Hello from Mkono!!!!

Eating wuju.

Making chapati!

So I have arrived safely to Mkono! It is absolutely amazing here! The Internet is slow though so I will not be able to Skype (we can test it out though!) We live in a very simple house with no running water so we take cup baths and will use an outhouse. Our cook is a horrible cook (the food is very bland) but she has the sweetest heart and I already love her so much! The staff here at the house are all very sweet and I am already getting along with them so much! Today Silvia took us to one of the schools and introduced us to each classroom! It was so wonderful being able to play and talk with the students. They are all so beautiful and sweet. They think that my white skin is very funny and just love sitting at my feet or holding my hands. It is going to be so difficult teaching them because I would much rather play with them than teach :) I will be teaching full time soon! I will also be working in the community through leading Bible studies, home visits, raising awareness about HIV, etc. A typical weekday for me will consist of waking up at 8 for breakfast, 8:30 a house Bible study, 9-5 working in the community or teaching! So I am super excited to start getting involved!!! After 5 I am free to do what I please... Today I played with some neighbor kids (Moses and Stephen) who are little afraid of me but after seeing I am not a monster decided that they like me. A lot of these kids have never seen a muzungo (white person) so they find me kind of scary... I live in a super rural village and I love it! Being away from the big city I think that I may start taking up running again. One of the workers Emmet likes to run so I think we may go running before dinner. It is election season still so the staff is extremely cautious. We are not allowed to go out at night and we always have a staff escort. The botas (motorcycles) we take are also staff people. I feel so incredibly safe here and at home! I just love it and I cannot wait to start interacting with the kids more! I have a feeling that this month is going to go extremely fast….

Rafting on the Nile

So white rafting was the most amazing thing ever! First of all it was so incredibly gorgeous! Knowing that Moses once stood on these banks, seeing the waterfalls, and just being there was so amazing! We filled our raft with eight people and our guide was so awesome! He was from New Zealand and cussed a ton but he knew what he was doing. We were given helmets, lifejackets, and then trained. We hit rapids that were class five and they were so insane! Rolling our raft was inevitable and it was so crazy getting pulled under by these strong rapids. Our guide was extremely good at his job and on the dangerous rapid we never rolled (got drenched though!) on the class four rapids we went all out though and this usually ended with us floating down the river. I got wacked in the head with a wood paddle pretty hard and still have a headache from that but that is the only injury we had.  It was just so much fun and I wish I could do it again! I got pictures and a video to show off what we did! I just cannot explain in words how amazing of an experience it was! I will post the pictures later... But overall it was such an amazing experience!

Here I come Uganda!!

So on Thursday I leave for Uganda! I will be from February 24th till April 1st. I will be white water rafting on the Nile, spending the first weekend in Kampala (the capital). We then all split up and I will leave for Mukono, Uganda. Mukono is about one hour from Kampala and this is where I will be staying for the remainder of my stay in Uganda. It is here where I will be placed with a host family along with another girl in our group (Princesse). During practicum I will be working full time in a classroom but I also have the freedom to work with HIV victims and help counsel them. I am super excited for this opportunity and cannot wait to experience Uganda! I will have Internet but I am not sure how reliable it is...Yet, I will try my best to reply back to all the emails!

Researching the patterns of inclusion and exclusion

Mentally handicapped man.

Children on the street (they love pictures!)

Big brother carrying little brother. It was not uncommon to see siblings carrying little ones throughout street.

Our campsite! My tent is the one under the tree.

Spending time with the community. I was getting the maize cleaned off so it could lay in the sun. Got a super bad blister, which the children found very interesting.

Presenting to the community what our research found and some solutions we had.

My group with a 90 year old woman who was abandoned by her daughter. The woman on the far left had welcomed the elderly woman into her home.

So much happened this week! On Monday we left for the Mpanga sector of Rwanda. This was about four hours from Kigali (we were about 2 kilometers from Tanzania) and is extremely poverty stricken. We camped out in tents till Thursday night and during our stay we researched the community. It was the most amazing place to camp and it was definitely something I will never experience again! We always had multiple fires going because there was a herd of water buffalo (the fire kept them away from our camp) and there was a hippo about one mile from where we were camping! As most of you know I HATE snakes… Well thank goodness I never saw a snake but we did carry these special sticks around with us (I honestly don’t remember the name) but the point of these sticks was to hit a snake if we saw one. We had built latrines and all 20+ of us had tents scattered on the property.

