Jinja

This picture says it all. Jinja, Uganda is a sleepy little town, where no one is in a hurry. Instead of hassling you like they do in Kigali, the moto drivers just sleep on their bikes and wait for YOU to wake them up. :-) There's a fun laziness about this place, and it reminded me of a small southern town back home. On a Saturday morning families are strolling along Main Street, running errands at the small shops, eating lunch at a cafe, or just sitting outside on wooden benches watching the world pass by. Jinja has that peaceful, "chill" atmosphere to it. But because of its location....nestled on the banks of Lake Victoria, right at the source of the Nile River...Jinja has also earned a reputation for being East Africa's adventure capital. Since KICS is an American International School, we had a couple days off for Thanksgiving, and decided to travel to Jinja to whitewater raft the White Nile. It was an amazing opportunity, an amazing thrill...to be paddling on a river I've only just taught students about back home in America. Or you only see on National Geographic. We read Psalm 91 over and over before we set out. Comforting words. It was an adventure like no other! We paddled 30km, (roughly 19 miles), hit 5 Class V rapids, many IIIs and IVs and somehow maneuvered our raft over a 14 foot waterfall without flipping! That was much to the credit of our awesome guide, Reuben, from New Zealand. But we definitely had our share of wipeouts, but thankfully not too much carnage. :-) We ate fresh pineapple for lunch on the river, saw some stunning birds soaring over, a huge iguana, a monkey, and the other raft even spotted a baby croc! This experience was definitely worth the 26 hours we spent on buses getting us there and back, and the crazy Ugandan border. It was a hoot coming back into Rwanda this morning, having to unload everything from the bus, and seeing policemen apprehending folks for trying to "smuggle" in plastic bags. Haha. Remember, President Kagame outlawed plastic in Rwanda back in '02. He's serious about it too. But I'm thankful he did. When we drove back to Rwanda, the air was fresher, cooler, and you can really breathe! I'm thankful I was able to have this incredible and affordable opportunity, relishing in His beauty and creation He has made for us! Psalm 104: 24-30. More pics are coming...

3 months of thanksgiving

I just realized yesterday that I've been here in Rwanda for 3 months. That's about 90 days. About 2,160 hours. Some of the days have felt much longer than that, and many have flown by so quickly. Most of the time it doesn't seem like it's been 3 months. I'm kept busy with my lovely 4th graders, been able to nuture and love on the kids at Mother Teresa's place, and just soak up and relish in the blessings He gives me each new day! Just being able to spend time thanking Him for bringing me back here to East Africa, for the people He has placed in my midst, for those I love back home who I wish could be here. I have so much to be thankful for, just looking back on these past 90 days.

A couple nights ago, I was privileged to sit under the stars and listen to my guard, Sam, tell of another 3 months. He told me his story...the story of so many here in Rwanda. I'm always curious of the stories, but like war stories, you never want to ask and make someone feel uncomfortable. So I was glad that in 3 months time, Sam felt open enough to share his story. It's all about relationships. And for 3 months in Rwanda back in 1994, relationships were severed across ethnic lines, and even family lines. Sam was 7 when the genocide began. He had a 4 year old brother and a baby sister. His dad was a prominent preacher in the Tutsi community outside of Kigali. Sam clearly remembers the night of April 9, when the "interahamwe" Hutu rebel fighters stormed in his compound, high on dope, wearing their garish costumes and face paint, and were shouting "Kill those Cockroaches!" He vividly remembers the rebels breaking down the door, grabbing his baby sister and throwing her against the wall, and watching her body fall limply to the floor. He remembers standing there frozen for a moment as his mom begged them not to kill her other two children, and she gave the rebels all the money she had. Then he just remembers running out the back, grabbing his 4 yr old brother's hand and just running. After they looted everywhere, they torched the house with his parents inside. Sam just ran, and ran all the way to the top of Mt. Kigali, which was very wild and sparse 15 years ago. There were hyenas and lions, and other wild animals. For 3 months, he and his little brother stayed on that mountain.

