Young Leaders Program Graduation

Yesterday was the graduation celebration for students in the Young Leaders Program.  In Rwanda there is a year long waiting period between High School and University.  So this year, YFC began a nine month internship for these students that includes training in leadership and discipleship and serving their local community and the world.  The students helped build and repair houses and took mission trips to neighboring countries.

The celebration began at 9:00 am and finished with appetizers at noon.  It included a speech by an African YFC leader, singing and dancing, presentation of certificates, some more speeches, and finished with a prayer.  Then we all enjoyed some appetizers and soda.  Some common Rwandan appetizers are sambosa (fried seasoned ground beef in thin triangle shaped pastry shell), cakes (a cross between a sweet bread and a muffin), sausage, and Gouda cheese.

Often at events like these, the women wear traditional Rwandan dresses which are very beautiful.  Check out the photos on the left for more pictures of the celebration.

Thanks Builders without Borders

It's amazing to watch a building go up, especially a two story school building in about two weeks. Builders without Borders has donated and built all of the buildings at KCS (Kigali Christian School). In January, the secondary school will open with two classes of Senior 1 (7th grade). Two building teams arrive this summer to build the new secondary school. In two weeks, about 9 builders and 30 Rwandans completed the framing, roofing, and siding of the new building. Amazing! Check out the pictures to the left.

Eye Exams

What can one optometrist and two volunteers accomplish in less than a week?  Our team from England, Peter, Sheila, and Ian, were able to do eye exams for more than 600 people in just a few days.  All of the YFC teachers, staff, volunteers, KSC kids, and the young leaders were able to have their eyes tested and receive glasses if necessary.  Sheila and Ian worked hard to screen everyone while Peter evaluated those who needed further testing.  Check out the pictures to the left!

New specs - Thanks Peter, Sheila, and Ian!

September 2009 Newsletter

It’s been a month of saying good hellos.  I arrived in Kigali, Rwanda on August 10 and am having a blast.  Here are a few of the people who’ve helped me say good hellos:

Brad, Kiki, Oliviana, and Grace:  It was so difficult to leave my family in the states, but having family here and getting to meet my new niece Grace has been wonderful.  They have made me feel welcomed, provided for my needs, and given me a safe place to adjust to all the changes of living in another country.

Charlotte has been here since June volunteering as a YFC intern.  She has introduced me to many people and helped to ease the transition.  We’re staying in the YFC dorm together until she leaves in September. 

Kellie, Sue, & Iona are counselors from Vancouver YFC who did a week long counseling workshop for the students in the young leaders program and several of the Rwandan YFC staff.  They did an excellent job and it was a great way for me to meet the students and staff as a participant in the workshop rather than as a teacher.  It was also really nice not being the only new white person.

The YFC teachers have been very welcoming to me and eager to begin English lessons.  This month we are doing pronunciation exercises and they are doing a great job.  There are many sounds in English that are new to them, but they are very willing participants in the silly sound drills. 

The YFC Students:  I am so famous here!  The kids laugh and run to shake my hand or hug me when I’m around.  Many still call me “Mama Oliviana”  (Kiki’s name in Rwanda), so the next Kinyarwanda phrase I’ll learn is “Auntie Oliviana”.   

Other expats:  I’ve met several other expats here who are very down to earth, have a great sense of humor, and love the Rwandan people.  They have also welcomed me with excitement.

I look forward to continuing to build friendships here, but miss you all as well.

The YFC Dorm

I've been staying at the YFC dorm for a few weeks. Here's a few pictures.

The Dorm: It's a nice 30 second walk from the dorm to the school.
It has one long hallway with several rooms on both sides.


This is my room - a bed with mosquito net, nightstand, and a dresser.

Some rooms have one full size bed, others have a few single beds.

This is the living / dining area.



This is the bathroom room - a row of toilets across from a row of urinals.

This is the water supply when there is no water in the pipes.
The shower room - a room of showers on one side and urinals on the other.



The view from the dorm.

Marching in Rwanda

Friday was sports day. I was looking forward to it all week because I had heard that we were playing volleyball. School is not in session on the last Friday of every month, so the teachers have an inservice day of training in the morning and sports in the afternoon. After English training in the morning, we headed to lunch for a some heaping plates of rice, beans, and potatoes. After lunch, sports day began. The dress code for sports day is whatever you want it to be, ranging from dresses and sandals to full athletic gear.

Now let me tell you a little about the location of the YFC compound. The YFC compound is directly at the top of a hill called Kibagabaga (Cheebagabaga). This is where the mawch began (that’s march in Rwandan English).

