microStart Antwerp setting in our second year! Long live micro entrepreneurs!
Throwback Thursday for microStart Antwerp
In 2 weeks we are celebrating 1 year official opening of microStart Antwerp. I can’t believe that the official opening was 18 November 2014. So many things have happened ever since. I started setting up microStart Antwerp in March 2014. In the beginning I didn’t have an office and a lot of people came to my house. I saw other people in their own business or in restaurants and bars. It was difficult to work, yet I arrived at 40 micro credits before I hired a microcredit advisor. In August 2014, we both worked side by side to make sure that we could open the microcredit agency before the end of the year. Pieter Vermeyen, my first advisor of microStart and I worked on the average more than 12 hours a day. In the summer I remodelled an old BNP Paribas office and on November 18 2014 we opened our office officially. Here a few photos to what our office used to look like…
This is what the original BNP Paribas office looked like before we tore it all dozn to create microStart Antwerp.
Tearing it all down….
Day 2 at CPF Ineza Now that the first mission and holiday is over, my body has slipped back into its natural routine. CPF Ineza, the microfinance agency I am now working for has its opening’s hours from 7AM to 8PM. I thought that we worked hard at microStart. I guess I was wrong. We work long hours but not 6 on 7 like that! That meant that I have to wake up for work super early again! Pshhttt… The weather is quite cold and I am not prepared for it. Gitarama is cold. Last night I slept in a sleeping bag underneath the comforter with an extra blanket. I was freezing and the hotel doesn’t have heaters. I never thought that it could get so cold in Rwanda, while not being on a mountain. I have a severe cold, hopefully I am not getting the flu. I would be upset if I return home with the flu from Africa. I am staying in a nice hotel in Gitarama. I told Cyrille from Exchange that I wasn’t going to stay in some priest, sister or silly guesthouse again. Those two weeks in Gisenyi with the priest was more than enough. A little comfort is needed while being sick. Cyrille brought me to the Splendid, another consultant had stayed here before. Splendid it is. Yesterday, I covered with the manager of CPF Ineza the status quo of the microfinance agency. Although, waking up sick I was on a mission to complete a business plan in 2 day. When I arrived at work, I was ready to attack but I was dragged into the back room. Every morning starts with a prayer. I thought oh nooo… now I am going to lose another hour of my day. The prayer started with nice songs in Kinyarwanda. After that I was warmly welcomed by all the staff and a passage from the Bible was read out loud. Everyone then could ask God what they wanted for the day. When it was my turn, I said I needed a divine intervention on this business plan. Blessings were coming my way and more prayers. I should have taken the bottle of Holy Water to sprinkle the office. I told the bookkeeper that I had sprinkled my laptop with Holy water so whatever business plan I was going to write, it would be divine. They prayed for their manager, who had traveled to Kigali this morning for a training with Amir. They prayed for each other. I wonder if Ankelien and Pieter would pray for me as their manager in the morning and then I would bless them. Food for thought for a new morning routine. Hehe…. They also prayed for the European refugee crisis. They prayed for Europe. This was strange. I wonder they said that because I was there. I thought to myself instead of praying for Europe, you need to pray for the refugees. Vous êtes une religieuse Madame. Oui Oui I say fast. Then the questions come are you married, children, divorce oh no; c'est horrible! The entire month has been about me needing to get married and multiply. My mother had also been breaking my head about me living in sin. Unmarried, no that’s not what we do. Obey your husband is the message I keep getting everywhere. The bookkeeper told me he made a prayer so that I will marry upon my return in Belgium. Seriously, I have a job to do here. With lots of concentration, I start 40 minutes later on the business plan. My mission was to finish the written part before lunch. Pierre, the bookkeeper brought me African tea (ginger tea with milk) with cookies. I brought my own blanket at work as I was afraid to be cold. I had wrapped myself in the blanket and hunched over my laptop. The African tea felt good. I have gotten used to the taste and now I can drink this strange combination all the time. Pierre keeps asking me to pause. I get fed up, Numerien used to ask me that too. Off course I want to pause but you have given me so much work that I can’t pause ! Finally, the literature part of the business plan is completed. Pierre wants to go to lunch with me. I got nauseas when he said that. Yesterday, we had lunch in the Parish slash mall slash supermarket slash rooms slash conference center slash restaurant owned by another pastor. The buffet existed out of two types of potatoes, bananas, manioc, two types of rice and two types of pasta. Carbs, carbs and carbs again. I shoved 1 type of pasta, 1 type of rice and 1 type of potato down my throat. Oh and I get a boiled egg on top. The food was beyond bland and I decided to drip chilli oil over it to hide the taste. No, no Francine wasn’t going back to the pastor super center slash everything. I told Pierre, I needed to return to the hotel to get my medicine. He said no problem I will wait for you in the restaurant. Aghhh, he didn’t get the point. Ok let me try this again. I am too sick to eat so I can’t join for lunch. Finally, he got the point. I went to the hotel for lunch, hehe. However, it was rather disappointing I found again potatoes, spaghetti and rice but they had bouillon soup. Three plates of bouillon soup for lunch then. I head back to the office to kill this plan. Pierre hadn’t made it back. Gitarama isn’t really a happening town. Very boring. I could never stay here more than 3 days. If there is ever a 2 week mission in Gitarama, I will have to politely decline. After some time, Pierre walks in and sees me number crunching. We are now on the financial part of the plan. He gave me a little help but I expected much more. Jean de adieu and I had worked so hard together on the financial plan of the Union. This time I was on my own. I had to create context from numbers and papers but with divine intervention everything would turn out alright. Pierre told me if you believe, everything is possible. So let’s see about this. It’s getting very dark outside and I am still number crunching. The Microfinance agency is full of people. Everyone comes late in the night. On one of the doors in the office, I notice a sign VIP. VIP in a Microfinance office ? Really? The smallest loan is 10000 Rwandan Francs about 12 Euro. So I am guessing VIP customers are 50 euro?! Not sure. The Microfinance agency runs different than microStart. They want profits; I don’t like that. I don’t agree with making profits on the poor. Interest rates are accordingly in the country and in CPF Ineza they vary between 18 and 24 % annually. What’s good about this cooperative is that they also provide microsavings as of 500 Rwandan Francs, 7.5 euro. Their products are according to sector. This is a tip, I am taking home to microStart and the interest rates are negotiable. Finally, the plan is finished. I have arrived. My neck is broken and I haven’t drank a sip of water. That is how focused I was. Upstairs from the office, there is a Church. The entire building was shaking but that didn’t bother me at all. I was on a mission. I gave Pierre, the flash drive and he began to print it out. I said I am leaving immediately. He got sad. I first had to sit down in the living room. Ohhhh nooo… I just want to get a hot shower. He started by telling me how fantastic, smart, great…. Etc I was. I was very thankful and flattered but my mission was to leave asap. We took a selfie and left. I snapped another picture of the calendar that was on the wall. A calendar of the board of directors of the Microfinance agency CPF Ineza. Another one I need to take to microStart. Lol It is too late to drive to Kigali so another night in the Splenid it is. I saw a cooperative of pottery around here so before I leave in the morning, I will pass by there. Maybe I can find something cute for the house ? I have given almost all my clothes away so there is space in my bag again. Let me rest because tomorrow afternoon is a full of meetings in Kigali. Night night
Mission CPS Ineza, Microfinance in Gitarama, Rwanda.
