Another week in Africa

Last week of class.... WOW already!?!

This week is our last week of these two classes. We have had a lot of papers due this week and we have a big project due this Friday. I can't believe that classes have gone by so quickly. I feel like I have gained a lot from what we are learning. The social context for community development has really made me think about how I view poverty, aid, and development. I would love to write more about what I am thinking but I'm really bad about writing blogs (.. journals, letters, papers) and by the time I actually do it I feel like so much has happened.

This past weekend we went to Kibuye where we stayed at a hotel write on the lake. It was beautiful. The weekend was set up for us just to relax and have fun, it was just that. We got the opportunity to go swimming, run through the hills, read, drink Africa Tea... it was great. On Saturday evening we took a boat ride to an island on the lake. We were dropped off and were shown hundreds of bats. They were actually pretty awesome. And our guide got them all to fly out of the trees so there were thousands of bats in the air. Then we continued hiking to the very top of the island... it was a long rugged hike, which I did in chacos and a skirt! But it was GORGEOUS at the top, breath taking! then when we climbed down we all just jumped in the water that was crystal clear. It was a great day

Last week we visited some more memorials. These were a lot different than the first one we went to. These were churches where thousands of people had died. People fled to these churches thinking that they would be safe, but the killers killed them anyways. One church we went to 5,000 people died there, another places we went to 10,000 people died there and 40,000 were buried there, the last one we went to was just the remains of a church. The church was actually burned to the ground with people in it. All the clothes of the victims were all over the church in piles and hanging on rafters. It was insane to see all of it and see how what we have been learning become more real.

This weekend we also found out where we would be stationed for practicum. I will be going to Mbale, Uganda where I will be working with the Child Development Program (which is similar to a child sponsorship program), as well as being a health officer. I will be living in Mbale but I will be traveling about 30-40 minutes every day to small towns where I will get the opportunity to work in small clinics. Everyone is paired in twos for practicum, so I will be going with another guy and he and I will be doing the same job. I'm really excited about the opportunity! I will be there for about a month and I do not know how great my internet service will be while I am there. We are currently being spoiled with have internet when every we want it.

Today I went fabric shopping. It was fun... but I have an issue making decisions. I got a computer case made last week so I thought I would get more fabric so that I can get some skirts made. The ladies here are really wonderful at sewing! But I realized I have an addiction with a specific color scheme and they had those colors in like a billion different patterns. I had to work really hard not to buy all of them! After we got the fabric we were going to this non-profit organization where they teach women to make crafts that they can sell in Rwanda as well as sell outside the country. We thought we had mastered the bus system only to find out that we got on a bus that went to a completely different part of town where we had never been. It makes it hard to know where you are going when you no one speaks English and you don't speak Kryenrwandan. So we never made it... just found our way back home after taking 4 different buses, fun times! Sadly it wasn't the first time this had happened to me this week. Earlier in the week a few of us wanted to go to the mail box and so we took a bus into town. After walking around town for a while looking for the post office we found at that the post office was moved to a new location near our home. That made us super happy, so we saved the post office trip for another day.

Well I think the intern and I are going to make some cookies... we don't get enough sugar for my liking. My mom has raised me on cookies and ice cream! So I just make sweets for people, partially because I have my parents blood in me who love to bake things for others and catering to others and partially because I'm addicted to sugar.

Well any ways... thanks for reading! Love you all so so much!

A Whole Bunch of Stuff

I’m doing a little catch up on my blog since so much has happened and I haven’t written in a while. So I am going to touch on a number of things but probably not in a whole lot of detail (I don’t want to make this into a novel)

Genocide Memorial

On Saturday morning we all visited a Genocide Memorial that is located in Kigali. This memorial consists of a museum as well as mass graves holding 30,000 victims of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. There are many other memorials around Rwanda that have mass graves also. As we walked through the museum it laid out how the genocide formed and then what happened during it. For those you who don’t know it was between two social classes, the Tutsi & Hutu. There was conflict forming between these to classes for many, many years. In April 1994 the President of Rwanda went to sign a pea

ce treaty and all the way home is plane was shot down. That night the Genocide began. Husbands were killing wives, neighbors killing neighbors, and pastors killing congregations. Many of these people were told that if they did not kill then they would be killed or their families would be killed. The people of Rwanda were faced with a lot of tough decisions... “should they kill someone to save their life, their family, their country?” .... many pastors had to make a decision between releasing people to the enemy to be killed or not allowing to release of the few people and therefore the whole congregation was killed. There is a lot more that went into this conflict then what I write, but that is just a brief overview of what happened. There is a lot of conflicts between Rwanda and other countries and how other countries chose not to help until it was too late or how they helped in the wrong w

ays. But overall around 13% of Rwanda’s population was killed during the genocide. Today Rwanda has been big strides. The city I live in (Kigali) is now considered the safest city in Africa. We will be visiting another memorial this tomorrow (Thursday).

Futbol Game

Saturday evening our whole group went to the Rwanda vs. Egypt soccer game. It was a lot of fun to watch. Egypt won 1 - 0 . We payed about nine dollars and got front row seats and the president of Rwanda came to the game. It was awesome! I don’t know if I have ever watch national teams play, I think all I have really seen is club teams, sot this was a great experience! Although, watching the game made me realize how much I really missed playing soccer and how much I missed all the girls! But

What is poverty?

