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I know you have had a desire to do something like this for a while Kris, I think you are going to find it difficult after 1 month to tear yourself away. It sounds like these people have already made a massive impact on you. Keep up the good work Kris. You are earning more in respect and gratitude there than you ever will financially.

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Mel

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Hi everyone. I have been busy since my last post. I spent a few days touring Uganda with Edwin at Eco tours, we visited the equator and spent some time with his family about half way between Kigali and Kampala. I also spent one day in the Democratic Repulic of Congo!! Congo was interesting, but you could see the country was ravaged by war (there were UN peace keepers everywhere).

The gorillas were amazing!! The group i visited had 8 members, one HUGE silverback (about 220kg), three wives and the rest were young ranging from babies to about 6 years!! I have some nice photos and maybe Mel can post them when I return.

I am in Kigali at the moment but I plan on going to Burundi for a few days! Burundi has the best inland beaches in Africa and I am told I should relax for a few days!!

The community where i have been working is doing well. I bought some traditional costumes and drums for the dancers so now they look the part when they perform for the tourists!! We also made some bilboards so people can find the village, and the tourist toilets are nearly completed!! we still have a long way to go but its coming along!

Thats all for now!!

It's a good job they knew how many gorillas there should be. I would hate for you to have been left behind Kris. Was it difficult telling you apart?

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Mel

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well i have not shaved in a few days so you are probably right!! Hot water is hard to come by and there is no way I can shave with cold water!!

Remember that diary post a few weeks back? well, i washed my feet today... (I cannot wait to have a hot shower)

I wouldn't like to be sitting next to you on the plane home.

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Mel

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If you are his friend Mel, I would hate to see his enemies
Sounds as though he is having one hell of an experience.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

It's because I am his friend that I can tell him he will stink!!

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Mel

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I'm in a cleft stick here. Do i feel snubbed because you never told me I stink and therefore I might not count as a friend, or would I feel wounded if you did? Tough one.
If you're getting this Kris, glad to hear you're ok and having a grrrreat time.

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at

Maureen, it only counts if you do actually stink!

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Mel

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Hello all, I am back in Kigali and feel rested after a very good sleep!!! The last couple of days have been spent in the south of the country, Butare and Gikongoro. My mate Betty and I visited a replica King's village in Butare. The village is similar to the cultural village we have in Iby'Iwacu and I wanted to learn some hard facts about the place and people who lived in it. The King who lived in the village was Musinga and from 1896 - 1931 he lived in the straw house we visited (we visited the replica, the real one was destroyed by the Belgians). Before Musinga came to power Rwanda had the honour of saying it was the only country in Africa that was not a colony of a European power (and the only country which did not experience slavery). In 1896 the Germans came and they stayed until the Belgian govt. took over during WW1, anyhow, enough about Musinga.

Yesterday we visited the Genocide memorial at Gikongoro. During the Genocide in 1994, around 50,000 - 60,000 people (mostly Tutsi's) people were killed in the area. The memorial is located at a well known Techincal college, and during the genocide many flocked here to seek protection from the killers. Then the Interahamwe (rebel group) came and in a matter of days thousands were dead. Gikongoro is one of the most graphic genocide memorials, as 850 bodies have been preserved with lime, and left exactly as they looked when the killers struck. Wandering through the rooms at this former college, the scene becomes more and more macabre, beginning with the contorted corpes of adults and finishing with a room full of toddlers and babies, slashes from machetes still visible on the shrivelled bodies. My friend Betty lost many family members during the genocide and she broke down after visiting a couple of rooms, understandable as it must have brought back many terrible memories.

That is all for now....bye

It sounds like an emotional visit Kris, for you and Betty. Was it Betty's first time back there?

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Mel

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I can't say anything to that Kris. It must have taken something to walk through there, you have my utmost respect.

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Gloria

I'd be dangerous with a brain.

Holocausts continue.........
Witness...........
Lest we minimize or, worse, forget....................

I can't think of a more shocking and graphic memorial. I'm not sure I could have coped with it. Respect.

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Maureen
If you can't fight, wear a big 'at

I find it hard to imagine anything on that scale.
Like you Maureen, I don't think I could have visited. I keep thinking of Betty, the things that poor lady has witnessed and lived through. We live such privileged lives in comparison.

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Mel

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