Photo with Cyrille, country coordinator Rwanda and Chantal microfinance manager CPS Ineza in Gitarama.
A new mission in Gitarama is awaiting me! This time I will be working for CPS Ineza, a microfinance agency in need of a business plan. Organised by BNP Paribas Benevolab & Exchange. My holiday has come to an end. Our last stop was in Gisenyi, where I went to Pfunda to see Numerien and Jean de Dieu of the tea farmers Union in Rwanda. Numerien was excited to meet my mom. We discussed his work, last week and prepared for my next meeting in Kigali with the Rwandan Board of Development. This meeting went excellent I was able to present BNP and Exhange plus inform them about the field issues of the poor tea pluckers. I really wanted my mom to see Gisenyi, as I loved the place. I was told to stay at the sisters of Gisenyi. I had already stayed in Serena. So why not try the sisters. People supposedly go on honeymoon there. We got to the sisters and saw that it was another basic room. Oh No, I thought to myself, I have had enough of that during mission time. My mom said she could only stay in such a place if it was for God. In the name of the spirit she didn’t dare to cancel so we took the room. My mom was complaining about the smell and insects. All of a sudden I got bitten everywhere. This is not a honeymoon place! We requested another room. As soon as we got in, we took the blankets off and threw them in a closet. My mom poured Holy water everywhere. I told her we should leave. She said for God, I can stay. The sisters prepared us a lovely dinner and Frederique came over for dinner. All of a sudden a cat appeared underneath the table. My mom went crazy. She doesn’t believe of having pets in the house. She is also convinced cats can carry negative spirits. She ran into the room to pray. While Frederique was leaving the sisters had locked us in. Finally straw for my mom! She had decided that this place was haunted and we needed to go. We woke up the sisters, insisted we had to leave for an early flight and paid. They didn’t believe us. They had overheard my mom complaining about having pets in the house. God had revealed a secret to her. At 10:30 pm, we arrive in Serena Hotel. 5star hotel, she will be able to sleep now. The sisters wasn’t a Holy Place so mom couldn’t stay in basic accommodation. I am starting to wonder who the African is. Definitely not her because like she says: this is rubbish. In Gisenyi, we shopped at a lady cooperative and I bought lots of African fabric bags and gifts to take to Belgian. I had told to my mom to break the price as I hadn’t haggled in Rwanda. She fought for the price but then we converted in dollars, we realised we were fighting over 2 dollars. My God when mom realised that we both felt bad. She was thinking in Nairas and I was thinking in Rwandan Francs.
Later that day, we found a worm in my new pants in my suitcase and you don’t want to know what she thought of that. First page in the Bible, subdue the Animal and be aware of evil spirits. Mother always has a crazy story to tell. People can’t be trusted, you have to lock all doors and always sleep with underwear because intruders are everywhere. She tells me all the time: You don’t know Africa my daughter. Well having spend a lot of time in West Africa, I agree with her statement. However, we are in East Africa, where the culture is totally different. Safety and security is the number one priority of Rwanda. Second is eradicating poverty and advancement. There is no corruption here and crooks and thieves are as good as none. She will have to learn the new Africa. This time when I brought her to the airport, I didn’t cry. As I am sure, we will see each other soon again. We won’t let four years pass. Through circumstances we have been apart for a long time. On this trip, she had a chance to Skype with my son (seeing his face for the first time) and with my brother after ten years. Through Skype we were all in 1 room for the very first time. Initially, I had planned to travel alone throughout Rwanda but I was very glad, she came along on this journey. It was a lot of laughter this time and less tears.
First day of my Rwanda holiday OMG! Last night when I went to lay in my bed, I just started to laugh. Ohhh the bed was soooooo comfortable with fluffy pillows. I forgot that feeling, I couldn’t stop laughing from happiness. Never been that grateful for a bed! I slept 8 hours straight! & without Advil PM. That’s the forte time this happened in Rwanda. With no alarm, I woke up fresh and still quite early and my 9-year old son Skyped me. Finally, I have a strong enough wifi connection that can hold a video Skype call. I put in my headphones and went to have breakfast. My son and I virtually had breakfast together. I was eating at the breakfast table in Rwanda and he was eating at home. He helped me select what I should eat for breakfast. He saw a donut and that one I had to eat for him. He was able to wave at the Chef who was making me an omelette. For a moment it felt that he was here in Rwanda. We video Skyped at the breakfast table for 2 hours. The day feels weird without the tea union. It had been a big part of my life for 2 weeks straight. I also find out that you can’t have chicken in a taxibus and no heavy market goods. Numerien didn’t believe me that it was illegal. Smggghhh…. I miss the Union and all its people already. I saw that the hotel has a beauty centre and decided to go for pampering.
