I have finally made it, a 10 hour flight and a sleepless night. I arrive to Kigali on the morning of the 18th July to be picked up by the staff of Les Enfant de Dieu. My blog post is a little late as I needed to find my base, settle in and find WiFi.
The children are amazing, my son has come along with me to, he will be setting up his own cricket workshop on Monday 23rd whilst I start with my painting and decorating workshop.
Yesterday I had to hunt high and low for materials to use and most importantly paint! We have to improvise with some tools as I have to make sure that if the young adults can not afford to buy there own materials when I leave, such as a paint container then we can use a jerry can, for roller trays we are using these. We will cut the top off them to create a tray. The walls are badly damaged so firstly we will scrap back all the crumbling wall and use cement to repair it. There is no such thing as damp proof over here!
Next on my list are paint brushes, I have brought some over with me but once they have been used they will need to be able to find the correct ones in Rwanda, the brushes here are hard to find, chinese imports mainly with bristles like an old worn out broom, I am hoping to find some better quality ones today! Wish me luck!
The paint stores are small and its been a real eye opener to the way of life here compared to the western way of life, I have been enduring cold showers every morning! Blimey, its cold!! Although I am staying at a childrens centre the children are well behaved and polite, there is a real community spirit here. Its a hard life for a child in Rwanda but they are so strong and resilient. I cant wait to get stuck in next week.