This monday we had a paper do in my class called The Social Context of Economic Development. We had to do a reflection paper of what we had been taught this week and to engage ourselves in the material. A lot of us took a different approach on the material, because it all has affected us differently. I took the approach of trying to defy what poverty is. We have been challenged to figure out what poverty means for us and what it means in the world. I went to a coffee shop with some girls and spent some time discusses what we think and what we have learned and I spent a good time what it meant to be emotional and spiritually impoverished. I felt really confident about what I was putting into words, but then I had to discuss physical poverty and what that means. I struggle with this a lot and trying to decide what I really think is considered poverty and the roles that developed countries have in the poverty of underdeveloped countries. By the end of the paper I was extremely frustrated and really unsure of what I think and believe. When I got to class the next day and turned in my paper I all my views of poverty were changed again. So I’m learning a lot about what I think about poverty and what my part in poverty is. I am being stretched a lot... and i like it!

English Classes

Last week some of the girls in our group stated going to a local organization that teaches young girls how to sow and started teaching them English. I didn’t go because I always seemed to have something better to do (even though I’m not really sure what that was). So this monday I couldn’t find any reason not to go. So every morning this week I have been going to teach English to a group of young girls who only speak Kirenrwandan. It has been a great experience! These girls love to learn and are so anxious to know more. I now have to start making lesson plans so that I have enough words to teach them each day. This is also helping me learn a little bit of Kirenrwandan, but I am really bad at memorizing things. The girls laugh at me when I try and we have a lot of fun together!

Practicum Fair

We won’t have classes tomorrow because it is the practicum fair. We will dress up and all the options for practicum will be presented to us. Then we will get the opportunity to choose what our top 3 choices are. We get to put in our input of which we would like to do, but essential the people in charge of each site will have the last word. They said the fair is kind of like an interview, we are presenting our selfs to the directors of each site. I am really excited to see what the options will be. By Monday we will know for sure which practicum we will be doing!

Weekend Fun

This weekend we are going to Lake Kabuye. It is apparently this really nice, beautiful place. We are going to be staying at a hotel and we will get the opportunity to go swimming and just relax all weekend! I am excited... and our professor pushed back a paper that was due on Monday to Wednesday so we won’t have to worry about it!

Thank you for checking in on me and taking the time to read this extremely long blog!

First week of class has come and gone...

(pictures on this blog are still from the safari, i have stopped taking a lot of photos so I don't stand out like such a tourist)

I started classes this week and had my first full week in Rwanda. While I am in Rwanda (which will be for the next 4 weeks) I am taking two courses. One course is for three hours and it is over Peace building and the Rwandan Genocide. The other class is for two hours and is over social context of community development. Both of the classes

are very interesting and got me to think very differently which is great! I'm sure there will be a few blogs on some of the subjects. But today I wanted to blog about some other events that have happened to me recently...

So today we had our first paper due, so frantically yesterday we were all working to get our first papers done. All evening our leaders have been asking if we wanted to join them in aerobics,

but I didn't see how that was possible with this paper due. As I finished the paper I realized I had no reason not to join them at aerobics. Plus I want to experience the culture and what better way than to go to a Rwandan Aerobics session. Little did I know that it was Rwandan boot camp.

We began the class by running in a circle and a little Rwandan man running around in the middle shouting things. My first thoughts are, oh this isn't

too bad. But then we start doing different leg lifts, shuffles, arm raises as we are still running. This easy going aerobics class turns into a 60 minute non - stop craziness! Our aerobic instructor was pretty intense. Every time you would slow down, lift the wrong leg, or get off rhythm our instructor would be right beside you telling you in French to pick it up. And although I felt like the instructor pointed us out because we were the only Muzungus (white people), it sure did feel good when he would look at me and give me a thumbs up. After the hour long intense work out we all got our belongings and headed home. As we were walking I realized that I looked like I had just got out of a pool with all my clothes on. This was a very interesting Rwandan experience, one I'll never forget!

My second experience for the week happened today. I learned that you should never decide to eat at a restaurant named Tasty Fast Food. See three days a week we are given money to go out to lunch so that we can experience the culture and so that they can clean the house. So all week we have been walking past this restaurant called Tasty Fast Food with a hamburger on their sign. We decided that we would nominate Fridays to be Fast Food Fridays. As soon as class gets out we all rush to the restaurant to hurry and get out orders in. Little did we know that a simple burger and fries would take 50 minutes to make. While sitting, patiently waiting for our food we noticed that they put our burgers in the microwave to cook. We thought that was very interesting, but we tried to put it out of our minds and just make it part of the experience, who knows it could be AMAZING! When we finally

received our delightful sandwiches we were thrilled to take a bite and realize that they tasted like a mix of vegi, tuna, and hamburger. We all decided that we would change Fridays back to African Buffet Food Fridays, which is the same as Monday and Wednesday.