That day I also went to the pharmacy to buy amiable pills in town, just in case I get infected since I have been grubbing on food that I shouldn’t eat. I bought a double dosis Nausicaa :) Walking through Gisenyi, I got a couple of good photo snaps from the Nyiaragongo volcano in Congo. So much steam that comes out of there. In the night you can see the red fire in the background of Gisenyi. This place is just beautiful, we walked to some amazing ‘rich’ people neighbourhoods and into the market. The market of Gisenyi is quite big and they are constructing a building to move it into a proper construction. A type of shopping mall, one can say. These markets always upset me. They sell second hand clothing mostly. Second hand clothing that comes from Europe and America. These are the clothes that we put outside our houses for charity. They are being collected all over and sold in bulk by Western businessman to African whole sellers. The clothes are then resold through retail in the markets. It pisses me off! These clothes should be given for free! On top of all of this, these second hand clothes are very expensive. Second hand clothes from America and Europe are considered premium quality while new clothes are considered bad, low quality from China. My argument is that most of these Western clothes are also made in China. Thus, this reasoning makes no sense. No matter what quality, these clothes should be free. They were donated to be given away for free. This phenomena is all over Africa, not only Rwanda. On the positive side, it is sustainable. Gisenyi is small and we are quick back where we left off. I found the mosque that was keeping me up last week. Its actually far from where I stayed. Back at Lake Kivu, I watch the sun set and order yummy food. Lake Kivu is so big that it looks like an ocean. The water is always warm and the methane gas extraction continues to fascinate me. I might go out tonight ;) after watching #rwandaday live President Kagame is just saying that Kinyarwanda learning centres are being set up so that Rwanda’s or adopted Rwandans wanting to return home can prepare. I want to learn the language ! Let me find out where these will be.
Showtime ! We have arrived at the end of the second week of the mission for Exchangevzw and BNP Paribas Benevolab. It is today that I have to present the conclusions of my findings. A short version of the strategic plan. Yesterday morning I had prepared the presentation before going to Rutsereco. It was showtime ! Last night I had gone to bed way to late as I was talking to a hotel guest about the genocide. He told me how his entire family was killed. (I will dedicate a post to his story.) So when I woke up this morning, I was tired. I rushed to get perfectly dressed, heels and makeup. We were back on Day 1, power dressing was necessary. The board of administration would be present and Jean Pierre, a representative of AMIR (Association of Microfinance Agencies in Rwanda). The meeting was scheduled for 8 o'clock. I ran out the Centre D'Acceuille with my heels on, up the hill trying to catch a taxibus. I was sweating before I got in. I was scared to be late but the matatu God’s are on my side. No one got in on the way and I arrived at 7:15. Numerien wasn’t there yet. Yes! I beat him again. At 7:45 he arrives and tells me: ‘you are a morning person’! This time he meant it! He asked me to prepare for the meeting because it has moved to 9 o'clock. I thought to myself Ohhh nooo! 9:15 Nobody there. Numerien said that the President of the tea Union had given permission that I could start. The manager of the Pfunda tea cooperative joins in, the manager of the microfinance agency joins in as well and we start. Surprisingly I had no stress. The entire plan and its French words were imprinted in my head. The words roll down my tongue. Augustin joins in and Jean Pierre from AMIR arrives. I am on a roll! At the end of the presentation it was suggestion and question time. Jean Pierre gave us really good suggestions in setting up the microfinance for tea farmers branch. The head of Pfunda Cooperative wanted me as a consultant to draft him a strategic plan too. I received farewell gifts and we headed out for drinks. Jean Pierre had a vehicle with driver and without thinking I opt for that vehicle. My time with taxibus had come to an end. We arrive at a motel and order drinks. It’s not even 12 and the Mutzig starts flowing. Mutzig beer with lemon Fanta. That’s a first. I discuss with Jean Pierre intensely BNP Paribas relations and the end of the mission. Jean Pierre left for Kigali while we continued my farewell lunch. Brochettes with French fries. My favorite. Nausicaa had advised me not to eat grilled anymore but I couldn’t resist. This time it was not organs, at least that’s what I think. I say my goodbye’s and inform them that they will receive the final strategic plan in 2 weeks. I will adapt it according to the new suggestions and the information from AMIR. I am included in the strategic plan and will have a lot of following up to do. Hence, I receive the title in their organization as Business Development Consultant for the Tea Farmers Union of Crete Congo Nil. My work here isn’t done. I thank them for the lovely gifts. They apologized they couldn’t find any tea from Pfunda. Green leaves only. It’s hard to find the local tea, everything is for export and Rwandans don’t drink tea. It’s no problem for me, I have learned a lot of new things on this mission and will stay on board. One last time in the taxibus to get my stuff at the Centre and a last meeting with RIM. Reseaux Microfinance. The meeting was short but I arranged for a second one. Finally at the Centre, I pack my bags and can’t believe the amount of stuff. I have given away so much already and yet the number of bags seem to grow. Is it the gifts ? I don’t know. While I was packing my stuff, I notice all of a sudden troops of mini roaches crawling from under the mattress! I thought to myself; this is the final straw, I got to go. I woke up this morning with an entire body full of bites. I have no one to blame but myself. I have an impregnated fitted sheet for mattresses. I had removed it to go to Rutsereco and when I returned to Gisenyi, I was too lazy to put it back. No one else but Francine to blame.
