Crosthwaites in Kigali

Sharing stories from our year in Kigali, Rwanda.

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A Day in the Life of Crosthwaites in Kigali. 

Us girls that is! 

It seems that our days are about people and food! I love this, because both are so important. And I love it when food is shared and people connect.

Pete spends his days in the office, driving trucks and eating samosas! ;) 

Beth x

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Sand Quality Control  – silt content testing and washing

So what is it that I (Peter) am doing whilst volunteering with the International Non-Governmental Organisation (INGO) Bridges to Prosperity (www.bridgestoprosperity.org)? My role is focused on training the growing team to implement systems to ensure consistent quality, safety and construction protocols are followed on all our bridge projects. I plan to write a few short blog notes on some of the engineering aspects of my role for anyone who is interested in knowing a bit more. The first of these is on a really interesting topic – sand!

Along with cement and aggregates (stones), sand is a key component of a concrete mix and the quality of the sand has an effect on the final strength and durability. From a recent test on one of our bridge sites in Bolivia it was found that the target strength of concrete was reduced by 50% due to contamination of silt in the sand. Considering the inconsistencies of hand mixing concrete rather than using concrete mixers, we need to be careful to be sure to produce a mix that meets our strength requirements. With this in mind I have introduced a simple test for silt content in sand that is now being used on our sites.

The test is simply done using some saltwater in a measuring cylinder, to which you add a sample of sand and shake it up to suspend all the silt in the water. The sand quickly falls to the bottom of the measuring cylinder and then you wait for 3 hours whilst the silt settles. The silt forms a visible layer on top of the sand. The ratio of silt to sand can then be measured with the graduations on the cylinder and a percentage calculated. If silt content is found to be too high (greater than 6%) then we have implemented sand washing using water pumped from the river and the sand retested. This has been successful in reducing the silt content within the sand at several sites from 10-12% to an acceptable 1-3%. Check out this link for more detailed instructions of the silt content in sand testing: http://www.civilology.com/silt-content-test-sand-fine-aggregate/

This has ensured the quality of the sand used in our concrete mixes and has the potential to save significant cost whilst purchasing sand. In Rwanda there are three sources of sand available to us:

1)      Kiyumbi sand – this is a high-quality product that which is often transported long distances from certain areas of Rwanda. It is therefore expensive (20,000 RWF per m3).

2)      River sand – is about half the price of Kiyumbi sand but when tested we have found that it often has a high silt content (8-12%).

3)      Sand found locally on site – this is our cheapest option as it only requires labour to collect the sand from the river rather than purchasing transported sand from a supplier. At some of the bridge sites there is suitable sand in the river, but quality is unknown, so testing is necessary.

By implementing testing and then washing where necessary we can avoid the high cost of Kiyumbi sand and purchase river sand or use sand directly from the river on site. The cost of washing sand is minimal as labour is inexpensive and we already have several water pumps available – therefore the overall saving achieved by using river sand is around 40%.

I believe in the work we do at Bridges to Prosperity and I’m excited to fundraise for our organisation to provide safe access to isolated communities around the world. Check out my fundraising page at https://www.kindlink.com/fundraising/bridges-to-prosperity-uk-charitable-trust/petercroshwaite to see what it’s all about, and join me in unlocking opportunity around the globe!

All views expressed are those of author’s and not that of Bridges to Prosperity.

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When Reality Hits...Challenges of Life In Kigali

It is amazing to be living here in Kigali. I often need to remind myself of this. What an enriching experience it is. How being here is growing me. And oh how I always want to be growing. Growing more into the person God created me to be and wants me to become. But it is not easy. It is a daily struggle to have a heart of thankfulness. There is so much that is difficult here, and rejoicing in trials is difficult! But when I’m thankful, the change of attitude itself lifts my spirit. So here’s to being thankful at all times, yet recognising and calling out the challenges, to be real with myself, with others and with God.

Challenges:

1.     Always being noticed. Never being commonplace. It can be quite exhausting when leaving the house, walking up the road or buying groceries is a spectacle for others.

2.     My kitchen. Although I am so grateful for my kitchen, it has so many little frustrations! Wonky countertops; wall mounted cupboard so low they could take your eye out; a sink so low that is within Joy’s reach now i.e. dirty dishes/dirty sponge not safe there!; a lack of utensils and equipment that although gives me the opportunity to be creative, gets to me every so often e.g. cutting bread with a Leatherman saw blade (pen knife sized tool!); power that goes off intermittently, sometimes meaning cooking by candle-light, no use of the oven when roast veg was planned for tea, and food in the fridge and freezer being questionable.