It began to rain as we were sitting there talking, and I started to move, but I couldn't. I just kept listening. But my mind was wondering...what did they do on top of Mt. Kigali for 3 months in the rain? 3 months is a long time. 90 days. 2,160 hours. He said he prayed and slept on the grass, and ate the grass too, along with avocados the good Lord provided them. He escaped a few dangerous lions, and many dangerous nights of hunger. Sam said that there was never a time that he thought he would die, because he knew he had to live for his little brother. "I was my brother's keeper," he said. "Against all hope, in hope Abraham believed." And Sam did too. After 3 months, and when the shooting and shouting subsided, they made their way down the mountain and found their home as ashes. His entire family was killed in the genocide, except for one uncle. But Sam declares himself a lucky one. He praises God everyday for His protection, and he knows there was a divine reason why he is still alive today. Some good samaritians paid for a one room hut for the brothers to live in, and Sam cooked meals for them both. A sponsor paid their way through school, until the end of highschool. Sam is 22 now. He has a music "store" in town, he sings in the church choir, and he's saving up to go to university and earn a business degree. We prayed together, and cried together, and sang his favorite hymn, Blessed Assurance. This is Sam's story, his song. And he continues to praise Jesus everyday for his life. When I asked about his feelings now about the genocide and his situation, he turned to one of my favorite verses, Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." We worship a God who delights in miracles! Who has a perfect plan for our lives! I know He has a perfect plan for Sam's life; just as he watched over him as he endured those 3 months on the mountain, he continues to hold Sam and all of us in the palm of His hand. I'm thankful for our guard, Sam, for his faith, and dedication to serving our Lord. This thanksgiving, I'm also thankful for all of you who I love and who bring me encouragement each day, and especially these past 3 months! I thank God for you and it's my prayer you can rest in His presence this week of thanksgiving and know He is Lord!

Sundrop!

They have Sundrop in Rwanda! Just kidding! I sure wish they did though. But I did get a package from home complete with Sundrop, Chex Mix, and Cheez-Its! I waited for quite a while for this special package, and I have to tell you the story! So, I've figured out that the postal system here, although not as blatantly corrupt as the postal service in Kenya, they still have their discreet ways of getting what they want! It's supposed to take a little under one month for a package to arrive from the States. Well, I had been waiting for this special one since the first week of September when it was mailed. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Each week, when our headmaster's wife would come from the post office with a box, I kept thinking it would be my lucky day because I've waited long enough. Nope, not my box. And then I heard stories of missionaries saying they are still waiting on boxes to arrive that were sent last January and last April! Suddenly I didn't feel like complaining anymore. But I did know that there would be contact solution coming in this box, and I desperately needed some, so I wasn't going to lose hope.

We figured out that theres this great big ledger notebook at the post office where they manually write down every single package that arrives in the country. People said that theres a chance if you go down there, they will let you scan through the book, and try to find your name and package. So I went. It started off too well...the man spoke nice English...he was kind and apologized and gladly gave me the book to start thumbing through. Thankfully it only took me about 10-15 minutes to find my name! I jumped for joy! It's me, It's me! Do you have my package? He then sends another man back to this big "package" room. I wait. He brings out a package for a Dutch man. Then a package for a Japanese lady. Then two other boxes for other random people, before I got impatient and asked if I could go back there with him to find my package. He said sure. So I go in this giant room, with absolutely no organization, boxes stacked everywhere and all over the floor, and I start hunting. I notice that it's odd that ALL these boxes are large priority boxes, and most are from the U.S. Hmmm...interesting. There was not even one small box. So finally after only 20 minutes of seraching, I find it! It had a thick layer of dust on it, but thankfully it was intact and hadn't been opened. In the process, I found boxes for 2 missionaries I know that had been waiting since April and July! Crazy! So I take my box out there and sign the paper, and start to walk out.

