Cibitoke Conclusion 4/27/13

We spent two nights in Cibitoke.  The first morning I woke up, I noticed a small animal had pooped on my mosquito net, near my head!  I searched the room, shook the extra mosquito net sitting on the top of the bunk bed, and saw a blur run across the top matress and squeeze  between the matress and the frame near the wall.  I slapped in my contacts, and was able to see a tail hanging down from the upper bunk.  It looked like a rat tail...yuck.  Turns out, it was a big lizard.  I scared it, and it went down to the lower bunk and dove under my pillow.  I trapped it in my sheets, and thought I would show it to Calvin and Paul.  Unfortunately, it got loose.  It crawled into the main room, and slide under Paul's door, and unfortunately it was the first thing he saw when he woke up.

The kids in Cibitoke are younger than the kids where I live, and they have not had as much exposure or education.  The kids don't speak much English.  I tried to teach them how to make friendship bracelets, but it didn't go as well as it did with the kids I live with, or with the girls at school.  Two girls were able to make bracelets.  Calvin and Paul gave a shot at teaching the kids how to play memory with a deck of cards.  I learned that I'm not the best at doing activities with young kids. 

Attempts to make friendship bracelets. Calvin playing memory in the background.

During break, a tutor helped the older children with math.

Late in the morning, my Ugandan friend, Pamela, took us into town.  We walked through some side streets toward the main paved road through town.  We saw the one clean water spiket in town.  At one point, we had a crowd of about 40 kids following us.  Many people had dirty clothes and no shoes.  Along the main road, there were some stands.  I wanted to buy paper for the kids to color on, and paper to make paper airplanes.  We found only one stand with a reem of paper, and the vendor sold individual pages from it.  So, I bought half the reem.  Pamela bought some passion fruit juice in the main store, and Calvin found a Snickers.  The main store was about six book shelves, and very lightly stocked.  On the way back, we walked through the main market.  Many people come in the morning, and then many people come Wednesdays and Saturdays.  It was pretty bare when we went.  I was able to talk to a couple people who spoke English, and many of the vendors gathered around the group of muzungus.  I speak a little bit of Kirundi now, and people really appreciate it when we learn their language.  Kids here don't have many toys, but one boy in the market was using a whip to spin a top!  I'll have to see if I can find one in the market someday.  I found a website that says the population of Cibitoke is about 14000.

Back at the Children's home, I fought with the Australian DVD player.  It won't play American DVDs, but I was able to get it to play music and some digital movies.  So, Pamela, Calvin, Paul and I taught the kids dances.  We did the Cupid Shuffle, the Cha Cha Slide, and a simlified version of the Cotton Eyed Joe.  Late in the afternoon, we watched Mulan.

Paul never did find the lizard again, and he managed to make it through the second night.  :)

The next morning, I made paper airplanes for the kids.  The dog managed to catch and destroy a couple.

Airplane killer.

Downed plane.

 

Going back to Bujumbura, we had trouble getting a taxi or a bus.  We ended up on a bus, but in reality was a public van.  It cost 2500 Burundi Francs, or $1.61.  It was an adventure.  I was lucky, and ended up sitting in the passenger seat.  Calvin sat next to me, on the engine's hot metal cover.  Paul sat behind him, and one other YFC staff member sat behind me.  I think there was about three other people in their row...one next to Paul on the seat, one partially on the seat, and another person next to the door without a seat.  When the bus would stall, the YFC staff member had to bend down and connect the battery to start the vehicle.  We got stopped by the police.  They checked the lights and a couple things.  If there are over 20 people, then they will fine the driver (or the driver will have to pay them a bribe).  Another van drove by and teased the driver saying he got stopped because he had white people.  The van had 22 people.

Paul and the YFC staff member.

Close to Bujumbura, the road was temporarily closed.  The traffic was stopped to allow the president's caravan to exit from the airport.  Travel anywhere here generally requires patience.  :)