Blowing Bubbles....

Another day…another adventure. Kelly, Amy and Caitlin here again.

After a lively morning church service at the Sonrise School, God really wanted to test our attention span. We trekked over to St. John’s Cathedral for the late morning service and hold your breath….it was three hours long and hold your breath again…..it was completely in Kinya-rwanda. So, thank goodness for the translators that dispersed among us abazungu (white folks). In all seriousness, it was really cool to see two very different Anglican services in Rwanda. Despite the language barrier there were some striking similarities to our church services at The Falls Church, yet there were some amazingly different pieces as well. One of the things most of us recognized was the opening song It is Well With my Soul. One neat cultural difference was the offering portion of the service. There weren’t any ushers…the Rwandans, so humbly and peacefully, brought up their offerings to a large peace basket held by Pastor Frank’s wife, Peace.

After the service ended we walked back to the guesthouse blowing bubbles for the children as we went and then headed off to the Sonrise School.

First stop-The Primary School:
We met the children in the chapel and handed out gifts from their sponsors in the United States. The kids were so excited as they received dictionaries, letters and various gifts from their sponsors. If you are interested in learning more about sponsoring a child, email Stacey. She knows all about it because she’s the proud Mom of 18 Sonrise students in both the Primary and Secondary schools. She looks darn good for having so many kids! Caitlin and Diane stayed behind at the Primary school to play with their kids who turn out to be siblings. They taught them how to blow bubbles, jump rope, sing songs like “Jesus is the Rock” and play games.

Second Stop – Secondary School
The rest of the group headed over to the Secondary School to distribute gifts and letters from their sponsors. While it was great to visit with the kids and answer all their questions about our lives in America, it was also incredible to listen to their stories about their families and life at Sonrise. The children’s appreciation for our love and sponsorship was best expressed by a student named Charles who said, “I have no words to describe how thankful I am for you.” We later found out that all of his family was killed in the genocide. Amy asked if he was sad about his situation. His answer echoed his remarkable faith. He simply replied, “No, God has a plan for me.” Needless to say, we were all speechless. Not only can these kids learn from us, but we also have so much to learn from them.

Busy day ahead of us……. We’ll be in touch soon!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of our dads!!!  

Swinging on a Vine through the Stinging Neddles to see the Gorillas!

Today, 7 of us hiked in to the Volcano National Park through the Office of Rwandan Tourism (http://www.rwandatourism.com/home.htm) to see the wild gorillas.  As you might know, these are the only wild gorillas left in the world.  It was an incredible experience to hike in this beautiful jungle and to see the gorillas out in the wild.  We drove to the National Park entrance very early in the morning and upon arriving we met or park ranger guides: Jean Claude & Jean.  They have both been guiding and tracking the gorillas and other animals in Rwandan National Parks for 8 years. After a short debriefing, we drove to the entrance to the trail we would take.  This “trail” is really hiking through Rwandan farmland to get to a certain entrance to the park.  These farms are surrounded by 5 Volcanoes (some active and some not) and much of the land is farmed for Irish potatoes and a certain flower that produces insecticide.  Once we entered the jungle part we hiked up a very steep hill (we mean mountains) for over an hour. Since the jungle is very dense with plants, bushes and trees, a porter accompanied us, using his machete to hack away the plants so we could walk through.  Also a soldier came along too (standard for all gorilla hikes) as a precaution.  He would have fired his gun in to the air if there were any animals (gorillas, elephants, etc) that stampeded us.  Finally we were led to a group of gorillas that we sitting in a small clearing, eating plants.  There were 9 gorillas including the Main Silverback, Brownblack (#2 in command), Moms, Adolescents and Babies. We were about 3 feet away from them at times.  It was very exciting and we all have lots of pictures and videos to share with you when we return.  We were able to stand and watch them eating and playing for an hour.  On the whole, they were pretty subdued except for the adolescents and babies who kept playfully hitting and wrestling with each other.  The hike down was another adventure because of the slippery volcanic soil.  We also had to keep a look out for the stinging neddles which are plants with stinking sharp needels that can poke through your pants or shirt and sting.  Our guides also found some strong vines hanging from the trees and we all swung away like Jane!  Okay well maybe not all of us or so far away but some of us had fun pretending to swing high and far (a little arm toning is in order before more vine swinging)  This morning and afternoon was a good chance to get to know some other Rwandans better, building relationships but also seeing more of this beautiful country and supporting the Rwandan economy.  As we left, our gorilla guide encouraged us to come back and each bring a friend (or maybe even a husband) to hike next time!  Maybe you will come hike the gorillas with one of us in the future!  It’s an amazing, once in a lifetime experience!

