Well it's been about 7 years when Kirsten started sponsoring her sponsor sister Uwera Divine, through Compassion Canada (same as Compassion International). Of course she wasn't able to afford the full monthly amount but did set aside a portion of her allowance or wage (ie:babysitting) to give to her. Kirsten also had the responsibility of writing her letters, sending her pictures & praying for her ...and she finally was able to meet her. It was an amazing experience! However, I could have probably done without the drive. It took an hour and a half for us to get to her village through dirt roads that should ONLY be suitable for 4wheelers! We drove up & down mountains hardly big enough for 1 car. If there was the ODD car coming are way (extremely rare... we saw about 3 in the hour & a half) I had knots in my stomach until we passed each other bc the side of the cliff was really close & had no guardrails! The whole experience was really cool and scary.
Our first encounter with Divine & her dad was at the centre where all the children meet once a week. Divine was very shy & quiet in the beginning... would smile a bit but was mainly serious. The interpreter said that most of these children are in a state of shock in the beginning because they rarely see a car and some had never seen a white person.... LOL.
After many pictures & greetings, they spent time explaining how their program worked. I had already experienced this the last time with Chloe's sponsor sister and it just confirmed the great integrity that the Compassion program has. They had a very thick binder that included 6yrs worth of report cards, health records and family social reports. In addition, every dime or extra donation we had given over the years and where the money had gone (ie: to buy a cow) was recorded. With every sponsorship, 90% of funds go to the child (family) & 10% to administration. Also, the parents are held accountable by random visits to the home and counselling given to guide them on where to better spend their money to maintain sustainability & a future for Divine and all of their children.
After a bit of time a the centre, we then drove to the ends of the earth (I thought we were already there.... LOL) to visit her home. What a warm welcome! We felt like royalty. We entered this VERY humble home made of clay & tin roof. The ENTIRE family & what seemed to be the entire village was there to greet us. We met mom, dad, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins & a great grandmother. We brought gifts for the family and Kirsten bought Divine a dress which we were so glad fit her well. Divine quietly told the interpreter she loved the dress & then gave Kirsten a big hug. The joy on Kirsten's face warmed my heart. The family then prepared a huge feast for us which I felt so badly about. Firstly, because I didn't want to eat the food that was so precious to this family. And second, because we actually weren't allowed to eat anything but fruit with a peel due to the potential digestive problems that can be caused by the food preparation. However, I didn't want to hurt their feelings or insult them. So most of the food they had prepared we weren't able to eat, but made sure we ate the bananas & mangoes. (PS: The bananas are amazing here & I don't really like bananas.) At the end of our visit, the women came out singing a kinyarwandan song to honour us with a gift. We felt so honoured! The gift was called a "peace basket". It is customary that each home have a basket that the housewife weaves & it is used to carry gifts to give (such as grain, etc...) to another family they would visit. What a wonderful experience! It was everything we had hoped for and more!
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