Really looking forward to Saturday night! Loads of friends and supporters of rYico and shop4rwanda will be having a “night on the town” to raise money for a new refuge home for vulnerable women and girls to be built in Kigali.

Guests will be playing their4 favourite tunes and soaking-up their 15 minutes of fame of courtesy of Stick It On at Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar in Brighton this Saturday nite.

If you’d like to come you can make a donation at http://www.justgiving.com/ryicostickiton to gain entry. And if you’d like to play some records register to play at http://www.stickiton.org.uk/ryico/

Shop4rwanda’s very first satisfied customer photo! Keep em’ coming folks

It doesn’t take much…some sweet-tasting sugary drinks, crisps, a juicy pineapple and check out the results!

I threw an impromtu party today for the boys and girls at the 2 Umugongo House projects to say goodbye. After an eventful month volunteering at Centre Marembo it’s time to pack my bags and head back to Blighty… in the hope of getting a tan!

It was just the best to hang out with the boys today. Such a great bunch: funny, gentle, respectful, polite and bright. I asked a couple of them what they want to be when they grow up and top answer was President; explained to the best of my abilities the scientific principles of space travel, did some kung fu, kicked a ball and cut a pineapple with the bluntest knife known to (wo)man.

Mwirirwe  Rwanda Amahoro!

Teaching English each afternoon to students at Centre Marembo has been rewarding if not exhausting. As always there are some students that are keen to learn and some who joke around. Like when I showed the class a picture of the Queen and asked: “ Does anyone know who this is?” “Your girlfriend?” came the response! But one question from Andoline sticks with me: “What’s the opposite to happy?”   “Sad” I replied.  After a pause  she says: “We are sad because of the genocide.” My heart sank. I’ve been reading about the slaughter in the hills of Bisesero and was planning a visit to the Bisesero genocide memorial this coming weekend. In the steep hills of Bisesero, nearly 50 000 people were hunted like animals, mutilated and murdered in the 100 day genocide of 1994.

But I want to go. Out of respect to the people and in rememberance to those who resisted and fought the genocidaires’ grenades and bullets with their stones and spears.

Arriving in Kibuye I strike a deal for the hour and a half motor taxi ride to the memorial. Danny is my rider and we head off at speed on the steep, winding treacherous mountain paths. The hills are peppered with small clusters of mud stone houses. There is no electricity or running water here and life is harsh for the families who inhabit the mountains. Every inch of steep mountain side is terraced and cultivated and the areas that aren’t, hold shimmering, silver eucalyptus and pine trees.

Rag covered children gawp at the white man on the back of the motor taxi and finally we arrive at the memorial high in the hills of Bisesero. The curator, Jean Domestine Ntogonira shows the only visitor in two weeks, first to a shed that houses thousands of human skulls laid-out on four massive tables. Many bear the scars of heavy blows or machetes. It’s distressing. Being shown around by Jean Domestine, one of only 1000 survivors out of around 50 000 people in this area, is heartbreaking. I’ve read first hand accounts from the survivors and its a harrowing read,  so the fact we can’t communicate makes it hard for both of us.

Then, after reaching the summit I see the mass graves, we stand in silence in this serene, panoramic wilderness for what seems an eternity.   After descending the stone path,  Jean Domestine offers me the visitors’ comments book…”Never again.”

5 a.m and my alarm rings at Centre Christus, a Christian hostel in the heart of Kigali, Rwanda. This morning I’m catching a bus to the Gisagara district in the south of Rwanda with Nicolette Nsabimana of the Centre Marembo Association.

Gisagara, near the boarder with Burundi, is a rural agricultural region and home to many villages all governed by local residents through a cooperative. Nicolette is giving a presentation to around 80 members of the cooperative today about family planning and the birth control necklace which she promotes throughout Rwanda and in areas of the Democratic Republic Congo.  I’ve been invited along to film the proceedings.

It’s a preventative programme educating young and old, male and female about the menstrual cycle, which in turn helps reduce unwanted pregnancies and the spread of HIV.

At Butare, where we change buses before arriving at Gisagara, Nicolette and I take a quick break at a cafe near the station. She orders in Kinyarwanda for the both of us and i’m amazed when what seems like 3 chapatis and chai arrives at our table.  ”What are these?” I asked Nicolette.  ”Chapatis!” she says.

Stupid question I guess.  Confused, I ask: “And what do you call tea?”  ”Chai,” she says. One week into my trip to Africa and i still haven’t seen an Indian. They sure do get around though.

“I’m cycling from Brighton to Torpoint, Cornwall on the 4th July 2011 to raise the money for my airfare to go to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Here i’m going to be setting-up a vocational skills workshop in sewing and tailoring and generally helping out in whatever way i can to get former street children (now housed, cared for and schooled by the rYico charity) out of poverty and exploitation.

It’s 240 miles to Cornwall and i haven’t ridden a bike for over 30 years! Those of you who know me will see i am going for the “sympathy sponsor” as 3 years ago i broke my heel and contracted a flesh eating virus. Thanks to the amazing socialist institution that is the NHS, my foot was rebuilt (anyone remember the six million dollar man?) and saved from amputation. So i’m eternally grateful to them and to still be able to walk the walk…eh, cycle the cycle!”

Many many thanks - raymond

http://www.justgiving.com/raymondbuckleysponseredcycle

“I was so  pleased when 3 young girls from Dorothy Stringer school knocked on my office door and asked if they could volunteer for rYico.”Viv tells us.

“Kaya, Ciara and Rosie had found out about the work rYico does in Rwanda and wanted to help so we  sat and talked about the  Umugongo house and the children who live there. Two hours after they left  I got a phone call from Rosie saying they?d come up with the idea to sell homemade lemonade and cakes on the May Day bank holiday outside their house near Preston Park. We are  really  happy to report  that  the  girls  raised  £93 pounds  for  rYico selling their delicious cakes and lemonade.

This money will be put towards the building of a new Umugongo house for girls in Kigali. Rosie, Ciara and Kaya?s names will be proudly displayed on 3 of the bricks used to build the new Umugongo house for girls.

Sunday 1^st May 2011

What better way to celebrate International Workers’ Day than have a good old fashioned pub quiz in aid of our charity rYico.  The Prestonville Arms hosted a food and drinks themed pub quiz and boy, do they know how to throw a good quiz! With two rounds involving cheese and crisp tasting and the landlords and staff ensuring everyone was kept well oiled, the pub was packed with locals and friends of rYico all eager to play.  In addition to the quiz prizes there was also a grand raffle for 4 food themed prizes that were all donated by local business. EllesBelles Gourment Sauasages, Bills Café , Fiery Foods, Hankham Organics and Rushfields Farm Shop were amongst those that donated prizes.

rYico would like to say a big thank you to everyone involved in organizing this great night and a special “cheers” to the landlod and patrons of the Prestonville Arms, Brighton.

Meg wears a dark navy and crimson cotton wrap skirt printed with African swallows @ £15