We finally got to Rwanda after a hell of a trip.
Our flight left Frankfurt at 11:15 p.m. and arrived in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia around 7 hours later at 7:25 local time. We were then supposed to leave for Kigali at 11:15... or something like that... well, at least that didn't happen because hour flight was delayed by 6 hours... probably only God knows why.
At least we know Addis Abeba airport pretty well now... except that we couldn't find the exit, I'm still not sure if it even has one or if the employees live in the bulding ??? And just a hint for anyone that should ever end up in this airport: Make sure you have American dallars $$$ because that is the only currency that is accepted and they don't take credit cards if you don't buy anything above 100$... or at least when you just want to buy a bottle of water... that wont work...
But we finally got to Kigali after stopping again in Entebbe, Uganda, to let some people get off the plane. The first impression of Kigali was a classic, just imagine a big city in central Africa and whatever you imagine is really Kigali...red dust, lots of people, small huts... I hope I'll get to post some pictures once the internet gets fixed.
The place we are staying at is great! We even have warm water!! I'll also post pictures of the place soon... hopefully.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Already?: My Last Day at Work in Mainz
Mmhh... They let me go early :D They said there is no more we can show you and gave me off work tomorrow :D
I also met another volunteer at work yesterday who will be doing an internship for six months in Kigali while Sandra and I are there. Her name is Sara or may be Sarah, but the interesting thing is that she studies economics and wants to do economic development later. :D That's really exciting because that's what I decided I want to do too.
Take care everybody... only 11 days to go.
I also met another volunteer at work yesterday who will be doing an internship for six months in Kigali while Sandra and I are there. Her name is Sara or may be Sarah, but the interesting thing is that she studies economics and wants to do economic development later. :D That's really exciting because that's what I decided I want to do too.
Take care everybody... only 11 days to go.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Another Day of Work: But Another Piece of Exciting News
Today wasn't that spectacular, I finished my translation and was introduced to the financial structure of the partnership. The exciting news of the day...dahm dahm dahm... I'll be in Rwanda for 12 months instead of only 10 how I first thought!!! I will tell you in 10 months if that was good or bad news.
That's it for now. No, wait! My whole arm hurts from the vaccination yesterday.
But besides that, today was already just another day of work.
That's it for now. No, wait! My whole arm hurts from the vaccination yesterday.
But besides that, today was already just another day of work.
Monday, August 4, 2008
My First Day At Work: Ahhh!! :O Why Like This?
My first day at work started with me rushing to the trainstation to catch my train which I would have almost missed if it hadn't been cancelled. Yey! This ment I had to take another train to Frankfurt and then to Mainz which is the capital of my state and the town where I'll work for the rest of the week. Well, after getting lost I finally got to the office 40 minutes late on my first day.
Once I was there I was reintroduced to the partnership structure and the work I'll be doing. So, I finally know what my job is going to be in Rwanda. It's not what I first thought it would be, delivering school donations, but mediating between our partners as well as future partners in Rwanda and those people in our state that want to fund social projects. I also have to test the projects for validity and need.
I got my plane ticket today!!! :D... by the way. I'm leaving in two weeks, on the 18th at around 23:00 from Frankfurt via Addis Abeba and arrive in Kigali 12 hours later.
The next thing on my schedule today was not so much fun... my French was tested. I was supposed to translate a report of one of the projects in Rwanda for someone who is in charge of donations for the project but doesn't speak French. The content of my work was actuall very interesting and translating wasn't bad either, but the fact that it was also a test and that my French sucks made me almost drown in my sweat... digusting thought right there XP Bäh!
It ended with me not finishing my work and leaving early because I had to go to the doctor's to get another vaccination. Only 3 left.
I think work tomorrow will be better.
I'll keep you up to date with news.
Until then. Bye bye.
Once I was there I was reintroduced to the partnership structure and the work I'll be doing. So, I finally know what my job is going to be in Rwanda. It's not what I first thought it would be, delivering school donations, but mediating between our partners as well as future partners in Rwanda and those people in our state that want to fund social projects. I also have to test the projects for validity and need.
I got my plane ticket today!!! :D... by the way. I'm leaving in two weeks, on the 18th at around 23:00 from Frankfurt via Addis Abeba and arrive in Kigali 12 hours later.
The next thing on my schedule today was not so much fun... my French was tested. I was supposed to translate a report of one of the projects in Rwanda for someone who is in charge of donations for the project but doesn't speak French. The content of my work was actuall very interesting and translating wasn't bad either, but the fact that it was also a test and that my French sucks made me almost drown in my sweat... digusting thought right there XP Bäh!
It ended with me not finishing my work and leaving early because I had to go to the doctor's to get another vaccination. Only 3 left.
I think work tomorrow will be better.
I'll keep you up to date with news.
Until then. Bye bye.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
It's Getting Serious: The Preparation Conference
On the ... I don't remember exactly when the seminar was it's so long ago (I’m only starting my blog and I’m already behind schedule). I'll just say: In the end of June or the beginning of July (I’m sure it was around that time the posting date above is the date when I should have posted this post... ) I attended a 10 day preparation seminar in Cologne. The course intended to prepare us for confrontations with different cultures, poverty, diseases, and anything one might encounter in a developing country.
I learned some amazing things! Especially about different ways of thinking; how thought and attitude are connected to mentality and cultural, as well as political background. We also got the chance to find out that we are actually “racist” and that we have lots of prejudices even if we pretend that we don’t. This works the other way as well of course, so we discussed our roles as “white” volunteers and that people might not actually have any sympathy for what we do.
I’m happy I got to attend this seminar also because I finally met Sandra who I will work and live with in Rwanda. That's her in the picture below.
I learned some amazing things! Especially about different ways of thinking; how thought and attitude are connected to mentality and cultural, as well as political background. We also got the chance to find out that we are actually “racist” and that we have lots of prejudices even if we pretend that we don’t. This works the other way as well of course, so we discussed our roles as “white” volunteers and that people might not actually have any sympathy for what we do.
I’m happy I got to attend this seminar also because I finally met Sandra who I will work and live with in Rwanda. That's her in the picture below.
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