 

Weddings Bells

Amy, Kelly, Ann and Caitlin here.

Good news…………. We’re getting married!!!!

Well, not just yet….. thanks to a powerful prayer from a woman named Peace and the rest of the Inyakurama women hopefully it’ll be soon! A picture’s worth a thousand words – boy, if you could of seen the faces of the women who were so surprised when they found out that only one person in our group is married. They felt the immediate need to jump up out of their seats and pray for us single girls to find good husbands. How awesome!

Prayer Request……..

For all you moms, don’t worry about:

the lack of seat belts in our “van cruiser”, the speed at which we’ve been driving (it’s in kilometers, we don’t know the difference anyway!) down the middle of a pot hole-filled REALLY curvy mountainous road while trying to avoid school children in uniforms, pedestrians carrying their day’s work balanced on their heads, and bicyclists hauling loads of water.  BUT…… we are using our antimicrobial hand sanitizer and travel toilet paper/Kleenex for unexpected pit stops…… and when we say “pit” stops, we mean PIT stops. (pit\pit – n: a hole, shaft, or cavity in the ground The Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

We would like to give a special shout out to our amazing 6’ 4” interpreter Herve, who has been so patient and kind by answering our nonstop questions, while crunched in the back of our “van cruiser” with the eight of us – so chatty and giggly.

Alright, more to come….. Off to met the gorillas tomorrow, much love - Peace out!

PS- We land at Dulles at 8am on Sunday, June 22^nd. This would be a PERFECT time to get the ball rolling if there’s any single gentlemen you want us to meet…. Especially since we’ll be looking so H-O-T after 24 hours of travel!

 

 

Third Day:Inyakurama Women

Muraho! (greetings)

Diane here.  This is our third full day and we are now in Musanze, which is in the northwestern part of Rwanda, near the boarders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.  

We had the opportunity to spend an hour or so touring the Sonrise Primary and Secondary schools.  The order of the school and the children themselves were amazing.  Every classroom we walked into, we were greeted with song.  We saw the cafeteria pre-lunch.  All the food – a plate of rice, beans and veggies – was waiting for them.  We’ll post pictures and dialogue of the cafeteria setting, the kids, and the “Presidential” cow later.

This afternoon was the most amazing and touching experience.  We spent several hours with the Inyakurama ministry, which blossomed out of the long-standing Mothers Union, to bring reconciliation and hope to women survivors of the genocide.  After the genocide, many women were left without husbands and means of providing for themselves.  Many have shared with previous groups that they were afraid to go outside for fear of reprisal for being a Hutu or continuing to fear for their lives as a Tutsi – they were utterly alone and had no hope.  This ministry offers community to these women, teaches them skills, and helps them provide for themselves.  Through their faith in Jesus, believing that He cares for them and looks after orphans and widows, they now have hope.  Because of the changes in their lives and circumstances, they proclaim these blessings are from God and not of their own doing.

The women danced and prayed for us (I think Amy will talk about that part of the meeting a little later) and we also had a very real conversation about women’s issues.  We talked about providing for families with the rising food prices, what men think of their wives/relatives being successful in business, teenage rebellion, sex before marriage and drug use.  It was amazing how much we had in common.  While the weight of issues they face is much heavier than those of American women, it was mind opening to recognize that we face many of the same fundamental problems.  I am inspired to help these women create markets for their goods, but also to ensure that their stories of hope are shared with those who are not privileged enough to encounter them face-to-face.

