Needless to say, we've been traveling quite a bit the last five days and internet cafes and time have been hard to come by. We are currently in Longido Tanzania, but I want to recap the end of of our Rwanda adventures before skipping to where we are now.
On Sunday, Pastor John a local Lutheran pastor, took us to see a hospital that he and a community are building in a very remote area in the Rwantonde. We thought that Pastor John was taking us to an area, where we'd walk around, look at the site, what they have built, and then talk to him about his vision for the hospital. What happened though, was quite different. We drove out to the area, which was very remote and you had to have 4-wheel drive. When we pulled up there were lots of people under a big tree next to the building site. We got out of his Land Cruiser and the people were singing. We were guided to where they were and it became very apparent that they had come because we were there. This was pretty hard for me to take and really grasp the magnitude of it. The majority were mothers and children. They were everywhere we looked, probably at least 300-400 people. They asked us to sit on the benches in front of the group. The children were all seated right in front of us. I have never seen so many children and people gathered together here. Pastor John and the community leaders introduced themselves and we introduced ourselves. Everything was translated by Pastor John. I was sitting there, in front of this huge group of people, who have put thousands of hours into building the foundation for the hospital, in hopes that someone will come and help them build the rest. My heart felt heavy with the responsibility, obligation, love, and sadness that I was feeling. There are so many people who need help and these people have put their own sweat, tears, and hard work into what that they have built all so that hopefully someone will come and help them so that they can have access to healthcare. My mind was running the whole time, thinking if we can't help them, who can? There are 13,000 children in this area and they don't have access to healthcare. How can this be the same world that I just left? It seems so far away and so distant. Why are these people any different than other people? They're not, but somehow, they are.... this is why my heart hurts.
After the introduction and meeting, we were given a tour of the work that the community has accomplished. As we walked around, Denise and I took pictures of the children. When they figured out that they could see the image on the back of our cameras, they became even more interested in getting their photos taken. There were so many children and only two of us, so we were surrounded. It got a little intense at times to have that many people around you at once, but they were having a great time and so were we.
There were several children who Dr. Brad spoke with about their conditions. One little girl's eyes were very infected. He asked if she had trouble seeing and she said that the light bothers her eyes. He asked her parent how long she had been having trouble and they said three years. Brad said that he thought steroid drops and an antibiotic would clear it up. That's all and she's been suffering for three years! There was one little boy who had broken his arm and had a cast on. We asked how he had gotten the cast put on and they told us that they made a make-shift stretcher for him, carried him from the village to the road which took 24-hours, then to the hospital. The hospital then had to send him to another hospital for care as they were not equipped. At that hospital, they were told that he should come back once a week to have it checked on. That, of course, was not going to happen realistically, so he hadn't been back. They were planning on taking him this week to get his cast off. Dr. Brad began looking at his arm and unwrapping his cast. The arm was healed, so this saved his family money for getting him back to the hospital, which would have been a 2-3 day trip. They were so happy and were extremely appreciative of Brad's help. It was almost as if he had performed a miracle or magic to them.
On Tuesday, we left our dear friends, Earnest, Bishop Josias, Eugene, Valens, and Nancy, in Kibungo. We went to Rwamagana where we attended the grand opening of the Center for Champions. There was a large group of mzungos (the most we've seen) from my church in Bellevue who were attending. First Presbyterian Church in Bellevue funded the $600K project building a campus and vocational school for up to 600 students. It was quite an event and lasted for 3-4 hours. There were traditional drummers and dancers, which was very fun. Nancy and Valens came along with us and were nice enough to be our transportation to the event.
We then hired a minibus driver, which turned out to be Valens' brother, which was great. He and his driver partner drove us to Kigali where we stayed the night. We left the next morning at 8:30am for Arusha Tanzania.
