Busy times

Busy times in Kigali this week! Sorry for the lack of posts. I've wanted to post many things lately, but we had power outages for 3 days, and when it started working consistently again, now the internet is out at school! Ugh! But you can't complain. TIA (This is Africa!)...I find myself repeating this phrase many times over in my head! Ha! Anyway, sorry for the lack of emails lately too! I'm really LONG overdue to write an email to my aunt Leesa, and Leslie too! And call my wonderful stepmom for her birthday! (I didn't forget, sorry!) It will come very soon. Thanks for being patient!

So since there's no internet on the hill, I rode a moto into town and decided to treat myself to fast and free internet at my favorite outdoor Mediterranean restaurant, Shokola. I come here once or twice a month, to relax and take advantage of the internet situation. So right now, I'm eating a lemon couscous salad, sipping iced mint tea, and ginger cookies. A welcome change! And sitting outdoors on a couch, tucked inside a cool, canvas tent, overlooking a bonfire. So I'm kind of getting my nature-fix in too! Campfires are one of my favorite smells!

It's been a busy week, but a great one too. A quick run-down...Last Saturday we had fun celebrating the Chinese Moon festival at the Nash's house. The Nash's adopted thier little girl, Emma (3), from China. We celebrated with wontons, fried rice, Chinese lanterns, and lemonade. The Nash's are also in the process of adopting a little boy from the Home of Hope orphanage here in Kigali! On Sunday, I began teaching Sunday School to children ages 7-9 at my church, Christ Church Rwanda. I had the privilege of teaching a short class on "how to teach Sunday School" to some other Rwandan teachers. CCR has a large children's ministry. Many are locals and come each Sunday, but there's also a large transient crowd of kids who are there with their families on short-term mission trips. It's a beautiful thing to teach a room full of children from all over the globe the same story about Daniel.

Then I had Sunday brunch with a favorite family of mine, The Urquharts, from Seattle. Kristin made an excellent stir-fry. I taught their son, Weston, last year. Then we all went to the orphanage and had a wonderful time with our kids. This is always the highlight of my week. The Urquharts are in the process of adopting a young boy from the orphanage, and Mrs. Urquhart's sister is too! (The Fletchers) They are from California, and taught here at KICS last year. Things are going EXTREMELY slow with this adoption process, in part because of all the red tape and tons and tons of documents to turn in, but also because Rwanda just recently changed their adoption laws to make them a lot more strict. Now, the whole process takes anywhere from 3-6 years to complete! Soo frustrating for so many families! You think they would make it a lot easier because there are so many precious children waiting for loving homes. But I guess there's just a lot of things I don't understand.

Monday, I had the privilege of eating dinner with one of my students, Sam, from British Columbia, and his family. They are here for at least two years working for The Wellspring Foundation. http://www.thewellspringfoundation.com/. They are helping to start a school on the same compound as the church that was started by Rick Warren's Saddleback community. I enjoyed  homemade lasagna and chocolate mousse prepared by Mrs. Thiessen. (I've been eating GOOD this week!) We also were joined by the Thiessen's friend, Sylvestre. The Thiessen's have been helping Sylvestre obtain a 4-year "Orphans of Rwanda" scholarship to go to the National University here in Rwanda. Sylvestre is a 20-year old Rwandan who has overcome many odds to reach where he is today. He is smart, hard-working, speaks four languages, and just eager to learn so much. As it turned out, he was one of 27 successful applicants to acheive the scholarship, and there were 1,500 applicants this year! I want to share Sylvestre's story with you, as written by Mr. Thiessen on their family's blog.

