6th April 2020

Before the lockdown when I was working every day, I only knew my landlady to say hello to when I saw her around.  Now we’re beginning to chat every day.  We have many things in common and are beginning to be a source of support for each other.  I ask her if she’s OK, and she says she’s having some worries.  She owns the big house that I live in, it’s got eight self contained apartments – she has two for herself and her three teenage children, myself in another and a Korean couple in a fourth one.  That means that four of the properties are empty and it’s becoming financially difficult.  I say I’ll advertise on the expats group on Facebook.  There are lots of responses but no one can move until lockdown is over.

There is a young guy here who works as the guard. All larger houses which are gated in have a guard, they act as a deterrent rather than there being an actual threat.  As my landlady explained to me, they also employ guards and help in the home as part of a nationwide effort to give everyone a job.  He lives on site and I assume is no longer going out to see his family. There’s also a lovely girl called Florence who cleans the house and helps with the washing.  She doesn’t speak a word of English but sometimes now I make her food or drinks when I’m cooking. My landlady tells me she has three young boys and her husband has lost his job as a result of lockdown.  She has been coming back each day and although she’s not crossing a district, she is still breaking lockdown regulations and my landlady is concerned. She’s spoken to her and asked her what she wants to do.  Later in the day she tells me Florence wants to stay and work, and will stay here Monday to Friday and go home at the weekend.  There’s still a risk of her coming and going and I’m wondering whether I should still invite her in to eat.

Today the remains of fifteen Genocide victims were excavated from a water dam in Kayonza District, located on the information from Genocide petpetrators who have served their sentences and information from survivors.  They are expecting to find more bodies but will wait until after Genocide Memorial Day to resume.  Because of C-19, limited people are working on the exercise.

There is just one new identified case here today in Rwanda. Boris Johnson has been moved into intensive care.