A day not to forget

Every year since 1988, December 1 has been a day for the world to remember those who have been infected, affected, and fallen by HIV/AIDS. Our church remembers this day on the first Sunday of December. Moses, our youth pastor from Uganda, spoke on this topic on Sunday, and we were flooded with statistics galore. You've probably heard a lot of these statistics...seen them on the news, read about them in Time magazine, CNN, etc. Statistics are just that...numbers. It's good to have statistics, but statistics don't tell the stories. People do that. But they are still compelling. Here's a few statistics that Moses shared with us...

Since 1980...

a total of 25 million have fallen to this disease. and we're still counting...

to date, 33 million are infected with this disease.

2 million of these are under the age of 15

In 2008 alone, 2.7 people were newly infected with the disease.

EVERY DAY, 7,397 people contract the disease.

that's 308 people every hour

5 people every minute

In 2008, 2 million people died of the disease.

Of the 33 million people living with the disease, 22 million of those are found South of the Sahara....that is 67% of the entire total.

90% of the whole total of children with the disease live in that same area.

Women constitute HALF of the world's HIV cases. This means there are about 16.5 million women infected with the disease, excluding girls below age 15.

In Africa, Swaziland has the highest HIV rate, with 25.9%

In East Africa, Kenya has the highest rate with 7.9%

Rwanda/Burundi has the lowest in E. Africa with 3.0%

150,000 Rwandese are infected with HIV

78,000 Rwandan women are infected.

19,000 Children....and 220,000 AIDS orphans in Rwanda

These statistics educate us and open our eyes, and they are shocking...but hearing stories from those infected, those affected, and knowing some of your friends harbor this illness, and some have died from it...it hits you harder than any statistic ever could. Last month, one of our KICS drivers died from this disease. He drove us to all of our fieldtrips last year, and was the personal driver of a student of mine. Manny was strong, robust, looked like he was in tip-top shape. Today, the face of AIDS has really changed. It's not the sunken-in, shriveled up faces we are used to seeing on our TV screens.Thankfully, due to the success of ARVTs (anti-retro viral treatments), people are living longer and healtheir lives. It's a great thing. But also, unfortunately, it has caused the disease to spread as well, because many who think they are "cured" because they are on medecines...they don't fully realize or they don't think they can spread this disease, merely because they appear and feel healthy. A sad mistake.

There's another stigma here against actually going for the testing and finding out your status and beginning the meds. Many people would rather wait it out and not-know their status, than discover they are positive. That was Manny. Manny thought he was ok. We did too. But he got sick all of a sudden, and contracted tuberculosis, and never came out of the hospital. He discovered in the hospital he was positive.

I am proud of our church here for their role in educating the community about this disease. In East Africa, often times the Church is who stands in the way of people finiding out their status. I know many Africans who have said they were encouraged by church leaders and elders not to go for testing, because either they didn't want the church to have a bad reputation, or the church didn't want to carry on the responsibility of supporting them....OR, the largest reason is because many church leaders say they don't beleive in that "white man's medicine", and that if you take the medicine, your faith is weakened and it means you don't truly believe in God's healing power! It's true. What a sad, twisted understanding of our Father's power to heal.

This was the case with Mama Sandra, the mother of 5 small children under 10 years old. She's a member of our church, and she gave her testimony on Sunday to a hushed congregation. Mama Sandra was forced into an arranged marriage years ago. She had 5 children with her husband, before he left her. After he left, he became very sick, but never would go for testing. Finally, when he was on his deathbed, he admitted to her that he had AIDS. After he died, Mama Sandra went for testing and discovered she was also positive. Next came the unthinkable. ALL 5 of her children tested positive for HIV. They are under 10 years old. They immediately began treatment. But after 2 years of feeling good with the medecine, Mama Sandra's elders in her previous church convinced her to stop her treatment so God could fully heal her body. She became very weak, almost to the point of death, before she began the ARVs again. Now, she is doing well, along with her children, but still is struggling to make ends meet, and to regain her lost dignity. She has a community of supporters behind her, and she holds on to her faith. She has good days and bad days. When I heard her speak, I couldn't help but think about the times when I've said I'm having a bad day, and how it pales in comparison to hers. Perspective. We have a lot of be thankful for! Even on our "bad" days.