http://thewellspringfoundation.com/blogs/thiessens/2010/09/20/sylvestre/

It is a funny, thoughtful, and inspirational story, representative of so many young people in Rwanda. But Sylvestre, through hard work, and the help of a few friends, will get the chance to go much further in life than many of his peers ever will go. I love how Mr. Thiessen ends the blog post..."Sometimes we all wonder why God has placed us where we are right now in our lives. Why are we in this job? What is the greater purpose in certain relationships we might have? Will God allow us the perspective to look back and understand more of the rationale someday? Maybe two years in Africa was all about a young guy who showed up at our door one day and wouldn’t go away." I wonder these same thoughts all the time. What is this entire experience in Rwanda really about? I already know that I'm not just called here to be a teacher. It's much more than that. We are not just here (or there) to routinely perform our jobs every day. That sounds incredibly boring. I know we are created for so much more, and each relationship, each person God brings into our life is for a purpose! A divine purpose! I'm a firm believer that NOTHING happens by coincidence in the life of a Christian. He connects us with people that he wants us to teach, and to learn from. We should thank Him and praise Him for everyone in our life right now...even those hard-to-deal-with folks who cause us frustrations and heartaches sometimes. Each relationship is a gift! I like to wonder about my time here, and wonder just what exactly is God doing??! And how will He weave these experiences into future ones. I can look back and see how He has used every single experience to prepare me for what comes next. So right now, He is also preparing me. It's exciting to think about!....Sorry I got off on a tangent there. Actually, I am about to fall asleep here at my computer, so I better pack up and head home. I don't wanna be so sleepy that I fall off the back of the moto on the way home! :-) I'll continue tomorrow...

It's a new day! And I'm awake (sort of!) I got a record 9 hours of sleep last night! I was surprised because it was mighty HOT last night. It's the short rainy season right now, and it's SUPPOSED to rain at least 1-2 hours every day, but it hasn't rained for 2 weeks now, and the temperatures are soaring! I had gotten used to Kigali's nightime temps being in the 50's and 60's, but this week they've been in the 80's and 90's. A big difference! It's thundering outside right now, so I'm praying we'll have a nice storm tonight. I enjoyed singing "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" in Kinyarwanda at church today! It was a mouthful! And afterwards, I gave piggy-back rides to my little girls at the orphanage. Tonight, the internet is back on at school. so I'm trying to type fast and get some things done before bedtime.

Back to my busy week...on Tuesday, we had the first girls basketball practice. I'm the coach! I had 8 girls come out on the first day, and I'm hoping some more will come next week! I've already talked with a coach at one of the local schools, Green Hills, about playing some games with us in the future. I'm trying to get a girls and boys soccer team up and running too, because their coach is already ready to play us! Tuesday night I led the co-ed Bible Study at Paul's house. Paul is from Northern Ireland, but has been here in Rwanda for 4 years now, after living in Tanzania for 7 years. He's the country director for Technoserve, an NGO funded by Bill Gates Foundation that works to support Rwandans in different trades. He works with coffee farmers. I led the study on John, ch. 8. We're working our way through the book of John, and it's been awesome. I love studying the Bible with friends from all over the world!

On Wednesday, a new teacher arrived! Now our staff is complete! Elizabeth is from all over because her parents were in the military, but she calls Washington, D.C. home. I'm excited because she's a runner! Also on Wednesday, my class was responsible for the chapel service. We've been preparing for 2 weeks now! My students memorized Psalm, chapter 1, and recited it for everyone. We've been studying about trees in Science, so we learned Psalm 1 and discussed how as Christians we can be like trees. They brought up some good points....we can grow tall and upward so we can grow closer to God each day. And also we want to bear good fruits like the fruits of the Spirit! We sang our infamous Fruits of the Spirit song, and they even did the "Macarena" to it! (Kelly is teaching them how to dance in P.E. this week!) :-) We closed our chapel service by performing a short version of the Zaccheus play, and also singing the song. They dressed up and had blast. My student, Siem, even climbed up in a tree! I will try to post pictures soon! I had a nice long run Wednesday evening to the post office to mail some letters. I found a great new dirt path that cuts through the valley and it cut off 5 minutes! Yay!

On Thursday, we went on our first field trip of the year, to my friend's coffee factory! James invited them to tour his factory, and we were the first class to come visit. It was incredibly interesting! I will tell you all about it and post pictures in a sec! On Friday, my principal came in to observe our class. (Yes, we even have observations here!) Observations always make me nervous, even though my principal is the coolest guy ever. I think I passed. :-) We were reading one of my favorite stories, "The Giving Tree," and talking about the sacrifice the tree made for the boy, and comparing it to the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. I continue to be so impressed with my new students and their insights. Friday night, I went to a multi-cultural party at the "Tony Blair" House. This is Tony's office and home when he comes to Kigali! It's super nice, on top of a hill, and close to my house. We had a blast meeting, talking with people from all over the world, and of course, people watching! There were about 400-500 people there, and people-watching is one of my favorite events at a big function like this, so I had fun!

