Our home in Kibogora

Our home in Kibogora…

 

 

We have been provided with a small bungalow on the mission compound that lies adjacent to the hospital. It is only a couple of minutes walk in the morning to the hospital, all downhill. This does take its toll at the end of the day – not sure we have really acclimatised to the altitude yet.

The mission compound dates from around the 1950s. It has 180 degree views across Lake Kivu (the deepest lake on the African continent – many more interesting facts about this lake to follow in future posts) and to the Democratic Republic of Congo beyond. We overlook the lake and the mission vegetable garden which we can take produce from.



Our view



 They are growing eggplant, pineapples, carrots, cabbage, lettuce, potatoes and onions. The compound is full of beautiful flowers including hibiscus and bougainvillea as well as shrubs and trees – we have a guava tree behind our house and there are a few avocado trees here as well. At night we can see the fisherman and their boats on the lake as they are lit by oil lamps, you can hear them singing as well. Apparently that was how they heard the news and local gossip before radios, by singing it up and down the lake. It is a magical sight to see the light bobbing about in the blackness here.

 

Pineapples!!!

Daytime here is full of the sound of birdsong, almost all of which are produced by beautifully coloured birds – all evading any decent capture of on camera (amateur attempts below). As night falls the sound of birds is replaced by the constant trill of cicadas, providing a lovely atmosphere. The temperature in the daytime is usually 24-28 degrees, and at night it dips to 17-20 degrees. Essentially perfect. When we arrived Tim, the American surgeon, described the place as what he thought the Garden of Eden may have been like, and I think that it sums it up quite well.

Just chillin...

Our house is lovely, we have a bedroom, sitting room (with fireplace – quite excessive given the temperature here I feel), kitchen and bathroom plus storeroom. It was redecorated with new floor tiles and paint before we came but each day we arrive home to something else having been added (or removed!). For example came home to a rug and an iron the other day…they obviously thought our clothes were too creased! It has everything we need and Marie is very pleased to have negotiated from a table-top oven (with one working hob) to a proper one with gas hobs which she can cook properly with! Pizza, flapjack, biscuits and bread have already featured

 

The mission compound itself in quite sizeable, with 9 homes. Ours is the smallest, though we may at some point be inheriting a guest bedroom for anyone interested in an alternative holiday destination! There are a few permanent residents here; Sheila – a British nurse and veteran of over 30 years here, who runs the mission compound as well as being heavily involved in the administrative running of the hospital. Julie – an American nurse midwife, who also runs the mission compound and leads the neonatology department. Tim and his family – an American surgeon. Otherwise the other residents are like us – those here for short to mid-long durations ranging from a couple of weeks to our 7 months. The constant flow of people make it a sociable place and we are enjoying getting to know our new neighbours.

Much love to everyone at home,

 

matt and marie xxx