Arusha is a pretty large city, which we've decided we like it much better out in the rural areas. There are so many people in the cities and they aren't very clean (w/the exception of Kigali which is amazingly clean). We spent our first afternoon walking around, then ate dinner at a Mexican/Italian restaurant. On Thursday, we met with the leaders of MWEDO (Maasai Women's Development Organization). They have many great programs for Maasai women, like selling their jewelry, educational scholarships, literacy programs, education on maternity health, etc. They are looking for a way to market their jewelry products and were approached by Macy's but very little of the money would have actually gone to the women who made it, so they did not go through with the deal. Debbie, from our group, bought a pair of the beaded sandals that they make and is hoping to see if she can talk with someone from Nordstrom's or another retailer. I would love to see the jewelry and some of the textiles we've seen be sent to the US to support the women here. I had an outfit made while we were in Kibungo and have bought several pieces of fabric to take home. The women wrap the fabric around them and it's used for all types of purposes. The colors are beautiful and so brilliant.
Yesterday, we drove with a driver and translator from MWEDO to Longido. It is a rural area where the majority of people are Maasai. We visited the hospital yesterday and then drove out to one of the rural healthposts. On our way back through the bush, we saw giraffes, which was really cool!
This morning, we visited a boma where a Maasai family lives. This was the first time that I have seen so many flies all over the people. They show commercials in the US with African children with flies on them, but I had never actually seen them until today. The children were very cute and they warmed up to us after we had been there for awhile. There were goats, dogs, and cows around too, including baby goats who kept going under our car. Luckily, we have Luca and Julius who have been helping us translate.
After that, we went to the pavillion where the women sell their jewelry. It was fun and everything is so colorful. There were women there of all ages. We asked one lady how old she was, as she was by far the oldest, and she said that she didn't know. After we purchased jewelry, and half of our group went to order lunch, Brad, Bob, and I stayed to talk to the women. We asked them about access to healthcare, their top concerns, etc. They spoke to us at length about the difficulties they face, primarily being able to pay 1,500 shillings (almost $1.50) to visit the doctor and get medicines. There are also many issues with maternity care. Many women who attempt to go to the hospital while in labor die on their way there because it is so far. Some women might have to walk 20-30 kilometers to the hospital while in labor. The children are prone to pneumonia, malaria, and many skin and eye problems. After we were finished with our meeting, the ladies sang and danced for us. All of the women participated and even put on more necklaces and jewelry before the song began. We got some or all of it on video, but that will never capture actually being here.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
People of Kibungo
Yesterday, we ventured to the local market which is held every Wednesday and Saturday. There is no grocery store in Kibungo, so this is where everyone goes to get their food. As soon as we walked to the street from our guest house, you could tell it was market day. The street was crowded with people carrying their produce to and from the market. We are amazed by what they carry on their heads. We've been told that they like to have their hands free, so they put things on their head to carry. We have seen everything from backpacks on their head to a full bunch of bananas (plantains). The market was very colorful with people, produce, and clothing. There were many tomatoes, potatoes, beans, rice, flour, sardines, fish, pineapples, sweet bananas (like ours but smaller and much sweeter), meat, and live chickens. We enjoyed looking at everything and everyone checked us out too, as we were the only mzungos (white people) there. We bought some of the beautiful fabric that they ladies wear as wrap skirts, they cover their shoulders with it, strap a baby on their back, shade the baby, or wrap the fabric and wear it on their head. One of the girls, Jane, at our guest house wrapped the fabric on my head like the locals wear the night before. They thought it was very funny to see a mzungo with the headpiece on.
Last night, Nancy McCue who is from Fulton MO, had us over for dinner. Her cook Crementine cooked us pizza, which was quite a treat. It was the last night that the students were with us, so we had a celebration. Our friends, Valence (our interpreter), her gate keeper Jean Claude, and Earnest from the church joined us. The students were very sad to be leaving and have on many occasions said that the people they've met here are the nicest people they have ever met. They have grown very close to the people here and were very emotional last night and this morning when they left.
This morning, we went to the english church service where Nancy gave the sermon. We then said goodbye to Gina, Sam, Clayton and Scott as they headed to Kibungo with Eugene one of the drivers. All the children came out to say goodbye to them. Brad, Bob, Denise, and I then went to the regular service where there was lots of dancing and singing. Everyone was dressed in their best and having a good time. The children's choir sang, which was great, so I hope my video turns out. It was very fun and the singing was amazing.