But Saturday morning came too soon. I woke up and begrudgingly ran the 4 miles to my principal's house because he and his wife were cooking a massive breakfast for all the teachers. (I told you I ate good this week!) We enjoyed homemade "American" waffles, cinnamon buns, egg casserole and fresh fruit. Delicious! I was definitely too full to run back home, so I was glad I brought some moto money with me. Before heading home, I checked out this new bookstore that I had heard about in their neighborhood. It's the first of it's kind in Kigali. While not exactly Barnes and Noble, it is a nice, clean, but small store. But the prices are way too expensive! I spent the rest of my afternoon relaxing, cleaning up, grading papers, and trying to find working Internet! I ended the evening in my fav place, Shokola!

I have one specific prayer request this week that I would like to share with you! My houseworker, Germaine, has been VERY ill and in the hospital with malaria. She hasn't felt like doing much of anything. Yesterday I talked with her and while she was still in the hospital, she sounded much, much better. So that was good news. But she still needs prayers for a full recovery! Thank you for praying!

I miss all of you, and I'm thankful for all of you! Please forgive me for being slow on emails. It's frustrating for me too! Thank you all for your love and prayers! Blessings for a wonderful week!

It's either an immaculate conception...

or...worms. Yeah, I know it's gross, but it's bound to happen sooner or later when you live in Africa. We call just about any intestinal parasite, "worms", so I reckon it could be a number of nasty parasites, but I've got something! It's not slowing me down....just a little fatigued and sleepy, but the biggest thing is (this is gross), my overextended, very distended, alien belly! So weird! I've never experienced anything like this before! Ha! I know this is gonna sound bad but I'm trying to help you relate...think about those commercials you see on TV, that picture the "poor, starving African children," that are emaciated, but have huge bellies that stick out. It's because of some sort of worm or parasite. It's very common here...I probably got it from bad water, or eating raw fruits and veggies. We are supposed to regularly take de-worming meds every couple of months, just like you pop some ibuprofen for a headache now and then. So I'll walk to the pharmacie(that's how you spell it here!) tomorrow and get some cheap prescription drugs (without a prescription,) and in a couple of days I will be fine. (My African friends said that I don't need medecine. They tell me to eat a bunch of raw garlic mixed with honey and papaya seeds and it will all disappear.) Anyway, even though it sounds gross, these parasites or worms are a very common thing here, and just a slight inconvenience for me.
But it got me thinking tonight, this is something sooo treatable! It can easily be treated with pills for $5-$6 that I will buy tomorrow. Yet, this is another one of those ailments that the majority of people here suffer from because they cannot afford the medecine, or the transportation to get to the pharmacie to purchase the medecine. And then their symptoms lead to more symptoms and continually worsen. Only when left untreated for a long time, can these parasites do some real damage to your insides. This is another incidence where I feel completely privileged and blessed. I have. Others do not. It's nothing at all for me to part with $5, especially when it has to do with my health. Heck, I part with $5 for fast food meals in the US all the time. But for others here, $5 is a huge sacrifice. It can be a week's wages, or more. Everyday I realize how privileged I am. And what responsibility that privilege brings. A responsibility to live on the margins, to choose simplicity, and to love as Christ loves, not judging..but serving. Not taking pity on, but showing empathy and compassion. My prayer tonight...

Lord, give us your heart and your eyes to see those who are marginalized, who are hungry, who are blind, who are sick. We know you are a loving, compassionate God whose heart cries out for justice. Give us your eyes to see, your hands to feed, so we too can cry out for justice, and so that your light can shine through us. Lord, I lift up those children in the world who are suffering from many treatable diseases, and who find themselves in other circumstances they did not choose and are helpless to change. I lift up the children of Rwanda, and the children in the U.S. They are all precious in your sight. May they know the love of you, their Creator tonight and always. Amen.

