I'm now into my third week of working with PPR. Most of what I've been doing so far is training and learning about thé organization. I went on a field mission last week to the town of Burhinyi, which was excited. Burhinyi is about 3 hours south west of Bukava by truck. This is not like three house in the United States, because you can't drive 70 to 80 miles per hour on dirt roads filled with holes. People still tend to drive as fast as they can, but it usually takes a little longer to get places. Nevertheless, it was a nice drive and I got to see the beautiful countryside of Bukavu. Burhinyi is a small town high up in the mountains. It's a bit chilly and foggy, and really beautiful. It would be a great place to live, if the FDLR didn't live in the forests on the other side of the mountain. We stayed in a small guesthouse without electricity for the two nights we were there.
This week, I'm participating in a training seminar with other PPR staff members, focused on negotiation strategies. The seminar is led by a two students from Harvard law school, who are accompanied by a teacher. They're teaching us a style called open negotiation, that tries to consider the needs of both parties. So far, it's been a really interesting seminar, and I'm looking forward to the last day tomorrow.
I'm also adjusting to a new housing situation this week, because I moved out of my old house and into the home of my host parents last weekend. I've spent a couple weekends with them before, but now I will be living with them for a couple of months. I've been enjoying their cooking (they usually insist on me eating as much as humanly possible) and watching African sitcoms and french game shows with my mom.
A picture of the hospital in Burhinyi. There are big valleys between the mountain ridges.
Moise was my partner on the trip to Burhinyi and he is the head animator at PPR. Germain, who is working on the car, was our driver. We had some car problems but we got there and back okay.
I'm writing this post from an internet cafe right next to a central market in Bukavu. I was here yesterday too, and there was some protesting and conflict going on outside. Moto drivers in this area often have conflicts with the police, because they are not supposed to stop to let off or pick up passengers. While I was using the computer there was a group of people watching the fighting from a balcony (the cafe is on the second floor). A cop sprayed some kind of gas towards us that filled the whole cafe. Everybody was coughing and my nose started to run and burn a bit, but it went away after 5 or 10 minutes. In the moments that I watched, the cops got pretty physically agressive with the drivers. It's hard for me to tell if this sort of thing is normal or related to the upcoming elections. My friend Moise (not the one who works for PPR, but the one who is in Seed) told me a few weeks ago that he thought protests and tentions related to the election would start to rise in May. I guess it's May now. Who knows what will happen?
That's all for now. Hope everyone is doing well.
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