Of Feasts and Friends

We had our feast on Saturday, what a great day! 

We started out the day by handing out the pants/skirts that I brought for each child. Mama Jojo helped me to buy the rest that was needed over a few days, as I could only bring so much with me. I swear she has every child's size in her mind, so she made it look easy. I was happy she took on the project of buying the extra clothes for me, as she ensured a local price not "mzungu" prices that I would be charged. 

We secured permission for our 4 kids at secondary (boarding school) to come home for the weekend, which was great! It was so fun seeing Fabrice, Ignace, Esther and Bea again.

 

Cody getting his new shorts

 

The feast included a special donut and tea for breakfast

After that we spent the day getting ready and everyone worked hard to get everything done. We had our feast and also were treated to a dance and song by a crew of kids in matching green shirts. It was beautiful!

After dinner, we cranked the music and the kids were dancing and having fun -- I don't have any pictures, but I sure have the memories of little David dancing like crazy with all the kids. 

Here is a picture I wanted to include -- for those of you who knew my Dad and his love of taking pictures of produce, you can appreciate this one of cabbages growing on our land:

 

I also saw Arlene from the Urukundo Foundation just down the road, she is doing well and still as feisty as ever. We caught up yesterday and it was so great to see her.

I am also having a dress made this week, I'll post a picture once it is finished... get ready for pink and green and yellow! Nothing tame about the fabric I chose. :)

Love from Rwanda!

 The kids waiting to go in to get their "bottoms" (shorts, skirts, etc.)

Showing off some new shorts/skirts

Zach kept running in front of the photo with his toy

Cody wearing his new shorts

The older boys - reunited!
(Fabrice and Ignace were only home for the weekend from boarding school)

Thanks to everyone who donated towards the clothes and the feast!!!

The Singing of Frogs

I forgot how loud the frogs were at night, singing down in the valley. How the banana leaves clap in the wind before the rain. How everyone, everywhere, every time, wants to say hello and greet me. I had forgotten the beauty of the country, the energy it takes for people to survive, the laughter that rises so easily. I had forgotten the stories that take all afternoon to tell; the way the African sun feels on the back of my neck; the way the inside of my nose becomes black with diesel fumes after driving home from Kigali. I had forgotten the weight of children climbing in my lap; the sounds of mamas singing while they cook; the freedom of children dancing to the sound of the drum. I had forgotten the kindness of strangers and the excitement of village children when they say “Good morning!”.I had forgotten how it feels to drive the landcruiser up into the hills to run an errand with my kids in the back for a ride. I had forgotten how Papa Jojo’s jokes make me laugh, how Grace and I talk and laugh together, how the children take me by the hand. I had forgotten because to remember was to get on a plane and come back. 

I find I remember all my Kinyarwanda and use it every day; I am learning the new children’s names. I find myself craving the taste of ugali because I have not eaten Rwandese food yet. Everywhere I go, I see people I know, people who remember me. At the market I ran into mamas who used to work here, mamas of children who have left to be with them again, mamas who sold me carrots and peppers and tomatoes for a year. Everywhere I look I see what I have known – and I see the new.

I have said that Africa can break your heart every day, and it is true. If you listen long enough, if you see clearly, you can know fully the suffering – sometimes it seems like suffering without end. I see people I have known, who sacrifice everything to go to university and then find out their scholarship will not cover food costs for half the year. So when I see them now, I barely recognize them because they are so skinny. I see children I have known and loved, missing from inside these safe walls. I see food prices are high in the market, and everywhere I am stopped for money, maybe more than before. I see the empty promises of politicians. And I see the rains have come and crops are growing; there are still fields to be planted, crops to be harvested, life to go on.

Africa is joy. Africa is suffering. Africa is in my heart.

