Banana Beer, Baskets, and Brochette

Observation: Red Eminem shirts are really common here.

Question: How does a four year old Rwandan living in a remote village 45 mins walk from the nearest road end up with a "Hillary Duff 2005 US Tour" shirt?

We went to a crafts associations today in a very remote village about a two hour walk from Ruhengeri. After working our way down from the mountains into a giant valley, we walked the last 45 mins on raised dirt paths between 8-10 foot tall beanstalks. Saw another Project Rwanda bike- that makes four so far.

The fgirst thing we did was make banana beer. We took mildly rotten bananas and peeled them, thowing them into a wooden tough carved from a log. After that we mixed in shredded banana leaves with the 200 or so bananas we had peeled. We then mushed the whjole thing to a pulp, forming two walls with the mush and having a pool of banana juice in the middle. We then crushed about 2 pounds of sorgum beans and added this to the pools of juice on the sides of the walls. Then the middle pool was emptied into the side pools repeatedly, so tyhat it filters through the sorgum and the leaves. After that, the juice is strained and left out in a covered jar for 3 days. After that, the banana beer is ready.

We also learned how to make baskets. That was less interesting.

Tonight we have a special surprise fo r the other groups. Each day, onew of the small groups has been shopping in the market for food and then cooking for the entire group. The food has been quite lackluster. This morning we went out and ordered 60 brochettes for pickup at 6:30. Yum. Everyone will be very happy, I think.

GORILLAS TOMORROW!!!

By the way, I would like to recommend the film "Gorillas in the Mist" to anyone wanting to learn about Rwanda. The film is set in the late 1960s and is about Diane Fossey's attempt to save the silverback mountain gorillas here in northern Rwanda/DRC. The film is extremely accurate and was actually shot on location. The streets of Kigali, Goma, and Ruhengeri can be seen at various points in the film, and they still look mostly the same today. Additionally, in the scene where Ms. Fossey seeks refuge from militants in the DRC with Ross, that is the actual house and garden that we were at yesterday. Well, the garden and the outside of the home are the same, but the inside is decidedly different. It's nowhere near as nice as that inside. Kellen (Imbabazi curator) is Ross' successor. Ross used to run Imbamazi until she died in 2006 after 57 years as a charity worker in Rwanda. We visited both her home and grave yesterday.

"Shake Hands With the Devil" and "Hotel Rwanda" are two other famous Rwanda movies. Hotel Rwanda is somewhat inaccurate, and was filmed entirely in South Africa, so it contains absolutely zero on-site footage.

I suggest you watch all three.


Until next time,
Drew