Thats when things get ugly. The man stops me, and sends another person to guard/block the door. Then, with a sly look on his face, demands that I pay him a "storage" fee of 10,000...which is about $20. I laughed in his face, and told him in Swahili and English that I wasn't paying a bribe, I knew my rights, and I was leaving with my box. They blocked the door. I got firmer and firmer. My face and neck started turning red like it does and I told him how bad he was and that he better let me go now with my box. He started grabbing the box from me. I grabbed it back. We played "tug of war" for a few seconds, then he won and he laughed and said he was hiding my box until I paid the money. He laughed and said, ok, just pay 5,000. I said I refuse to pay any bribe. Let me go. Then I was starting to get so mad a couple tears were coming down. Then I called my headmaster who lives around the corner, and his wife said she would come up there to help. It was almost closing time. They said I had to leave. I said I won't leave until you give me my package. They started to push me out and close the door. I pushed my way back in. They called for their guard with his AK-47 to come and intervene. I said give me my box and I'll leave. Then thankfully, Roberta showed up. They know her and see her face every week. As soon as they saw her, and knew she was the headmaster's wife, they said, ok, just pay us 570, which is $1. We paid it and they brought my box back out from hiding. I was still so angry and red, and just glad to have Roberta there to help at just the right time. It was another fun day at a foreign post office. But it did bring me much joy being able to tell Nicole and others that I actually saw their boxes! Yes! They are there! And I drew them a map of the box room to navigate through and successfully advocate for their packages. Ah, Africa. I love it! All of it! :-) And the Sundrop tasted just as sweet as it would have in September.

Is this the beginning....

of a plague?? I sure hope not. :-) But...for the last 2 days, it seems like the locust are trying to overtake us! Haha. No, but seriously, it's rather disturbing. My kids warned me they come out at the end of October, mid-November when rainy season is at its peak, but I've never seen anything like it. It's a combination of cool, gross, and just plain weird! They are everywhere. Most are tiny locusts, a little longer than your index finger, but some are as big as hotdogs! (I don't know why I just had hotdogs on my mind! Maybe its cause my dad just said he was going to eat at Lee's. Mmm!) The worst is when you are trying to use the bathroom in peace, and they are all over the wall and their little black, beady eyes are rolling around in their head and staring at you. Or when they're all over your classroom windows, so when you go to close the window when you leave, you accidentally smoosh one of them in the window, and locust guts fall in your room. It's just delightful. I'm only joking. I tried to get a picture of a giant one, but it was in the grass, and was camouflaged. When I get a good picture, I'll post it. But until then, let's just pray that Pharoah lets the people go! :-)

Rwanda vs. Zambia

Today was an exciting Saturday! First, Anna Lee and I found this tiny, hidden shop that sells different kinds of food, and as we were browsing the aisles looking for treasures, I looked up and saw a golden bag of Teddy Grahams! (They were really golden, because they were the honey flavored ones.) We both shrieked. It is hilarious the little things that bring you joy living in a foreign country. :-) Of course, when we examined the bag, they weren't the "true" Teddy Grahams, but they still brought us joy. From what we could tell from the package, they were a "Global Brand" of Teddy Grahams, originally produced in Scottsdale, Arizona, then shipped and packaged in India, then on to Rwanda. I don't understand it all , but I was happy I found them on the shelf at Ndolis today. They look weird though..flat bears with big eyes. They look like alien Teddy Grahams and they taste a little funny, but I'm not complaining. Ok, enough about food!

