves… it’s about the people… and the fact that we are in the middle of a completely different culture, communicating (little by little… buhoro buhoro…) and being involved in their lives… it’s incredible.
Success! And check out www.theaccessproject.com for more info on my organization...
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