I am completely freaking out as I am starting to pack. I don't remember experiencing as many emotions as I have the last couple of days.
I have decided to pack as lightly as possible considering that I will be gone for two whole months. One of the main reasons why I want to pack light is because there are no washing machines at the village, so I am going to have to wash all my clothes by hand. I am also going to bring clothes, and whatever else I can, to the village so that Mama Arlene can give them to the children as needed. I have talked to the founder, Mama Arlene, and she told me that books are very scarce, and she would appreciate anything that I can bring. I have packed 45 books that range from baby books to adult book. While picking out the books for the children, I tried to be sensitive to the cultural differences because I know that some books might simply not be appropriate for the children, because of the different cultures and values. For example, I could not bring "Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul" because I don't think that the children would be able to relate.
While sorting through the books, it made think back a lot about my intro to sociology class with Erickson when we discussed culture and the norms of society, and I guess I tried to use what I had learned in the classroom into a real life situation.
I guess I tried to apply the same concept of respecting the Rwandan culture for the clothes that I will be bringing for myself and the children. All my skirts and shorts are bellow the knee and I will not be wearing any spaghetti strap tank tops or revealing tops for that matter. Mama Arlene sent me a visitor's guide to the village so that I would have an idea of what to expect, and some things that I should be aware of when going to Rwanda. I just learned while reading the pamphlet that it is extremely rude to eat while on the go and that I should never walk on the grass for it is against the law. I already knew that I should not drink water that has not been boiled, and that I should not use ice in my drinks unless I know for sure that the water used to make the ice was boiled before.
Talking about health precautions, I went to the doctor's last week to get the yellow fever vaccine and malaria tablets. The rest of my vaccines were up to date including meningitis which I had to get before going to college. I had to start taking the malaria tablets 2 weeks before going to Rwanda and continue 4 weeks after coming back. They taste absolutely disgusting, but at least I only have to take them once a week.
In my own ways, I have been getting ready to go back to my culture (Rwandan and Burundian culture are very similar in terms of food, language, music and lifestyle). Since the DC area is not exactly booming with Rwandans and Burundians, I have turned to the internet for a lot of information and just getting back in touch. I have been watching YouTube videos one after another on anything that is related to Burundi or Rwanda. I have been watching a lot of music videos (very different from USA!) and every time I see the traditional dances and hear the songs, my heart swells with pride and it makes me realize how much I love my country. The women dance and sing with such grace, and it just makes me feel so damn good to be part of that culture. The songs, they bring me such comfort and memories from my childhood and my heart really feels like it is about to burst. The way the women move their necks, their arms, in such beautiful, light and harmonic ways, no matter how many times I have seen these moves, they still leave me in awe. I have a couple of songs that I have downloaded on my iPod from a CD at home that I have been playing over and over again. This one song "Murabanza Muribaze", my favorite, I have played 79 times already.
To see a more traditional type of singing and dancing on YouTube click here, or right here, or even here.
For a more modern Burundian song: click here.
The last song is by Khadja Nin, an artist whose voice almost brings me to tears every time I hear her songs. Look up her other songs, they are amazing as well.
In terms of language, I still speak some Kirundi, but I am not as fluent as I used to be. I also left the country at a very young age, so my vocabulary was one of a child. I understand a lot more than I let on, but when I am with other Burundians, I get self conscious and prefer to listen and if I have to answer, I usually respond in French or English. I do not know how to read or write (children start school at 7 in Burundi) and my father never taught me. But I have found on the internet a website that has vocabulary and phrases, so I have been using that and reviewing almost everyday. I remember the last time I spoke in Kirundi at a gathering and someone made fun of me because I use words that are specific to the region where I was born and they called me the equivalent of “Country”. But I do not deny my roots, and in fact I am very proud of my very small village. It bothered me then, but now I realize that it is the same as when you notice when an American is from the south, Midwest or whatnot. I am not really worried about the language barrier because I know that once I am in Rwanda, I will be able to pick up the language quite easily. As my father says, I still have some Kirundi left in me although "much of her vocabulary is dormant somewhere on her hard drive and will come back quickly once she gets immersed in the milieu."
That is it for now. I am probably going to listen to one more song before I go to bed, because I want to be completely packed by tomorrow afternoon.
So until next time,
Nadine
Friday, June 5, 2009
From The Start
Hey there again,
So keeping a blog is a bit harder than I thought... it requires a lot of discipline, time management, and will power to sit down and write regularly (this is going to be a nice challenge for me).
OK, so I figure that in order for the readers to have a better understanding of why I am going to Rwanda, I should give a little background information on how I got the grant and the events leading up to that.
