My friend Nolbert

Nolbert is the same as Norbert. L's and R's are interchangeable here, which makes communication just that little bit more interesting than anywhere else I've been. Norbert talked about his 'petit fleur' the other night 'qui s'allonge bien' - it was his 'petit frere' who didn't extend himself but who arranged his life well these days.

When I helped Cloudine, my hairdresser friend, open an email for the first time, I initially couldn't understand why Yahoo didn't accept her details. But then I realised she spelt her name first with an 'l' and then with an 'r'. Computers don't see that it's all the same - anal almost.

I cherish and admire Nolbert. He's a student at the National University here in Butare, and he helped us immensely during the lead-up of the telecentre launch, translated the operational procedures, trained people who only speak Kinyarwanda.. this whole thing would not be flying now if it wasn't for people like him, who just show up to help each day, giving up their time for the community. Like a lot of other young folks, he's very community-oriented. I'm not used to this. Where I come from, everyone knows exactly what they can expect in return for their time and effort. It seems that in Nolbert's world, people accept they can't exist by themselves.

He told me about his parents who are both dead. By that time I was a bit more prepared; I'd been listening to other friends before who talked about the genocide. Lots of students we met lived with their cousins or other same-age family members; nobody thinks twice about that over here. At the National University, there is a club where kids without parents can team up with other kids to create new family units.

Nolbert now spends his weekends at his uncle's place in Kigali, and his sister has found a new home with an old neighbour. He's keen to finish his degree, so that he and his sister can re-create their own, proper, home. His two youngest siblings had been adopted by a Belgian family, and he hasn't seen them for the last 4 years. But he will see them again. His optimism, can-do-attitude, and hope for the future are striking. Humbling.