Another village group

Thursday 17 October

I'm back in Byumba, cool and fresh and with occasional views of the volcanos. I was to work with an HIV/Aids group, but my contact there, Rachel's brother Fidele, died in May and the group is 'not ready to work with me'. (His third wife, Lucille, was in my class in Gisenyi last week.)

So Rachel has made contact with Donata, a church women's leader she knows in the village of Musura. We set out on motos, down the side of the hill with the Congolese refugee camp (being extended as the violent disruption in North Kivu intensifies) at its summit, and round onto an adjacent hill, looking back over the valley to Byumba.

Looking across to the camp

The women gather slowly; they seem withdrawn - Rachel says they are shy because few trainings have come their way.

Singing while we wait for latecomers

The leader has seen Yvette- Marcelline's planted sacks in town and is curious. The women tell me they all have some ground for growing food. I wonder whether constructing a sack might not be the best use of our time but Rachel encourages me to give the usual practical demonstration. I concur, knowing by now that having a sack with different seeds in a small space can lead to the shift in mindset first described to me by Verena from Kamembe: to grow and eat many different foods.

As usual, we consider the ideal location of a sack: level ground: dappled shade; protection from envious passers by, destructive children and hungry goats or chickens; closeness to the kitchen for harvesting and watering. This church is exposed and somewhat isolated. I ask if a participant living nearby would like to host us. Alphonsine agrees.

A leisurely ten-minute walk brings us to her house and garden. She points to a healthy plant of sukumawiki outside (the Swahili name means the one that gets you through to the end of the week/wik): one of the dark green leafy vegetables some are learning to eat and others dismiss as fit only for goats. Round the back is the penned cow with a calf tethered nearby. (It is forbidden to let cows graze; they are fed two hundred-kilo sackfuls every day of grasses and other weeds cut with small sickles by children who are therefore not in school - I suppose there must be some justification for these arrangements.)

Here is the cow beginning on the girl's scant offering

We have everything we need. We have bought a small (25 kilo) sack, Rachel has drunk the water in my bottle so we can cut it top and bottom, there are small pebbles aplenty, good soil with compost, a knife, a hoe and a bucket, and good stakes. We choose our spot and the work proceeds.

Standing next to the sack, this is the view

Part two will include cutting and planting the sack, returning to the topics of looking after our families through good nutrition and hygiene, and looking after the soil. I've asked the group to think about how they will distribute the seeds I bring. Perhaps this time all will be sweetness and light.

Part two

Friday 19 Oct

We met and prayed, we walked to Alphonsine's and planted the sack with her chosen seeds - cauliflower at the bottom, leeks and leaf celery on the sides, and peppers on the top. I was encouraged to see she had already prepared another sack but we planted only one.

Cutting a hole for planting

As we walked back to the church, people were gathering. I was told there was to be a village meeting. I wondered whether my women would be summoned. Half an hour later they were. But I asked the organiser to stress that they had only a short time for the training, and to my surprise they were back in 30 minutes. What was it about, I asked? The reply was without enthusiasm - the usual: just development and peace.

After a little more teaching it was time to describe and distribute the seeds. The wind rose, the doors banged, we all wrapped up against the cold with whatever we had. Rain began to blow in through the unglazed windows along the whole of one side, half way across the floor. Benches were moved to the far side, then the table followed, cloth billowing and seed packets threatening to blow out of control. It was far too noisy for teaching.

After half an hour the wind and rain eased. During the downpour I had divided each kind of seed into two packets. (Small brown money envelopes are in my teaching kit.) The class moved into two groups according to where they lived. Each received their share of the seeds and lunch money. The moto drivers arrived in another surge of rain and were invited in to keep dry. Soon, thanks and goodbyes were over and so was the rain. There was no excuse for delaying the exposed journey back to town. If there was any disgruntlement among the students, I was too cold to notice.