Today I planted trees, in the name of Rwanda

I woke up, just a normal "last-Saturday-of-the-month" morning, and thought I would relax until going for a football match at 2pm. I proved to be wrong, because after Hanne left the house, a man and a woman, leaders of the local community, knocked on my gate, and told me to join the community work, umuganda.As Norwegians will recognize this concept of "dugnad" since it is an obvious part of having kids in school or living in a neighbourhood or actually just being in Norway either spring or autumn, I can tell you all, that umuganda is only limited to one Saturday per month, and it is national.

Since I was asked like that, while I was still in my pyjamas, I decided to get out of bed, have some breakfast and join in. I did not really know what they were doing, but I knew that they were just up the street, and that I could probably help carrying something. When I walked out the gate in my flip flops, my "sweat pants" and my picked-out-of-the-dirty-clothes'-bag t-shirt, two of my neighbours were sitting on the opposite side of the road. I did not see them at first, but when I did, I turned back and spoke with them. They told me to go to the office and get some trees, and when I would come back we would go and plant them at jijuka.

When I got to the office, there were a bunch of guys cutting grass there, and one of them offered me to do his job. I just told him "ntabwo mbizi" - I don't know - and they all were real satisfied with the umuzungu speaking in Ikinyarwanda. Not that I had said much. I picked three trees, and headed back for my guys. I did not really do that much, though I tried to use the "isuka", and really did put soil around one of the small branches we planted. So even though I think I did quite good, I will have to give most of the honour to Jackson.

When I come back here in a couple of years, I can at least point at three trees and claim that I helped plant those trees there when I lived in Rwanda, and participated in whatever Rwandans did.

Linn Silje<3