Last night, Nancy McCue who is from Fulton MO, had us over for dinner. Her cook Crementine cooked us pizza, which was quite a treat. It was the last night that the students were with us, so we had a celebration. Our friends, Valence (our interpreter), her gate keeper Jean Claude, and Earnest from the church joined us. The students were very sad to be leaving and have on many occasions said that the people they've met here are the nicest people they have ever met. They have grown very close to the people here and were very emotional last night and this morning when they left.
This morning, we went to the english church service where Nancy gave the sermon. We then said goodbye to Gina, Sam, Clayton and Scott as they headed to Kibungo with Eugene one of the drivers. All the children came out to say goodbye to them. Brad, Bob, Denise, and I then went to the regular service where there was lots of dancing and singing. Everyone was dressed in their best and having a good time. The children's choir sang, which was great, so I hope my video turns out. It was very fun and the singing was amazing.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Gorillas, Kigali & I'm now in Kibungo
The last few days have been very busy, traveling around, meeting more of our group members and now getting settled into Kibungo. There's one good computer at the internet cafe, so the eight of us have to take turns.
Denise and I went to Ruhengeri on Tuesday and hiked to see the gorillas on Wednesday. We started early in the morning, first starting out with a briefing from our guide Patience. We then hiked for two hours through some pretty thick forest and up the mountain. Patience told us to put down our bags and get our cameras out, we walked through a clearing and there were the gorillas! The silverback was gigantic sitting upright in the middle of the group. The others were spread out some with two little ones fairly close to us. Patience talked to the silverback, which sounded like grunting and the silverback grunted back. He told us that he has to ask the silverback if it's okay to bring the visitors. It was absolutely amazing! We got to stay an hour with them and watch them. If they came close to us, we were to step backwards. The little ones were really cute, sometimes pounding on their chests, clapping, or rolling around in the grass. Their eyes were very intense and they would look right at you. It was such an amazing experience. I've never experienced anything like it. The people in our group were neat too. We had a couple from Germany who are now working for a nonprofit in the Congo, a restaurant owner from NYC, and a student from England.
We headed back to Kigali where we met Brad who had just gotten in that afternoon. The next morning, we had a meeting with the US Ambassador. We met the rest of our group, Bob, Nancy, and the students from Westminster, at the meeting with the ambassador. The meeting went well and was very informative.
That afternoon, we headed to Rwamagana, where the Center for Champions is located. It is a home for street children which is officially opening this coming Tuesday. We got a ride to Rwamagana with Antoine from AEE where we were staying in Kigali; but from there to Kibungo, we had to take a mini-bus taxi (motatu). We paid for two seats for our bags and Denise and I were crammed in the back row. The buses are used mainly by locals, so they were always surprised to see mzungos (white people) on the bus. At one point, we had 18 people on the bus. It was fun to see their faces and to greet them as they got on or off the bus. Many people like to practice their english and we were trying to learn their local language basics like hello and thank you.
Today we visited an orphanage run by the Catholic Church Sister's of Charity. We were not allowed to take our cameras into the facility. The first room we entered was the baby room. There were about 40 babies, all under 1 year old, in a room. All the cribs had at least one baby, some two in them. They have been orphaned by mothers with HIV/Aids, mothers who didn't make it through childbirth, etc. There was a row of little babies, under 5 months or so. The next room housed children up to 2 years. We played with the group of 3-5 year olds. When I entered the room and they were playing with our group, there was not a sound. None of the children made any noise. There was one girl who wasn't playing with anyone, so I tried to play with her. Finally, she slowly reached out her hands to mine and we began playing.... which consisted of clapping our hands together. Later, they began quietly talking and making noise. We moved outside and played, which was fun. The girl I was playing with didn't want any other children to play with me. She got pretty attached, so it was hard to say goodbye. At the end of our visit, we went into a classroom with 5-6 year olds. They sang us a song and then came outside and did a dance for us while their teacher beat the drum. It was amazing and so precious. They were all very happy and some of them had some pretty good moves too! It was fun, yet at the same time, very sad. I hope to go there again before we leave. The sister said we could come back and teach something to them. I think that will be fun!