3.     Flies!! Oh the flies! I need to learn how to deal with these better, because they really get to me! They are there all the time. No matter how much I clean, swot and flap. In the kitchen and dining area. On food that I have literally just prepared, or on a plate that has literally just been eaten from. On the countertops. On the shelves. On the fruit and veg that doesn’t fit in the fridge. And oh the bin. I won’t even describe the bin!

4.     The lack of free public places to be in, to use and to enjoy. Parks to walk in. Playparks for kids. Paths or walkways without traffic. Museums/art galleries/libraries. In Glasgow, a city similar size to Kigali (both have a population of 1 million apx) there are all of these things. Oh how I miss them and have an new sense of gratitude for them.

These are some of the things that I have been struggling with recently, and that I continue to struggle with. And the list could go on. But I won’t. Because I want to turn my frustrations into thankfulness. I am thankful for having the privilege of travelling to and living in Rwanda. For the kitchens that I have had back in the UK, for my current indoor kitchen (many are outdoors here!) and for food to prepare in my kitchen. For fresh fruit and veg that is so delicious, local and seasonal (this is mostly what attracts the flies). And for the public spaces and places in the UK that I have taken for granted. For the activities that we can do here, and for the beauty of the country of Rwanda that I can explore (when I can escape the city!).

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Culture, convenience and community.

Learning about Rwandan culture (and expat culture) this past month or so has been really interesting. As well as discovering things about the way of life here, it’s been teaching me about my own culture. There have been various moments when I feel Rwandan culture clashing with my own Scottish culture. It has been good to have been forced to stop and think about what I do and why I do it. I didn’t even realise that I had so many cultural beliefs and practices, but I am realising that I do. For example, having a housekeeper/nanny is the norm here. Our housekeeper is such a gift to us but at the same time it feels very strange to have someone else wash my clothes and look after my daughter!

I guess this is what they call culture shock. I feel quite naive that I didn’t think I would have to deal with culture shock particularly. Having visited other East African countries and after having read up on the country a little, I thought I would be familiar enough with Rwanda that it wouldn’t be an issue for me. In actual fact, it turns out that I have become quite accustomed to the way of life in 21st century Scotland and that life on another continent is quite different! (You don’t say!) It is fun experiencing a new way of being and doing, but it is also very challenging.

Our pace of life has definitely slowed down since we’ve moved here. There doesn’t seem to be the same sense of urgency and pressure to get things done here. I don’t mean that things don’t get done, because they do. Rwandans are impressively hard working. What I mean is that people aren’t pulled in so many different directions here. In the UK, we have so many things vying for our attention and time. And we want to do as many of these good, fun educational, helpful, sociable things are possible. Here in Kigali, there just isn’t the same range of recreational activities to fill up our diaries with.

The lack of certain modern technologies and conveniences is also a big factor in slowing us down. Buying and preparing food here has really changed our pace of life. There are a handful of modest supermarkets across the city, with a few cabinets of refrigerated and frozen foods, and a few small aisles of dried foods, but I’m used to superstores with aisles and aisles of prepared, packaged and convenience grocery items. Instead, the choice here is small, the food is fresh and needs to be prepared and cooked at home within a day or two. This means we cook simply and eat well. The whole process is just very time consuming but also very enjoyable. I thought I did a fair amount of ‘cooking from scratch’ at home, but not comparatively to what I am doing now!

A current highlight for me but also a huge challenge is the Kinyarwanda lessons that we are taking twice a week. These are helping us not only learn the language (a Bantu language with different pronunciation and grammar than we as monolingual English speakers are used to) but learn the culture too. Learning certain vocabulary and expressions gives us some insight into how the Rwandan people think and what is important to them.  

I mentioned that we have also been learning about expat culture. Again, something that I had barely considered before coming out here but something that I am finding fascinating to learn about and experience. The expats that we are meeting and spending time with are such interesting people. Such a range of people from all over the world with amazing stories; families and single people, some who move every couple of years with jobs, some who have been here for decades and others who are here for ‘short’ stints like us. I am so thankful for having this instant community and we are really embracing it but living in this community and identifying as an expat has triggered a whole range of emotions.