The ARVs are free in East Africa, but as we all know, free doesn't necessarily mean free. You need transportation to get to the meds, especially if you live way out in the villages. And many people don't have that money. And what about condoms. Number one, they are expensive. People can use that money for food instead. Number two, they aren't good quality here. Number three, many Africans think they are "taboo," and they think the condoms themselves will actually harm them. And Number four, the conservative Penacostal church here will not advocate for their use or distribution. Another hurdle to get over...breast-feeding. Try telling an HIV-positive African woman who just delivered a healthy baby... that she can't breast-feed that baby. Huh!?! It sounds absurd to them. Breast milk is free! And it's natural. What will people think? Breast milk nourishes the child. It's the most natural thing for these women. But also the biggest reason that HIV is passed on to infants. So, even if you help the woman to finally understand that she absolutely cannot breast feed her newborn, then what else is she supposed to feed it? Powdered milk is extremely expensive here and not readily available.

So you can imagine some of the bumps in the road on the way to educating individuals about this disease. It's more complicated than just screaming about how AIDS kills. People need to understand the whys and hows, and they need to understand love and acceptance too. AIDS is real. It infects, affects, hurts, and kills. It is not prejudice. It has visited every continent, every race, tribe, color. Statistics are hard to read and sobering. Just like Mama Sandra's story. But there is a great hope too. People are alive today. The medicine is improving, getting stronger...and most importantly people are becoming more and more educated. For that we can celebrate. And for the rest...we can hold on to hope!

Pruning

This is a coffee tree. Sorry it's blurry! We've been reading the Gospel of John in our Tuesday night Bible Study, and last week was a memorable week on chapter 15. Really hit me hard.

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

I started thinking about all my many branches and what fruits they are bearing. Some are good, and others, not so much! And still others, maybe are not bearing any fruits at all! And why is that so? It made me think about all aspects of my life and the fruit I am bearing or not bearing. I thought about church, teaching, my social life, friends, family, volunteer work, everything. It was really good to have some time to reflect, to see where my priorities are, and if they match up with His priorities for me.

How can we be sure we are bearing amazing, luscious, plump fruits? (I'm picturing the big mangoes in my yard and yummy passion fruit!) It's simple. We are to remain close to Him, the one who created us.

"I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." We can do NOTHING...not ONE GOOD THING apart from him. That hit me hard. It's not that we will just have tiny fruit...maybe just not the best harvest without him. No! WE can bear NO FRUIT AT ALL! Nothing without Him!

Well, then, how can we remain in Him? Honestly, sometimes I feel so close to Him, and at other times, I feel farther away, and trying to creep back slowly. But I know and trust that He is still there with me even when I am staggering along, and He is pruning away at my branches. I say to Him, keep pruning! Prune away as if I'm a Bonzai tree! :-) And by the way, I think the answer to my question about how to remain in Him can be found later on in verse 12...."My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

Paul is a friend from Northern Ireland, and he hosts us every Tuesday night. He works in the coffee sector, for Technoserve, and last week at Bible Study, he taught us how to prune a coffee tree. :-) So I learned that there's two ways to prune a coffee tree. One is you have to cut the tiny little branches that grow all over the place that get in the way when there's too many of them. (just like in our life when we get too busy and have way too many distractions that clutter our life and take us away from what is really important!)

And the second way to prune the coffee tree is when there's a really BIG, healthy branch that grows out, and it looks VERY fruitful and the farmers all look at it and all they see is money, money, money!...But what they don't realize is that because it's so big, not enough LIGHT is getting into the inside of the coffee tree. Even though the branch itself is super healthy! So therefore, the coffee tree is really not doing so well afterall....and because not enough light can enter in, then the darkness is a great breeding ground for the bugs to enter in and eat the tree. (darkness=sin, Satan, garbage, whatever.) So that's why you have to prune the big, healthy branches, so that in the future, the coffee tree can end up doing well and bearing much fruit (coffee.)

