The Good, The Bad and The Sweaty

I think I’d be cheating all of your expectations if I made it seem like life in Burundi is all fun and games. Yes, I’m having a great time and will bring home plenty of valuable experience, but it’s not always easy living here. What do you think sounds worse: The fact that four consecutive days of no internet caused me to miss a close friend’s birthday? The fact that I have to get my gym shorts ironed so that something doesn’t burrow under my skin and eat me from the inside? The fact that Burundian bus drivers and children alike are addicted to the music of Chris Brown?

These are just a handful of things which make me pine for the sunny UK. Despite the fact that the start of the rainy season was supposed to provide us with a burst of hydroelectric power, we’ve been relying on the generator for an unhealthy portion of the past few days, which isn’t helped by the fact that there’s a fuel shortage. Hopefully the rains will come soon. (What an African thing to say!)

Similarly, the internet has been shaky, and I’m hoping that when I come to upload this blog entry it won’t be outdated. Rain tends to block the signals from the satellite, which is ironic. Seems to be the case that we can have power OR internet... tough call.

Creepy Crawlies

Just thought that some might be interested in the weird and wonderful creatures found in deepest darkest Africa. Naturally, as an over-cautious Western family, certain of us (naming no names) tend to rush to the computer to look up the latest potentially dangerous bug we’ve seen. My worst experience so far was when something that resembled a 5-inch long shield bug, sporting a fabulous stinger, fell from the inside roof of the car onto my stomach as I reclined in the boot. Naturally, I reacted with cat-like reflexes and flicked the thing off with the end of my iPod. The Western way.

We’ve reached a consensus that actually we shouldn’t trust the guards’ opinions on whether animals here are dangerous. With a mixture of broken English, a lack of experience and the sheer number of poisonous animals over here, it’s probably not worth the risk. Still really hoping I see a snake at some point though. The closest I’ve been so far was a snake’s skin near the basketball court when I took the year fours for sport a couple of weeks ago. Obviously, they were all terrified. I was disappointed.

 Computer Geek

Now we get to move on from the depressing stuff, because I’m loving working at the King’s School. I still get to teach the kids a bunch of contemporary children’s worship songs, which is seriously fun. Not sure if they get it all the time though, they remain convinced that ‘like David, Elijah, Noah and the rest of the team, I’m gonna be a giant face.’ That’s ‘Giant of Faith’, for the many who weren’t there for Boulder Gang 2012!

The exciting news, however, is that ICT lessons have started! All of a sudden, I’m a full-time teacher, with three classes a day, sometimes including sport with a side helping of music. The kids are loving learning how to use a computer from a mixed bag of skill levels. The great thing about the programs we have is that they allow the nerds to try and wallop their high scores while the kids who haven’t touched a computer before (predominantly those from the orphanages subsidised by the school) can receive most of the attention, and can learn quickly. My personal favourite program is a quality geography map one. Thanks to SeTerra, I can now point out all of the countries of Africa on a map, something which I felt I should be able to do! Don’t worry, the kids learn too. It’s amazing how many of them couldn’t show Burundi on a map until their first ICT lesson. Obviously we have to check that the kids remain on educational games before we let them make a beeline for ‘Farm Frenzy 2’. Even I have to keep it a secret when I play that one. 

 Musik

Yeah, I could easily have put a subheading ‘music’, but that wouldn’t have been fun would it? Now alongside my assembly responsibilities, I have the privilege of teaching 7 kids (at last count) of different ages and nationalities to play their guitars. Only discovered yesterday how valuable I am, however, as apparently there are ‘literally no other teachers’. Valuable, or just a last resort? Anyway, better make sure they’re diploma standard by Christmas or I guess they’ll burn my passport...

One of my students reliably informs me that he acquired a fairly genuine-looking set of Fender acoustic strings for 7,000F (about £3) from a (the) music shop in town, definitely a place I need to check out. To tell the truth, Louis and I are both desperate to check out the covered market, an experience I’ve had once before without buying anything, and it’s pretty surreal. Thing is though, you don’t go there without someone who speaks the language and knows the system. As Muzungus (white people), we’ll get ripped off!  

Gymming it Up

After many weeks of being really busy (lazy) and of finding it quite hard to organize my time (lazy), I took the plunge and bought gym membership at a conference centre nearby. (The equivalent of £10 a month if anyone’s interested...) Wish I’d done it sooner, because my first three gym experiences in Burundi have been great. Sweaty, but great. There’s no air conditioning but there is a water cooler, which basically means that between every 12-rep set, I need to drink about half a litre of water to replenish what I lose, but that’s ok. Today I decided that this country is too hot for sleeves, and mutilated one of my T-Shirts. Felt much better au gymnase though!

To finish...

I can finish in true Andy’s Blog fashion, because I still haven’t done some key Burundian things. Unfortunately, despite Facebook’s best attempts to recruit me, I haven’t become a client of ‘Burundi’s best dating site’. I don’t care if they’re the best or not, they won’t get me. I haven’t been for an evening picnic on the beach either, although it looks like the country’s mosquitoes would make very pleasant company, and I haven’t met the President. I’m sure he’s really nice.

Facing hardships in Burundi reminds me of how blessed I really am. When I’m sitting in church and finding it hard to concentrate, I thank God for the fact that I have a church where I understand the language, and the transport to get there. When I lament a faulty internet connection, I realise that having internet and knowing how to use it in this country very much puts me in the minority. As a result, I’m learning not to take for granted what I have and to be forever grateful instead. It’s hard, but our God deserves all the glory, and I was reminded of Matt and Beth Redman’s song ‘Blessed Be Your Name’ which was written in a great time of family hardship, but explains that ‘when the darkness closes in, still I will say ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord’.’ I feel that the following lyrics give a similar message, and I hope they’re encouraging.

I’ve had questions without answers,
I’ve known sorrow, I have known pain.
But there’s one thing that I’ll cling to:
You are faithful, Jesus, You’re true.

When hope is lost, I’ll call You Saviour.
When pain surrounds, I’ll call You Healer.
When silence falls, You’ll be the song within my heart. – Tim Hughes – When Silence Falls

Every blessing.