Top Man to the Pits

Just posting this before I fly out - must go!

Time for Home

So yesterday I visited the KLM offices and told them I wanted to go home. They said that would be ok. The weather is awful back home - are you sure you want to go? We have a much nicer climate.

I said that I did - my work is complete, my wife and family needs me, I have stones to push on ice, and Championships to win - let me out please!

They said ok! I will just have to cope with the weather. 

So, tonight at 6.30pm I leave for Nairobi, and arrive in Glasgow at 7.30am, going via Schiphol. Its been a flying visit of only 8 days but all that I wanted to achieve has been completed, and that is very good.

I have just one thing to do, and that is to visit Jeff at the site, to take my last photos, and say my goodbyes - with a great sense of sadness.

Gary

Update on Building and Stuff

You will all by now be convinced that all I do when I am here in Kigali, is to drink coffee, meet old friends, and watch football. So to put a few things right, and to give you encouragement, here is a summary of all things College:

• The College building will be complete in the next 4 weeks  - certainly by end of January - it is looking very good, and Jeff and his team are working solidly to meet this deadline
• The Big Give brought in sufficient finance to complete the essential works that makes the building functional as a working establishment. So it will be completed!
• The total cost of the building is £93,000 for a building of 500 sqm. (would cost £440k in UK!)
• It has 9 classrooms - for joinery, IT, 2 classrooms, machine workshop, plumbing, electrics and metalwork. There is a spare room for canteen, plus admin offices and toilets.
• The finance has been provided wholly by the enormous work of volunteers, Level 8 Projects, St Mungo's Church, and a very wide range of individuals  - MANY MANY THANKS.
• We have hopes also to build a workshop for £6.5k sometime later in the year. Equipment and furniture will cost £25k approximately -we are still assessing what we need!
• The courses will start in January 2013.
• We are in the last stages of arranging finance for 2 couples - the Fahls and the Schnurs - from Germany to come out and support the development of the College, working in Kigali for 3 years,  who will ensure that courses are high standard and guarantee that the street children get into work
• I have met with the person in charge of the national curriculum development, and this should be available to us at the end of January, for us to use to develop really beneficial courses.
• A detailed financial plan is almost complete taking a cash flow projection into the first 3 months of the 2013.
• Much work still remains to be done of course - equipment provision, a workshop area, employing tutors, creating the full business plan, developing life skills and business planning modules.
• My next stages of work are - produce a detailed accountability framework  - I am looking for a College person with a financial background to help with this - any offers will be greatly valued!

When ever you come to the end of a construction project like this there is a strong sense of honour and privilege to work with people who have put heart and soul into the work.

I would like to particularly to recognise these people for the amount of time they and energy they have spent on this. I am indebted to each of you. You are each BRILLIANT. God has richly blessed us with His Presence on this work, people's prayers have evidently supported a project which could have gone wrong in so many ways, and has not!

Roger, Jeff and Kayitare

Norbert

Emmanuel - God with Us

I turned up at church late. I admit it was tactical. I wanted a slight lie in and church starts at 9.30. I arrived at just after 10 and by the look of it, a fair number of others had made a tactical decision also.

The reason for the tactic is simple. I am used to services being 1 hour long in Scotland, but in Gatenga, they start at 9.30 and finish around 1.15pm.

Most of the service is in Kinyarwandan, and so for the length of the service I am provided with a translator. He is Emmanuel. His name meaning God with Us.

He is very skilled at interpreting, at least as far as I can tell. Emmanuel has been my interpreter most times at have been at church, and we have become friends.

In addition, a new innovation at the service, is the Kinyarwandan song book, which I sang from, which of course means I can sing in Kinyarwandan now! Not got a clue what the words said but it was great to be able to sing to God.

In Scotland, hands are often shoved in pockets during services, but in Rwanda there is considerable use of them - to bury your head in your hands when praying, to greet and to say goodbye, to cuddle and welcome, to indicate fellowship and friendship, to challenge the audience during the message, and of course to praise God for his great goodness.

Scottish men do not raise hands to God. We are completely unable to do so - is that not right Fleming! 7 times I have been here, and 7 times I have kept my hands where they were supposed to be - by my side. So there is no reason to change a genetic pre - disposition to frozen arm syndrome - is there!