It really spoke to me that even the big, healthy branches can end up harming the tree later on, if not properly pruned. The branch will just engulf the tree, and kind of take it over, and no light will ever enter in. In thinking about this chapter, I thought about the "pruning" that has taken place in my life and the reasons why. Pruning sure does hurt at the time, and you get mad, but then later on, you realize what it was all about! Or maybe you haven't realized yet....but you still know and have faith in the One who's doing the pruning, and you know His pruning is preparing you to bear much luscious fruit down the road!

So I say, bring on the shears and prune away! Even cut some of the bigger branches, Lord, if you need too, so the LIGHT can enter in!

My first Christmas card!

I got a Christmas card yesterday!.....

from Christmas 2009! Ha! :-)

Honest!

Here's what it looked like when Mrs. Dennis gave it to me. (she collects our mail.)

It looked like someone had spilled coffee all over it, and those tiny black dots all over the place are mold! Can you believe it!? When I opened it up, there was a nice card from my friend, Tracy, in Minnesota. Inside the card, there were more bigger black mold spores! I just laughed when I saw that she sent the card December 28, 2009!! There was also a really nice picture of her family, and it was still intact, with no mold growing on it!

It really made my day to get this card! Of course, the Rwandan post office had written on my letter in French that it had reached them already wet. Yeah, I don't believe it! Ha! But I think it's hilarious that it's been hanging out MIA at the crazy post office, and now that it's almost NEXT Christmas, they thought it would be ok to deliver it to me now. :-)

I've heard stories of things taking this long to arrive, but this is a new record for me! Until this 11 month card, my record was a box that took 3 months. This definitely takes the cake.

Thank you, Tracy, for your lovely Christmas card! Merry Christmas ya'll!

Delicacy

This announcement appeared in the KigaliLife newsletter today. It is legit. They eat these things! My curiosity wants me to pay the $4.50 for a packet of this scrumptious delicacy, but I think I'll pass. I can buy a whole lot with $4.50, ya know.

Hello,



Its the rainy season and indeed that time of year for the one and only delicacy that is: Nsenene! [Grasshoppers]. Already prepared, packed & yummy, yummy, yummy!! Ready for your immediate consumption at only 3000 rwf a packet.

Please call 0758888806

No thanks.

Intore Dancing

I forgot to blog about the Intore Dancers last month! We were treated to a wonderful Rwandan "Ballet" last month at an icecream social at the preacher's house. This was the third time I had seen the Intore Dancers performing, and it was by far, the best performance. It's such a neat cultural experience to see. Intore dancing is really an art form in Rwanda, and was started many centuries ago by the kings. But they perform it like a play, and there are 3 main parts to it. The Ballet (songs), the Intore (dance of the heroes), and the Ingoma (drums.)

The Dance of the Heroes is performed by men wearing grass wigs and carrying spears. This is supposed to depict warriors returning from battle and celebrating their victory. They move their arms from side to side, and make warrior cries. The warrior cries are individual to each dancer and represent how many they have "killed" in battle. Both the men and ladies wear bells on their feet, which creates a great rhythm. Their "battles" turn into a great artistic display of dancing, and jumping and drumming. The guys train so they can jump many meters off the ground! So neat to see! The ladies look so graceful and elegant, as they support their "warriors." Watching these Intore dancers was such a privilege!

Small world

At our big Thanksgiving feast, I noticed a new, but familiar mzungu face. After I got a closer look, I realized it was a fellow Merriewoode girl! Can you believe it!? Libby was a camper, about 13, when I first started as a counselor back in '01. Then she eventually became a counselor too. She's an Alabama girl, and just graduated from UVA and is here in Rwanda for 3 months volunteering. We laughed at the odds of us meeting up in Rwanda, of all places, and we had a good time talking "camp." And of course we definitely got a picture so we could make the Merriewoode newsletter. :-) Such a small world!

Great is His Faithfulness!

"Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

"Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
"Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!