Sponsorship at Kigali Christian School

I spent some time last week with a little girl that my daughter Emma’s family sponsors at Kigali Christian School (run by Youth for Christ in Rwanda). 

Their sponsorship provides for Kelia's quality Christian education and a very nutritious meal each week day. I had brought with me some small gifts – a  fabric bag Emma had made which contained, a card from each of her children, a paper garland Goose had sewn on the machine, some hair ties Em had made and a Bible story book.

Kelia was so happy to know that a family in Australia cared so much for her to send such lovely gifts. We had a really positive time together as I told her about the family and showed her photos, read the cards to her and read several stories to her from the Bible story book.

I am sure Kelia is benefitting greatly from the sponsorship Emma’s family provides. And I know that she is very appreciative.

If anyone is interested to sponsor a child through this program please be in touch with me. There are always children needing sponsorship.

Some lovely random photos I thought you might enjoy

Claire with Nanti tied to her back Rwandan style. Mother and daughter both seem to be enjoying themselves, don't you think?!

Four of the gorgeous young people from the Rwanda YFC School of Leadership and Discipleship

And Esther, one of my special friends from 4 years ago

Wedding anniversary

Last Sunday we had a great day out celebrating a 5^th wedding anniversary with a young couple Mal and I became good friends with in 2007. It was a small gathering in Claire and Safari’s home with lunch followed by speeches and photographs outside. 

This is Julienne and my god daughter Bonnette with me in my new Rwandan outfit!

And the very happily married couple.

The food was simple Rwandan fare – potato chips, rice, cooking banana and potato stew, bean and vegetable sauce with a piece of fresh pineapple to put on the side of our plates to eat after main course. And sodas, of course!

Food for thought

A friend emailed this comment to me after my 21^st July post and I thought it was really worth passing on.

“I love the 4WD!  But I really hope people reading this don't feel sorry for the children and send them toys.  They are blessed to be able to live a simple life and use their imaginations like this.  They are having so much more fun than an Aussie child with a houseful of toys.  I remember someone telling me a story about PNG where the children used to make a ball out of reeds or some such material, and then when they were finished it was just thrown into the bush.  Some foreigner felt sorry for them and bought them a ‘real’ ball, and it caused so many fights and problems...”

That’s food for thought for all of us who have ‘too much stuff’.

Thanks EH

Breakfast, lunch and dinner

We are loving the food here.  Tropical fruit is pretty much always in season and is inexpensive compared with Australian prices. I beautiful ripe pineapple purchased from the lady walking past with a basketful on her head today was Rwf 300 – about AU 50c! Delicious! And at the same time her friend was selling huge mangoes for about AU 45c each. We bought two. We usually eat fresh fruit for brekky.

Check out our breakfast.

Lunches during the week we eat with the teachers at the Rwanda YFC school, Kigali Christian School, and the students from the YFC School of Leadership and Discipleship. This is always healthy fare and deliciously tasty. Beans are very often on the menu, as is rice and a type of banana which is not sweet and is always used for cooking – delicious.  And the fellowship around the lunch table is a highlight of our days.

After our very filling and healthy cooked lunch we usually have fresh salad for dinner. Market purchases daily mean that we manage well without a fridge and eat the freshest of the fresh!

The only real problem with all this great food is that we eat too much of it!! Sue decided that she would go without lunch today as she had just eaten too much good food and needed a break!

School at Ntenyo

Earlier on my blog, I mentioned that we met with David from Sanejo who is working with YGAP to build a school in Rwanda. Last Thursday we headed south to the small village of Ntenyo (pronounced Nyenyo) about an hour and a half south of Kigali, the capital, to visit this project. We went with the Aussie family that is going to help build a house in the east of Rwanda. We had a fantastic time being at the school, checking out the building of three new classrooms, 

watching a game of soccer between the workers on the building and the volunteers from YGAP and 

sitting in the classrooms and teaching the children some songs in English.  

