A night drive to Nepo’s village

I just got back from a night drive to Nepo's house with William, to take infant paracetamol to his sick 3 month old. Tim stayed at home to put Hannah in bed.

The road, as all do in Rwanda, wound around, up and down the hill tops and valleys for 30 minutes. It got narrower and increasingly rutted until it was obvious that the road had seen very few cars. The grass was growing too close on either side for a car to fit its wheels, but we kept going, passing crops and now and then passing a collection of houses.

When we arrived we were very rural. As the car lights went out I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. William pointed out enthusiastically that the stars were amazing! Nepo's family are lovely. Most of his seven children were there, the older ones in secondary school spoke to me in a little English (his son very confidently, his daughter shy but determined to try!), and a little one in the first year of school hid in the bedroom at the sight of a wuzungu / white person (Nepo explained).

It was dark inside except for a faint torch light that was directed around, but I was surprised to see they had the  printed photos that had faded so I had thrown them out (and Nepo had asked for them) on the wall to decorate the room. A photo of my Mum and the kids, my sister Steph and her baby, Will’s friend Amelia… and the stuffed giraffe we gave his baby was sitting close by, the only item on the little side table. The furniture in the room included said table, 2 chairs (one for Nepo and one for his wife – Nepo offered me his to sit in) and the low stools he made for his kids with wood leftover from our tree house. I felt very humbled. I was handed his beautiful little baby to dose with panadol, and realised that I will be clucky again one day. Then we said our goodbyes and drove home.

As we bumped along in second gear I thought of Nepo riding his bike the 50 minutes to our house each day, and how different each of his two worlds are. He’s a good man, with a lovely family. He lacks material possessions but he has these more important things. Still, the stark difference made me respect him and how he handles the two worlds even more. We can learn a lot from him. I hope when I am back amidst the West’s materialism, the thought of Nepo can keep me grounded. A little perspective can be very helpful.