Plastics are forbidden, but straws, they are ok

I bring you this blog sitting at my desk in the UNDP office, munching on a tuna fish sandwich and sipping my yogurt with a straw. Indeed, it is lunch time. In a bold move, Rwanda has outlawed plastic. Well, plastic bags at least. Plastic spoons also seem to be a no go (hence the straw), but staws thus far seem ok. It is these sorts of rules that make some of Rwanda's policies' quite progressive. As plastic bags a) aren't good for the environment, so they tell us, and b) cause pollution, a+b=c, c being a ban on plastic bags. Not a bad solution. When you buy groceries, you get a paper bag. It works. Who knew. In addition to an outlaw on plastic bags, on the last Saturday of each month, all Rwandans are expected to participate in a community clean. Consequently, Rwanda is a very clean African nation. It is also very ordered. As I moved my belongings to my new abode today, my driver informed me that the numbers on the helmets of motor drivers is actually the number that can be reported by if they don't tow the line. Police are on every corner, and we watched as a motor driver and his passenger, both of whom were not wearing helmuts, made a panicked dodge away from the police officers lest they get busted.
The UN in Rwanda is also participating as a pilot country in a move for a more efficient United Nations. In November 2006, the UN Secretary General's High Level Panel on System-Wide Coherence produced a set of far-reaching recommendations for UN reform. This was largely in response to the fact that it became clear that under current operating standards, the UN was simply not equipped to respond to the challenge set by the Millennium Development Goals, due to fragmentation, duplication, high overhead costs, and lack of focus. In Jan 2007, Rwanda was selected as one of eight countries where the "One UN" model has been introduced. The idea is that One Country will equate to 'One Office', 'One Programme', 'One Leader', and 'One Budgetary Framework'. It is great to have the opportunity to see first hand how this sort of program might work.
In other news, I have a home. At least, I do unless the security team deems it unfit, but I think it will be fine. It is essentially a gated mansion ( a far cry from my digs in Cameroon), a little far from the office but near public transit, and when my driver took me there this morning to drop off my junk, he informed me that other UNDP workers live in the area so there is a shuttle I can pay for that will take me straight to the office, and back home again after work. Huzzah. One small point: be there or be square, ie they're not waiting for me. Got it. The house will be shared with several other ex pats-one Danish girl who is leaving in a week, two people who are back and forth from Burundi, I believe, an American girl who will be back in March, and another American girl and her boyfriend. Should be interesting to see who pops by. But I'm very very happy to have a room to settle in to, where I can blow up my excercise ball and put up my photos. The place is very clean, there is a water heater (which I am overjoyed about: true story, cold showers are really more of a symbolic gesture than an actual valid mechanism to achieve hygeine. They are awful and no amount of time is going to help anybody get used to them. Stay tuned for my thoughts on mosquito nets...). We have a house boy who does the cooking largely in the outdoor kitchen. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not super comfortable with this, but I'm told he comes with the house and we'd be putting him out of a job if we let him go. So he stays.
At work, the people have been amazing. My supervisor is very supportive, and though technical difficulties continue to plague my computer, I've been given a new one that works. So I'm ploughing through official UNDP protocols and trying to get a handle on the project I will be managing. The first field mission is scheduled for thursday, and I'm excited to get out there and see whats been happening and what more can be accomplished. For now, back to work.