In the Land of a Thousand Hills

I arrived right on schedule, with all my bags (yay!) after chatting in Italian (with the help of a dictionary) to a team of guys on the Brussels-Kigali flight. They were heading on to DR Congo to do electrical projects. They were awesome, and two of them were in their 80s. I hope I'm still working in Africa when I am 84!!

Bishop Joseph & Liberatta met me at the airport and a few minutes later the VFHC team arrived in their new van (new to me!) with about 5 or 6 kids I knew in the back. Everyone jumped out and Louise and I ran towards each other for a big hug - it was amazing! Bob and Debbie are great and not to mention I discovered she is a great cook. 

There are many changes at the orphanage, a big one is that they now have electricity! I keep forgetting though, I was getting something from my room in the dark when I remembered I could turn on the light. So strange. There are new railings at the top of the retaining walls, new chain-link fence all around the property, including the new land; and my fruit trees have grown from about 7 inch starter plants to small trees now. Not to mention other changes like the pigs and lots of good crops growing on the new land (well, it was new when we bought it 2.5 years ago when I was here).

I drove my old ride, the landcruiser into town today. It is now known as "Surambaya" which means something along the lines of "Ugly Face" -- so funny. I guess it is a bit old compared to the newer van (which is known as "Customer Care" for some unknown reason). But I still like it! It smells like the pig they took to get bred yesterday though, perhaps I will wash it when I get home. :)

Sunday afternoon we played soccer at CP (I cheered from the sidelines as I was still suffering from some jet lag), which is the big field up in the village. I handed out the new jerseys that were donated by the Jarrett Value Centre in Sudbury, as well as some soccer shorts for some of the girls who didn't have any. We still have about 25-30 pairs of shorts to hand out and use later on this week or when the kids need them. Here are some photos from the game:

Most of the 2 teams before we headed out:

 Papa Jojo with some of the team (the subway jerseys were donated the last time I was here, the Sudbury ones are new!)

 Loading up for the game

 Arsene and I watching the game

 Game on

 Kicking skills

 Team Sudbury! :)

 Claude waiting to sub in

 And Claude, after waiting too long :)

I am getting over my jet lag, the first day I woke up at 2AM and just stayed up until night so that I could reset... I think it worked! Next Saturday we will have a family feast, courtesy of everyone who donated. It's going to be awesome! I told the kids about it last night at family time and you should have seen them cheer.

One thing that has been difficult is adjusting to the fact that so many of the kids I know are gone. I know some of them have gone to be with extended family, so that is ok. But I wish I could see them! I did see Tuyisenge, she stopped by to say hi to Mama Jojo while I was there and so we got to say hello. Ignace is one of the older kids away at secondary school (boarding school) but I did get to see him Sunday when we had to drop off some forms. I am going to try and get them all to come to the feast, I will see if I can convince the schools to give them permission. :)

It has been great being with the kids and I nearly started crying on Sunday listening to them sing... It's nice to be home.

Received a big clothing donation!

Through a connection with friends, the list of clothes I needed for the orphanage was passed on to the Jarrett Value Centre in Sudbury. This centre recycles and sells clothing and goods, and offers training and employment to the developmentally challenged. 

They received my list of items and pulled together two big bags plus one box of clothes - for free! We crammed it into the car and I unpacked it today, and I am so happy to say that not only were there some great clothes in good condition for the kids, but also a box of soccer uniforms!! There are at least 20 pairs of soccer shorts plus some jerseys, which is an amazing donation because some of the jerseys are still new in the packaging. It's going to be fun to see the next soccer game in Rwanda -- you can never have enough uniforms with that many kids! It will also be great to see them running around in uniforms that say "Sudbury" all over them - Northern Ontario meets Rwanda on the soccer field.

I haven't weighed all the clothes yet but I'm pretty sure I can't bring any more with me, as I also picked up some clothes at the church yard sale this week (donated for free!). The GCC church here in town is still be accepting cash donations which I will take with me to buy whatever clothes are still needed once I arrive.

Thank you everyone for your help!