It started last summer (2008). I decided that it was time for me to go back to Burundi and see my family again. The last time I saw my family I was in the fourth grade and things didn't go too well. Emotionally it was very hard on me and I returned to the states with too many questions still left unanswered, and ended up more confused than ever. Sure I was family, but I felt like a stranger invading personal space. I wanted more than anything to just be with my brothers and sisters, to talk to them the way siblings do, to hang out with them and get to know them. There was so much separating us; they had grown up together, as a family in Burundi while I was doing my own growing up, but in Bethesda. So it was like, even though we were from the same tree, we were two completely separate branches growing in opposite directions. I still could speak Kirundi (Burundi’s official language), but I was going through emotional trauma and I found myself, essentially, muted. I was almost unable to communicate with my biological siblings while I had absolutely no problems communicating with my adopted parents and siblings.
Last summer, I felt this urge to see my family. I think that I had decided that I was emotionally able to handle seeing them again and I felt like I would be able to deal with it in better ways. From then on, I set my mind that I would be going to Burundi this summer. All I would have to do is save up enough money for the plane ticket (about 2,000 USD) and from there I would be set because the currency exchange in Burundi is really good for dollars.
So this spring, I met with some people from the CDO (Career Development Office) at Grinnell and told them of my plans to go back to Burundi and possibly working as a volunteer at the orphanage where I had lived before being adopted. To my biggest disappoint, I learned that I would not be able to go to Burundi through any Grinnell Grants because the State Department has travel warnings/regulations because they don't think it is safe enough. I am not going to lie; I was heartbroken and devastated because I did not know how else to get money for the plane ticket.
After talking to the director of the CDO, she recommended that I volunteer in Rwanda because it is the closest to Burundi, and that if I really wanted to help children; a child in need is still a child in need, regardless of the country. So I followed her advice and started looking online for legitimate organizations that I felt I could contribute to and found Agahozo Shalom Youth Village. After 3 letters of recommendation, 3 essays and lots of stress, I received an email saying that even though they thought I was a strong candidate, they only accept college graduates!
While waiting to hear back from Agahozo Shalom Youth Village, I had applied for the Posse Summer Leadership Award and was denied, so I wrote a letter of intent with my background, my goal for the summer, and asking for two thousand dollars to cover the airfare. I then sent Grinnell College President, Russell K. Osgood an email asking if he would meet with me so that he could help me out. (I figured I would start from the top...)
President Osgood emailed me back and suggested that I meet with Houston Dougharty who is the Vice President for Student Affairs. I met with Houston, gave him my letter of intent and my Posse Summer leadership award application as he requested, and told me that he would be in touch.
All this time, I had been emailing various professors on campus, sending my letter of intent as an attachment. I got back in touch with Anthropology Professor Brigittine French, whom I knew from my first year when she had asked me to give her introductory class a lecture about my experience surviving the genocide. She put me in touch with a Grinnell alum who happened to be doing the exact kind of volunteer work that I was interested, and even more, she was working in Burundi and Rwanda! It was fate!
As suggested by Houston, I had also sent out an email to the Vice President of Alumni Relations Mr. Munley. I sent out the email on May 06, 2009 at 4:43 PM and at 6:48 PM, he responded saying that an alum from New York had given me 3,000 USD for my summer. That quickly, my life was completely changed. It felt that at the snap of a finger, my dreams were going to be made true and I felt overwhelmed with emotions.
At first, I cried because I was so surprised at the generosity of a stranger and excited at the thought of working and teaching children. After a couple of minutes, I started bawling in my roommate's and boyfriend's arms because I had come to the realization that it would allow me go to Burundi from Rwanda and see my family again. I was completely freaking out because I felt like this would be another opportunity to get to know my family again, but all the while I was having flashbacks from my last visit, and I cried harder; tears of joys, sadness, and anguish.
Later that night still crying I called my parents to let them know about the good news.
After I found out that I would not be able to work at Agahozo Shalom Youth Village as planned, I got in touch with the Grinnell alum and she introduced me to another children's home. I got in touch with their founder, and after sending my resume etc. I was accepted to work there. So it is settled... I will be working at Urukundo Children's home for the two months. By the way, Urukundo means " LOVE" in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi. I will be paying $70 per week for room and board while there. The village survives through donations, which is why I am paying room and board.
This entry is way too long, so I will write some more tomorrow.
Good night for now,
Nadine
So keeping a blog is a bit harder than I thought... it requires a lot of discipline, time management, and will power to sit down and write regularly (this is going to be a nice challenge for me).