Numerien and I, each with a suitcase in the hand + 2 purses and 2 backpacks walk down to the Serena at the Kivu Lake. The hotel is 5 minutes walking distance from the centre. Numerien was acting strange because his request for a small mortgage was refused for the second time in the Bank of Kigali. He was stressed all of a sudden. I felt bad and tried to give him some advice. We ran into the special representative for sanitation of the district, a native of the tea fields. He advised me to include day cares into strategic plan of the union. Why didn’t I think of it myself. Perfect! More work! Arriving at the Serena Hotel, a resort looking type of hotel, Numerien gets anxious. He doesn’t want to come inside . He said the hotel is too expensive. I said I want to buy him a drink. We give my stuff to the butlers, whom X-ray all the bags. Tight security in this hotel which is actually not needed in Rwanda. We immediately receive hot towels and drinks. I want to go to my roommmmm…. Numerien is nervous. He doesn’t like the setting. I told him someone had hooked me up with the room for free. I didn’t want him to know I was paying these prices because he would have dragged me out. Lol Finally in the room. wow I forgot about tv’s, a bath, ohhhh A/C !!! I never appreciated luxury as much as today! I have normal wifi- no more 45 minutes per upload! We are so spoiled and I am grateful. I need a mission like this every year. I am ordering room service, paying 15 USD for a well deserved glass of wine. Let my 1 week of holiday begin !
One of the lovely gifts. They tried to get me tea but it’s hard to find tea in the local market because 1) no one drinks it. The tea farmers don’t even know what tea looks like or taste like. 2) 99 percent is exported for the world market. So I received local table mats. Numerien went everywhere to have it wrapped so nicely.
Official photo with Augustin, the president of the tea Union. Having written the strategic plan, I will have to continue to follow up and execute certain items in order to help the tea farmers out of poverty! I am on board now as Business Development Consultant.
Tea tasting !
Tomorrow is the final day to present my strategic plan. I will present it to the board of directors, cooperative managers and the direction of Amir. This presentation will be at 8 AM in the Pfunda offices. I am happy it isn’t 6 or 7 AM. This means that tomorrow is my last day with the tea Union before I go on a 1 week holiday in Rwanda. I arranged for my mom to join me on the Rwanda tour. I found a direct flight with Rwandair from Lagos. I haven’t seen her for 4 years so we are both excited. Today, the second last day basically, we head to go to Rubaya. This was another 4 hours in a taxibus. I can’t handle that anymore ! We were at 2400 meters and I had difficulties talking. The altitude was killing me. I explained to Numerien that we live at sea level and the altitude might cause the complications. He didn’t really understand but said hurry up finish your business and we’ll return to Gisenyi. Numerien said he was surprised to see me at the office today. I was on time and was working on my laptop outside. He was half an hour late :) He said he thought I was going to call in sick or tired and would not have mind. I was like what!? I am dead you should have told me you were dead too. We could have both stayed at home! I made it clear to him that this is the reason why I incorporated in the business plan that the union needs their own vehicle. You can’t just be sitting in overpopulated, overheated taxibus’ and expect people to work without a problem. Numerien agreed also, he got out a town before me and told me to stay awake or else I’d miss my stop. I am going to prepare for tomorrow and wish me all the best of luck!
2 day trip Rutsiro - Day 2
At 5:15 in the morning, Numerien knocked on my door. Here we go again ! Madame Francine we have to leave at 6 AM, will you be ready ? You want hot water ?Numerien ! Go Away! I was planning to get up 5:50 to be ready at 6! I don’t want water!!!! Ok Madame Francine. 6:00 o'clock Francine are you ready ? Shit! I forgot to get up! Numerien give me 5 minutes I will be readyyyyy! We were heading for a long walk to the town. Rutsiro looks like the Flemish country side. It is a very charming landscape and the buildings are very religiously Flemish. The school in town was also called Stella Maris. Go figure. We arrive in town, ready to take the taxibus but the driver wasn’t there yet. I thought to myself, Numerien you are in Africa; why did you expect him to be on time?? If it was up to me, we would have arrived late and been technically on time. I don’t know how he survives. Numerien must be waiting all the time and going loco. He got pissed off the wait so he wanted to go eat an omelette. We enter a very basic place and I didn’t want to risk eating anything. Numerien promised me it would be safe. Go ahead, I say. He had been talking about this omelette lady for 2 days. He craves her omelette all the time. The lady asked me omelette with chapatti? Chapatti Yes go ahead, for me a chapatti omelette. Numerien didn’t lie; the omelette was good but the chapatti wasn’t all that. In the meanwhile the taxi driver had arrived and we had to go. Numerien said no keep eating. He is the one late, he can’t leave without us. It’s our only way out of town. Taxibus started his engine, we ran outside. He wasn’t going to wait. Again, Numerien TIA. Numerien wanted me to have the best seat, right next to the driver. It was the worst seat ever. I fell asleep on the driver, my foot fell on his gas and my sleeping bag on the break. This was just the beginning of the ride. I was going to sit there for 7 hours. From 7 AM to 2 PM in a matatu. This was for me a hard limit. The road is impossible and with an overly packed taxibus, my mood began to change. It wasn’t until someone got on with chickens that I was getting really pissed off. My limit had been reached! I was tired, uncomfortable, suffocating and the stank of the chickens was becoming unbearable. Two chickens got lose and were acting a fool underneath the seats. A baby was crying and an old woman was sick. I gave her strepsils as I couldn’t handle the throat scraping and spitting through the window anymore. There was no end to this ride. I told Numerien that I wasn’t going to get off at Pfunda but go straight home. This was too much and it has broken me. I still have a plan to finish and right now I am beyond tired. Numerien wanted me to cash my DSA check but I couldn’t care anymore. I needed a shower and food. I arrived in the Centre in Gisenyi at 3pm. I entered the shower but the water was off. The day was getting worse and worse. After being in the shower for an hours trying to get the drops out, while handwashing my clothes. ( tip from the Dutch girls.) I went for late lunch. All of a sudden I feel a hand on my back. Numerien ! No ! Seriously! We have to go cash your check. FML! Fine! But first Francine, I noticed you got a little uncomfortable so I am giving you your going away present early. Go open it in your room, Numerien says. I go to my room and open the gift. I got so happy, it’s a Rwandan panier ! I really wanted one and he knew that. Considering the last taxibus experience, that was his way to soothe the misery. I thanked him gratefully but then he said take off the African shorts and change into long pants. There we go again ! Ugh! Obedient as I am on this mission, I change my shorts and head out to the bank. It was a 2 hour wait to cash my check. My head kept bopping as I was so sleepy. I didn’t even want the check ! Ugghhhh…. Back at the lodgement, he said we have to hide our money. No one may see it! Aghghh, Numerien this is Rwanda. No one steals here! It’s safer than freaking Dubai. Goodbye I see you tomorrow at 7AM. No blogging for me. The tiredness was too much.