The second reason our Saturday was exciting was I got to attend an international football match between Rwanda and Zambia! We're called the Amavubi, which means Wasps. Before I tell you about the match, I have to tell you about our rat race all around Kigali, trying to find tickets! We were told by our guard and many others that we needed to buy tickets early since it was an international match, because the roads would close later on for the President coming. So we hopped on a moto at 10 this morning and went to the stadium to purchase tickets for everyone. When we got there our moto driver said that we weren't going to be able to buy tickets at the stadium because they didn't sell them there until right before the game started. He told us that government was bad in that way, and that is why there were always stampedes to get in the game right beforehand. Very comforting information! So he takes us down the road to a tiny Rwandatel shack that is supposed to sell tickets. No tickets. We pay our moto driver and he drives away. We went to another Rwandatel shack. No tickets. They send us back to the stadium. It took us about 15 minutes in the blazing sun, then we arrive and the gate police tell us no tickets. Finally a nice man tells us to walk back down the way we just came from to a hotel called Chez Lando where they sell tickets. We walked the 15 minutes back down the road, and finally found the entrance to the hotel, hidden behind a wall of ivy. We walk in, confused and went to reception. Of course the reception lady looked even more confused when we told her we wanted to buy tickets for the game. She sent us to the bar, where we found some men watching a football game on thier small tv. I just knew they would direct us to the right place! They told us to cross the street and go to Ndoli's market (where I found the fake Teddy Grahams), and they assured us we could buy tickets there. We cross over, and of course find people shopping for produce, meat, milk. We come up in there and ask the lady for football tickets, and she looks at us like we are crazy. We are so tired by now, but just laugh at each other and say in unison, "TIA," which means "This is Africa!" We talk about "Tia" a lot. :-) But then some random man in the market tells us to go three shops down to another Rwandatel shop and we will most definitely be able to buy tickets there. And he was right! Finally! We got our tickets, and the man selling them told us we still needed to arrive 2 hours before the match started so we wouldn't have to "push" to get in. Haha. We got there at 2:15 for the 3:30 match, and thankfully, the "pushing" hadn't really started. But they DO pat you down. For real. We had a female police, thank goodness. And they make you turn on your camera and take a picture of the ground to show them that your camera is real and not a bomb. :-) I laughed out loud at that. But I complied anyway.

The stadium was really pretty modern. They totally rebuilt it after the events in 94. Today's was a qualifying match for the African Nations Cup held in Angola. I think Rwanda is already out of the World Cup qualifiers, because we're not very good. From the little I understand about soccer, the winner of today's game was the last team to advance to the Nations Cup from our Group. And in order for Rwanda to advance, we had to win by 2 goals. Sadly, the game ended with a 0-0 tie, which still meant Zambia would advance. Rwanda had many, many shots on goal, but each time they got close they got really excited and overshot it. It was kind of frustrating to see so many near misses. Zambia looked much more controlled. We just seemed to be very excited when we had the ball, and we would kick it far down field, instead of pushing the ball up the field together. One of the hilarious things was watching all the guys on both teams fake injuries. They would fall down just to stop the clock and then lay there writhing in pain. Then the "stretcher" team would run out onto the field carrying a makeshift handheld "stretcher" and clumsily lift the person onto the stretcher and run off the field. Then, as soon as the person was dropped on the sidelines, they would get up and run back out there. It was crazy! But I think I figured out that the rule was if you left the field, it had to be on a stretcher. This happened about 12 times during the course of the game. Of course, each time, that player just wanted a "water" break. They would sip their water on the stretcher, be carried to the sidelines, dropped in the grass, then they would immediately run back out there to play. Hilarious to watch! The atmosphere in the stadium was great..it reminded me of an American football game. There were Rwandans with painted faces and chests, blowing crazy horns, wearing masks, trying to humiliate the other team. Lot of fun to watch! One neat thing at the end to see, was how they release everyone from the stadium. You cannot leave early at all! Not even if your team is losing by a mile! When the President is there, no one is allowed to leave the stadium until he formally leaves with all his people. It's a big, formal process. The policemen have to stop everyone else from leaving. So it took us a while to get out of there. Thank goodness we didn't need to immediately catch a moto. We would have been out of luck. A bunch of us girls walked to Sole Luna cafe afterwards for some great Italian pizza. All in all, a super day! :-)

Rwanda vs. Zambia

Amharo Stadium

An enthusiastic fan :-)

The army band playing for President Kagame

The "mzungu" crowd. Don't make fun of my hat. I was just trying to show my support for the Amavubi! :-)

Be Thou My Vision

I've been humming this great hymn all week. I finally looked up all the verses to it. It's been my prayer this week.

