I hope to reflect on a few questions I ask myself weekly here in Rwanda, some things I’ve learned along the way, and what Rwandan culture and my home environment are like. It’s impossible to appropriately summarize what I have experienced in thirteen months into one post but I hope after reading this, you have at least a decent insight as to what life is like as a Peace Corps Volunteer in this wonderful place.

Regarding the title, little kids everywhere I have visited in Rwanda love saying “good morning!” to me no matter what time of day it is. It’s adorable. Then, a question we ask in any culture is “how are you?” and most people here respond with “fine, thank you.” I think it was something taught in a textbook a time ago or perhaps how people first learned commonly used phrases in English. So, this is the land where it is always morning no matter where the sun is and everyone is always fine. I love it.

Why I decided to do this

I often ask myself why I decided to do this job. Why would anyone leave everyone they have ever met for two years to work in a foreign country? I enjoy teaching but why didn’t I apply for a teaching job in the US? Why Peace Corps? Why Rwanda? Why now? I may never have the complete answers to all these questions but with my service halfway over, I am happy with the decisions I’ve made and I am very lucky to have an incredible support system here and back home to keep me going strong. I also couldn’t decide if I wanted to continue my schooling with a PhD, so I decided to take a break from academia and contemplate potential plans.

Peace Corps was first introduced to me when I was around twelve years old and my Scoutmaster told me about his Peace Corps experience in Fiji. I have been interested ever since. My cousin also served in Madagascar which I think helped my immediate family mentally prepare for my journey. I applied for this job, a few teaching jobs in the US, and a PhD program a month before the 2016 election, hoping in case Clinton lost, I would have the option to leave. Things (fortunately and unfortunately) worked out in my favor. I knew I would not be mentally strong enough to fight in the US under his administration and I am extremely thankful to those who are. I turned down a few teaching jobs and a PhD offer yet I know those opportunities will be there when I go back. I realized I will not always be able to teach in the Peace Corps so the timing felt right.

Why work abroad?

I am fortunate to have traveled to several countries to work, teach, and visit friends in twenty-five years. Most people have not had nowhere near the number of opportunities I have had to travel all over. I’ve always enjoyed traveling, even if it was a new state in the US. I was the kid who wouldn’t watch movies or listen to music on long road trips, but just look out the window and wonder. I would wonder what my life would be like if I didn’t live where I did or what people are like in the new places I visited. I think traveling and experiencing new people, new cultures, new ways of life makes us better and more wholesome individuals. You don’t have to spend two years teaching abroad to learn the same things makes us happy, makes us sad, makes us dance, makes us laugh. Traveling teaches us we have far more in common than we will ever fully comprehend. A beautiful, timeless and natural phenomenon.

Also, I had never been to Africa and I had done some research on Rwanda in graduate school so I felt it was an appropriate place for me to apply. The people and the scenery looked beautiful online, not to mention it rarely goes above 80 degrees so why not? On the Peace Corps application, you have the option to select your top three countries and Rwanda was in my top three (Macedonia and Ukraine were my other two choices since they also had cool climates and opportunities to teach at a university). Not everyone gets placed in their top three choices so I am lucky I did. I could not be happier to live and work in this awesome country.

What I’ve learned

I read countless Peace Corps blogs before I left to prepare myself as best I could. Some made me laugh and some made me worried. First and most important, I’ve learned every Peace Corps experience is different. There are volunteers living an hour from me who are having different experiences from me, good and bad. I am the fifth volunteer in my village so many people here know what to expect from me, know where I can help, and they know how volunteers like to work. Some volunteers are the first in their village which brings dilemmas and conversations I have never had to endure. My school respects my time and respects how I like to teach. People in my village help me when I ask for help and leave me alone when I seem to know what I’m doing (the former happens more often than the latter I can assure you). Not everyone has the luxury and freedom I have in my village.

Second, I have learned what makes me feel calm. Before Peace Corps, if I was stressed, I would hang out with friends, go have a drink, see a movie, take a nap, listen to music, read a book, etc. All those still help me but I don’t have the same abilities to do all those here. On days when projects aren’t going as scheduled, or when the students are misbehaving (which has only happened a handful of occasions), or when it rains for three days and I can’t walk anywhere without covering my shoes in mud, or when we don’t have electricity for a month and my phone is on 5% and I can’t watch The Office or Game of Thrones while I eat dinner, or when I burn a meal I’ve spent an hour preparing, I do a number of things to help myself. If I’m somewhat stressed, I nap. So, I nap most afternoons. If that doesn’t help, I’ll listen to music, read book or take a long motorcycle ride through the mountains. If at this point, I’m still wrestling with the day, I will be alone for a few hours to collect my thoughts, create a new action plan, and bounce ideas off of friends and family for whatever problem troubled me in the first place.

Third, my work and mental health can sometimes be dependent on the weather. If it’s raining hard, classes are canceled because the rain on the sheet metal or clay rooftops is so loud, students can’t hear the teachers inside. I live far from paved roads so all the roads leading to my village are dirt. As a result, when it rains the roads become muddy and motorcycles and busses can’t pass. If I want to hang out with another volunteer I have to wait until the roads are dry and the sky is clear. Fortunately, I have excellent cell service in my village even though it’s quite remote so I’m still able to call and text friends and family.

