FIVE NATIONS
Posted: 31 July 2023
We boast as being the most diverse Summer Justice Misson Team! We are a team of five from five different nations: Australia, Germany, Kenya, Scotland, and Wales.
Michael was the first to arrive at Kigali on Friday evening, whilst Mhairi, Daisy and Jonathan (Jon) set off from Heathrow on the same flight that evening and arrived at Kigali on Saturday morning. Saturday was Umuganda – a day when Rwandans get together with their neighbours, in the spirit of community, from 8 am – 11 am, to clean and tidy up public areas e.g., the streets. It is mandatory to participate in Umuganda. So, on the way from Kigali airport, we drove past a group of people who had been arrested as they were found on the streets and not participating in the clean-up exercise. Lawyers of Hope founder and director – Juves explained that those arrested would usually be detained on the street for the duration of the clean-up exercise and then released.
So eager were we to be reunited after a few weeks of WhatsApp group chatting that Michael, Jon, Mhairi and Daisy, who had arrived at Kigali by Saturday morning, wanted to accompany our driver and Juves to the airport to pick up Chelsea who was arriving from Australia that afternoon.
Once we were all safely at Kigali, our day involved tasting new fruits for some members of the team and enjoying ginger black tea! We briefly discussed the programme for the trip and finished the day with a long evening walk; except, understandably, for Chelsea who had to catch up on needed rest after 20 hours of flying!