The children are so excited to be able to go to school. They can only attend if the parents buy the uniforms – cost a few dollars. If the parents come to the teachers saying that they cannot afford the uniform, they are offered the chance to pay a reduced rate of less than a dollar. Some still cannot pay and so the children cannot attend the school!! You can see that the children are enthusiastic to be at school, to get into class.

And they always LOVE to see themselves on camera as most have no access to photos at all.

Toys are almost non-existent in rural areas and so the children become quite innovative. Check out this 4 wheel drive vehicle made from wood and water bottle lids for wheels.

Rwanda at last!

At last we are here in Rwanda. No more sleeps! The welcome has been amazing and there have been some wonderful reunions with many old friends. 

Sue is having a ball and adjusting brilliantly to life here. She loves the African sense of time and quieter pace. And so do I! After the hectic pace before we left Australia, this is such a welcome change. I’m sure we will thrive. Here is Sue outside the Rwanda YFC office.

Yesterday we exchanged some US dollars we had brought with us. As there are 600 Rwanda francs for every Aussie dollar, when we came from the money exchange place we looked as if we had robbed a bank!

We also got a local SIM card and so now we are connected locally. If you want to call or sms on that Rwandan number, probably using Skype, please email me for the number.

Journey to Rwanda

We are here in Rwanda and loving it! But the journey was not without incident. Many prayed for our safety and good health. Thank you so much. We were always safe and healthy. But Sue’s British passport was not! She mislaid it on the transit bus between Perth domestic and international airports. Stressful time! Does one fly without the necessary documents for the whole trip? As Sue held an Aussie passport we decided to continue on our journey. We were thankful that her British passport was located before we flew out to Johannesburg but there was not sufficient time to get it to Sue before the plane had to leave!! British citizens don’t need a visa for Rwanda, so Sue’s intention was to go into Rwanda as a Brit.  And because of that she had not applied for a visa for Rwanda in advance, as I had done. But then she didn’t have the British one! Dilemma!

Finally in Johannesburg we had plenty of time to browse the quality African wares as we waited 4 hours for our flight to Nairobi.

Fabulous time with our hosts in Nairobi, the Kenya YFC director, Grace Ojiambo and family. It was  also great to spend quality time with my very dear friends Irene and Dennis Tongoi

 Monday morning was spent at the British High Commission in Nairobi cancelling Sue’s passport, and getting a transcript at the police station, new passport photos taken, atm to pay for it, cybercafé to download itinerary details all ready for a new temporary British passport!  All this was quite a challenge with the traffic jam city of Nairobi! We made it to the airport just in time to check in for our flight at 1.30 pm! Lots of prayer and a lesson in trust! And some fascinating experiences! Police offices and cybercafés in Kenya are something else! I really wanted to show you what they are like but felt it was inappropriate to take photos!

Almost ready now

Counting down the days until departure now. 5 more sleeps and so much to do! And so much excitement! In a small country town everyone know who you are and what you're doing. And so today when I went shopping and to the post office, lots of people were wishing me well and giving me hugs. It was great. I love living in a small country town and this little town will always hold a very special place in my heart. It's probably where I have lived my happiest and my saddest days. One day I'll leave and there will always be great memories here for me.

Getting ready to go has been a busy, busy time. So many people have helped me to get ready. My tech-head young friends have been fabulous with helping to sort my laptop, Facebook and the blog. Spring will have sprung by the time I get home and some fabulous family and friends have helped with gardening so that things will still be in good order when I come home in October.

Check out the beautiful grandchildren working hard to help mulch Granny's garden! 

 Sue and I have a little project going that we hope to start in Rwanda with some widows, helping them to generate some income.  My friend Kiddy taught me to decorate cards using recycled envelopes and magazine pages. They look really good. I doubt they will have envelopes like this in Rwanda but there are all sorts of options with recycled papers.

  On Thursday we had a great afternoon at my house with a dozen women learning how to make the cards. We had a lot of laughs and made some great cards and also learned a lot about how to go about teaching the women in Rwanda. Thanks ladies!! And thanks Loi for the yummy lemon cake for afternoon tea.

If the women in Rwanda like the idea and make some cards of their own I'll take some photos and let you see!