So with full bellies and at the hottest part of the day we set out mawching - we being the teachers, the YFC staff, the support staff, and the university students in the young leaders program. The mawch began as a very slow saunter for about 10 minutes and covered about 1/10th of a mile on flat terrain - it was a really slow saunter. Then we began going downhill and the mawch become a run accompanied by some chanting of words I didn’t know. I thought, “Oh, we’ll run down the hill, mawch through the valley behind the compound and then back up the hill just on the other side.” I was wrong. We kept on running for what felt like 5 miles - right through the valley of rolling hills. “Rolling hills aren’t so bad,” I thought to myself as I walked up them and ran down them. But then we passed the compound and kept going. “Yikes! Where are we going now?” No one seemed to know. I was beginning to wonder how long I would last when the road curved back up towards the top of the hill. I breathed a sigh of relief to round the corner and see all the super athletic men standing at the top waiting for everyone else. I thought it was so nice of them to wait for everyone, so that we could all walk back to the compound together.

To my surprise, I realized that I was one of the first women to reach the top. To my horror, I found out that the mawch was only half over. We had made a large half circle that went around the backside of the Kibagabaga and next we would take a half circle path down the front side of Kibagabaga. Brad, realizing that many would not make it through a full circle mawch, suggested that perhaps some could go on and finish the circle while others could saunter back to the compound. So many sauntered back to the compound while others kept mawching.

This is where it gets ridiculous. Being the new white girl with a competitive streak, I couldn’t quit. I had to prove something, but even now I’m still trying to figure out what that was.

So we ran down the hill and across to the other side and then back up to the compound. And this time the super athletic guys didn’t wait for us slower ones - they just kept going. I found my gang of run-walkers and after what felt like another 5 miles, we finally made it back to the compound.

We enjoyed some refreshing boiled water, did some exercises and stretches, and then had a volleyball tournament. That’s another story in itself, but one for another time. It was a great afternoon and a wonderful way to end a busy week.

Even though the mawch was painful at times, I finished the day with a sense of accomplishment and a bizarre thought that maybe I’d take up running in Rwanda. After all, I’ll be the only white girl mawching on sports day and I’d hate to let down all the bright skinned people all around the world!

On Saturday, I slept until 5 PM. I think partly from physical and mental exhaustion and partly from the 2nd night of Benadryl. Yes, I completed the mawch with a irritating sinus infection.

First Impressions:

• Brad & Kiki are awesome (my brother and sister-in-law). They've taken great care of me and made me feel at home. If I move out, I might starve to death. Cooking is not my forte.
• My neices Oliviana and Grace are super cute. I enjoy counting with Oliviana. It goes something like this - one, two, six, two, six, one. But six is beginning to sound more like three every day.
  
• The Rwandans have been very welcoming and hospitable. I look forward to getting to know the teachers and other YFC staff. I'm a big hit with the students - they love to stare, point, laugh, and say, "Bonjur", to which I reply, "Hello", and they laugh some more.
  
• It's really dry and dusty. Apparently, this is one of the driest dry seasons they've had for awhile. I've decided a layer of dust complements my skin tone quite nicely.
• Kibagabaga is a fun word. That's the hill we live on.
  
• Motos are fun, but I should have packed a helmet! I took a moto down the hill to get a phone and enjoy a cup of coffee with my new friend, Charlotte. The driver was very safe, but the communal helmet was way too big and the chin strap was tied together so that it could not be adjusted. No worries though - I held it on with one hand while using the other to keep my skirt from blowing up and revealing my knees. That may have been scandelous to all the onlookers.
  
• Kigali is a different city than it was a few years ago - it's expanded tremendously, a skyscrapper is being built, and it's much more westernized. I hear a lot more English (actually, it's more EngRish) around town, see a lot more jeans and women with braided hair, and even hear American music - the hardware store was playing some R&B and the grocery store was playing some top 40.
• For a mere 12,000 francs, I can buy a box of sugar smacks - that's around $21 USD. Instead I'm opting for the very cheap Whetabex. It's like oatmeal, only made with wheat instead of oats.
  
• Rice and beans are not so bad. We eat them every day for lunch with some cabbage and potatoes. It's especially good with seasoning salt, BBQ sauce, or super hot sauce called Pele Pele. I cleared out my sinuses today with a few too many drops of Pele Pele.
• I love dinner - that's when Kiki fixes a non-Rwandan meal.
  
• I love shower days, but showering everyday is really not necessary - spit baths on the off days work just fine. I already smell better than everyone I meet - it must be my natural phermones!
  
• The hills are really big and covered with several inches of dust (only a handful of the main roads are paved). I'm not sure I'll make it up the hill from our house driving a standard - luckily though, I'd have to roll back pretty far to hit the house below the road.
  
• I like having a dog and wouldn't mind having a cat. They eat or at least kill all the creatures that I'm not too fond of, like snakes and rats.