Necessity is the Mother of Invention

No one in Peace Corps reinvents the wheel, however, we do find many different uses for it. Throughout my service I can proudly say I have become extremely resourceful, thinking outside the box and using items for multiple purposes that they are not necessarily intended for.
(*Some of the ideas in this blog post are not entirely my own, but a collaboration with other volunteers and what I have observed and seen from Rwandans.)

-Need to load up your stove with petrol? Cut a water bottle in half and use the top mouth opening as a funnel
-Now you have the bottom of the water bottle- if you measure property it will function as a measuring cup, 1 cup, ½ cup, ¼ cup, and so on, based on the ridges
-You are not cooking and measuring all the time, so the bottom half can also be used as a cup for both drinking and pouring bathing water on your body
-Box wine is often present when PCV gather, it travels well and it cheap, comparatively. When you are done with the wine you can remove the bladder and blow it up to use as a pillow.
- While I don’t get to do this often because I cannot drink in my village when we get together we have opened a beer with everything but a bottle opener-lighter, leatherman, spoon, table edge, door latch…really any flat surface
-The most resourceful viewing I have seen- lighting a cigarette with a magnifying glass. Yes I saw this with my own eyes in the market! I’m sure this method can also be used to start a fire to burn trash.
-Trick for peeling a hard boiled egg, roll it on the ground so that it is broken all over, when you begin to peel the entire shell will come off, similar to when you are a kid and try to peel the Clementine all in one piece. Passion fruit, one very hard roll push in a straight line away from you and it will break down the center in half. Tree tomatoes and stringy mangoes-cut a hole in the top and suck all the juice and pulp out.
-Head carrying goes without saying. Put your luggage or market goods on your head and a baby on your back. Hands are still free.
-A piece of fabric (igitenge) works as a scarf, a head wrap, a skirt, a baby carrier, and a blanket.
-Bees wax can be melted down and made into a candle with a string as a wick.
-An oven is made from two pots, a small and a large one, one inside the other, a few rocks, a bit of sand, and two empty tomato paste cans
-Gardens can be grown in sacks when there is no land available- put rocks in the center for structure and surround them by dirt and poke holes in the sides of the sac for fruits and veggies to grow out of
-Use your waste for compost-egg shells, banana peels and some cow dung to make your garden beautiful!
-Dental floss is the solution to everything, fix it, tie it, hang it, string it.
-Mosquito nets are also princess forts that will protect you from all the critters and possible mice/rats/bats. It you live near a lake they also function as fishing net.
-Old tires function as new shoe soles

Everything in Rwanda has more than one purpose, whether it is intended or not. The problem with this- I have become somewhat of a hoarder, “NO! Don’t throw it away- ill need it for…something.” However, I am also incredibly aware of what I consume and the bi product that comes with it.