Just do not expect me to do it at Chryston Church - that would be too far!

Deep Deep Deepest Trouble Ever

I write this blog in trepidation knowing that it is now almost impossible for me to return home!

I am sitting in the dark quietly munching an Italian Fish and Chips carry out, having walked a very very beautiful women home.

I mean I did not expect to get into trouble tonight. I mean sometimes a man goes out and hopes trouble might fall upon him, but tonight it came out of the blue!

I had arranged to meet Denise for drinks at 7pm at the local Italian restaurant. Some of you will remember that Denise worked at Solace when Roger and I arrived in Kigali 15 months ago, but then left for good reason

Well I had contacted her thinking we could have a coffee together and catch up on news. She suggested 7pm after church and mentioned she had a couple of gifts that it would be great if I could deliver to Callum, Dunbar, and Dumbarton - where her Scottish family live.

Well no problem there. Aye Right!

First I get a taximoto to the restaurant. I am just arriving when lying sprawled and motionless is a body - no movement at all. Sundays are always like this I find! Off duty and whether you are out in the fresh air in Kigali, or minding your own business in Church, there is always someone trying to play the dead person, and this one seemed pretty dead.

There was a car ahead and it looked like an accident. I went to check, blood from mouth, no breathing, no movement, but yes a pulse. Is the ambulance on its way - no coherent answer - they speak some foreign language here(!) and I speak only English.

Check him further for airway and he suddenly sits up. He is always doing this his friend responds - epilepsy, and the car was just stopping to help. Eventually the army arrive, and he is fine and I beetle off for my date (oops meeting).

So Denise arrives with a large parcel, and we have much chat about many things, including family, parents,  work, and finally Christmas. She tells me about last Christmas when she was in Scotland, and how much she will miss not seeing her Scottish family this year, and how much she wanted to give them cards and presents!

So, because the presents were not wrapped and the cards were not written, I spent the evening helping her,  in the Italian Restaurant, to get all these ready so that I could take them to Scotland with me.

So what's the deep deep trouble you ask. Well, before I left for Rwanda I absolutely promised Fiona that I would definitely get the labels done for our Christmas cards, and yes, you have guessed it, I did not do it.

To make matters worse yesterday Fiona texted me to say she had done nearly all our cards - just leave the labels and I will do them on Wednesday when I am back I txt. - the addresses are all done she replies - NO, NO, NO!!! Doomed!

I am in deep deep trouble. I have spent a great evening chatting with a  beautiful women, helped her with her cards and presents, am delivering them to Scotland for her, and I have not done anything to help my wife.

I cannot come home. How could such a nice evening out have such a twist to it? What could I do - she asked me to help her!

Oh Deep Trouble.

Footie Kigalia

I had been talking to John Mutesa on Wednesday about how the Friends of Jesus football team was doing. Oh we are winning he said! But then all Rwandans start with the positive - even if they are not. Its just a trait that you have to get used to.

Anyway I am a Scot, so I am used to aspiration being out of proportion to reality, and this morning I checked Google maps where the pitch was and directed my taximoto to the big match.

I arrived a bit late, and had fortunately missed the first goal, which was against us. The game was against another church team, who seemed to me to have more skill than ours. We were particularly good at getting the ball, and then losing it immediately trying to dribble instead of passing. 

Where was the coach, what was he doing letting this continue. Immediately Macfarland was desperate for winning in his usual competitive style.

At half time it was 1 - 0 to the opposition, and John Mutesa, in the smart blue, had a word with the team - John is a pastor in the church, and generally known as Mutesa. The second half started the same as the first, and before long we had tried to dribble out of defence and given away another goal! 

My attention deviated from the game to the volleyball behind me. Here is Betty (see yesterday's Blog) showing the boys how to play. No chance of the other team winning that game.

I would have stayed to the end, but I got a text from Dave Wald, to say that he had just arrived in Kigali, and he had an hour and would we like to meet for a chat. Actually I had presents from David McAdam for Dave. Unfortunately I did not have them with me, so it was back to Remera to collect them and then onto the Novotel for coffee.

