Thursday, September 24, 2009

Who's your English soccer team...and what type of latrine do you have?

Today, I feel compelled to write about latrines. Hope you do not mind. There are several types of latrines actually, in case you did not know. There are ones made out of wood, cement or brick. You can see some latrines with ventilation systems and clever fly traps. There are latrines that are very shallow (like most of the latrines in my sector) and there are latrines that have very deep pits. Some latrines have doors; some do not. Some latrines don’t even have little buildings built around them. There are also latrines that have tubing connecting them to a sewage cistern. My latrine is, fortunately, the latter, and after six months at site, I have come to deeply appreciate it. Some of the volunteers actually have toilets and plumbing in their houses. That’s very nice but when they do not have water (which is a common occurrence here), it’s a pretty bad scenario. With my latrine, I don’t have to worry about not having enough water. I just use my waste water (like dirty dish water or bath water), pour it down my latrine and it “flushes” all the bad stuff to the cistern twenty meters away. No mess, no smell, no hassle, no wasting clean water. I love it. So convenient. The World Health Organization actually calls my type of latrine (the pour-flush latrine) an “improved” latrine technology, just so you know.

The latrines at the health center scare me. No joke. I literally choose to walk home to use my latrine or just wait until the end of the day. The reason they scare me is that they are so freaking deep, I feel like I’m standing on top of an entrance to Mammoth Cave or something. And when you’re peeing, you feel vulnerable enough. Add to that the fear of falling into a bottomless pit and you can see why I choose to walk home. Also, I’m afraid I’m going to drop my cell phone in there or worse, my house keys. It has happened to many people, you know. One volunteer dropped her cell phone into a latrine during her site visit. Her counterparts actually fished the cell phone out of the latrine and cleaned it for her. Now, that’s hospitality.

Cell phones and keys are not the only things to fall into latrines. People also fall in. And when you do fall into the latrine, the main concern is not getting dirty but getting burned by the acid. Yea, one of my friends told me that acid is produced down there by all the waste and is very dangerous to the skin. Who knew? Soooo, this is the reason why mothers never let their small children use the latrines. They always pee or defecate outside in the bush and the mothers, hopefully, clean up after them. The latrines at the health center, for example, are 20 meters (65 feet) deep. I would hate for a kid to fall in there.

Okay, moving on.

Lately, I’ve been trying to integrate into the Rwandan culture of “fanatic soccer love” and I’ve been watching and attending several of the soccer games. Even though I watched no sports back in America, it’s been a lot of fun and I think I might keep this hobby. Anyway, Rwandans love soccer. I mean, they really do love it a lot. Whenever there’s a game on t.v., guys flock to the bars and restaurants to watch the “big game” on a projected screen. As poor as they are, they will even pay money to watch these games. And the teams they watch and cheer for are the European soccer teams, mainly the British. They cheer for teams like Manchester United, Chelsey, and Arsenal. It’s kind of humorous actually but I guess it’s because I’m from Brazil and I’m not accustomed to seeing a bunch of pasty white guys actually good at soccer. Yea, the British teams are really good and I hope to choose my favorite team soon. That is, as soon as I watch all the games in the Premier league. That might take a while.

I also attended a soccer game here in Rwanda a few weeks ago, and let’s just say it was an interesting experience. First, it was a big game, Rwanda vs. Egypt, the qualifying game for the World Cup. Even the President, who loves soccer, attended the game. Because he was there, security was super tight and we waited in the security line for an hour before we were cleared. The security girl even checked my camera.

Although it was kind of intimidating to see all the military guys walking around with their sniper rifles and other equipment, the atmosphere was pretty festive and we got awesome seats, right in front of some crazy old Egyptians who flew in just to see the game and a semi-naked crazy Rwandan.

Around twenty minutes before the game, I left the stadium and went outside of the safety perimeter to buy some water and a cap for the game. I stayed out there for a while so one of my Rwandan friends called me to warn me the game was about to start and that I should get in. I told him, “Okay, I will be right in.” He called me two more times saying the same thing and I was thinking, “Wow, he really doesn’t want me to miss the beginning. Why is he so concerned? It’s not a big deal. I can miss a few minutes.”

Okay, have you ever been outside the stadium when a big game is about to start and there’s a huge crowd still wanting to get in? Then, you know what happened to me. I started to head for the entrance gate a few minutes after my friend called and I slowly realized that people were running. I turned around and with a shock, realized that two hundred people were stampeding towards the gates. I turned to the front and was horrified to see the military closing the gates on us. With only a few seconds to think, I did the only reasonable thing I could think of. I ran. I ran like crazy with the rest of the mob and I jumped inside the gates right when the guard was closing it. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it very well; the gate jarred me so I fell to the ground and lost my shoes. The mob continued running and fortunately, they didn’t run over me but around me. Then, this Ugandan guy materialized out of nowhere, picked me up off of the ground and helped me find my shoes. I stared dully at my guardian angel while he cleaned the blood off of my scratches with his shirt. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. He led me to the stadium doors where we saw the crowd in a deadlock with the military. As I warily eyed their guns, the military, uncertain how to security-check all these people at the same time, finally let us all through with a quick pat-down. After what seemed an eternity, I made my way to my seat and thanked my Ugandan guardian angel. And although I was out of sorts, I enjoyed the game. Unfortunately, Rwanda lost. The Egyptians in front of us had a field day with the game and ran up and down the aisles when Egypt scored, loudly singing Arabic songs. I don’t know what the Rwandans thought of that, but I was pretty amused.

In retrospect, I think it was all worth it. Although I gained a few scratches from the experience, I learned a few things about pre-game activities and got to see a live game. Amazing experience overall. Next time, however, I’m getting there two hours early and I’m staying glued to my seat.

3 comments:

  1. If they like "futebol" in Rwanda like they do in Brasil, it goes way past liking, or loving the sport; it's a religion. By the way, you almost got "jihaded"; I'm glad you survived.
    I'm sorry to hear you guys lost.
    It's funny that when I was in Brasil I never took a real interest in soccer; now that I'm in the States, I can't wait for the World Cup to start...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Patricia,

    Well, this is 'interesting' news. You almost got trampled and I do hope you go to your own latrine. Wow. I can't imagine one 65 feet deep. Are the latrines like in the States with a seat on top or like in Brazil, a hole in the ground or floor, and how big is the hole if kids can fall in? Glad you are surviving! Ha!

    Mom

    ReplyDelete
  3. The latrines in Rwanda are covered by wood planks or cement blocks with a hole in the middle. No seat to sit on and read the paper. hehe My latrine's hole is to small for people to fall in and is only a foot deep (connected to a pipe). The latrines at my clinic however, have holes big enough for babies to fall in. Like I said, scary. And some of the latrines, in the community, if they're not built well, might have rotten planks or wide gaps between the planks.

    ReplyDelete