Fourth, go with the flow. In any job, not everything goes as planned. In development work, few things go as planned. There are cultural and language barriers I will always face so with each new project or idea, I have to set a flexible timeline and reach out to allies who I know will help me translate to people in the community and grow our project team. Go with the flow. My village sometimes doesn’t have electricity for days, weeks at a time so I may not have a charged laptop or phone. Go with the flow. Sometimes the rain is so loud I can’t sleep at night. Go with the flow. Sometimes classes are canceled for religious holidays and I don’t find out until the morning of. Go with the flow. All in all, I have so much respect for people who worked abroad before the age of the Internet, smartphone and electricity in developing countries. Without a doubt, I would not have survived. My struggles here can be rough, but as JFK famously said, “Life in the Peace Corps will not be easy,” so I knew I would face challenges. So far, I have not let any ruin my day.

Rwandan Culture

The people here are resilient. Their energy is strong. Their hearts are open and kind. They care so much about their country and the young people. They take care of each other, the environment, and anyone who needs a helping hand. The last Saturday morning of every month, they take part in a community service program called “Umuganda.” Local officials choose a project for each area of a village and assign it to nearby families. Some projects include reconstructing a classroom, planting gardens, digging latrines, leveling a road, providing lessons on cooking or driving that are free and open to anyone. A project I helped work on with another volunteer was building a mudbrick home for an elderly man whose home was destroyed during the previous rainy season. It’s all volunteer work and everyone is strongly encouraged to participate unless they are physically not able to work or have a credible prior engagement. If there is anything I would like to introduce to the US from Rwanda, it is Umuganda.

From what I have experienced so far and I don’t mean to generalize so this may not be true for everyone, but I have found most people here to be social and extroverted, which can be difficult at times for an introvert like me. All forms of transportation here are public so when I take a bus to visit a volunteer, it is usually filled with loud conversations carried on by people who may have never met and who are going to various destinations. Sometimes I will talk to someone who wants to practice their English or someone to practice my Kinyarwanda with, but most times I listen to music to help me escape and relax for the three-to-nine-hour journey. On market days – which are two days a week where people can buy carrots, onions, tomatoes, green peppers, eggplant, potatoes, passion fruit, tree tomatoes, bananas, avocados, limes, beans, rice, and green bananas – everyone is catching up, talking about their day, sharing the latest news, etc. People here may not actually be more extroverted than any other culture, but since I don’t know their language very well, I may just react to it differently.

There is far more I could say about the dance-filled, community-oriented culture but I wanted to keep this post brief. Even now as I am typing I can hear the nearby church choir singing and people dancing.

Village Life

I had zero expectations on what my home life would be like and I am thankful I did. Some people live in huts with no cell service in northeast Africa, others with refrigerators, washers and dryers in eastern Europe, and some, like me, live deep in the mountains over a mile above sea level with constant access to water and less reliable electricity. I took every condition as a luxury when I first moved into my new community. My home is a good size for one person with two bedrooms, a living room, a latrine, a small room I have made my kitchen, and another small room where I shower. My latrine is simply a deep hole in the ground and it’s now my preferred mode of departure on days my digestive system is trying its best but not succeeding. My kitchen has on one side a table for preparing and on the other side, a two-burner gas stove. I take warm bucket baths because, unlike many Rwandans, I’m not strong enough to take cold ones. My living room has a couch, two chairs, a table for eating and working and a bookshelf where I keep my kitchen supplies. My bedroom has a full-size bed, a nightstand, a small table for my laptop and other electronic devices since it’s my one of only two outlets in my house, and a bookshelf where I keep my clothes and of course, my books. My spare bedroom has a twin-size bed and a table where I keep my produce and food. Both bedrooms are fully equipped with mosquito nets.

My house is part of a compound where three families live sharing a concrete flooring and a water spigot. One family I live with immediately took me as one of their own. The volunteer right before me left halfway through her service and as a result, this family wants to make sure I stay happy and healthy so I finish my twenty-seven-month commitment. Since the beginning, they have come over to teach me how to cook some Rwandan meals, recruited me to the local church choir, and introduced me to various community leaders that I have worked with on several projects. The mom is a primary teacher at my school and the dad is in charge of the parent-teacher organization also at my school. Both are fantastic cooks and even better humans. They have taken care of me when I have been sick, they have welcomed me into their home for meals on special occasions, and every day ask how I’m doing. Without them, my service would not be the same and I know we will all keep in touch long after I leave Rwanda. We will always be family.

My porch has an unbelievable view where I am able to see two provinces and a volcano on clear days. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook then you know how beautiful it is. Some days I sit outside and read and pause in the brilliance of nature.

My closest friend and first counterpart, Isaac, has been a source of guidance for me since Day 1. He and I teach English together and he has helped me on every project I have worked on. We talk every day and on nice days, go on hikes. It was a month after I moved in when he asked me to be his wedding photographer so I knew early on we would be good friends.

I hope this offers some detail into my life here.

Murakoze cyane! Thank you very much!