Which way is the right way?

Rwanda's Parliament is in the process of making a BIG decision.....which side of the road do we drive on??? Since I arrived last year, there has been MUCH debate about this topic among Rwandans and expats. It's a commonly featured topic on KigaliLife yahoo group and in the media as well. But today, the Minister of Infrastructure formally submitted a proposal to the Prime Minister that will call for "sweeping" changes. But they warned us not to get excited yet. There are three options they are considering. Here's the full article...

http://www.newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14390&article=33804

I love this quote..."One option is to change from driving on the right-hand side to the left-hand side, the second is to maintain the current right-hand drive system and the ban on importation of right-hand drive vehicles; while the third proposal is to remain on the right-hand drive and lift the existing ban on right-hand vehicles."

Confusing!

Rwanda drives on the right side now, along with Burundi, and has been doing so for a LONG while. But the other members of the East African Community drive on the left side: Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. It's hilarious (and dangerous) here in Rwanda because you have so many outsiders living here....people who were natives of Uganda or Kenya. And on the roads, we've got all kinds of cars. Some have the steering wheel on the right side, some on the left. You're supposed to drive on the right, but some try to drive on the left. And motos drive all over. In 2005, the government banned the importation of right-hand steering cars, to try and reduce traffic accidents from people overtaking, but there are still plenty of them around. This makes cars in Rwanda waaay more expensive than cars in other East African countries. That's one reason to switch to driving on the left. But then, many people would be totally confused and have to re-learn! We'll have to wait and see what Parliament decides. I'll leave you with another odd, confusing quote from the article...

Did you know that "Internationally, 72 percent of the world’s total road distance, people drive on the right."

Not sure exactly what that means, but I hope right is the right way for Rwanda!

Just sit right back, and you'll hear a tale,

A tale of a fateful trip. That started from this Kivu port, aboard this tiny ship. :-)

Last weekend, our KICS staff enjoyed a weekend retreat on Lake Kivu in the northern village of Kibuye. If you wanna be totally freaked out, just look up "Lake Kivu" on Wikipedia. The long and short of it is that Kivu is one of three "exploding" lakes in the world, due to the volcanoes under and around it! It's known to be explosive because the 65 cubic kilometers of methane gas and carbon dioxide mix with the lake water, and interact in a weird way with the volcanic activity....or something like that. Anyway, Lake Kivu is a gorgeous lake, but swim at your own risk! :-)

So, we had a good time Friday night at the Bethanie Guest House; spending time resting and worshiping with Doug on his guitar, and Dr. Miller, our new librarian's husband, from Wyoming. And then the adventure began. On Saturday, we all took two tiny little wooden boats out to Bat Island to check out the swarm of bats and climb up the mini-mountain. It's awesome! The bats can be pretty scary if you've not been pre-warned. On the way, our "captain" kept stalling and just stopped the boat altogether in the middle of the lake because he said we were about to run out of gas, and besides, we had only paid enough money to go to Peace Island, not all the way to Bat. Not true! So after 20 minutes of literally going in circles, and negotiating in Swahili, we convinced him to take us the whole way there. When we finally made it, we noticed heavy clouds coming in over the top of the other islands. But I still wanted to run to the top, so I took off and literally ran up this mountain in 20 minutes. A great view! When we reached the top, the lightning started. Being the camp counselor that I am, I got nervous with everyone being on top of this mountain in the lightning, so I made everyone hurry back down the "shortcut" which was not really a shortcut. Just some really tall brushes and bushes and reeds with prickly things on them. But we made it back just as the huge hailstones started raining down. It was a 30 minute boat ride back, and we had no choice but to get in the boat. No place for shelter on Bat Island either. So, against my better judgment, I got back in, sans life jacket (I gave mine to a 5 year old), and we set off. After about 5 minutes, the hail turned into rain, and not just any kind of rain. It was that stinging, sideways, hurts-your-skin-when-it-comes-down rain. The Forest Gump kind of rain. Then the lightning and extremely loud thunder. Yes, the boat was rocking, and we were praying, and laughing too at the hilarity of it all. 12 mzungus and one Rwandan captain on a tiny wooden boat out in the middle of an explosive methane gas lake in the middle of a thunderstorm. We all huddled down close together, and definitely still got soaked. Then, after 15 more minutes, we looked down beside us and realized the boat was filling up with water! So Doug, who was sitting near "the leak", took a red plastic cup-type thing and started scooping up the water and quickly pouring it back into the explosive lake. This is what he was doing in the picture. Notice how dark the skies were. It was only 4pm. Finally, the rain began to die down, and then stopped altogether just as we were pulling into our guesthouse. We survived our Gilligan adventure, and now have another good story to tell. This whole retreat was all about bonding together as a staff and getting to know one another better. I'd say we accomplished that on our tiny wooden boat! :-) All in all we had a great time!