2 day trip to Rutsiro - Day 1
As every working day in Rwanda starts incredibly early I had to rise and shine for Rutsiro. The green bus was another adventure. It is way too big for the bumpy hilly road. The view was amazing but I fell asleep. Numerien woke me up to let me know we had arrived. We were both starving. We left at 7 AM and it’s noon time now. We went to have lunch which was a dish I call ‘everything on a plate’. Basically a small volcano on your plate of potatoes, rice, bananas, manioc, meat, carrots, peas, cabbage and red kidney beans. Awful ! Most veggies grown here are the Belgian winter veggies. I am not fan. Numerien said : 'On va bouffer’ ! I thought to myself, you are going to bouffer; this chick is going to munch a little. I asked him to finish my plate but he was too full. The bookkeeper from Cotrago came to get us and again we were in for quite the walk. In the office, I interview everyone and made a big effort trying to stay awake. Narcolepsy was hitting me again, but the days are so long ! If Rwandans wanted to advance, they had to work for it themselves. No need to wait for help. It is clear that the people have understood. I have never in my life seen such hard working people. Rwandans all mutually agree that they are here to advance and put a stop to poverty. Numerien said the same thing. He said: 'we can not slack off or we die’. Poverty is an ugly battle and hard to get out. That’s why I brought you out here, you have to help us with an action plan and I will follow it religiously. He continued: 'We are copying Europe and we will excel’. I totally loved it ! & laughed hard. Dude is a character. Dressed like a clown. Now with the skirt wrapped over the jeans I went to meet the plant manager. The plant manager looked Indian mixed with African. He spoke Kinyarwanda, understood French but replied in English with an Indian accent. I couldn’t figure him out. He must like me a mix of everything. I asked Numerien whether the man was Rwandan or Mohindi. Numerien said he is Rwandan but his behavior is different like Mohindi. I said isn’t he mixed ? Numerien said oh that’s maybe what it is. LOL Then I asked him whether the cooperative manager was Chinese and African. Numerien asked if I was feeling ok ? The cooperative manager was black but looked completely Chinese. I am sure the cooperative manager as well was intermixed somewhere in his family line. At the end of the factory visit, I got to taste the fresh finished black tea. OMG! It was delicious. In the factory I found out that all tea is made from the green leaves. I thought black tea was from black leaves. No the process to create white tea, black tea or green tea is in the factory. It has nothing to do with the leaves. Dummy ! The sun was setting and we were heading back to the cooperative office. There a random man starts talking to me and asked if I was Canadian. Canada? Out of all the countries I have been labeled, Canada is new on the list. He asked me if I wanted to have a drink in his house. Then Numerien shows up and says: Oh you have met my best friend, he is the owner of the house in which the tea cooperative resides. Hence, all the questions. I had no choice but to say yes to the house visit. Tired and packed with my backpack, sleeping bag and overloaded Salvatore Ferregamo purse, I drag myself to his house. He pulls out a pink juice, I felt my stomach turning. He pours the pink juice in wine glasses for a special occasion. His Canadian guest. I just let him call me Canada as being of Belgian origin isn’t something to be proud of in Rwanda. The awful things the Belgian colonials and Catholic missionaries did out here is horrifying. So Canada it is ! I quickly drink the pink juice which was by far the sweetest drink I ever had in my life. I think if you mix Hawain Punch with every soda pop on the planet, you’ll get the level of sweetness. Well I wasn’t going to get sick from that. After a bit of chit chat and Numerien telling him that since he has an international consultant; he had become a big man. ( A grand homme ) I had to laugh. Having an Exchange BNP Paribas Benevolab expert can elevate your status in life. Well done Numerien! We had a budget for lodging but incredibly stingy Numerien wanted to check out the cheapest lodging in town. I was sleepy and tagged along. He decided upon a church with guest rooms. The town had no electricity since a day. The convenant was dark and dirty but I was prepared. Fitted insect sheet over the bed, pop up net and sleeping bag, towels and soap. The toilet I won’t even mention but I did kill the worms on the floor. I thought the day was over and then Numerien came knocking on the door. The manager wants us all to go out for dinner and drinks. With the flashlight on my head, we hit the darkness. (Thanks Guy Callebout for the tip.) Even with the flashlight, I didn’t see anything and almost twisted my foot. Numerien knew a shortcut. A steep mini rocky path down. Seriously ? We arrived in the darkness in the town and people are swarming around me. They heard that the Canadian was in town. There I was looking like a clown, with a flashlight on my head. The head of district said they never have visitors and was sad he wasn’t informed of my arrival. He would have done a parade. Thank God that didn’t happen! I would have been completely embarrassed. We head to the bar and the guys turnt it up! They chucked down the 65 cal of beer too easily. As usual I order water. They didn’t like that, party pooper. Is it so difficult for people to comprehend that I barely drink. Well, I still hold it down though with my jokes. We had a good time and I ordered the brochettes and grilled banana. I love the grilled banana. When I was eating my second brochette, I had a strange taste in my mouth. I asked them why does the second one taste different ? They replied: oh it must be a different organ. ORGAN !? I spontaneously shouted ? Yes intestine, they replied. What ? No my lovely brochettes I had been eating was intestine? FML! I couldn’t eat anymore. #screwd After dinner we headed back in the darkness to our logement. I had asked the Church acolytes, if I could have hot water. They knocked on the door and left me a dirty plastic jerry can with hot water. With the flashlight on my head a green bucket and the dirty jerry can I make an attempt at washing myself. I treated the water as liquid gold because I would only get one. I was so grateful for the hot water that it turned out to be a pleasurable bathing experience but no way I would repeat this in the morning. Exhausted I fall asleep, not touching anything.
