Sunday 20th Jan 2019
Sitting in the One Acre Fund visitor’s house, and the rain just gets more intense. Straight, grey dotted lines at at 30 degree angle, hammering on the roof, rivers streaming across the concrete. I suppose that answers my question about whether there’s enough water to be taking proper showers…seems that in rainy season there’s enough water here to power wash a herd of elephants.
I’m here in Kigali, Rwanda as a pro bono accountant at One Acre Fund, through a UK organisation called Accounting for International Development and I landed, fresh off the plane from Heathrow earlier this morning.
First impressions of Kigali: it’s hot-ish, humid and very tidy. More like a South Pacific island than anywhere else I’ve been in Africa – there’s no visible litter anywhere, just the odd fallen leaf or hibiscus flower. The curbs are painted alternating black and white, tidy planting by the roadsides, even the palm trees are remarkably neat.
People in the city wear a mix of traditional and European dress. Younger women wearing fashionable knee-length skirts, others more likely to be wearing colourful cotton print to the ankles. ‘Moto’ scooters with people riding pillion are everywhere, all wearing helmets, driving very sensibly. Bicycles with a padded leather seat and a handle on the back, not so many passengers on those – guess people prefer petrol to pedal power! Almost no cars on the road, but my driver tells me that’s because it’s the monthly ‘no car’ day in Kigali, where people are encouraged to take part in sports and other social activities. It sounded like a cross between a dance party and large-scale aerobics in the building behind our house. If I’d had a little more sleep I might have investigated further.
The ‘Kimi’ visitors’ house… 
…with hibiscus flowers and painted curbs in the garden
I had been braced for full-scale Africa arriving at Jomo Kenyatta airport in Nairobi at 5am after an overnight flight, but in fact it was much like any other international airport, couldn’t have been easier to navigate, and the juice bar was already open, selling freshly squeezed mango juice.
So now I’m waiting for my taxi driver to pick me up and take me to the Finance Office, where I’ll meet some of the other new joiners, and we’ll be driven to Rubengera where One Acre Fund has its headquarters, ready to start our on-boarding training tomorrow. It’s about a 2.5 hour drive, westwards into the hills towards lake Kivu, though I suspect the heavy rains may slow things down a little…
Adventure Accounting 