What an interesting chat but more of that shortly

The result 3 - 2 for the baddies! But they tried hard and John tells me he is trying to get a coach for them, and with a bit of advice they may go far - but perhaps not as far as a game against the Chryston Church team.

The Street Children again

The Expo for the Vocational Training Schools (see below) is just 800 yards from L'Eglise Vivante - the church that Comfort Rwanda partners with and whose vision it was to build the College. The Expo on the right overlooks the whole of Gatenga in the distance - a pleasant short walk - no requirement for the Taximoto.

Immediately one is reminded that life's roads are much rougher, and heavy burdens are carried by the individual. We have it easier in the West even if we think otherwise.

It would be wrong to think that all houses are like this but many are. Some are being replaced but all too slow for these people. Some help is being invested and here are plans for a new health centre right opposite the church building.

Should be interesting in a year or so.

The church (below) many of you will have seen from previous photos. No investment here, and I just wonder about how long it will hang on before the developers move in!

But I was not here to see the building. The last time I visited was a Friday and I knew there was a chance to meet the street children again and I just went on spec. Sure enough I heard singing from a small door and there they were dancing, singing and practicing for Sunday's service, under the expert guidance of Betty.

Betty is the administrator of the Street Childrens project, but she does much more than this. On this occasion her superb rhythm and gentle encouragement of the children had them performing 5 songs for me - a private concert and much more edifying than speeches - loved it!

Vocational Training Expo

Here is one of my 'coincidences'.

I am only here for 9 days - a flying visit no less. The Rwandan authorities have decided to run the first every Expo for Vocational Training Colleges. It happens to be this weekend, and I happen to be here and free to visit.

A brief walk round brought me a discussion with the World Bank who are supporting Vocational Colleges like ours with their 'Skills Development Fund'. This fund was part of my discussions with Richard Arden of the Department of International Development. He encouraged me to make contact with the World Bank as the most likely support to our work. Now is the time to make an approach!

I also met with TEVSA, the organisation of Vocational Training schools. Unfortunately the person I wanted to speak to about curriculum, was not there, but tomorrow hopefully we meet.

There were many dignitaries there from various ministries. The opening was delayed because ... well Rwandans often delay their meetings!

They had a large brass band waiting to greet the Minister, but I could not be persuaded to join the opening - the tent was packed, the temperature was too much, and the plan was for a 2 hour presentation - not for me!

So off I went to a much more fantastic presentation - the Street Children of Gatenga.

Termites Fight Back

I like this photo.

You will remember in February the Terminator, aka Kayitare, ripped the heart out of the termite field when we created the platform for the College. However, as this photo shows, the termites are a bit more robust, and are fighting back.

I am sitting beside Michael Marx, who advises me that termite soil is excellent for making brilliant bricks. Michael runs a very large micro finance project in Rwanda. Unfortunately this information has come too late.

I am very glad we spent £1800 on termite protection for the building.

The Terminator

Wait until I get hold of the Terminator and ask him for an explanation for why the termites are thriving!

Taximotos under control?

Well here is the main change on the highways of Kigali - new since February. All the major junctions now have these traffic lights - must be some Chinese invention!

So when a Taximoto arrives at these you see how many seconds you have got before the green go sign changes to red. This of course means that if you are coming to a junction where the countdown is against you then you accelerate your Taximoto even faster, to get through, and if you fail then you have to grumpily watch how long you have to wait as the numbers trickle down to nothing.

Apparently these lights were instructed by the District authorities shortly after we left Rwandan in February, because two mad Scotsmen had been encouraging their Taximotos to race, speed, and jump lights.

Now, surprisingly they work pretty well, until rush hour when the police come out to run them otherwise chaos ensues.

Although the Taximotos are being controlled, don't presume that they are under the authorities thumb - after I took myself out for a curry and a beer last night, we did the usual speeding up the dual carriageway against the flow of traffic - so not everything changes

Early Start

I hear from Fiona that since I have left Scotland the weather has, well basically fallen apart and 100 mile an hour winds. Seems to me that my timing for heading south to the sun is perfect.

