Kwita Izina, Gisenyi, and my first tropical illness..

June 5 – Kwiata Izina
Today, we went to the annual gorilla naming ceremony called Kwita Izina. In Rwandan tradition, every time a baby is born, the family holds a naming ceremony. Six years ago, Rwanda decided to start holding an annual ceremony for all the baby gorillas born that year. There are about 750 gorillas currently living in Rwanda and border areas of Uganda and the DRC. They are kept isolated from the public, and even the gorilla docs we are living with – who are the only vets that take of gorillas in this part of Africa – have to get permission to come in contact with them. There are, however, trackers who work 9-5pm and follow each of the groups of gorillas every day, monitoring for births, deaths, injuries and illnesses.

When the naming ceremony was started 6 years ago, there were about 200 people there. Today, there were probably 20-30K. The event was held in a large field at the foot of one of the volcanoes, overlooking the valley below us. In addition to celebrating Kwita Iniza, Rwanda had also been chosen by the UN to receive the World International Earth Day award on the same date, so there were many dignitaries from the UN and the Rwandan government present. And then there was Don Cheadle, named UN Environmental Ambassador for the year, also here to receive his award.

During the days preceding the event, we heard rumors that President Kagame was coming (though apparently, the rumors happen every year). We were warned that if he did come, the security would be intense. We therefore set out early, and followed a line full of cars, winding through the small villages on the way to the site. There were flowers hanging on lines all along the route, and the streets were lined with people, either watching curiously for dignitaries (and the “Muzungu!”) or walking the 16 km to the event themselves. Military with Kalashnikovs stood guard every half mile.

At the site, we had to pass through metal detectors and were ordered to leave all cell phones in the cars. We were then escorted up to a series of tents filled with plastic chairs and looking at a large stage where all the speeches and performances were held. The non-wealthy, non-dignitary, non-Muzungu classes had a different entrance, where they were not allowed to bring anything (and most of them do not carry much), were frisked by the army, and then packed tightly into an open field behind the stage. These were mostly children and teenagers, and they sat there throughout the ceremony, with military and police standing among them, and every time someone stood to have a better look, he would get a wack on the head and told to sit down. (When the famous boy band from Kigali – “The Band”—came to perform, the kids got very excited and began to jump up and wave, but they were quickly subdued by the police. Ironically, the band lip-synced to a recording which included a loud background of a cheering crowd, which looked a little ridiculous as they performed in front of about 20,000 very quiet kids.)

There were many long speeches (as we had been warned) and many performances (and many microphone issues). When President Kagame finally spoke, to his credit, he actually turned around to the back of the stage and spoke directly to the masses of people in Kinyarwandan, apologized that the rest of his talk would be in English and then thanked them for coming. In slow, faltering English, he then directed his address to all of us in the tent, before turning back again to his people and telling them (according to our friends who translated) that it was Rwanda’s time to set an environmental example for the world.

After the ceremony ended, the thousand or so of us who had been under the tents were invited to rich buffet lunch, while the rest of the masses stood behind military barricades and watched. We sat at a table with a few Rwandan hotel owners, who weren’t at all interested in talking to us (who had likely figured out that aside from our skin color, we were below their social status). We were about to escape the scene, when Don Cheadle’s personal manager/attendant caught up with Jan and asked if it would be possible to have the actor see the baby orphan gorillas.

The orphans live in a small compound with high walls. If they climb high enough on the branches, they can see over the walls into the valley. They are not allowed to have contact with any humans except for the few men who live with them (yes, all the time) and socialize them, and the vets who occasionally have to take care of them. Most people living in Rwanda have never seen a gorilla and the crowds that came to the Kwita Izina ceremony were quickly drawn to the compound after all the other excitement ended. After some major haphazard crowd management, we got Don Cheadle and a ladder to the compound, and Jan got to climb up with the actor and give him a visual tour of the baby gorillas.

The day ended with a 5-6 hours of thunderstorms and heavy downpours, as has been common here nearly every day.

June 6- Gisenyi
Today, we set out by city bus to the town of Gisenyi, described by my Brandt guide as “an attractively faded resort town” and the largest port town on the Rwandan shores of Lake Kivu. The bus ride (always packed here in every direction) took a bit over an hour and wound through the amazing green hills and valleys between Ruhengeri and the DRC border. I sat next to a woman who had brought 3 large bags and her 5 year old son (crisply dressed in his blue and white school uniform) onto the bus and managed to fit all but her purse onto her seat (she placed the purse in my lap and said “please help” me). We shared some candy I had finally remembered to put in my bag, and she spent the rest of the ride explaining the sites to her very excited young boy.

From Ginsenyi, we sat out on what had been described as 6km “pleasant stroll” to Rubona, a small town on a peninsula overlooking the lake. Our stroll followed a paved road , with a good 30-40 degree grade, that wound up and around several hills before coming back down to the peninsula. As we walked, through one small village to the next, it became quite clear that not many muzungus pass this way on foot. There were a lot of cries of “Muzungu”, giggles, and for the more adventurous ones, hand shakes with a “good morning” or “bonjour”. By the time we got to Rubona, which boasts a Primus brewery (no, no tours) and several small hotel resorts, we started encountering more kids who were used to white people and whose main English vocabulary was confined to “give me some money” or “give me some water” (a less heart-wrenching statement here than you may think, as we were on the banks of the largest lake in Rwanda). We ended our trek at the Paradis Malahide, which is supposed to be one of the most affordable and nice accommodations in the Lake Kivu area (~$60 a night) and consists of multiple little rondawels (circular cottages) on the edges of the lake. We each had 1L of Primus beer (and then split another liter among the three of us) while sitting in their garden, watching local kids swimming in the lake, and listening gospel song s coming from a nearby church service.

Too lazy to hike back the 6km over the hill, we took a taxi back, and walked along the shores of Lake Kivu where teenage children played in the waters , 2 km from the DRC border. We got back in the evening and went with Molly, the woman who lives in our house and does PR for MGVP and several other local NGOs , to the Volcano Lounge, the newest restaurant to open down the street (all of 3 days ago). We set on a beautiful terrace, looking at far off thunderstorms, eating pizza, a new introduction to Ruhengeri.

The next day, I was sick. Nauseated and feverish, I spent the entire day and night in bed. 500 mg of Cipro and a day later, however, I feel almost back to normal.