I had been expecting to have to wake up to be ready to go and at Bouron Coffee by 9 to meet the women from COVAGA. To my surprise, we were meeting them at noon, and not 9 am. So I got to sleep in somewhat, my alarm went off at 10:30 so I got about 5 hours in. I felt pretty good though. Freddy picked Kara and I up from the hotel and drove us to MTN center. We ordered breakfast and coffee and I decided to try calling Yves one more time. Yves is the contact that Nat Boarer, the designer from Britain, put me in touch with to hopefully replace my microphone. Yves phone was busy so I texted him asking about a mic. He texted me back a number and a name to call. So I called Martin, and explained how I got Yves number and if he had a mic I could borrow or something. He just said “Yes, can you come right now?” and I said yes. So I was off before breakfast came on a moto to meet Martin. I met him in front of Chez Lando and he said to follow him to his house. He took me inside and got a mic out and handed it to me. It was a wireless lav mic and he said it was 20 000 ($40) a day to rent. I can’t afford that. But I told him I needed a shotgun mic, not a lav, so he said ohhhhhh. The shotgun mic, a really nice beyer dynamic mic is actually only 8000. And he said if I rent it longer, and since I’m here until September I am planning on it, he said it’d be 5000 a day. Much more affordable. And at this point I NEED a mic. There’s no question. So we arranged that I would take it for this weekend, so I could film at Bourbon today and at Gashora tomorrow and Monday, and then I’d see from there. If I keep it for the month, I’ll pay 5000 a day and if I only use it for the weekend, I’ll pay the 8 per day.
I then talked to him about possibly working out some kind of deal instead of paying cash. I told him that I can edit very quickly and very well, I have a camera and I can do shooting, and I could help with any step of a gig he has to do. He sounded interested and like there is a possibility that I could work for him in exchange for renting the mic. We’ll figure out the details when I get back on Monday. But Martin was an awesome guy. A stranger calls him up and asks him for a mic and 10 minutes later he’s giving a mic to said stranger in his living room. Amazing. He’s also a total entrepreneur, renting equipment and working in video for himself. Much respect for Martin.
So I headed back to Bourbon at MTN with just enough time to scarf down my cold breakfast before the women arrived. The reason we had invited them to Bourbon is because Bourbon is a world-class coffee shop and they understand the meaning of quality there. We want the women of COVAGA to see what branding is and how someone could make something so great and classy, and how many people appreciate a high quality product. We had booked the conference room to talk with them and use the projector to show them images and websites to inspire them. Up to this point, the women are really just using the Hyacinth to weave baskets. But in our research we’ve seen extremely high-end furniture and products and we’re hoping to help COVAGA get on the path to something similar that is still unique to them and their story. The most amazing moment was when we showed them this. Their eyes lit up and I could tell they were getting ideas and seeing the possibilities. I was basically watching Kara blow their minds.
We didn’t end up leaving Bourbon until around 6 pm when Freddy picked us up and took us to his house for dinner. We sat on his porch and talked for a long time, and moved inside when it was time to eat. The food was really good and the conversation even better. Freddy is a world citizen. He is a very smart, cultured man and most of the night we talked about his frustration with social behaviors here in Rwanda. He said people are still too conservative and locked in old fashioned mind-sets. For example, you can’t talk about sex at all, and yet the country and continent is suffering severely from AIDS. When kids think about having sex, Freddy says they think the worst outcome is pregnancy. Their rationale is that you can hide AIDS and you still get a few years, but if you get pregnant you can’t hide it and in 9 months you have a baby. Freddy thinks the hypocrisy is outrageous, but he says no one will listen to him, they write him off and say he’s been westernized and is a muzungu now. So he says all he can and will do is teach his kids the best he can, and try to instill in them the open mindedness that he has.
After dinner, I read an article written about Rwandatel that included a section about Freddy, and I learned from it that he fought in the war in 1994. I never knew, and he didn’t mention it before or after the article (even though I read it aloud). I would love to ask him about it but I don’t want to pry or be insensitive. I figure he’ll tell me if he feels like it. We faded fast after eating though, we didn’t have much left in us after going out so late the night before and still having a full/busy day. Around 10 Freddy gave us a ride back to the hotel. I went straight to bed.
