Niger was considered one of the most physically difficult places to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The heat, the lack of electricity (or any other western amenities), the sand: if you can survive in Niger you can survive anywhere... or so they say.
During my first few hours in Kigali, as I drove around in the Peace Corps vehicle on clean, paved roads I thought to myself how much easier and potentially more interesting this experience would be. There were well functioning streetlights, tall buildings, large advertisements for everything from shampoo to government sponsored health initiatives, and Land Cruisers for various well known International NGOs. I might make things happen here!
During my first few hours in Kigali, as I drove around in the Peace Corps vehicle on clean, paved roads I thought to myself how much easier and potentially more interesting this experience would be. There were well functioning streetlights, tall buildings, large advertisements for everything from shampoo to government sponsored health initiatives, and Land Cruisers for various well known International NGOs. I might make things happen here!
We arrived at the hotel and I was surprised to find that not only was I being given my own room, but that it also had electricity and running water. A functioning toilet for me alone! That night I went out to dinner with the other three Peace Corps Niger transfers and several staff members from Peace Corps Rwanda. The restaurant had pizza with real cheese! I could not believe my luck.
When I met with Peace Corps Rwanda Country Director Mary Abrams, she was incredibly warm and welcoming. Mary served as a volunteer in Niger and also as the PC Niger Country Director from 2006-2010. She warned the other PCVs and me, “Rwanda is not Niger”. For what would soon become painfully obvious reasons, Rwandans are much more private and not as trusting as Nigeriens. This is not a place to ask or joke about ethnicity, or assume anyone you meet will invite you into his home.
When I met with Peace Corps Rwanda Country Director Mary Abrams, she was incredibly warm and welcoming. Mary served as a volunteer in Niger and also as the PC Niger Country Director from 2006-2010. She warned the other PCVs and me, “Rwanda is not Niger”. For what would soon become painfully obvious reasons, Rwandans are much more private and not as trusting as Nigeriens. This is not a place to ask or joke about ethnicity, or assume anyone you meet will invite you into his home.
Upon returning to the hotel the first night, a very friendly young man came to introduce himself. His name was Willy and he explained that the nuns who ran the hotel, and the orphanage that was connected, had raised him. His parents died in the 1994 genocide. That's when I realized this was going to be a whole different kind of difficult.
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