Be thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart.
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night.
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom and thou my true word.
I ever with thee, and thou with me, Lord.
Thou my great Father, and I thy true son.
Thou in my dwelling, and I with thee one.

Riches I need not, nor man's empty praise.
Thou mine inheritance, now and always.
Thou and thou only, first in my heart.
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won.
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun.
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall.
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Pothole update

Ok, so do you remember pothole #8 in front of our house that I posted about back in Septmeber??? Well, this is an update about what it looks now. Ha! Not much improvement, huh?

Another cute, quick story from my kids today.......
It was raining today when it was sunny outside. One of my girls, Chanil, says, "Ms. Griggs, do you know what we say in Rwanda when it rains when the sun is shining?"....We say that a frog is getting married.

WHAT??? And this whole time in America, we thought it just means a rainbow will appear! Haha! I got a good laugh out of that one. :-)

Hard question

I have very thoughtful students. They are very intelligent too, and inquisitive. I knew that this question would arise out of them sometime during our Bible lessons this year, just not this soon. As you know, we've been studying about how God is omniscient this week, and how He knows everything we need and desire even before we ask Him. He is omnisicent. He knows it all. So during our discussions today, one of my sweet girls, Norah, asks the question..."So if God knows everything and can do anything, then why did he let the genocide happen? Why did he let my grandparents be killed?" Others piped up...yeah, why did God let my auntie be killed, or why did my parents have to flee Rwanda?" I was kind of starting to stumble over what I would tell these 4th graders...this question can be so difficult for adults to understand or comprehend! But 4th graders? I said a quick prayer and said God just speak to me, Help me to answer them in a way that is true that they would understand. And then, almost immediately, another sweet student of mine, Orla, raises her hand and says, "Ms. Griggs, I think it's just like that song we sing during morning worship...He gives and takes away...but blessed be his name." Wow. It gave me chills. That was one of my proudest and most precious moments being a teacher. I just smiled and said, Yes, Orla, you are absolutely right. Blessed be His name! I am learning so much from my students. I'm thankful God chose Orla to teach us today.

Language Lessons

So on top of everything else going on this week...fall festival, report cards, parent conferences, etc... we still had Kinyarwanda languauge lessons after school yesterday. I'm really not complaining! I want to learn more of the language, but practicing Kinyarwanda for a couple hours really does a number to your already-tired brain! Let me tell you a little bit about Kinyarwanda. It's been said that it is the 17th most difficult language in the world to learn. But for English speakers...it becomes the 7th most difficult language! After a few lessons, I can understand this!

I really love learning and studying new languages. I was hopeful my French would improve and be restored from when I learned it in college....but so many people can speak Swahili here, so it's been easy to just speak Swahili. I know what you're thinking...too many languages in one tiny country the size of Maryland! Yes, I know! There are many French speakers due to Rwanda once being colonized by Belgium, and later France. And of course, theres the national Kinyarwanda language. And many of the adults also speak Swahili and perhaps even another tribal language due to their days of exile living in Congo, Uganda, Kenya, or Tanzania. And to complicate matters, now President Kagame has said that his country will no longer speak French, but will instead become an Anglophone country, and beginning this year, schoolchildren will be learning English too! (Apparently there's some bad political blood with the French now...they have even refused French parents to adopt Rwandan orphans.)

So, you basically have your pick of languages, and out of all those, Kinyarwanda is by far the most difficult one! Swahili is really easy...all the words sound exactly like they are spelled, and they easily roll off your tongue. Plus, you can travel to almost anywhere in East Africa, and they will know Swahili. But Kinyarwanda is only spoken here. So I have to admit, I haven't felt this huge desire and need to learn Kinyarwanda, even though I know I really need to learn many phrases just out of respect for the people here since this will be my home for at least a year. It's been a slow learning process thus far!

For example...here are two words....mwiriwe? which means Good afternoon. Yes, you have to say it like a question you are asking them. Then theres, mwiriwe! which is spelled the exact same, but sounds a bit different right there in the middle, and you don't say it like a question. This one means Have a nice day.