Doug, bailing us out....literally

Bat Island! Creepy!

On top of Bat Island, looking out at Amharo Island

Chosen

I took you from the ends of the earth,

From its farthest corners I called you.

I said, 'You are my servant;'

I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

So do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:9-11

Africa is BIG!

Ok, I know this is a random blog, but when someone emailed me this depiction of Africa, I just had to post it. It's very helpful! I know many of you are curious about just how big Africa really is! I know when I returned home this summer, I got so many questions, like, are you close to Ghana? (No) Are you in North or South Africa? (Neither!) Have you met....so and so who went to Africa? Do you know this person who was a missionary in Nigeria? (No!), etc, etc.

It's just like here, many Africans don't realize how large the United States is. Many of my friends just assume that I am on a first-name basis with President Obama and that I've been to his house and we see each other at the grocery store all the time! They also think all Americans must see Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton, and Beyonce like every day! They think we are all friends and live in the same neighborhood. :-) It's funny to me, but also a little scary to think that these names are what they think of when they think of America. Is this a good thing? Hmmm...

Anyway, this picture really showed me how big this great continent is! (Yes, Africa is a continent, NOT a country!) :-) I hope it helps you too!

Inauguration

News in Kigali this week...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11229201

The U.N. Secretary General made a surprise visit to Rwanda on Tuesday to speak with and "appease" President Kagame. This came right after a U.N. report was leaked accusing his troops of committing genocide against tens of thousands of Hutus in Congo after the events of 1994. Kagame had threatened to remove peacekeeping troops from Sudan if the report was released. Apparently now it will still be released, but not until October. It was kind of a crazy week around town, because Monday was Inauguration Day for the President. This will be Kagame's last constitutional term of 7 years. Rwanda's blue, green and yellow streamers and flags were flown all around the city, and people stayed up all night streaming flowers all along the roadsides where the President would drive, and the other 16 Heads of State that were in town. The fountain in town actually had water spewing from it! (This only happens on VERY special occasions!) :-) Monday was a public holiday, so I woke up and ran down to Amaharo Stadium to see what was going on. I decided not to go inside the stadium because once you're inside, no one can leave before the President does. That's the rule, whether it's an inauguration or a football match. You can't leave until he does. And the events lasted from sun-up to well past sun-down. It was mainly lots of speeches in kinyarwanda, followed by traditional dancing and singing, and more kinyarwanda speeches. I decided I didn't want to be trapped inside for a good twelve hours listening to something I couldn't understand a lick of. It was rumored that Tuesday would be another "spontaneous Rwandan holiday" as well, but lo and behold we had school. :-( According to the radio, it was only a government holiday; I guess because all the government officials were out partying at the Serena Hotel all night. But it's ok, because tomorrow is a holiday too! Tomorrow marks the end of the Muslim holiday, Ramadan. All the KICS staff are going on a retreat to Kibuye on Lake Kivu for a little bit of R&R. I'm exicited to boat to Bat Island again, and just have some quiet reading and journaling time. My spirit needs it for sure! I just read where Iran is finally releasing one of the American hikers! All I have to say is, it's about time!!!! I hope and pray the other two get to come home shortly after. It's time for sleep now...I've been up making zucchini muffins for my roommate, Kelly's birthday tomorrow. Not exactly a cake, but I know she'll appreciate! :-) Goodnight everyone!