My Daily Life at ASYV

The electricity is out and it’s torrential pouring, which means one thing - new blog post! While I love writing about the meaning of life and achieving goals - which I've been doing lots of lately - I wanted to focus this post on the everyday aspects of life at ASYV.

A normal weekday

I try to get up at about 7:30am. Sleeping has been hard for me in Rwanda. I am not sure if it is the malaria-filled mosquitos in my ear, the kids praying at 5am or the constant slamming of doors, but something keeps me up at night. Luckily, I think I officially became too tired to care and my sleep has started to normalize. I usually start my day with a meditation/exercise and then breakfast at the boy’s house. Breakfast usually consists of oatmeal with some fresh fruit, if I can get my hands on some. If I decide to head straight to Administration (where I sometimes work), they have porridge. It is a mix of maze, sorghum, water and a bit of sugar. I actually really enjoy it but most of the cousins don't, which means more for me!

I then begin work in my ‘office’ (in one of the empty boy’s rooms) or at Administration with the other staff. Sadly, I just found out my 'office' is now being used for its original purpose as bedroom. RIP Office.

On Wednesdays we have Learning Community at 8:00am. Learning Community is for the cousins, big brothers/sisters and Mamas to engage in a fun way. Last week we played tug of war and other outdoor sports activities. The Mamas got SO competitive. It was especially hilarious when they started accusing each other of cheating. We also had to go around and give each other a compliment for the day. I got a lot of “may God bless you” and “I hope for health for your family”. Thanks for all the love Mamas!

From early morning to lunch I usually do computer work, including writing communications material, reaching out to potential guests, planning VIP visits and interacting with local partners. Occasionally I’ll have a call with someone in Kenya or Israel who are on a similar time zone. My department is very small so I have the flexibility to try different things, meet new people and master new skills, which is very exciting for me.

We then go for lunch in the dining hall with the students. The students are at school until 3:00pm each day so this is a nice way to have a break and see my family. Lunch is like most meals: rice, beans and potatoes. Sometimes we have this dish called cassava. Not a fan favorite amongst the cousins, but the kids LOVE it. It feels like play doh and tastes like I'd expect play doh to taste too. The other day we had meat. Apparently the entire village (650 people) could eat the meat from just one cow. I try to engage my family in conversations during lunch but they mostly ignore me as they are tired from a long morning at school. I don’t mind – long silences are accepted in Rwandan culture and I have begun to really enjoy the quiet without forced conversations. I find this is NOT the same in American culture.

After lunch I try to take a short break. I have realized that I’m not my most productive from around 2:00pm – 3:00pm, so instead of getting burnt out, I’ve decided to dedicate 1-2 hours to doing other activities if I can. This may mean reading, walking around the farm, resting or working on side projects. My latest side project is photography. The other day the media class reviewed my photos and provided feedback. Let's just say, they are harsh critics...

At around 3:00pm I get back to work. From 3:00pm – 6:00pm is when the students are out of school. It is also when our NY office is up and available. I have calls with NY or other journalists, visitors and partners. As for students, I try to spend time helping them with individual needs. This might mean assisting them with an application, discussing their debate topics or homework help. I also try to spend a bit of time hanging out with my girls and understanding what’s going on in their lives. Oftentimes I find that girls in the Village (and everywhere in the world!) have a hard time saying what they need. By identifying their issues I can help them and show them how important self-advocacy is. These are everyday lessons that I can hopefully share with my family. Small, consistent changes to help empower them would be a dream come true for me.

From 6:00pm – 7:00pm I like to go to the canteen and eat fatty foods with the kids and other cousins. They have Fanta citron, amandazi, chapatti, sambosas and sometimes my favorite: pizza (well sort of)! It is fun to just take a break and relax with the kids.

At 7:00pm we have dinner. Sometimes we go to the dining hall to eat and other times we cook in the boy’s house to relax and plan for Family Time. Family Time is for one hour after dinner. I explained Family Time in some detail in my last post. After that, I usually am exhausted and fall asleep, although I try to do at least one more hour of work. I am not sure that my workaholic tendencies have went away...even after moving to rural Rwanda :)

Weekends are quite different.

On Saturdays at 5:45am we run muchaka muchaka (I wrote about this in a previous post), followed by Farm Time, which can consist of milking cows, cleaning the farm or organizing around the houses. I usually skip Farm Time because I generally just get in the way and the girls yell at me. The rest of the day is free for students to do their extracurricular activities. We sometimes watch movies or play games in the family house.

Sundays = church. Students are very religious and go to church (Catholics, Protestants, Muslims) for the majority of the day. It is a very chill and relaxing day, which I usually find is needed after a long week. I love Sundays in the Village.

Weekends off

If we have off, which is every other weekend, we leave the Village from Friday – Monday and stay at our ASYV house in Kigali. Kigali is a very nice change of pace, with lots of different food options, new places to go out and interesting people to meet. I have been trying to meet more people in Kigali – both for work connections but also to make new friends! Can never have enough friends! If you know anyone in the area, introduce me!

I also find myself far too often in Kimironko Market having dresses custom-made for about $15. It's a bad habit for a shopaholic, but now I've made some friends at the Market who help me bargain - and I love my new clothes.

Lately, I have been very focused on networking. I am going to Kigali more often to meet with potential and current partners. There are so many possible opportunities for our students to get internships and jobs. We also are always looking for skill and capacity building programs to help the students grow professionally and personally. I have found a passion in meeting people so we can develop and foster these types of relationships.

Every new visitor that walks through our gates has been interesting, with deep personal stories and a yearning to know more about the Village, which I so sincerely respect. Seeing someone look around the Village and talk to our students makes me fall in love with the Village over and over again - inspiring me daily and making me remember how incredible this place really is.