A Friendly

We had been invited to participate in a friendly soccer game by a team of girls in a hill-top town, to whom we would be giving some soccer equipment.

The town was at the top of a hill (naturally) on our way to Huye.  When we arrived, the girls were practicing on the field.  They had all of the trophies they had won, placed on a table right at the edge of the field - and there were many, many trophies. 

Did I mention that the entire town came out to see us, including every child for miles around? The game was great fun - there were goats on the sidelines (I said they were doing Father Dougal's job: guarding the corner flags), we had four of us and about thirty local children standing in our goal defending our side, and in the end, we won the match 2 to 1.

The local kids were absolutely thrilled with Heather and Jolene, and I was able to use my Kinyarwanda lessons, specifically "How to Talk to Children" to great effect, and quickly earned the reputation of being the Muzungu who could speak Kinyarwanda.  Unfortunately, my repertoire was depleted in fairly quick order, and I had no need for the "Going to Church" words, or the "Medical Emergency" words, or the "Ordering Food in the Restaurant" chapter either for that matter.   The kids who had attached themselves to me took it upon themselves to enlarge my vocabulary and improve my pronounciation, so I did my best not to disappoint.

It was a great way to let off some steam after having seen a number of dreadful genocide sites.