Things are going well with the planning for the women's and children's clinic. We visited the plot of land today and I took tons of pictures, like Brian asked me to do.... he will be doing the design. Everything's going well and we're having an awesome time! The people here are so kind, generous, and beautiful. It's also one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Love to all!
Denise and I went to Ruhengeri on Tuesday and hiked to see the gorillas on Wednesday. We started early in the morning, first starting out with a briefing from our guide Patience. We then hiked for two hours through some pretty thick forest and up the mountain. Patience told us to put down our bags and get our cameras out, we walked through a clearing and there were the gorillas! The silverback was gigantic sitting upright in the middle of the group. The others were spread out some with two little ones fairly close to us. Patience talked to the silverback, which sounded like grunting and the silverback grunted back. He told us that he has to ask the silverback if it's okay to bring the visitors. It was absolutely amazing! We got to stay an hour with them and watch them. If they came close to us, we were to step backwards. The little ones were really cute, sometimes pounding on their chests, clapping, or rolling around in the grass. Their eyes were very intense and they would look right at you. It was such an amazing experience. I've never experienced anything like it. The people in our group were neat too. We had a couple from Germany who are now working for a nonprofit in the Congo, a restaurant owner from NYC, and a student from England.
We headed back to Kigali where we met Brad who had just gotten in that afternoon. The next morning, we had a meeting with the US Ambassador. We met the rest of our group, Bob, Nancy, and the students from Westminster, at the meeting with the ambassador. The meeting went well and was very informative.
That afternoon, we headed to Rwamagana, where the Center for Champions is located. It is a home for street children which is officially opening this coming Tuesday. We got a ride to Rwamagana with Antoine from AEE where we were staying in Kigali; but from there to Kibungo, we had to take a mini-bus taxi (motatu). We paid for two seats for our bags and Denise and I were crammed in the back row. The buses are used mainly by locals, so they were always surprised to see mzungos (white people) on the bus. At one point, we had 18 people on the bus. It was fun to see their faces and to greet them as they got on or off the bus. Many people like to practice their english and we were trying to learn their local language basics like hello and thank you.
Today we visited an orphanage run by the Catholic Church Sister's of Charity. We were not allowed to take our cameras into the facility. The first room we entered was the baby room. There were about 40 babies, all under 1 year old, in a room. All the cribs had at least one baby, some two in them. They have been orphaned by mothers with HIV/Aids, mothers who didn't make it through childbirth, etc. There was a row of little babies, under 5 months or so. The next room housed children up to 2 years. We played with the group of 3-5 year olds. When I entered the room and they were playing with our group, there was not a sound. None of the children made any noise. There was one girl who wasn't playing with anyone, so I tried to play with her. Finally, she slowly reached out her hands to mine and we began playing.... which consisted of clapping our hands together. Later, they began quietly talking and making noise. We moved outside and played, which was fun. The girl I was playing with didn't want any other children to play with me. She got pretty attached, so it was hard to say goodbye. At the end of our visit, we went into a classroom with 5-6 year olds. They sang us a song and then came outside and did a dance for us while their teacher beat the drum. It was amazing and so precious. They were all very happy and some of them had some pretty good moves too! It was fun, yet at the same time, very sad. I hope to go there again before we leave. The sister said we could come back and teach something to them. I think that will be fun!
Things are going well with the planning for the women's and children's clinic. We visited the plot of land today and I took tons of pictures, like Brian asked me to do.... he will be doing the design. Everything's going well and we're having an awesome time! The people here are so kind, generous, and beautiful. It's also one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Love to all!
Monday, May 19, 2008
In Kigali
After two days of travel, we made it to Kigali yesterday. Our bags didn't make it from Nairobi, which was a little worrisome, but luckily made it on the next flight just a few hours later. We were bumped to an earlier flight in Nairobi and the customer service lady went out, found our bags, tore off the tags, then later took out new tags. The level of service was amazing to us when we saw that she had literally found our bags taken off the tags and brought them to where we were located.
