Playing Santa…..
The last couple of days have been so busy…definitely never
bored! After helping out at the farm last Thursday, we spent the afternoon
visiting some families that are in the Children’s Might Foundation program. The director &/or social worker do random
visits to make sure the money or lack of is being spent responsibly and that
the child is safe from emotional & physical abuse. As we were visiting
homes my heart was breaking from the living conditions that some had to endure.
One particular family stood out. The
little girl was named Mutoni. I
recognized her from my kindergarten class. Mutoni stood out because of how bright she
was and how quickly she caught on to writing and English with no previous
schooling. I also recognized her mom & dad from the agricultural project
and know that they are faithful in their attendance and very hardworking yet just
unable to get ahead. Assessing Mutoni’s appearance at school, I NEVER would have
imagined where & how they lived. Their clay house was rented. Clay/dirt floors with cloth hanging from a stick above each opening to
their rooms. The front door & windows made up of old wood boards loosely
nailed together. Humbly Mutoni's mom, Jean offered us a bench to sit & chatted for a while. As I accidentally brushed up against the wall
it crumbled. They showed me their room and I discovered that they
slept on a thin quilt over top of a dirt floor. Their clothes hung from a wire so they would stay clean from the dirt floor....unbelievable!
Before leaving on this trip I was offered some very generous
monetary donations from some very generous people, which overwhelmed me. Being very hesitant to receive, I felt a huge
burden that I would spend the money responsibly and wisely. I really prayed
that God would show me where to invest that money in the best way possible and
of course, just before our time here was over this opportunity came along. So Friday, after the morning session of
kindergarten, off we went to buy a bed and mattress. Wow….not your typical furniture store
experience! But the end result was priceless!
Thank you to that individual who blessed Mutoni and her
family AND blessed us with the opportunity to deliver it….. you know who you are....I felt like Santa….he doesn’t
buy the gift but gets all the credit….LOL.
Through donations we were also able to buy 9 more goats and
give to their “pay it forward” program.
As I mentioned in a previous post, those who receive a female goat have
to give their first female kid to another needy family and so on. Goats are a form of savings where they continue to reproduce and are sold when money is needed to buy medicine, save up for a house and incidentals. Goats are
purchased on Saturdays at the market which is crazy; tons of people bartering and goats & chickens everywhere. When the locals see a “muzungo”
which means white person, they see money. All I heard was muzungo, muzungo as
people approached me with their overpriced goats. Cleverly, we asked the market
manager to help us. He was a big guy with a deep voice and would literally push
people who tried to approach me with a goat that was too expensive or looked
unhealthy. Tipped him a couple of bucks (which is A LOT here) and he even
carried the goats to the truck for me…..phew!
The “goat giving” ceremony was held after all the children
played soccer or “football” near the school (because Saturday is sports day in
the morning for the children). The goats are lined up & the nine families
(mainly women) had to choose a rolled up piece of paper on the ground. The
person who had number 1 got the first goat & so on, to make it fair. Once the goat was chosen, her child was
responsible for walking the goat home.
Some goats didn’t have a cord around its neck so the child walks the goat holding a hoof ….LOL
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| The market..... |
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| We arrived with the goats & the kids are unloading.... |
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| Let the "goat giving" ceremony begin.... |
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| The goat is not impressed!!!! |
And so today was our last day in Rwamagana. We definitely needed some R&R. We actually checked out of the house that we were living in one night earlier & checked into this hotel with guaranteed running hot water. We haven't had a hot shower in over 9 days, with 1 out of 3-4 days of actual running water....most days using a Gerry can or bucket. I soooo appreciate the luxury of having running water & especially hot water.
During the last 2 weeks we have been served typical Rwandan food which usually consisted of rice, beans, banana plantains (served a variety of ways) rarely meat (maybe 1/week). When we did have meat it was goat! Kirsten was so good about the food....so thankful for that.
We then headed this morning to the main office house to say our formal & final good-byes. What an amazing group of devoted people, who are trying so hard to make a difference in this generation & future generations of Rwanda. We have had such an incredible experience but I also miss home and miss the rest of my family like crazy...
It was so sweet, despite a real language barrier, Kirsten really hit it off with Delfine (the girl who cooked for us). Kirsten would teach her English words & Delphine taught Kirsten Kinyarwanda in return. When we said our good-byes, Delfine was no where to be found. We finally found her in the back kitchen crying. We gave her a big hug good bye and she sobbed. We were so moved considering they have had a number of guests come & go. Delphine being a genocide survivor is not very expressive with her emotions unless she plays UNO...LOL...but Kirsten could always make her smile
. Side note: An American a year ago left a deck of UNO cards and they got hooked. Most nights we would play a very competitive game of Uno until 10; even the night security guard would join in!!!
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| Last selfie..... |
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The gardening & landscape to most buildings, hotels, etc...are beautifully manicured....
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Group selfie
Alexander (from Sweden assisting with the agricultural program, Innocent (Director of CMF, Kirsten, Joseph (director of accounting for CMF, Delfine (who would cook for us & me)... 3 others missing from the team |
We took a bus to Kigali this afternoon and will be flying out tomorrow night and therefore is my last post....sorry it was so long!!!
. Side note: An American a year ago left a deck of UNO cards and they got hooked. Most nights we would play a very competitive game of Uno until 10; even the night security guard would join in!!!
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