A paradox

One of the most striking things about our first three months of life in Rwanda has been the conflict and paradox apparent between being, on the one hand, constantly tired, houseless, car-less and living very close to our limits because of constant adaption and change; and on the other, realising how fortunate we are to have what we have: a comfortable and safe place to live, a faithful and loving God who has called us here, great opportunities for work and cultural and language learning, so many more material possessions than most people here.

In one way, we are still in limbo. Our house, while mostly complete inside, needs some basic furniture, like beds, and kitchen cupboards, before we can move in. These have been put out to tender by the hospital, a byzantine process that may take a fortnight or more to procure them. Our car is still stuck in customs, and this week has been a rollercoaster ride of bureaucracy and advice as we seek to “unlock’ the process to re-register a right-hand drive vehicle in Rwanda. So far, the hospital, a customs clearing agent, the British High Commission, the customs office, the Ministry of Infrastructure and about six well-connected friends have been consulted: on Thursday it looked impossible as we were told that such a registration was forbidden flat-out by a Presidential Decree. Now it appears that the Minister of Infrastructure has discretionary powers, so our letter of appeal is before him at the moment. It is just possible we may be able to keep this car,but the odds appear stacked against us.

On a positive front, the kids are adapting well and we are all in good physical health, if a little tired. Every week brings us closer to moving into our house, and the car situation will eventually be resolved, even if we must re-export it.We have also begun evening language classes with a Christian medical student here, Fidele. Each weekday evening, from 8pm once the kids are  asleep, we are learning in the guesthouse lounge from him. The lessons have been fantastic; he’s motivated, well-organised, a gifted teacher, and a font of Rwandan cultural and linguistic knowledge. Fidele has the added advantage of knowing specialist Christian and medical vocabulary, which should be a great help as these are the areas we need additional language skills.

My work at the hospital continues to go well. The interns are very motivated to learn, and are thriving with the additional clinical teaching. One of the current interns took me aside when I commented on how well they were doing, and made a special point of expressing how much they valued my teaching, which was a special moment. Some of the first bunch I taught, who are now doing paediatrics, still come back for my tutorials and seem to have adopted me as a mentor. The other day, after teaching the interns ECGs, the postgraduates found me and asked me to repeat the tutorial for them; this is the first time they’ve sought specific teaching from me as group and is a big breakthrough as they often seem to prefer silence to asking questions.

William seems much happier in the last couple of weeks, and is growing older and more helpful by the day. His imaginative play is just a delight, both on his own and with other children. Hannah is finally mostly following our instructions, after much work and discipline, after before usually ignoring us or doing the opposite. She loves to bring things to us, mostly when we ask for them! She walked all the way from home to the hospital yesterday, a distance of some 1km, insisting on holding William’s hand not her monther’s, and stopping only at the end to rest with her head on the road, and her bum in the air. Not a bad effort for 13 months old! Both kids love visiting “our house’ at the hospital and are looking forward to being in their new room.

So, life has challenges. But, God is faithful and there is much to celebrate!