Tuesday while interviewing it was so amazing to be in a rural area and just being with the people. Many of these people are lucky to have a meal every other day and really were making it by with the bare minimal. I got to meet a woman who was ninety years old and was praying to live to be a one-hundred. I found it so inspirational that despite the poverty people still have a love for Christ and care for fellow community members. This 90 year old women was adopted by another family. Her daughter left her and she was literally going to die on the street… So a family adopted her in. This was so inspirational to see the community values but it tore me apart hearing her story about how her daughter left her to the streets. I got to meet a mentally handicapped man also. He couldn’t talk and he just mumbled to himself. Again my heart just broke for this man. He had no resources for help and just wondered the compound talking to himself.

Being in Mpanga tore me apart. The day would end and I would crash because I was so emotionally and physically worn out. It is so hard to see such poverty and desperation. In America people have clean water everyday, take multiple showers a day, eat as much food as they want, families usually have multiple cars, we leave the lights on during the day, we use so much electricity to wash our clothes (and it is not hard at all to hand wash), the list can keep going and going with how much Americans have  (and that I have personally taken for granted) and how little these people have. I found this week such an emotionally wearing experience and I honestly cannot explain how there is such inner turmoil inside of me. We saw such hardships that prior to this week I had heard about but had never seen.  It was so beautiful how they opened their homes to us and would thank us for simply coming into their home. One interview we left a water bottle in the house… It would have been so easy for them to keep the bottle and had the only clean water in the village… But the woman ran after us on the street and gave us the bottle. I know I would of kept it… Little things like that happened all the time and again just added to the inner conflict. There was one interview where a little girl cried the whole time because she was hungry and begged her mother for food. Things like this just make me cry because I don’t know what I can do… What can I do as an individual? What can we do as Christians? Sure I could have given her a meal but what would happen next time she is hungry and I was not there? How do we help end the cycle of poverty rather than just one circumstance? After a week of being in Mpanga I still don’t know the answer and this frustrates me because I will always have the memories of a little girl crying from hunger, families eating one meal every two days, mentally handicapped people wandering the streets and a crying ninety year old woman whose only daughter left her to die, these memories will always be with me.

I also saw encouragement though… There was equal enrollment in school and the amount of female leaders was equal to men. Now even though girls did not attend school as often because of home duties and women leaders did not have as much responsibilities as men… The community is making steps in the right direction. And despite constantly being emotionally worn out I did have an amazing time. I loved walking down the street and being able to play with the children. I loved seeing them smile as I took pictures and having them chase me around the streets. I loved being able to hold the infants and hear stories from the elders. I was also camping with an amazing group and we made wonderful memories at camp. Wednesday night our tent flooded so Megan and I slept in the van. Ten minutes after we got in another tent flooded and we ended up staying the night in a van… Little memories of laughing till our sides hurt in a van, in the middle of storm and being scared to death will also be with me for the rest of my life. So overall it was an amazing experience and I loved every minute of it.

 

Valentines Day

 This morning I was packing for our week trip to do research... And I was surprised with BEAUTIFUL flowers from Sean! He planned ahead with my Student Life Coordinators and got me flowers with a sweet note. It was such a wonderful surprise and such an incredible blessing! I am truly lucky to have such an incredible boyfriend :)

Kibuye

Children on the side of the road who sung for us:)

Beautiful view outside of Kibuye

Lake Kivu

View from Bat Island

BATS!!!

Hiking Bat Island

Children at church!

Friday:  We stayed at a hotel looking over Lake Kivu and the view was absolutely breathtaking! (Lake Kivu has so many islands in the lake and this just adds to the beauty!) We were so blessed to be able to stay at such a beautiful place! Once we arrived we went for a swim and it felt so good! The water was so nice and it was just relaxing to chill on the beach. All the meals we had during our stay in Kibuye were African buffet (which was super yummy!)

Saturday: We went to Bat Island and I have never seen so many bats in my whole life! We hiked to the top of the island (which was a pretty good hike). And again... The view was BEAUTIFUL! On the island we also got to see cows! These cows will swim from island to island in search for food. We climbed to the top of the island and then we headed down and set sail for Peace Island. Literally as soon as we hit the water-- RAIN STARTED POURING!!!! It was raining so hard that it hurt when it made contact with your skin. The wind was also blowing so this just added to being freezing... This storm was insane! There was thunder and lightening right above our heads and it was the longest boat ride back to the hotel. As soon as I got on land I booked it up the hill, took off my soaking wet clothes, put on some dry clothes and then jumped into bed! So Saturday's adventure was so much fun with a mixture of a bit of scare.

