Applause on the dirt track

Today was a first for me. It was the first time (and probably the only time!) where I received a round of applause from a group of students simply for returning back to work. And its all the more surprising because sometimes I am horrible to the students. I wake them up if they dare to sleep in my class, I send them out if they are either rude or lazy and I give them low marks if they do sloppy coursework. So I am surprised they were glad to see me! You see in Rwanda it is quite normal for people to move on to other jobs during the holidays without anything being said at the end of term and several of the other tutors have done just that, which seems weird to me considering all the parties and fuss and speeches one gets when they leave work back in the UK. Here people go and just don’t come back.

I honestly don’t think anyone ever expected me to return.  I remember nearly a year ago when I said I was going to be here for two years there were a few raised eyebrows around the staffroom! So I feel delighted to have proved them wrong. In fact a few of the villagers stopped me on my way to work to say they were so glad to see me again which was so heart-warming especially as I was a bit nervous of returning to the village. I was worried I would be back to square one with the excessive muzungu calling but today I only heard the word once all day.

It was nice to come back already knowing people’s names, being familiar with the TTC and knowing my job. I think (I hope) I’ll be able to really move things forward over the next couple of terms...well I’ll do my best at least.