The weird and the wonderful and the almost washed away

When people coming back from extended holidays make the remark about hoping the house is still standing I don’t expect most actually worry that their home will have disintegrated into a pile of rubble. The same is not to be said for my house however. And the evidence is plainly obvious. I return home to find the entire fence running between my home and the road collapsed and the tell tale signs of a pretty large and recent landslide. Huge chunks of land have detached themselves from the bank behind my house, taking with it an entire tree and at least 6 meters of bamboo fencing.

Round the front the damage makes me wonder how the house hasn’t already quietly slipped down the hill to settle in the football pitch below. The whole garden is a combination of mudslide, subsidence and building site. All my vegetables have been pulled up, the lettuce is no longer, the shrubs have disappeared and instead are piles of rocks, cement and stick clay like mud. Cracks run along the whole of the front step, drainage troughs, inside walls and porch. We are most definitely on the move!!! Luckily, our landlord has seen the urgency in the matter and has started to dig some weird moat-like ditch around the house and has constructed a wall which may or may not hold up against the next rains. Nothing is very clear other than we are living amongst cement and mud (there is always mud) and the whole word thinks we are open for viewing now there is nothing between us and the general population of Kirambo!!! AND it's not even supposed to be the wet season! Look at me, barely back 48 hours and I'm already talking about the rain!!!

For those who assume I am exaggerating please see the photos as evidence….and this is after the landslide had been cleared and the building has progressed so I can almost tell what the plan is.

Back in the office today and had both some highly Rwandan and highly unRwandan experiences all in quick succession. At merely the suggestion that there was no internet connection, a Mr IT man was at my door with correct cable and within seconds I was connected! I was so ready for the oh so common ‘patience Rachelle, patience’ (please put on a French accent for authenticity), but the problem was solved within 20 mins! Add that to the declaration from the immigration man that I was lucky that he was married otherwise I’d have to watch out, and the random assortment of men and women carrying rocks in my garden greeting me in fantastic combinations of kinyafranglais plus a lengthy conversation with a previous P6 student in almost perfect English (who you’ve only ever said amakuru to!) and you’ve got the makings of a day full of surprises and head shakes and smiles! Not a bad start and I’ve barely had a stare all day!