Mission week 2 ! I forgot to call Numerien last night to ask him what time we would start today. I woke up before 8 and decided to call him at 8 on the dot. The phone rings no one picks up. Aha, I have the opportunity to eat breakfast ! I order myself a cheese omelette with ham and a glass of warm fresh milk. I don’t like that powered milk that they love to serve in Africa. While eating my breakfast, Numerien calls. I asked him if I could come alone to the office. He finally agreed that I no longer need a chaperone. I finish breakfast and head out. It feels hot today. Puffing I climb on the mountain and get in a taxibus. My body is aching from the excessive exercise this weekend. The tube of flexigel that I had brought with me will definitely come in handy. The taxibus was pretty empty today. Numerien keeps calling wanting to know where I am. My taxibus was slow and the driver waited everywhere. Doesn’t Numerien know that anything can happen while on the taxibus? He send the bookkeeper to wait for me at the end stop. I walked in the office and Numerien wanted to know everything about my weekend. My iPhone is his iPhone. He scrolled down the pictures. He couldn’t believe my adventure. He really wants to visit the gorillas but can’t afford the entrance fee. $50 dollars I think for locals and 750$ for international tourists entry fee. It’s sad but most locals can’t afford to visit the exciting places. I told him this weekend everything was free and he should go.
After discussing our weekends, we go to the meeting with FXB Gisenyi which I am dying to have a partnership with. We met with Berthilde, the manager. She is a beautiful and tall Rwandan woman (as you can see in the picture). She had light brown eyes and naturally long hair. Berthilde looked very intelligent. I knew this was going to be an interesting meeting. Berthilde explains what FXB does exactly in Gisenyi. I help Numerien explain our cause. Numerien is the type of person that you would like to kick underneath the table during a meeting. Occasionally he discussed the problems of the tea Union putting a foot in his mouth. The problems of the union is something I am solving at the moment. Berthilde was clever enough to not mind his comments and look at the win win situation. FXB has a lot of young unemployed people and we need people in the tea sector. After discussing a possible partnership, it is clear a tea program can be created with FXB. Berthilde had the same thoughts and remarks as I. Women in management position is always best. Berthilde and Numerien informed her colleague in Kinyarwanda. This is when I got sleepy and didn’t understand a word but the information needed to be translated for everyone to understand. The next steps are discussed and a trial program FXB * UCTCCN will soon be launched. Step 1 of the strategic plan is ongoing. If Numerien follows my plan, he will have a powerful union by 2020. Across the street of FXB office, I saw a woman cooperative that made local arts and crafts. I had to go inside.
The store was fantastic. Lovely African dolls for little girls, headbands, bags and clothing. I saw some cute little shorts and tried them on. They were my size! I didn’t want to haggle on the price because this a cooperative supporting women but Numerien did it anyway. I got a reduction of 1000 Rwandan Francs on 2 shorts and a wrap skirt. I took pictures as usual because I loved the place. They had a crocodile that I wanted to buy for my son but that was 30,000 Rwandan Francs. Numerien said he knows a place where I might find it cheaper. I doubt that so I might go back and get it. I will definitely buy him three mini paniers for his room. At 11:00, we were back in the office and I asked Jean de dieu to work on the financial projections 2016-2020 with me. We worked the entire day. When the bell went for the pause, I told Numerien we would continue working. He didn’t like that idea and went out to break. When he came back he brought us grilled peanuts and coca cola. If I didn’t want to eat and pause; the food would come to me. I was grateful though! The peanuts gave me lot of energy. The bookkeeper and I kept on number crunching. Numerien insisted on an afternoon break. I said no. I have a lot of work to do and have no time to break. The financials are important and in Rwanda because of the valuta, you are easily calculating in the billions. At 17:00 o'clock, Numerien was stressed out of his face. I had worked enough, the rain was coming. He couldn’t handle it anymore. I asked him for 10 minutes. My time that’s 30 min. After 10 minutes he said ok enough, this it. You don’t have an umbrella and it’s going to rain. I pulled out my rain poncho, put it on and told him I was fine. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He said you are like a Rwandan and was granted 10 more minutes. Just enough to finish the finances of the financial plan :) He put me on the taxibus and I got home before the rain. I know in Rwanda there is a long gap between the sky darkening and it actually pouring down raining. I am going to sleep early today as tomorrow Numerien and I are going on a two day trip to visit another tea cooperative.
Sunday the day of rest
Ok I decided to go along to climb the mountain Muhungwe. The 3 girls I was going to hike with I saw them getting waisted in Inzu Lodge. ‘The Eat, Pray, Love place’ I think I called yesterday in my blog ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ Funny! The first thing I said: u guys can drink ! We all laughed and the tone was set for the beginning of a great adventure. Amanda, Liz and Brooke are their names. Liz and Brooke are from Texas! I couldn’t believe it. I immediately began talking about how I was recruited by Lamar University in Beaumont on a track scholarship and my 2 high school years in League City, Texas. Liz was from Palestine, an area which I know and Brooke was from near Dallas. They both had gone to Texas A&M. I got flashbacks from the many cross country meetings at Texas A&M. Even though they went to the same college, due to the size they didn’t know each other. Brooke and Liz met each other in Colorado. Brooke works for a coffee trading firm in Kigali. Liz had come to visit her friend in Kigali and ended up staying. She loved the place so much; I don’t blame her. Rwanda is an easy place to love. Liz got a fantastic job out here. She works for a program that helps Rwandans and other Africans into college in America. They have send students to Ivy League’s in the USA. I was impressed and asked her a million questions on the way.