In particular, it is strange and can feel uncomfortable to be living as expats with a high income and very comfortable living conditions compared to how the average Rwandan lives. Sometimes this leaves us feeling guilty and out of place whilst hoping and striving to make an impact for good. In the UK our household income was comfortably above the average, whereas in Rwanda we have an income of about 15 times the average wage!

There is a complex tension in feeling rich living here but having made sacrifices to get here – we sold a lot of our possessions in the UK to fund the trip and as a volunteer, Pete’s stipend which covers basic living expenses is a huge drop in our household income. Living costs are of course much lower here than in the UK but the lower income still requires us to make simpler and cheaper choices than we are used to. Most noticeably we do not have a car, which has literally slowed our life to walking pace whilst carrying a baby…in the land of a thousand hills…in a hot climate! This also means the geographical boundaries of our daily existence are much reduced, again simplifying our life drastically. That being said, we are making friends with many generous expats with cars who give us lifts (the Americans say ‘rides’!) all the time.

To try and summarise our thoughts so far, we are loving discovering this beautiful country, doing it slowly in our shrunken walking world, and of course being sustained in this transition by our dear Father God.

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“Your dreams have come true...”

We have all made it to Rwanda! What a few weeks we’ve had. Joy and I are now reunited with Pete who had gone out 2 weeks ahead of us. This decision was made after a dream I had from God giving specific direction about our move to Rwanda, and after a good friend helped me to interpret the dream! In his first 2 weeks out here Pete has got started with work in the Bridges to Prosperity office and has been able to look for a home for us to rent.

We have had so many specific answers to prayer this past week or so. Prayers that have been aches of our hearts for years. Prayers that have been quick cries for help, and prayers that have been prayed by many for our safety, well being and God’s provision. It’s been amazing. Let me share with you these answered prayers.

After a mammoth feat from family, friends and Re: Hope church family, to prepare us to go, we all arrived safely in Kigali, Rwanda, fully immunised, car and belongings sold or packed up and stored, and visas granted.

We only had one seat booked on the plane for me and Joy (Joy was to be on my lap for 8 and a half hours). When we boarded the plane, it turned out that the flight wasn’t fully booked and we had a row of 3 seats to ourselves, making the journey much easier than it would have otherwise been! (Despite this blessing of extra space, I still wouldn’t recommend doing a long-haul flight with a one year old on your own!)

Pete has found a home for us – huge answer to prayer! After searching high and low (quite literally as Kigali is so hilly!), Pete got the keys to a really great house the day that Joy and I arrived in Kigali. Back in May I had asked God for 12 very specific things for our future home in Kigali. The house we now have has every single thing on my list! We even have a spare room so if you fancy a trip to Rwanda, we’d love to have you stay!

One final answered prayer to share, is how we have been so welcomed and cared for by the amazing church community we have found here in Kibagabaga, Kigali. Although it’s such an exciting, dream-come-true adventure for us to live in East Africa with a child of our own, leaving behind family and friends is hard. And so finding a church so quickly to be part of and belong to, for this chapter in our lives, feels so special.

My mum’s parting words to me (via text message!) “your dreams have come true” properly choked me up when reading them on the plane, and they still get me now, writing this. Our God really is a God who loves us, is for us and richly blesses us. In his perfect timing, He has given us our heart’s desires.

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Saying goodbye to Scotland

The first picture was taken several months ago, when we realised that the job opportunity in Rwanda that Pete was investigating might actually be the next thing for us. Since then we have been on an express train preparing to move to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, for a year. As I write, Pete is there already. And Joy and I aren’t too far behind.

We are so excited to be moving to Kigali for a year for Pete to work with the charity Bridges to Prosperity (B2P). B2P is an amazing engineering charity that Pete has volunteered with before, back in 2017. B2P builds bridges in rural locations, providing whole communities with safe access to things like crops, schools and medical care.

I am excited to be going out with Pete, and we are both particularly excited about introducing Joy to this wonderful continent that holds such a dear place in our hearts. 

In the flurry and frenzy of packing up and planning the move, we’ve had so much practical and prayerful support, and had some lovely goodbyes - thank you dear family and friends! It really has been emotionally exhausting. I am so thankful that we are embarking upon this adventure not on our own or in our own strength, but led and guided by God, and strengthened by Him. 

We’d love to share our year with you and we’re hoping to post fairly regularly here with stories, updates and prayer points. So keep a look out for posts :) We’d also love to hear from you so please stay in touch!

Beth x