Sunday: We woke up early and went to church. It was such a beautiful service! We sang two songs to the congregation and then stayed for the full service. It was around three hours and then after we stayed and talked with locals. It was so much fun playing with the kids, taking pictures, and practicing out karate! 

Overall it was so much fun and we made such amazing memories! By far one of the most beautiful places I have ever been too!!! Tomorrow we leave for the week to conduct research on the patterns of inclusion and exclusion. I hope to have a blog up Sunday!

Pictures

First day in Rwanda (pizza for dinner)

View from the house.

Lunch during the safari. We were overlooking Tanzania.

This safari was the most amazing experience ever!

Giraffe!

Zebra!

I will continue to try to post pictures! I leave for Kibuye this weekend and then next week I am doing a week long research on patterns of inclusion and exclusion. So when I get back I should definitely have some good pictures and stories! Don't hesitate to send me and email if you have questions ♥

Three Weeks In...

The picture above is of my roommate (Megan) and I. The skirts we are wearing we got made at Kimironko market!

We have been in Kigali for exactly three weeks. It is weird how it seems so fast but at the same time it feels like I have been here so long. Riding the bus around town is no longer nerve racking, communicating with non-English speakers is still difficult but again it has become easier even with the language barrier. I find myself still being amazed at the beauty that Kigali has. I love the sunshine here (is definitely helping with my tan!) and yet I also love the pouring rain. I have become very fond of the people and culture that I have witnessed while here.

Mornings usually consist of a fresh fruit breakfast and relaxing on the front porch. We leave at 8:25 and take a bus to Kimironko market. This market is amazing! By far my favorite place to shop. It has everything from fresh fruits to car products. I am currently having a skirt made and I am sure I will have several more made... After the bus drops me off at the market I walk about a mile to class. There is a shorter route but I like this one because I enjoy the sun and exercise of walking. We then have two classes (Social Development and Peace Building). We have lunch served at the classroom after the first class and then we have the second class. After we are done with classes we are free for the rest of the day. A nice thing about this program is that there is an emphasis on culture interaction. We are not given much homework in hopes that we will spend that time going about Kigali and learning first hand.

This is our last free weekend for a while… The following weekends we will be going to Kibuye, then conducting research, and then off to Uganda (for some white water rafting!) and then we will start a four-week practicum. I hope to be teaching in a classroom during this period. After practicum I then finish off the semester with African Literature and Religion. Then next thing I know I will be back in the States!

Looking at the calendar it is all going to happen so fast-- which is bittersweet. I love Kigali and the memories I am making here will last a lifetime. Yet, I also miss being back in America. There are certain characteristics of home which I have realized how blessed I am. These characteristics combined with my longing to be with my friends and family back home has me looking forward to May 7^th. I find such a confliction because both sides are equally strong. So I plan on spending my time here with the most laughter and memories until May 7^th does arrive. But I plan on leaving here with no regrets and knowing that I lived these four months to the fullest capacity.

“Christian service is who you are… Not where you are.”

So I have been here three weeks now and how time has flown. I am picking up the language, loving the culture, and learning a lot about Rwanda. In today’s lecture Dwight said, “Christian service is who you are and not where you are”. I guess I have always assumed I needed to travel oversees in order to do Christ-like service. Wondering the streets, it is easy to see the need of service. Crippled, poverty-stricken children, and war-torn people are just some of the few who need the service, love and compassion of Christians. But it has been wrong of me to think that God’s work can only be done in a location. 

The individual God has created me is the true work. The passions that I have inside of me have created a working field for God’s love. My passion for children, education and kids with disabilities are gifts from God. Coming to Rwanda my goal was to see my part in ending poverty. I feel that we are not all called to poverty reduction but we are all called to oppression reduction. I am capable of both through the passions in which God has blessed me with.

I think that we don’t give God enough credit. We think of poverty-stricken countries as ways to do God’s work, yet God’s work is in who we are. Our passion is God’s tool to achieve His will. As Christians we do not have an excuse to why we can’t be active participants in Christian services of proclaiming the kingdom of God and bringing its characteristics to here on Earth. We are all called—We just need to put our passions into action.