So this week has been interesting in my experiencing the Rwandan culture and those are just two of the many exciting experiences! I will update you soon on my classes and what I am learning, since that is why I am here. I am really enjoying and learning a lot!

A world so far with a culture so different

(Images on this blog are from the Safari)

So, I have been in Africa for a few days now. Not enough to get the hang of everything, nor know where the local hang outs are, but hopefully that will come soon. Yesterday was Rwanda orientation. After lunch a few people from the community came to the house to pick us up. They took us around Kigali, Rwanda to show us how to you public transportation and so that we can get a feel for the city so we can get around easier.

Here in Kigali they speak French and Kirwanda (that might be spelled incorrectly). With in the last year or so they have switched to English, but not many people have learned it yet. Yesterday when we went out with the people from the town the language barrier really overwhelmed me. There was 3 people from our group with 2 people from the community. We took the public transport in to town and then went to like 4 supermarkets. The whole time one of the guys stuck with me and told me stuff about the culture and the city, but he was very hard to understand! I didn't realize how great I had it when I went to Guatemala and how beneficial it was that I had studied Spanish for a while before I went there. Here, in Africa, I'm completely starting over and in a community that doesn't understand me at all.

The city is always moving... so many people and the traffic is crazy! It is going to take me a little while to get use to this town, public transportation, and the language. But I am learning a few words, which is great. Things can be overwhelming, but I'm trying not to let it overwhelm me and take it one at a time. Today we are going to church with the people who took us around town yesterday, so my group is going to a Catholic Mass.

I'm really excited about starting classes tomorrow. I'll keep you all updated

jet lag - sleep - 10 hour car rides - sleep - elephants and hippos - sleep - baboon on porch - sleep - beautiful people - sleep - beautiful world

We arrived in Uganda around 7:30ish on Monday morning. We spent most of the day Monday just relaxing and trying to get over the long flights and I began running again. Well actually that is the only

time since I have been here that I ran because we have been travel

ing, but oh well. The traffic in Uganda is CRAZY and they drive on the left side of the road.

Early Tuesday morning we all cram into our wonderful bus with leopard print seats and personally inserted seats so that all 15 students, 1 RC, 1 assistant director, 1 bus driver, and way to much luggage can fit. We drove about 10 hours (crossing over the equator) to the Queen Elizabeth Game Camp.

6:30 a.m. Wednesday mo

rning we wake up to go on our first Safari where we watch the sunrise over the African plain. All morning we saw tons of Elephants, Cope Buffalo, an animal that looks similar to Antelopes, tons of Warthogs, Water Buck, and 2 Lions. (I kept

thinking about how much my Dad would have loved the Safari since we saw so much wildlife) We also drove down to a fishing community where we got to play with kids for a little while. We returned home around 10ish and then around 3 we loaded a boat to take a boat ride on Lake George and Lake Edward. In between trips we were relaxing in the house at the hostel we were staying at and we all of a sudden her a backing noise. We looked outside and there

was a baboon walking on our back porch! The boat trip we took at 3 was even better than the morning safari! We were able to see TONS of hippos and even more buffalo. Then we saw elephants even closer! They were right on the shore line playing in the water, it was AMAZING! They took the boat pretty close to the shore and the elephants didn’t like it too much. We also we

nt past a sandy area that h

ad hundreds of birds!

Thursday morning we left at

6:30 again for another morning Safari drive. We saw a lot of the same things we saw the first day except this time we saw hyenas and six lions, but sadly the lions are pretty far aw

ay. After we packed up our stuff we drove to another camp in the Queen Elizabeth Game Camp called Simba Camp. We stayed here for one night.

Friday morning we got left at 7:00 a.m. to drive to Kigali, Rwanda (where we will be spending the next month or so).

Overview

This trip has been AMAZING so far! I have seen so many awesome animals in their natural habitat as well as some beautiful country side. I have also met some pretty great people! I met these people about a week ago and we have already becoming really close to each other and have had some pretty great conversations. Classes start on Monday and I look forward to getting into a routine and start becoming part of the local community. In about two weeks we have practicum fair where we hear all about the different practicums we could do and where we pick our top three favorites. After that they choose which one we will do. Our practicum is after our month stay in Rwanda in could be any where in Rwanda, Uganda, or Ethopia. It will last for almost 4 weeks. I’m getting really excited about that too! I can’t wait to see where I will be going! After practicum we travel back to Uganda to spend our last month or so studying there. This semester is going to go fast but I’m excited to see what the Lord has planned!

Day One Of Many

Today is the first day of the semester. I left for Phoenix at 9:40 this morning. When we arrived we had conferences all afternoon. We learned a lot about Food For the Hungry and what their mission is, as well as what their purpose for the go-Ed program. We discussed the foundation in God and how "the ultimate focus is the Most Vulnerable in the World". Tomorrow we will getup and have conferences all day again. Then we leave for the airport at 7:20. This is going to be extremely short but I just wanted to post some verses that we talked about today and that I really enjoyed.

Collosians 1:15-20

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Psalm 146:6-10

the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free,

⁸ the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.

⁹ The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

¹⁰ The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.

Luke 4:17-20

¹⁷The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ¹⁸"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

²⁰Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him,