In Nyagatare

The last couple weeks in Nyagatare have been pretty busy. First, the day after I arrived I went to visit a friend in the village of Tabagwe near the border of Uganda. It was (almost) my first time to go to a small village, I'd only gone to one during my time here in 2009. To get to Tabagwe I walked the 45 minutes to town, then took a 30 minute moto ride that cost me 1500 francs, or a little over $2. In Tabagwe we had yams and cassava and beans and maize and bananas and milk tea, and then we took a walk around, up to the border of Uganda, and then through some farms. It was a really nice visit, and nice to be able to go somewhere new, and so calm and peaceful. 

Tabagwe

This past week I have been doing field research. Going around, visiting various people and doing interviews to understand their needs and their involvement with Nyagatare town. I'm getting some interesting responses. Many people are very willing to help, which is great. I've also had the chance to visit with and catch up with some old friends, including old neighbors, old friends, colleagues and students. Things have changed for many people - the owner of a shop I used to visit often has been doing well with his business, and has expanded to a larger space. Many old colleagues are around, and there have been a lot of marriages and babies and promotions since I left. I'm happy to say that most everyone is still doing well and it's been really great to be reminded of how many friends I left behind when I left in 2009. 

The school hasn't changed too much, besides new teachers and new students. But Nyagatare has changed a lot. Here's a picture in 2009: 

The main road

And some pictures now - unfortunately they're not great pictures, because I can only take pictures when there aren't many people around. But they show some areas that have expanded - the pic above shows the only road that was paved before, but now more roads in town are paved and more businesses and buildings are going up. 

The main road - mostly the same but with a few new buildings

The road to the market/taxi park - now paved!

The old internet center is still in existence, with expanded services

The road from the university to the market - also now paved!

The old market (temporarily relocated during the construction of the new market)

The new market - to be completed next year some time. 

And the best thing of all so far, has been to visit with my old students. I wasn't sure how many would still be at the school, but it turns out there are quite a few. I've been spotting a few of them here and there, but finally today I spent a couple hours with all of them that are still there. There are about 30, out of my original 140 or so. They had lots of questions, and we took lots of pictures. I could remember almost all of their names. Here's one of all of us:

Former students, now aged 16-22. 

So it's been a good trip so far. I've got just over two weeks left before I go back to Cape Town - the time has really flown by. I'm already feeling like I'm going to miss this place again when I go.