Amanda was from Georgia but had studied at Boulder, Colorado. She worked for an organization Streetboyz. A completely privately funded organization that helps street boys. I was impressed again. These three women were clever and it was a joy trekking with them.
We had porters, local guides helping us up the mountains. Innocent had brought us all lunch packs and extra water. The lunch was great. He proudly told me I have the chicken sandwich lunch. It felt beyond amazing to climb a hill and eat lunch in a random place in the bush. We were the third tourist to ever climb this mountain. The villagers ran behind us, welcoming us in their village. We said Muraho, hello every time we passed someone. They screamed back good morning. They were very happy to see muzungu’s on their mountain. At one point we had passed the village and for 3 hours we didn’t see anyone. We got passed the first peak after 5 hours of climbing and then we saw cows grazing and people again. The sight was beautiful, the vegetation in the mountains is exactly like European mountain vegetation. At one point I thought are we in Scotland, are we in Holland or in the Belgian Ardennes. All of a sudden I realised maybe it’s time I do a trail trek in the Belgian Ardennes.
We climbed and Brooke had hurt herself. Aha I get to use my medical items that I have been carrying with me everywhere! The girls were shocked that I had everything with me including baby wipes. Liz asked for a nail clipper on the peak and yes I had that with me too. We took a picture of her clipping her nails on the mountain top. :)
The hike down was hard too, you have to watch every step you take. It was a hard 7 hours but another day that goes into the top 5 days of my life. I had never hiked before and made it. I am ready to climb Bisoke mountain now.
At the bottom of the mountain, I said goodbye to Liz, Amanda and Brooke as they headed back to Kigali. Amanda’s hangover had been cured by the mountain air.
After the trek, I went to a fancy hotel. While sitting on the terrace the largest lightening I have ever seen broke out. Fire in the sky! The electricity in the hotel got hit. Lights out and a full thunder storm. The waitress went hiding on her knees behind the bar. I got scared and ran inside. The head of UNHCR was also having a drink and tried to calm me down. I eventually ran to the car and went to the Lake Kivu Serena hotel. A five star hotel in Gisenyi. The UN man told that they have lightening blocking equipment. We would be safe there. My Centre D'Acceuille Francois Xavier wouldn’t be safe. I found out that my hotel is actually from the Church right behind it. This explains why every waiter here is a priest. I am actually in some sort of covenant. The head priest asked me to join his choir. I said if I join your choir, you will have no more church members.
Serena Hotel is nice. I haven’t been in luxury since I left Chez Lando 9 days ago. I enjoyed the food and waited for the storm to pass. I got to enjoy good wifi for the first time in Rwanda. I ended the day at the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo. p>
Tomorrow I am back at work fighting for the poor tea farmers. If Numerien finds out I didn’t rest. I will be in trouble ….
Night night
P.S: Muhungwe is the highest non volcanic mountain in Rwanda. I will hike for life from now on !
Saturday off! Congo Nile Trail
I am so happy I don’t have to work this weekend. Numerien told me to rest as we have a big week ahead. I said sure with a big wink. My ecotourism guide arrived at the hotel this morning with the mountain bikes as promised. I had negotiated in my touring package that I would get the Nile Congo Trail ride for free. Today was the day! It was a bit chilly outside but as soon as we hit those hills I had the feeling it was 40 degrees outside. Those steep hills are tough, never ending and a real killer. The guide asked me if I was in shape. I told him that I was a Belgian Rowing Champion with the juniors and had a track & cross country scholarship NCAA div 1 in the USA but I hadn’t worked out in about 10 years. I didn’t want to bring shame on myself so I told him not to go easy on me. Why oh why am I so competitive ? The guide has completed the 91km Congo Nile Trail over 200 times in 1 day and has seen 5 tourist finish it in 2 days. This trail is no joke! I understood online that I would be riding next to the Nile Congo river but that is not true. It is called Nile Congo because the river at the end of Lake Kivu ends in Victoria lake in Congo. The mountains in Rwanda on Congo border are called Congo Crescent and the other side it mouths somehow in the Nile but there is no such thing as the actual Congo Nile river. The information online is incorrect. The Congo Nile Trail takes you to Kibuye. I had half a bottle of water with me and drank little by little because I saw there were no stores in this mountain area. People have to walk miles to the town. Half way I asked the guide why he wasn’t drinking. He said he forgot his bottle. Oh nooo ! I decided to take one for the team and gave him the rest of all my water. Now we were half way both without water. This was going to be one hell of a ride. The thought crossed my mind many times to drink from the well or from the Lake. Lake Kivu looks like an ocean and many new hotels are under construction. The hilly dirt roads are so steep that if you don’t watch and ride over a rock, the entire bike flips backwards. Going downhill isn’t a joke either you have to keep your eyes closely on the road and make sure you aren’t going to fast. On this trail you barely get a break. At one point we had gone up a few steep hills but were send down because there was a marine training. The special trainings aren’t allowed to be seen; which makes sense. On the trail we passed by an old German man who had been walking next to his bike for three days already. He asked me where I was going. I said nowhere just relaxing on the trail. He said relaxing ? You are drenched in sweat that’s not relaxing! I said I just passed some steep hills. He said oh the worst part is coming now. I got scared! Out of breath I stopped at a water well to rinse my arms and legs. My entire body was itching, red bumps everywhere. I think the repellent was giving me an allergic reaction. The silver lining was that I got to pump from a local well, which was very entertaining. The children chanted muzungu and screamed good morning all the time. Besides trying to focus on the road, I had to constantly give hi5 and yell hello or good morning back. Sometimes children would scream but they were hidden in the banana bushes so I wouldn’t even know where the noise was coming from. Occasionally goats ran on the road and the guide kept on saying look brochettes. So the brochettes I have been eating is goat meat? I didn’t know. The taste is very good though. I saw children swimming in Lake Kivu and decided to jump in with my clothes on. I was already wet from sweat anyway. It was so much fun. The water was clean and I thought the children how to float. I swam for a good hour trying not to think about the way back on the trail. The kids were joyful and some of them spoke English very well. One of the kids, named Eric wanted to become a professional swimmer. He swims in Lake Kivu about 5 hours a day. I hope he will become an Olympian one day.