 

 

We're here!!!!

Muraho!

We’re in Rwanda and have had some amazing experiences so far. Chronicled below is a brief encounter, there will be more to come each day, so please stay a faithful reader!

We met lots of friends on the plane. Some were moving here, some were going to adopt a child, and some were on mission trips. We also traveled with the victorious Rwandan football (US soccer) team who beat Ethiopia – go team!

We were met at the airport by our friend Pastor Deo and our faithful, excellent driver Emmanuel. They were able to load all of our 50+ pound suitcases in a small Toyota truck and took us to the Hotel Isimbi. After a brief respite at the hotel, we went to Pastor Deo’s community center. Pastor Deo is connected with Prison Fellowship International. He directs many ministries in and around Kigali. Our first day we visited his community center with the women’s AIDS ministry and the street children ministry. Several women and children greeted us with dance and song and then shared with us their testimonies.

One woman shared that she contracted AIDS as a result of a gang rape during the genocide. Many of the other women shared similar stories. Though they live in these dire circumstances, they are incredibly hopeful through their faith in Jesus Christ. This is just one example of the stark contrast between such poverty and loss and hope for the future. Without God, hope would not be possible for these people.

We have oodles of stories to share and we can’t wait to share them with you, but 8 people all trying to create this message at 10 pm after many hours in the car and lots and lots of activities over the past few days – it’s a bit hard to compose and capture all our favorite moments and lessons. Please stay tuned.

Cheers!

Team Rwanda 2008 (Stacey, Michelle, Amy, Caitlin, Diane, Kelly, Sally, and Ann)

Counting down the hours!!

We had a great team meeting tonight, although we missed Sally.   It's hard to believe that we will be heading to the airport in 9 hours to start our journey!! 

Rwanda in the Washington Post

Here are two recent Washington Post articles about Rwanda!

This front page article also features a 10 minute movie that shows wonderful views of what we will see in Rwanda next week. The women profiled in this article have started (coffee) businesses similar to the Inyakrama Women (who have benefitted from coffee businesses) that we will meet with next week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051504035.html

Another article about the Kigali Genoicide Museum and how healing and hope continue to flood Rwanda.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/28/AR2008052802914.html

Packing it Up!

A week ago, we packed all of the clothing donations in to 4 large (donated) suitcases! We are so thankful for all the donations (material, supplies and money) and prayer that are being heaped upon us to take! Please pray that we would not exceed the weight restrictions and that all of our luggage (16 pieces) would make it there in one piece!

5 More Days till Lift off!

Woohoo for Rwanda 2008!!

Well, after battling with flights and some issues that revolve around my peanut allergy I am so excited to say that I am going to be part of this team! (can you sense a theme in the blogs up to this point...we're excited!). I can't wait to work with Bishop John and the students at the Sonrise School and I'm looking forward to learning about the other ministries we're going to be working with!

Well, I thought I would include some of the latest and greatest on Rwanda. Here's a link to an article that was posted last week at The Washington Post. Check out the video... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/15/AR2008051504035.html?referrer=emailarticle.

As some of you know...I went to Kenya the summer of '06 and my my most memorable moments were spending time with the kids. Here are a few of my favorite pictures and I look forward to sharing a bunch more from Rwanda when I get back!

If you all could be praying for our fundraiser event tomorrow at The Clarendon Grill and for the team as we figure out the final details of the trip that would be awesome! Thanks!!

~Caitlin

Countdown: 23 Days Before Departure!

I am also excited to return to Rwanda, reconnect with friends and make new friends too! Enjoy these pictures of some of the friends that we will visit.
--Michelle

Virunga range

This is a picture of the Virunga range where the silverback gorillas live - I took it last year on my trip to Rwanda. I am so excited to be going back this year!