Small bits of my life: Meet Peter

Pictured: Peter, me, his wife Chantal holding baby Faz (10 months), oldest son Fabrice (10), and middle daughter Fabiola (5).

Peter has worked for me for about two and a half years as my day guard/gardener. I trust this man like crazy, even though we know very little about each other. Peter's English is about as good as my Kinyarwanda, which makes for difficult communication, but we try. 

He is one of the hardest working men I know and I just love seeing his face in the morning (and let's be honest, prior to coffee there are few people's face I look forward to). 

When we hired Peter, my first roomie Betsy and I were looking for someone to help with the gardening and a few things around our yard. We hired him one day a week. He continued to work hard and we kept increasing his work and salary. When I moved to a house with a larger yard, he came with us and again, another increase in pay. Now, to give you some context for pay scale. Peter is well paid for his position at $120/m, plus he works for a friend of mine on Sundays and earns another $30 from them. 

Peter had been unemployed when Betsy and I hired him for some time, prior to that had been working as some type of cleaner for a weaving coop. Peter says I'm a good boss and he enjoys his job. He loves "Dago"...Diego, my dachshund.  =) And he enjoys the foster puppies I bring through. He always sits and laughs with me when they first arrive. 

I realized a few months back that I didn't know much about his family and wanted to visit them. I have a friend staying with me who is proficient in Kinyarwanda, so I didn't want to pass up this chance. You see, Peter lived in a house that was torn down as part of a development project and was pushed outside of what I call "Kigali proper". There is the city and then there are pockets of small houses where workers and lower income folks live off the main paved roads. He rents a small house with 2 rooms and shares a toilet with his neighbors for about $80/month. It takes him about an hour walk to get to my current house, but in the other house he was walking about 2 hours (2 hours there and 2 hours home). 

I tell you this to share that my personal support doesn't just support me and Duhu. It's supports Peter, Chantal, Fabrice, Fabiola and Faz. 

When we arrived, Fabiola ran to meet me with a hug and said, "Hi Auntie!". Auntie is a sign of respect for a women older than you. When I began to ask her, through a translator about school she went to get her school report card to show how well she is doing...6th out of 36, I believe. Peter showed me pictures of his friends and family, so I did the same on my phone. They wanted to see my Papa, Mama and family. Fabiola quickly grabbed my phone and started swiping through my phone like a pro, I like that kid!

As we were leaving the neighborhood came out to see us off...