Bukavu Moments

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Rwanda landscape

As it is a routine, in Lavigerie Formation House-Jinja (first cycle), third year students go to Congo to learn and practice French. It was my happiest moment and first time to go to French speaking country. The journey started well as we departed from Kampala-Uganda at mid-night. It was a very long voyage that I have never done, especially by road. We passed via Rwanda, where I was impressed and I confirmed the hearsays that it is the cleanest country in East Africa and if I can say even in African, I would not have been mistaken. Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, is the cleanest; surpassing the confines compared to other cities in East Africa such as Jinja. The roads in Rwanda, especially the one we used, are very smooth and tarmacked. Many passengers faced a problem of vomiting and tiredness as a result of it being oblique. I real enjoyed the land scape of Rwanda as the road passes through the forest; the time I counted to pass through that forest was forty five minutes. Immediately after this good experienced, we arrived at the boarder of Rwanda and Congo called “Le Bureau de Bukavu Frontier”. We had already arrived at our destination; that is “Le Formation Centre de Ruazizi”. We were warmly welcomed that day and it was my first time to eat “sombe” (cassava leaves).


During family visitation


Life started at high note of learning French and practicing it by encountering new people. The slogan there was “Papa yooo”.  The environment there is splendid; the house is located near Lake Kivu, where we could feel the fresh breezes every time. As swimming is my best hobby and even to some of my fellows, we really enjoyed playing in water like fish. As we were swimming, we used say a catchphrase that, “Man of God plays only with water on the basin,” meaning we need to be careful in order not to drown. We encountered some of the primary pupils who really challenged us in French; these boys were called “petit” which means there were younger than us. Mass and prayers were in French. The people of Bukavu were really generous. We had a lot of “rendez-vous” meaning appointments that included visiting different families. After all these good experiences, we had to leave the country and come back to Uganda and continue with our studies of philosophy. Bukavu is a nice place to be, the presence of the other is a reality there; I wished to burn my passport so that I might remain in that place, but all in all, good experiences stick in man’s mind forever.



Imbusi Collins

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