We are staying at the AEE Guest House, which is very nice and located in a compound in the city. Yesterday, John, the coordinator for AEE, took us around the city. Kigali is very clean and there is a lot of building going on. He even pointed out land that he said has been purchased by Bill Gates. It is completely fenced off, so we aren't sure exactly what is being built/planned for the site. Everyone here is very friendly and have gone out of their way to show us around.
Today we went with Dale and a driver to the Genocide Memorial. It was very intense and emotional, seeing the mass graves that hold 258,000 people and the future graves for the people that they are still finding. One million people killed in 90 days is not something that I can comprehend, nor can I understand how it was allowed to happen. The world failed Rwanda and I feel like I should apologize, but don't even know what to say. The hardest thing to read and view at the memorial were the pictures and stories of the children who were killed. They had pictures, the child's name, how old they were, their favorite food, best friend, something about their personality, and how they were killed. They were all hard to read without an outpouring of emotion. One was for an 18th month old was killed as she was thrown up against a brick wall. It was intense and is something that I will never forget.
The memorial went through Rwanda's history, the genocide, and after the genocide. Many wonderful things are happening now, but this event is something that is still with them. They talk about it frequently and many of the people that we have met fled to Uganda during that time. They tell about coming back and bodies being everywhere. They had many friends and family who were not able to flee and did not make it.
Even though their recent history is tragic, they are creating a new future for Rwanda. They are beautiful and very friendly people. They are proud of their country, ashamed of what happened in 1994, but are working together to make it a good place for their children as Rwandans. There has been a lot of work done to help with reconciliation. Our friends Tracy and Greg Stone, who are also from Seattle, started Rwanda Partners, a group that focuses on reconciliation. We hope to see them this weekend, as they are also in Rwanda.
We're headed to Volcanoes National Park tomorrow. I have a cold and am hoping that I can still visit the gorillas. If not, my friend Denise will go and tell me all about it! Hope you're all doing well. Take care!
We are staying at the AEE Guest House, which is very nice and located in a compound in the city. Yesterday, John, the coordinator for AEE, took us around the city. Kigali is very clean and there is a lot of building going on. He even pointed out land that he said has been purchased by Bill Gates. It is completely fenced off, so we aren't sure exactly what is being built/planned for the site. Everyone here is very friendly and have gone out of their way to show us around.
Today we went with Dale and a driver to the Genocide Memorial. It was very intense and emotional, seeing the mass graves that hold 258,000 people and the future graves for the people that they are still finding. One million people killed in 90 days is not something that I can comprehend, nor can I understand how it was allowed to happen. The world failed Rwanda and I feel like I should apologize, but don't even know what to say. The hardest thing to read and view at the memorial were the pictures and stories of the children who were killed. They had pictures, the child's name, how old they were, their favorite food, best friend, something about their personality, and how they were killed. They were all hard to read without an outpouring of emotion. One was for an 18th month old was killed as she was thrown up against a brick wall. It was intense and is something that I will never forget.
The memorial went through Rwanda's history, the genocide, and after the genocide. Many wonderful things are happening now, but this event is something that is still with them. They talk about it frequently and many of the people that we have met fled to Uganda during that time. They tell about coming back and bodies being everywhere. They had many friends and family who were not able to flee and did not make it.
Even though their recent history is tragic, they are creating a new future for Rwanda. They are beautiful and very friendly people. They are proud of their country, ashamed of what happened in 1994, but are working together to make it a good place for their children as Rwandans. There has been a lot of work done to help with reconciliation. Our friends Tracy and Greg Stone, who are also from Seattle, started Rwanda Partners, a group that focuses on reconciliation. We hope to see them this weekend, as they are also in Rwanda.
We're headed to Volcanoes National Park tomorrow. I have a cold and am hoping that I can still visit the gorillas. If not, my friend Denise will go and tell me all about it! Hope you're all doing well. Take care!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Only 3 More Days!
We're leaving in three days for Rwanda and Tanzania. Our plans are still getting finalized and I'm getting excited as it gets closer. I'm traveling with my friend and former co-worker Denise and it's going to be a fun adventure! I want to be able to keep everyone updated on what we're doing, so I've started this blog. I hope it will make it easy for you to keep up with us and the progress we're making in East Africa.
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