So just to rub it in here are my photos from this morning at 8am. This one is looking north east - I think! - towards Tanzania which is about 2 hours away.

This photo is taken from the same place, though looking north west towards Congo. The road to Congo, winds its way just to the left of the hills shown, and in those hills are the gorillas that Rwanda is famous for.

The photo shows the centre of Kigali with its skyscraper and the buildings I showed you yesterday.

In the foreground is a yellow hotel which is were an occasional beer has been consumed. It was the Novotel when we came in Sept 2010, and then became the Leica, but now is the Umabango - or something like that! Certainly makes for confusing the taximotos who just look blankly until you say its the Novotel!

And the reason for being up so early is that we were meeting at 8am with Solar Panel people. They were quite knowledgeable, and we may well put panels on for hot water. In passing she tried to sell me a sewage treatment plant for £20,000 - I had to apologise for putting in biogas, which she says will not work, unless we have hundreds of students and lost of pooh! Need to put beans on the daily menu!

Our first disaster has happened I think. The amount of 3 phase electricity is too little for our plans and I have loads of phone calls and detailed work to do now to sort this! A phone call from Bad Boy Bennie (ex electrician) is awaited

All Change

These photos are for Roger.

When we were last in Kigali, we noted several new buildings that were being built just round the corner from Inkuru Nziza Church

Those who read the blog may remember that the 2 of us got sidelined for 2 days helping the church look at the development opportunities of their site, and how they might improve their facilities through  partner agreement with a developer.

Well here is what you can do when you have a good city centre site. This building was just being finished off in February, and now is open.

I love the way the architects (oops sorry Roger) provide loads of windows, but the only way the heat escapes is to open the window. Well at least in Kigali that is a pleasure.

Now this building next door was definitely not there when we left in February. Its the new City Council offices

and this was a hole in the ground - now no longer. So loads of changes and much evidence of development. 

Rog - I think that I had better have another discussion with the church - perhaps they are sitting on a gold mine! But then, maybe not. The work that they presently do for orphans, the poor, and disadvantaged much outweighs pure financial gain. Shame - might have been able to project manage another build!

Wait for tomorrows blog, also showing a significant change - what cool traffic lights! - they so mesmerise the taximotos that they sit waiting for them to change - and much more sophisticated than ours.

Now it seems Real!

I arrived in Kigali at 8pm on Monday. Seems very odd to be playing curling at Stranraer in the Double Rink Championships one day, and then next you are in the heart of Africa.

Today we met at the College site at 8am, with Jeff the builder, Norbert the supervising architect, and Emmanuel and Kazunga from the College Board.

This was quite a transformation since the last time I was here which in early February 2011. At that time, you may remember, that Roger and I were out to manage the laying out of the site, and to get the platform cut. 2 bulldozers moved a huge quantity of earth as you can see from this photo at that time.

Earthworkings Feb 2011

The building is 500 sq metres with 9 work areas, and will provide Vocational training for joinery, metalwork, plumbing, welding, and IT. We may also provide culinary and front of house skills, which are much needed in Rwanda.

Dec 5th 2011.

Tomorrow evening we meet up with the College Board to make some crucial decisions, and to plan the next 12 months. The completion of the construction requires careful thought because we must make sure that we spend the last of our construction income well. Some of these discussions started on site today with Emmanuel and Kazunga.

Jeff, Emmanuel and Kazunga

One decision already made, is that we are going ahead with our Biogas tank. This will produce gas for our cooking. We may also want to go ahead with solar panels for producing hot water, at a cost of £3000 - if we can afford them!

A key concern we had in the early stages of the build was the quality of the bricks that would be made on site. Here are a few that were left over and I can confirm that they are robust - so no worries about the life of the building

I always find the last stages of a building a bit disconcerting because there is always so much mess and loose ends. However today there must have been 12 - 15 people on site all working hard to get it finished and sorting all the snagging issues.

This room is one of the main areas for woodwork and preparing various things to sell, like tables, chairs, cupboards etc

and Jeff assures me that the painting will be finished within the week, but I am not quite sure about this! However, as Project Manager I am delighted with the work that Jeff and Norbert have done.