Freefall in Rwanda

No, the above title does not apply to our moods, hopes or prospects. Or at least, not yet. It refers back to my feeling of the process of leaving Australia and our loved ones behind, which felt analogous to standing on an elevator, sawing through the cable a strand at a time. Except that sawing through each bond holding us to Australia was a source of mutual reciprocal pain to us and our loved ones. Until finally the cable snapped and we began the plunge into a new life in a new culture far away.

We arrived safely in Rwanda after a (relatively) painless 34 hour trip door to door. Indeed William got off the first 10 hour plane ride (for him: meal, 6 hours sleep, meal) and asked if we could go on another one … or six!!!  He did get somewhat less enthusiastic subsequently in the trip, of course…

About 33 hours away from Australia, two thirds of the way down the road to Butare, Catherine and I were both struck by what a foolish errand we would have been on, if we were purely doing this for selfish reasons or grand ideals. How fortunate then, that we felt God’s call so clearly to come to this place. His strength and our weakness have been reinforced at almost every turn.

The Diocesan Guest House is a beautiful and truly welcoming place, with staff who’ve taken great care of us, particularly as we were not fit for man or beast by the time we disembarked, 4 Walkers from the back seat (the one working seatbelt shared after some negotiation by Tim and William) and 6 bags, a pusher and a child’s carseat from under the ropes holding them onto the back of the hospital’s ute.

Andrew, the Guest House manager, has been easing our transition, culturally and linguistically, while acting as breakfast cook, guide book, mobile phone troubleshooter, and finding time to kick the soccer ball with Will. This has been a blessing, as the changes are especially marked for a two-and-a-half year old suddenly transplanted to a world without footpaths, where cars and motorbikes go past dangerously fast on the “wrong” side of road, where parents actually clutch his hand while he walks everywhere. Who continually amazes us with his ability to cope with so many new faces, all friendly, who call, smile and greet him incessantly. Who consistently accepts, processes and adapts to the new rules of the world around him (while sometimes describing himself as “feeling sick” because he is missing his friends).

Catherine’s pride, cultural prowess, and fortitude in successfully washing her hair with a litre of kettle-heated water after no hot water emerged from the hot tap, was a little undermined by turning around to spy a water heater hanging over the shower that merely needed plugging in!

Today I met with the University Hospital Director General, Dr Andre. He was warm welcoming and spent much of his afternoon showing me around and introducing me to the hospital’s many staff before driving me home to the guesthouse himself as the hospital car was busy. The hospital is impressive in size and scale, some 500 beds, with about 25 specialists on staff, including 5 physicians and one part-time gastroenterologist. The medical subspecialty areas have limited amounts of equipment but what they have is impressive – one each of an Olympus 160 series Gastroscope and Colonoscope for pertinent example (recent and impressive pieces of equipment quite dear to my heart as I’m likely to use them daily!)
The bad news is that apparently our house will not be ready to move into for at least 2 months. This leaves us in limbo a bit, especially as we’re unlikely to stay in the Diocesan Guest House beyond the end of this week, and comes as a bit of a blow, as we are looking forward to settling in a bit. I’m sure God knows what He’s got in store for this time, but as we’re both fairly tired and stressed, leaving it in His hands is taking some effort.

Mornings here are the most mellow and pleasant times of the day (at least when one sleeps overnight) and I snapped a couple of shots of the kids playing pre-breakfast this morning after the Muslim call-to-prayer woke us all at 5am: