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Byumba Saving Circle Meeting – Rwanda

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Last Friday two thirds of the Karisimbi Partners team was able to go on a “field trip” along with some members of Hope International to hear the testimonies of members of some “saving circles” or groups from some remote villages.  The members shared how the saving circles had transformed their lives as they worked together with their neighbors to save money and furnish loans for their members to meet basic needs, send their children to school and start small businesses. 

Happy New Year from the Urquharts

Urquharts in Zanzibar - Christmas 2011

Happy New Year and Blessings for 2012 to all our family and friends! I took a major blog hiatus for most of the past year, which means I “deprived” you of a lot of hilarious stories and anecdotes. Pretty much every day I have a “blog worthy moment” either related to wanting to scream in frustration, laugh out loud, cry like a baby or some combination of the three. There have been major highs and other times where it seems Africa is winning most of the rounds, despite best efforts to keep coming out swinging… But I / we can say without question that we feel incredibly blessed and know that we are exactly where God wants us to be. A life less ordinary for sure – and very fulfilling.

Still here! (and there’s more of us)

My list of excuses for not updating this blog for 9 months is long, justifiable, and ultimately just plain lame.  So, for those of our friends and family that actually noticed we (I) had gone dark for so long…. I apologize.

The most truthful reason for the long hiatus was the demands of our business mission here – Karisimbi Business Partners (check out our newly updated website! ). Among other business development efforts, we were very fortunate to secure a long-term contract with the ministry of Commerce to assess and develop turnaround business plans for twelve different companies deemed strategic to the country.  Great!  It has required a ton of research, extensive documentation, writing, presentations, written deliverables, etc.  Not Great!  So, at the end of a day or week, the last thing I was motivated to do was sit back down in front of my laptop and write more…

So again, apologies because a lot has happened in the time since my last post and much of it was extremely blog worthy – i.e. filled with the hilarious, frustrating, incredible, touching, hysterical, embarrassing, joyful, illogical, take you to the edge of sanity…but ultimately, blessed.  Of course, I (in my mind) wrote it up in all of its glorious, comedic, Oscar-worthy detail.  Just didn’t quite get to that last mile of putting down on paper.  Sorry for that.

Scaling the Peak (aka – Turning 40)

Turning 40 is somewhat of a big deal. I wish it weren’t the case, and in most ways I don’t feel any different, but in others I have to face those realities that can’t be avoided when you reach this age – such as, I guess me making the Olympics (in something, anything) is officially out. Facing physical limitations is especially tough – my mind still feels 18-20 (maybe younger at times) and I think all guys refuse to grow up anyway. So it’s a bummer to officially reach the supposed cross-over age to “old”.  By no means do I accept that anyway, and in reality I still feel young and energetic most of the time. Family and and friends help with that, and living a life less ordinary in Africa plays a role too! Although there are days when it has me reeling, that’s for sure. We’ve now been living in Rwanda for a year and half, and while we’ll never stop hearing calls of “Mazungu!”, we feel more and more “local” and at home.  We specifically choose the name of our company, Karisimbi Business Partners, to align ourselves with something easily recognizable to the Rwandese and a symbol of the work we hope to accomplish with Rwandan small and medium businesses and entrepreneurs.  Mt. Karisimbi is the highest peak in Rwanda (14,800ft), part of the Virunga volcanic range and serves as a border with the Congo. Our motto, is “Guiding Ventures to Reach New Heights” and yet, we had never summited our namesake.  So, we decided to go for it during the short January dry season in the north, and it became part of my 40th birthday challenge / celebration. 

A New Decade Begins – Happy New Year from Rwanda

To all our family and friends, Happy New Year from Rwanda – where the parties are still going on from last night as I write this at 3:00 p.m. New Years Day.  We’ve been told by Rwandan friends that this is their most celebrated holiday, and the general sentiment is they are thrilled to have survied another year – hence the non-stop partying that we can still hear going on even now from a nearby bar/restaurant/club.  I assume this is also why our guard has not showed up for work…  Ah, well – ‘Africa time’ strikes again.

Our New Normal

One of the most interesting (and funniest) things about living here is observing our own reactions to cultural norms here that strike us as strange, funny, or just plain wrong. It’s important to be culturally sensitive and follow the local customs, but there are limits.  I’ll let you be the judge of the following anecdotes.

Hissing

So, to get someone’s attention – a friend, a waiter, anyone, it is the practice here to hiss loudly at them. I don’t know about you but a strong HISS is not the most pleasant sound, and certainly less so when it is being used to summon you. I waited tables in high school and it was hard enough dealing with tough customers without having all the tables hissing at me.

Kristen: Today I turned down a monkey

Today I turned down a monkey.  This might seem normal to most people, but those who know me best might be shocked or at least relieved that I did eventually come to my senses.  I spent my early growing up years dreaming of being a wild animal trainer/zoo keeper/vet/ranch owner.  I told my parents to expect grand-chimps, not babies.  Amazingly, these dreams have never come to fruition in my life.  And today, I sealed my destiny.

At long last – Back on the blog…

Even I, the guilty party, never thought I could let 4 months go by without an update to the blog.  Shameful. 

In a place where the unexpected is now expected, there is way too much ground to cover since my last posting.  I’ve been thinking how I might best catch everyone up and I think a select list of highlights of interest for each month (in my overly verbose style and with some pictures of course) is the only way to do it. 

June:

• School ended on the 12^th and Kristen and the kids left on the 13^th
• Greg moves house on the 14^th with the poor souls he was able to wrangle into helping him.

(Side note: As fun as moving furniture across town in equatorial heat is already, it was extra exciting when our mattress went flying off the truck on a dirt road under construction.

Things that make me smile

So men here that are good friends (of all ages) will often walk along holding hands.  As an American male (from Texas no less) that is always a bit startling to see – particularly when it’s two 20 something guys that look like they could play football for UT.  Anyway, I know I’m now a local in Rwanda, but to my two business partners, Dano and Carter, if you are reading this – I’m not ready.

Prison Time…. (not for me fortunately)

As always, I’m way overdue on this update. And, also as always, so much has happened since the last one I’m not really sure what to include or not.  I’ll try to keep this to the most critical happenings, since everyday is truly an adventure, and it’s been nearly two months since I’ve made an update (and actually that was Kristen).  I’ll give you forewarning you will likely need to read it in installments – my apologies.

I’ll start on a low note and try to end more upbeat.  Our former guard, Evariste, after throwing himself on the mercy of the court and all our efforts to intercede on his behalf, was given a reduced sentence.  Which in most circumstances would be a great thing, but unfortunately here means