Munini October 19th: A new English update from Rwanda!
The rain season has arrived, a little bit after schedule but now it's here. It usually rains once a day in the late afternoon. Since the last update we have done three screenings. One in a secondary school, another in a primary school and the last one in a remote village (Munini) in the south of the country close to the Burundi boarder. We all liked the last screening a lot and we will do more travels to remote villages. In Munini we could clearly see that films and cinema were something completely new for the people. They looked amazed, and old and young followed closely.
We arrived in the village a day before the screening on an invitation from an American Peace Corps voluanteer. She hosted all five of us in her appartement, helped us with the official permission and showed us around. We visited a Batwa community. The Batwa people is an indigenous group historically living in the forest. They have been removed from their traditional forest life and into "normal" villages. The transition has not been easy, they are a marginalized group in society and many live in severe poverty. During our stay we also visited the local hospital. Malnourished children is a great problem in the village (and in the country) due to poverty and little knowledge about food and nutrition. At the hospital we got to meet some of these children and hear about their conditions, something which made an impression on all of us.
In the evening of our second day in Munini it was time to arrange the movie night. Some locals had hung up posters in Kinyarwanda announcing the event, so when we arrived at the community building people were already waiting. Then it was just for us to set up the material and start the show. A Rwandese man living in the village and working for a local NGO was our speaker for the evening. Between the movies he gave a short speech concerning the social topics dealt with in the films. Around 400 people came and also many Batwa, a successful evening in other terms.
The rain season has arrived, a little bit after schedule but now it's here. It usually rains once a day in the late afternoon. Since the last update we have done three screenings. One in a secondary school, another in a primary school and the last one in a remote village (Munini) in the south of the country close to the Burundi boarder. We all liked the last screening a lot and we will do more travels to remote villages. In Munini we could clearly see that films and cinema were something completely new for the people. They looked amazed, and old and young followed closely.
We arrived in the village a day before the screening on an invitation from an American Peace Corps voluanteer. She hosted all five of us in her appartement, helped us with the official permission and showed us around. We visited a Batwa community. The Batwa people is an indigenous group historically living in the forest. They have been removed from their traditional forest life and into "normal" villages. The transition has not been easy, they are a marginalized group in society and many live in severe poverty. During our stay we also visited the local hospital. Malnourished children is a great problem in the village (and in the country) due to poverty and little knowledge about food and nutrition. At the hospital we got to meet some of these children and hear about their conditions, something which made an impression on all of us.
In the evening of our second day in Munini it was time to arrange the movie night. Some locals had hung up posters in Kinyarwanda announcing the event, so when we arrived at the community building people were already waiting. Then it was just for us to set up the material and start the show. A Rwandese man living in the village and working for a local NGO was our speaker for the evening. Between the movies he gave a short speech concerning the social topics dealt with in the films. Around 400 people came and also many Batwa, a successful evening in other terms.
Ja,
BeantwoordenVerwijderenGe zijt daar blijkbaar goed werk aant leveren, amai, voorstellingen voor 400 mensen is allessinds niet niets.
Khad gezegd da ik de score van KAA gent ging doorsturen als ze wonnen bij belangrijke matchen, das tot heden nog niet gebeurd. Kleine matchen, geen probleem, maar bij de topmatchen blijven we het onderspit delven...
Ik wens jullie nog veel succes bij jullie verdere filmvoorstellingen en geniet maar van de vele onvergetelijke ervaringen (denk ik toch),
Groeten,
Bart D. B.
How has the group been received by the local people? Communication I can imagine can be a problem from time to tome. How have you been able to over-come the language barrier? Keep up the great work. Bob and Carol from the U.S.A.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenIk vind het heel fijn te lezen dat jullie het goed stellen en zo goed onthaald worden. Het moet een onvergetelijke ervaring zijn.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenDoe zo voort!
mama van Fons
alweer leest alles er fantastisch uit.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenhou jullie "heel" goed.