OK, so I figure that in order for the readers to have a better understanding of why I am going to Rwanda, I should give a little background information on how I got the grant and the events leading up to that.
It started last summer (2008). I decided that it was time for me to go back to Burundi and see my family again. The last time I saw my family I was in the fourth grade and things didn't go too well. Emotionally it was very hard on me and I returned to the states with too many questions still left unanswered, and ended up more confused than ever. Sure I was family, but I felt like a stranger invading personal space. I wanted more than anything to just be with my brothers and sisters, to talk to them the way siblings do, to hang out with them and get to know them. There was so much separating us; they had grown up together, as a family in Burundi while I was doing my own growing up, but in Bethesda. So it was like, even though we were from the same tree, we were two completely separate branches growing in opposite directions. I still could speak Kirundi (Burundi’s official language), but I was going through emotional trauma and I found myself, essentially, muted. I was almost unable to communicate with my biological siblings while I had absolutely no problems communicating with my adopted parents and siblings.
Last summer, I felt this urge to see my family. I think that I had decided that I was emotionally able to handle seeing them again and I felt like I would be able to deal with it in better ways. From then on, I set my mind that I would be going to Burundi this summer. All I would have to do is save up enough money for the plane ticket (about 2,000 USD) and from there I would be set because the currency exchange in Burundi is really good for dollars.
So this spring, I met with some people from the CDO (Career Development Office) at Grinnell and told them of my plans to go back to Burundi and possibly working as a volunteer at the orphanage where I had lived before being adopted. To my biggest disappoint, I learned that I would not be able to go to Burundi through any Grinnell Grants because the State Department has travel warnings/regulations because they don't think it is safe enough. I am not going to lie; I was heartbroken and devastated because I did not know how else to get money for the plane ticket.
After talking to the director of the CDO, she recommended that I volunteer in Rwanda because it is the closest to Burundi, and that if I really wanted to help children; a child in need is still a child in need, regardless of the country. So I followed her advice and started looking online for legitimate organizations that I felt I could contribute to and found Agahozo Shalom Youth Village. After 3 letters of recommendation, 3 essays and lots of stress, I received an email saying that even though they thought I was a strong candidate, they only accept college graduates!
While waiting to hear back from Agahozo Shalom Youth Village, I had applied for the Posse Summer Leadership Award and was denied, so I wrote a letter of intent with my background, my goal for the summer, and asking for two thousand dollars to cover the airfare. I then sent Grinnell College President, Russell K. Osgood an email asking if he would meet with me so that he could help me out. (I figured I would start from the top...)
President Osgood emailed me back and suggested that I meet with Houston Dougharty who is the Vice President for Student Affairs. I met with Houston, gave him my letter of intent and my Posse Summer leadership award application as he requested, and told me that he would be in touch.
All this time, I had been emailing various professors on campus, sending my letter of intent as an attachment. I got back in touch with Anthropology Professor Brigittine French, whom I knew from my first year when she had asked me to give her introductory class a lecture about my experience surviving the genocide. She put me in touch with a Grinnell alum who happened to be doing the exact kind of volunteer work that I was interested, and even more, she was working in Burundi and Rwanda! It was fate!
As suggested by Houston, I had also sent out an email to the Vice President of Alumni Relations Mr. Munley. I sent out the email on May 06, 2009 at 4:43 PM and at 6:48 PM, he responded saying that an alum from New York had given me 3,000 USD for my summer. That quickly, my life was completely changed. It felt that at the snap of a finger, my dreams were going to be made true and I felt overwhelmed with emotions.
At first, I cried because I was so surprised at the generosity of a stranger and excited at the thought of working and teaching children. After a couple of minutes, I started bawling in my roommate's and boyfriend's arms because I had come to the realization that it would allow me go to Burundi from Rwanda and see my family again. I was completely freaking out because I felt like this would be another opportunity to get to know my family again, but all the while I was having flashbacks from my last visit, and I cried harder; tears of joys, sadness, and anguish.
Later that night still crying I called my parents to let them know about the good news.
After I found out that I would not be able to work at Agahozo Shalom Youth Village as planned, I got in touch with the Grinnell alum and she introduced me to another children's home. I got in touch with their founder, and after sending my resume etc. I was accepted to work there. So it is settled... I will be working at Urukundo Children's home for the two months. By the way, Urukundo means " LOVE" in Kinyarwanda and Kirundi. I will be paying $70 per week for room and board while there. The village survives through donations, which is why I am paying room and board.
This entry is way too long, so I will write some more tomorrow.
Good night for now,
Nadine
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