Back from Uganda

Just returned back to Kigali from a trip up to Uganda. After working in Gulu in the summer of 2007, I knew that I had to take the time out from working in Rwanda to revisit. Considering the two day bus excursion that it takes to get up there, it was a very short visit. Nonetheless, I was able to see the I.D.P. camps that have changed dramatically since the last I saw them, and I was able to revisit the orpahanage that I spent most of my days at. It was incredible to see the orphanage and so many familiar faces. They are used to getting volunteers and visitors, but they are not used to those faces usually coming back. They had expected that I had forgotten them, and I expected the same from them in return. On the contrary, they immediately remembered my face, and greeted me with my Acholi name, Lakica. When I first arrived, I was rushed by a little girl who I didn't recognize but quickly embraced. I picked her up, carried her on my hip and headed toward Mama Filda's head office. A couple of steps later she had peed all over my hip and down my dress. It was a warm welcome to say the least. I spent my day as an extra set of hands in the nursery. I worked alongside two other "mothers," as the caregivers are called, and helped with the infants and younger children as they outnumber the mothers from a two to almost thirty orphans ratio. There were many new faces as well as the familiar faces of the children from my last visit, only they are all two years older now. It was so fun to see how they have grown. Seeing the changes in the I.D.P camps was so incredible. Two years ago, these were the Internally Displaced Peoples camps that I had visited and worked in to provide Aids awareness and family planning. That same summer, I had volunteered to deliver goods in a convoy to several camps throughout the surrounding area. We ended up having to put the convoy to a halt after the realization of inadequate security against the mass crowds and a stampede at our first stop. We failed to deliver to the next stop at Bobi camp. We recieved news the following day that they were waiting at the camps entrance to stone us for failing to come when they had expected us. I passed through this camp, Bobi, the other day and it was nothing like I had last seen it. At that time, it had been one of the larger and more aggressive camps by reputation. Passing through it now, there were barely any inhabitants and only a few huts left. Two years later, people are finally resettling and returning home out of the camps and into their lives back home. Two years ago, this was an idea unfathomable by most who feared leaving the camps and many who being born and raised in the camps knew nothing else. Now, majority of the displaced people are resettled and starting anew. This news was incredible to hear, but even more amazing to witness. When people leave the camp to resettle, they breakdown their mud huts that they have been living in. Apparently the red dirt that is used to build these mud huts is rich in soil nutrients. As the huts are broken down into mounds of dirt, they spring new life of trees and tall grass. Now what is left behind in the camps are the mounds of dirt covered in vegetation and rebirth of what used to be the homes to so many people who have suffered in the poverty and effects of war. This rebirth of life is so symbolic to the prosperity and resilience of these people and of their land. Seeing the new life that nature has breathed into what was once such a desperate land, and the changes and progress made by the Acholi people after so much suffering, is such a beautiful testament to possibility of peace.

New News for Remba!

After a lot of contemplation, event coordinating, and salon interviews, we have found that there was a distinct divide between stylists who were truly interested in working with Remba, and those who were more interested in participating in the competitions just for entertainment value and entitlement. We decidedly took the executive action to shift gears from hosting the planned competitions to a more efficient application and interview selection. Through this process we were fortunate enough to have discovered three prospective mentors who exemplify every quality this far that Remba upholds. They are salon professionals currently working in Kigali, and are hungry and committed to extending their prosperity and others' opportunities within the beauty industry. Meet Remba's newest team members Jean, Jackie, and Meddie!




As these changes rightfully took course these past few weeks, we have had the opportunity to pour our much needed resources and energy into discovering Remba's beneficiaries for our scholarship program. I have been touring local women's cooperatives to find potential partnerships for Remba. Care Life is a prospective partnership, which is based in Kigali and is founded upon rehabilitation and training programs for street women. Majority of these women are survivors of the genocide who were forced into prostitution as a means of survivial post-war. Care Life oversees roughly 300 women, providing micro-financing and skill training for their cooperative groups. As a Remba partner, we will be able to award scholarships to select representatives from Care Life co-ops, providing a new training program offered under their existing systems. Through this partnership, we sustain our educational programs and support social entrepreneurship for our beneficiaries to become bonafide business owners of their own salon!

KEZA: People Inspired Fashion from Ricky Norris on Vimeo.

He's done it again...made by the talented Ricky Norris

This past week was business as usual. Our very talented film and photography crew wrapped up visits with stylists and salons last week. Prior to, we had been running around town to interview and film stylists and Kigali's beauty industry to put together media for Remba. A big relief as this was a seemingly long process, but it was so much fun to visit local salons and get to know fellow stylists from Africa. Last week we also had spent some time volunteering in an orphanage. All of the interns ventured out to an orpahange on the other side of town to spend time with the kids that live there. We spent the afternoon playing soccer and hanging out with them. As interns, we all had a blast doing something together outside of work, and we are hoping to start doing regular visits during our down time. We took the weekend off to celebrate the 4th of July. We stopped by the BBQ at the U.S. Embassy which was surprisingly fun. Every American in Rwanda was there. They went all out with all of your typical American foods which totally hit the spot on a day that I was sure I was going to feel homesick. The rest of the weekend was spent in a small town at the foot of Rwanda's national volcano park. It is the town where they do the mountain gorilla trekking. With this tourist attraction being out of the volunteer budget, we opted to visit and do our own sightseeing. We met some kids from the village who insisted on taking us all on the most amazing nature hike I have ever been on. Landscapes of bamboo forests, fields of flowers, and surrounded by atleast three enormous volcano's. Beautiful visit to the countryside, but ready to get back to work for the week. I have planned an exciting agenda of visits with NGO's and Women's Cooperatives to create relations and eventual partnerships with Remba. After we enroll the mentors discovered in the competitions we are hosting, we will need to move into the next phase of selecting the beneficiaries who will partner with the mentors into our training program. These beneficiaries will be selected from underpriviledged women and former prostitutes who deserve alternative career opportunities. This weeks tours and meetings with co-op's and NGO's should lay the groundwork for this next phase.

Mother Nature at her best

HARUGURU (above) from Ricky Norris on Vimeo.

One of my favorite evenings out here so far. Long day capped off by our first nights rain since I have been in Kigali. Walked home in the rain, skipping down our muddy dirt road, followed by the light show of a thunder and lightning storm. We sat on our back porch in awe as Seth and Ricky captured its glory.