Nibyiza is what you say when someone asks you how is everything? Nibyiza means everything is good. But here's how you pronounce it....neebeegeezay! Not at all like it is spelled!

The plural form of you is mwebwe...but you say it like this...mwebgay.

Basically there are no G's in the Kinyarwanda alphabet, but there ARE "G" sounds. Go figure. Also there is no "L" in the alphabet, but again, there are L sounds. All their "Rs" are pronounced as "Ls." Also, most "D's" you don't pronounce, but a few you do. And all "K's" are pronounced with a "ch" sound.

And there's some Kinyarwanda words that totally sound like they belong to another country....like "iki niki." You pronounce it like, "ichi nichi." It means what is this? To me, that sounds like Japanese.

And how about the word, turasubira? Sounds and looks like Spanish to me. But it means See you later. And this word actually sounds just like it's spelled!

The funniest thing to us Americans is the word for "No" which is "Oya." They say it all the time, and we still think they are agreeing with us, and saying, "Oh yeah!" :-)

I love language...I really do. But I need help with this one!

God Knows Me

In our Bible lesson this week, we've been studying about how God is omniscient and what that means. We've marveled at how He knows all the hairs on our head, He has names for all the stars in the sky, and He even knows what we need and desire before we even ask Him! God is cool! Today we wrote acrostic poems with the word Omniscient. Students had to complete the sentence or phrase and list something God knows about them. Some of them were sweet, some were so honest and innocent, and some were just hilarious. The innocence of children is so refreshing! I wanted to share some with you...

God knows that I like otters.
God knows that I like obeying Him. (precious!)
God knows that I like my friend Orla.
God knows that I like Oreos (American kid!)

God knows how I like my eggs cooked.
God knows how I like to milk my cow.
God knows how I manage to forgive myself when I sin. (precious!)

God knows that I will never hate Him.
God knows that I will never steal anything.
God knows that I will never stop respecting my elders.
God knows that I will never be a boy! (written by a girl. :-))
God knows that I will never punch anyone.
God knows that I will never forget him.
God knows that I will never give in to Satan.
God knows that I will never stop loving Him! (Amen!)

God knows when I feel ill.
God konws when I feel immature.
God knows when I feel ignored.
God knows when I feel invisible.
God knows when I feel incouraged. :-)

God knows that I can skateboard down a mountain in New Zealand.
God knows that I can sleep late on Saturdays.
God knows that I sin sometimes because I'm not perfect like Him.
God knows that I can scream. :-)
God knows that I can say, "Yes, God you rock!"
God knows that I can scare my sisters.
God knows that I can stomp on an ant.
God knows that I can seek Him every day.

God knows that I eat Cocopuffs. (American kid!)
God knows that I eat crispy, crunchy chicken.

God knows that I love Irisse and Inah, my sisters.
God knows that I love icecream.
God knows that I love Indiana Jones.

God knows that I have excellent praises for Him.
God knows that I have embarrassed my parents before. (haha!)
God knows that I have everything I need.
And my favorite one....God knows that I have enteligense. :-)

God knows that I am not giving up on being a good Christian.
God knows that I am not really a bad person.
God knows that I am not a burgular.
God knows that I am nice.
God knows that I am never alone because He is with me!
God knows that I am never going to be 1,000 years old like the people in the Bible. (haha!)
God knows that I'm not gonna lie or steal ever again!

God knows where I take my breakfast. (this is the term they use for eating.)
God knows where I take naps.
God knows where I track down the termites and catch them.


Sometimes I need to remind myself that God really does know everything about me, and He still loves me completely and wants to bless me! Psalm 147:5 says.. "Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has NO limit." None. Nada. Zero. No limits to his abilities and understanding! :-) What have you been trying to "keep" or "hide" from God lately? Whatever it is...it's really just KEEPING you from Him and enjoying the fullness of His presence!

Be blessed! He knows us and still loves us!