Sheli

Saturday morning in Sheli, Rwanda.  What to do? After breakfast, we spent a couple of hours at the Victory Home of Champions.  We had some things we had packed for an orphanage in Rwanda but did not know of any before we got there.  How cool that not even two blocks away from the family we are staying with, there is an orphanage!  We had a good assortment of children's clothing, mostly t-shirts, and some toys and school supplies.  Well, school just happened to close for the summer vacation this weekend, except for the American kids who attend international school.  They follow the American schedule.  We thought Ed and Deb would be best suited to distribute the booth.  They will choose those most needing a piece of clothing.  And the gifts will be used for prizes or birthday gifts.  We took a couple skipping ropes and some bouncy balls and went to find the kids.  We played with them and talked with them, encouraging them to use English as much as possible.  Of course, we were able to pick up some of their language as well in all the jabbering.

After lunch, Fulgence was our guide back to town on a mutata (mini-bus) and we found an MTN wireless agency to set up my phone for Internet service.  The telephone instructions did not match my brand of phone and none of the techies in Sheli could figure it out.  The man I met was a wiz and in a minute he had my phone connecting.  With that settled, we took motorbikes and went to CLA (Christian Life Assembly) to check on accommodations again.  Without phone service, people were wondering if we had gotten lost since we had not shown up on Friday.  We connected and apprised them of our plans, that we would be in Sheli for the weekend.  Anyway, Sheli was the address we had used on our immigration landing cards.

After a brief visit with Jeff, who I had held as a baby in Zambia, we went to the Bourbon Cafe at the MTN Center, had a meal while watching a soccer match on the television.  It only costs fifty cents each to catch a motorbike.  Almost dark, but that's how we chose to go back to the central bus station to catch a matatu back to Sheli.  It's amazing how many vehicles are on the road that are ill-equipped to be on the road at night.  No tail lights, no brake lights, and sometimes no headlights.  So riding a motorbike at night could be risky. We arrived at the bus station and in the mess of 50 or 60 buses (or more) you have to find one going the right direction and to the right place.  Getting on a bus here is no small feat, especially when all three of us must be on the same bus.  No one lines up and waits politely to board.  Five people at once are trying to squeeze through the door.  Fulgence was is an expert.  He's on.  Branden is ahead of me.  A couple on his right are trying to elbow their way on and a fat lady hauling a big bag is trying to squeeze through the door on his left. I give him a push and he is at least on the step, but he's inside.  I am wearing my small backpack and I grab the edges of the bus door, spin sideways, get a foothold on the step and heave.  There is some yelling of an African word that seems to carry the meaning, "Make room, make room!". So I joined loudly in the chorus and everyone began laughing.  I was almost the last one on.  Good grief, what a production just to get on a bus.  You don't buy tickets beforehand.  You must pay the amount for the distance you travel when you get off.  And the bus is ALWAYS crowded!  It was well after dark when we arrived at our stop and walked to the house.  That evening we watched a movie about Nelson Mandela after the power came on.  Then it was bedtime.  It happened just at the bottom of the hill from us, between 9 and 10 that night.  A big gravel truck carrying a load of sand, lost its airbrakes, rolled at the turn several times, and crashed into a concrete roadside building.  Ed, from the Victory Home, has seen 5 bad crashes in the year he has been here.  He responded to the sound of the crash and transported 3 men to hospital.  The one with a long gash in his back, right down to the rib cage, had just gotten a lift at the top of the hill!  One of them had severe head injuries.  All were badly hurt.  We saw the wreck on Sunday morning.  Not good.