Ndi Umukorerabushake Wa Peace Corps
“I, Sydney Ivey, promise to serve alongside the people of Rwanda. I promise to share my culture with an open heart and open mind. I promise to foster an understanding the people of Rwanda, with creativity, cultural sensitivity, and respect. I will face the challenge of service with patience, humility, and determination. I will embrace the mission of world peace and friendship for as long as I serve and beyond. In the proud tradition of Peace Corps’ legacy, and in the spirit of the Peace Corps family past, present, and future- I AM A PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER.”
"I, Sydney Ivey, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America from all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I take this obligation freely and without mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge my duties in the Peace Corps, so help me God."
Beware this is going to be a long post. I cannot believe how much has happened in the last 5 days.
In the last 5 days I have said goodbye to my host family, explored Kigali, bought all my things for my new house, swore in as an official volunteer, and moved to my village.
Let’s start with the beginning. On Friday, I started saying goodbye to my host family. We had a large party with us trying to do a traditional Rwandan dance. Many trainees gave speeches in English, French, and Kinyarwanda and the food was, of course, amazing. While this event was bitter sweet, Tricia and I ended my time with her the same we started, with Tricia falling sleep on my lap. She quickly regained her energy to dance until she was being pulled out of the restaurant. I was able to spend the majority of Saturday with my sisters before I had to leave them early Sunday morning. I would like to say this goodbye was amazing and I was unbelievably sad to leave them, but it wasn’t. This goodbye was un-ceremonial and with little feeling. At this point in time, I was extremely ready to be living on my own and I believe my host family was ready to have their house back to themselves. Whether they truly felt like family or not, they were amazing family
for taking in a weird American and showing me the basics of living in Rwanda.
Early the next morning we were all waiting at our houses for Peace Corps to pick up our things so we can head to Kigali for our official swear in ceremony. After many hours and a lot fo chaos we finally filled 3 large trucks and 2 busses with our mattresses and belongings. We arrived in Kigali and immediately left the hotel to explore Kigali and finish buying the things we need for our sites. Every one of us went to a large department store reminding me of a Walmart in the US. I was completely overwhelmed with the selection of things in this one store in Kigali. I quickly bought my other essentials and decided on a few luxuries such as; pillows and a rice cooker. I was able to eat some amazing Indian food and finally see parts of Kigali. We walked all over Kigali to find good guitars, different spices and weird food items we miss from home. We finally got a taxi back to the hotel for dinner with our giant bags of things.
The very next morning we all got dressed in our handmade igitenge clothing to drive to the Ambassadors Residents for our swearing-in ceremony.
We loaded the busses and headed to one of the nicest houses in Kigali. After many more speeches from fellow trainees, our country director, the Rwandan ministry of education, and the US ambassador; we made our Oaths of Service and Peace Corps Pledges to uphold the constitution and service our community in Rwanda.
This was a truly surreal moment. My childhood dream was finally true and I still don’t fully believe it has happened. We all got a chance to celebrate in Kigali with each other one last time before we moved all over the country. Again we went for amazing food and had the worst margarita of my life, but it was an amazing farewell to some amazing friends.
We all slowly woke up early the next morning to once again move all of our belongings and pack the cars to drive to our sites. Each car had 2 people and everything we own. I drove with my friend Matt who now lives in the town where my market is. Our car was fully stuffed, but all of it fit, luckily. We made the long drive towards the south and arrived at my house mid-afternoon. We were greeted by my landlord who is also the Kinyarwanda teacher at my school. After we walked through the house and changed the locks I was left in my very own house and had no idea what to do.
Since the rain started right when we arrived, my electricity was not working so I got my headlamp and tried to set up my gas stove. My landlord helped me hang my mosquito net and curtains and then left me to my own devices and took one of my jerry cans to get water for me. Since I was terrified and alone I called my mom and spent the majority of the night talked to her in the dark. I went to bed around 8pm since I have been very sick with a head cold and had no time to rest in the last week. I also christened a bucket because I am a wimp who will not go outside to my latrine in the dark.
This morning I woke up and realized I did not have anything I needed to do today. I slowly got out of bed and began unpacking my things. Since I only have a bed frame and a dining table most of my things are now on the floor, but I was able to spread out and truly have my own space again. After a while I walked my 40
minutes to the market to meet Matt (since I wasn’t fully ready to go alone yet) and successfully bought avocados, eggs, green beans, and milk without being ripped off. On my walk beck from the market I was feel hot and tired students I met when I was here during site visit came a said hello. It made me feel much better about the crazy experience ahead of me, that at least someone remembers me from 6 weeks ago. Although it will take a long time for me to integrate into my village, today I took the first step; I made myself seen. I ended my day learning how to milk my landlord's cow and going to bed with a nice, fully stomach.