Around 15:00 I was hungry but I was scared to eat. If I ate heavy I would not be able to reach back to the hotel. So we stopped at Inzu lounge. I had read about it online but decided not to stay there as you can only sleep in tents. When we got there I realised it is actually a beautiful place and this is where all the foreigners stay. The area on the shores of Lake Kivu is the muzungu zone. I have been wondering were the tourists were. They had yoga and a lot of alcohol was being consumed my mostly women only. I bet in the night there is a lot of noise of drunk women. It reminded me of a scene of the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love women in search for themselves but the place is nice. The food is great and the service is excellent. The Canadian owner is a darling as well. We are now almost 6 hours into biking and it’s becoming tough luckily we found bottled water. We had to stop more frequent but made it home before the nightfall and rain. When I arrived at the hotel I was craving fast food and ordered a burger with fries. I urgently needed carbs. The bike ride was fantastic ! The blackouts were worth every second. This day belongs to one of the best days of my life!
Night night for now - tomorrow I will be up at 6 AM for another adventure! I forgot to mention today is National Clean up day! Every last Saturday of the month everyone between age 18 and 55 has to help clean the streets. Bravo Kagame !
The children swam behind me and I thought them to float. Amazing day and clean water in Lake Kivu !
Les 3 petits panier Rwandais
I hadn’t finished the book on the plane as I was to busy talking to Karina from Fxb. So I finished the book last night. Last night the Dutch girls and I decided to stay in as it was raining too hard. Emily and Maartje as their names are suffer from hydrophobia. While finishing the book I realised how much truth there is in it. It describes being in Nyundo, Gisenyi, the village people, the hills, microfinance and poverty. Very similar to my life here. The name of the little Rwandan girl in the book is Impana which means gift in Kinyarwanda. I was touched as my middle and Igbo name is gift as well. Francine Gift Carron in Kinyarwanda I’d be Francine Impano Carron. I am going to keep in mind if I ever need a new screen name.
The book describes microfinance in its complete reality, the struggles and the job. It also talks about the meaning of poverty. The tale of a rich man that has everything wants to experience poverty. I can totally relate to this because in life we always aim to have more and become richer. We are convinced that by becoming richer, we automatically become happier. However in order to realise that wealthy doesn’t make happy you have to be rich first. Only when you are or have been rich you can appreciate the happiness in leading a basic life. I live myself a very nice life but being here in a basic room makes me realise that I don’t need anything but food and a place to sleep. People who have little can’t appreciate what they have because they have never been rich. Well most of us in the Western world have never been poor and hence need to experience poverty to learn.
I passed the lovely book as it is requested by the author Koen to Maartje and Emily, the Dutch girls. Emily is a nurse going to work in Uganda and Maartje is a Doctor. Talking to them I learned that the kid who jumped in the taxibus was actually infected with rabies. This explains the crazy reaction of the women pushing him with their feet of the bus.
Thank you Koen for lending me this book! I am sure Maartje and Emily will continue to pass it on on their journey in East Africa. Ceux qui ont les dents blanches rient.
The story of Numerien and Betha Numerien came to work perfectly dressed as always. I rather decided to go natural today. It’s chilly outside today. Numerien was very anxious this morning because his wife Betha was coming. Numerien lives in Gisenyi in a hostel while the wife lives in his town with the 4 kids. In his home town near Rutegroc, we will be there on Tuesday are the salaries very low. Numerien makes about 370 USD a month This is still too low for the responsibilities relating to his function and the time he invests. On top of that he pays a hostel / lodgement 5 days a week. His oldest son is in boarding school and comes home 4 times a year. The smallest is 2 years old. The other 2 are in primary school. While the wife came to Gisenyi to return to Rutegroc with Numerien in the evening, the 12 year old is responsible of the 2 other children. Numerien’s wife named Betha is a primary school teacher and makes 40 USD a month. Horrible ! I knew that Betha was coming today so I went through my suitcase to find a gift. Everything I brought can be left in Rwanda. That was my initial plan every outfit, accessory or whatsoever can be given away as a gift. So I decided to give her earrings, a bracelet and a ring that I had bought in Antwerp from Enchante Fine Jewelry. It’s very nice black pearls, white pearls, silver and CZ stones. I also had a big bottle of expensive Guerlain perfume with me that I had received as a gift myself. I decided to pack this in the local brown bag and gift it to her. She was so happy she had never owned a bottle of perfume in her life! I can’t imagine that as a woman. Since I was 4 I had been collecting perfume. The ring was flashy and her size. I don’t see many women wearing jewelry so it was the perfect gift for her. This afternoon, Numerien is giving me a break he is going with his wife in town and he wants me to nap. Not realizing the strategic plan is a lot of work and I will be working from my hotel this afternoon. I plan to nap all day on Sunday. The taxibus on the way home was full of babies not even 3 months old. Literally full full! It was reeking like pipi diapers considering I didn’t eat breakfast complete nausea hit me. As a result Numerien and I decided to discuss family planning. He thought I managed my family planning with 1 kid. He said his wife has tried all birth control pills, the injection, everything and it makes her very sick. So they had decided to carefully play Russian roulette in the bed but she got pregnant at 41. I had to laugh so hard when he told me this. I am telling you people always share their personal things with me and Oops now I am writing it on a blog. Numerien said the government has programs everywhere to introduce family planning but the pills give moods wings to the women.
I bet he will be doing a lot of family planning management this weekend. Now I am alone in Gisenyi because the bookkeeper is in Kigali for training. Back to work.