A day of things that made me smile

Today has been a day of little things that made me smile.

I lit my charcoal stove today on my own. I confess it did take about 15 matches though in my defence, they were the poorest excuse for matches I have every known; they would strike, but the flame wouldn’t catch on the wood! I had to resort to candle wax and paper, which I considered resourceful if perhaps not very Rwandan. But the result was that I boiled a pot of water for our flasks so we could hot bucket shower later, and then made rice on the dying embers. I even shaved my legs in the left over hot water, sitting on the door step with the sun warming my face and the chickens trying to drink the soap suddy water. It was a pretty idyllic scene.

At dusk, little voices coming up from the house below. I peer over the fence and three sisters and a brother are crowded around the new green school-issue lap tops, singing and recording themselves. They huddle together on a wooden bench whilst white chickens peck around them in the dirt. Suddenly, their laughing faces turn towards me. They notice the muzungu staring down at them (my turn to stare for once!) and they grin shyly, wave and giggling nervously, they continue to sing. One of the sisters, becomes bold and races up the slope to the bottom of my fence and turns the lap top towards the house. Now they are recording me, and the giggles begin again as they capture me on camera. I’m frustrated by my lack of Kinyarwanda, but they recue me with one of their only English phrases and ask ‘What is your name?” It’s engagement and it’s lovely.

Charcoal smoke is in the air and fills my nose. Childrens’ voices travel across the night sky, a cow moo in it’s solitary pens, the crickets start their night orchestra as the football field begins to clear and the last calls from the pitch fade as the darkness drops. Tonight the sky remained clear throughout the evening and the hills were backed by a blue sky. Pillows of white clouds roll in, but the grey tinge does not bring rain; the countryside glows and I breathe in the goodness of the world around me and feel very lucky. Lots of things to make me smile.