The Beauty of the World Surrounds Me

I have just returned from Giterama, where we spent the last week. We ended classes last Friday (September 18) and on Monday we headed off for Giterama. While in Giterama we spent the week going to local villages and talking to people. Food for the Hungry is looking at starting a new program in the Giterama area, but needed to know the needs of the community. Usually FH (Food for the Hungry) focuses on "at risk children", but this knew program is going to be focused more on "at risk households/families".

Our group was broken up into three and assigned a cell. Rwanda is divided into Provinces then districts, then sectors, then cells, then villages/towns/cities. With in each group of three we were paired off and then given someone to translate for us. Every morning we drove about 45 minutes away and each couple w/ translator... so triplet... was dropped off in a different villages. With in the villages we went door to door gathering information. At each house we were invited inside where we began by explaining to them why were here. Then we proceeded with roughly 7 pages worth of questions. The questions involved things like how many people were living in the house, how many children were going to school, house

hold monthly income, do they use mosquito nets, was the family tested for HIV/AIDS, what kind of crops does the family grow, and many many more around those lines. The interviews lasted any where from 20 minutes to an hour and the responses were all over the board. We were required to average 5 houses a day and we did the surveys for 4 days.

There were many challenges through out the process. The biggest issue is the fact that we can not understand a thing the families are saying. This caused some issues. We were unable to understand exactly what the translator was saying or how they were translating what we were saying. This caused problems because at the end of the day when talking to other groups we realized our responses were really different, which could be the cause of the translating being slightly off. We also were unable to hear all the responses. Many times the families would go on and on in their response, but all we really heard was the yes and no part. Not being able to understand them, even a little bit, made it frustrating at times. So many times I start to answer them in Spanish and realize that they really won't be able to understand me if I talk in Spanish.

There were all some really great things about the week. We got the opportunity to go into these families homes and meet their families. Sometimes the families would of

fer us food and many times they would bless us and thank us for coming. The people we would talk to were so incredibly beautiful! And the children would follow us aroundfrom house to house. There was one little girl that followed us for three days and would just it on our lap during each interview (she is the girl in the first picture). It was so great to talk to the people and hear about their lives and how different they are from our western life style and western way of thinking. Life is so much simpler than we make it and we can learn so much from people that are different than us. Once again I am reminded that we are different in so many ways, but yet we are so similar. We were all made out of God's image! No one person better, prettier, stronger, or more intelligent than the other. All bless with different gifts and different talents. All share in the same salvation . Isn't God GREAT!?!?

So today after we finished our quota for the day we had some time to kill before the bus picked us up so I decided to play soccer with some of the kids. Every where I travel... from Portugal, to Prague, to Guatemala, to Rwanda.... I am always excited about how wonderful the sport of soccer is and how blessed I am that my parents chose to put me on a team! Soccer (futbol) is played EVERYWHERE... literally. From inner city kids in St. Louis to rural village children in Africa, everyone plays the sport and it brings so many people together! BUT back to my story... so I was playing soccer with about 1/2 a dozen kids who are saying all this stuff to me, but I really have no clue what they are saying. And then after a while I realized we were playing keep away. Sometimes when I think about it I don't understand how we can all be on the same page on something when we all speak different languages, it is pretty awesome! (the last picture is all the kids who played soccer with me and we are holding our "ball")

So overall the week was pretty good! The villages were in the hills, like all of Rwanda is, so the view is breath taking! I really enjoyed the week and I am sure I will continue to learn different things from it as time goes.

Thanks again for reading my blog! Love you all so incredibly much... and missing home a little bit, but afraid to believe it incase it spreads through my whole mind... which would be no good! I leave for Mbale, Unganda in a week and only 11 weeks left in Africa, time will fly!

Quick Update.. An AMAZING Discovery!

So after posting my blog last night the intern and I went to the kitchen to bake cookies. As we were pulling everything out to begin we came across a problem.... no eggs!! We searched the internet for recipes that didn't need eggs, but every recipe was indeed of something else that we didn't have. So we decided to look for egg substitutes online. We found out that in cakes bananas are a direct egg substitute. So we decided to try it. The result was... AMAZING cookies! I am very proud of the discovery and since I am up extremely early this morning I thought I would just tell you all.

Oh by the way... the cook came into the kitchen around 10 and showed us that there was literally 100 eggs on the shelve. So it was probably God thing... he wanted us to discover the amazing taste of bananas in sugar cookies!

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!