THE LEFT HANDED BLOGGER NEXT IN SERIES KIGALI

THE LEFT HANDED BLOGGER-5^TH IN SERIES-KIGALI

Kigali is built on and in a series of hills. The hills do not have names as do the hills in Rome and they are not endowed with the history of that capital city but they are spectacular. It is difficult to navigate around Kigali because of the hills. The roads do not follow a logical pattern and it is easy to get lost. I have been lost many times not only because of the hills but also because the driver's mates on the buses speak so quickly that I do not always cotton on to where they are going. It is not a disaster to be lost in Kigali. For a start, you are never far away from a beer so you can always take time out to consider your situation in a relaxed manner. I have become even more relaxed here and you might find that difficult to believe but it is true. I like Kigali.

I know my Aunties, Hazel and Heather read my blog and they live in Perth, Western Australia which as they will tell you is a very clean place. There seems to be a certain civic pride in its cleanliness but I tell you now, eat your heart out Perth because Kigali is so full of civic pride that it makes Perth look like nobody cares. If I had fallen into a ditch drain in Ghana I would be dead and not writing this. I probably would have died of something unmentionable. Here the ditch drains are cleaner than our house in Leamington Spa.

We even have a formal clean up, civic responsibility programme. It is called Umaganda and takes place everywhere in the country on the last Saturday of each month between 8.00am and 11.00am. The whole country comes to a standstill, no shops open and no transport allowed. Each Umaganda district (quite small) decides on its own priorities with a head person taking charge. Whenever the activity is done there is then a get together when local disputes are resolved without recourse to law.

The Umaganda seems to work well here but I doubt it would work in Eden Court (for those of you not from Leamington Spa, Eden Court is a high rise block of flats on the highest point in Leamington Spa, not renowned for its civic pride and its nickname is The Golan Heights-need I say more?).

At dusk in Kigali two things of note happen: mosquitoes come out as does the army. The mosquitoes are a force of nature and in truth are not too bad here because we are quite high up. The army clearly is not a force of nature but I have found them to be polite, courteous and not in the least intrusive in their half platoon detachments in strategic positions. Nobody takes any notice of them and people are happy with the idea they are there for protection after some incidents a little while ago. Once again, it may not work in the UK but hey, this is not the UK, it is not my country and I am grateful for the chance to live and work here (albeit unpaid!).

The transport arrangements and shops deserve a blog of their own so that will be next. Stay well and more to come.