No Power, No Internet, No Blogging

The rainy season in Rwanda starts in February, with that comes sparatic power outages. So hopefully between the outages we can get some blogging done.

Rainy Day

Today the sun was hidden by dark thick clouds and by mid morning the rain came and it didn’t let up until late afternoon. We are not talking the normal Portland rain but rather like a New Orleans downpour. Today we were geared up with our rain coats and boots. People were anxiously running for shelter; we found this group of market workers waiting out the rain.

Early morning we made our way to the hospital to visit with the surgeon that is caring for one of our Esther Home daughters. The doctor was called to perform an emergency surgery and asked us to come back mid afternoon. The doctor that is attending to her is a surgeon that provides medical service in Burundi, Rwanda and the Congo. On our last visit to Rwanda we met a doctor from Maryland University; he and his staff of doctors that are currently serving in Rwanda assisted us in making this contact and making this possible. We are so very grateful for their assistance!!!

Upon our second return to the hospital we were introduced to the surgeon. Unfortunately the results (after almost a month) were not available to him. They sent us to the lab and then were informed that the biopsy was sent to Butare for additional testing. So we are hopeful that by week’s end we will have more information available to us.

Esther Home Family Visit

Today is the start of our visits with the families of the Esther Home daughters. We made our way to our Joyeuse’s home to visit with her mother. We were welcomed warmly. We shared in wonderful conversation and enjoyed many photos of their family. Joyeuse’s father, at the age of 46 died in 2001 from complications. Joyeuse’s family left Rwanda during the civil war in 1959 to Tanzania and returned to this country in 1994 after the genocide. Joyeuse is one of five daughters. It was truly a heartfelt visit. We are so very proud of Joyeuse - she produced the highest grades in the Esther home this past year!

Thursday we will be traveling to visit Justin, Claire and Doreen’s families.

Village Life

Tea Fields

Prisoners At Work

With Handmade Soccer Ball

Rabbit Cages In Cooking Area

Cooking Area

Sweet Esther

As the Van pulled up I could see the wide smile across Esther’s face. The door couldn’t open fast enough; she ran into my arms almost knocking me over. She was so excited to see her “Opa” again and couldn’t get enough of him. It was wonderful to have her with us once again!

Traveling

The ride to Butare was long – three hours of switch back after switch back. Van after van passed us carrying 18 passengers. In Rwanda they call these public taxis: Twegerane, which means “let’s squeeze”. Truly they are packed in there like sardines. The roadside travelers continue to amaze me; hundreds of people walking mile after mile carrying heavy loads on their heads.

Beautiful Violate

Once we arrived in Butare we traveled to the hospital to pick up Violate. Violate is employed full time as an Intensive Care nurse and also attends the University studying for an extended degree in Social Work. Violate is responsible for taking Esther off the streets in Butare and bringing her to the Africa New Life orphanage and has been a key person in this adoption process and has become a member of our extended family.

Village Visit

Shortly afterwards we made our way deep into the village in the Ghoro district to visit Esther’s family. White westerners never visit this area. Upon our arrival we were greeted by a 100 plus villagers. We had brought maize, soap, candles and bed mattresses for Esther’s father. The appreciation and love we received was over the top. They live in a small 10 x 15 mud hut with two small rooms; one where Esther’s sister, father, step mother and new baby sleep on the dirt floor and the other room is used for cooking and storing their 20 rabbits. Outside they were drying sorghum and plant roots. A group of neighbors had gathered to greet us; they had recently formed a co-op to help one another produce food so that no one would go without. After serving thirteen years in prison Esther’s father seems to be adjusting well to his new freedom; they all recognized him as being a respected man of the community. He seemed to have no bitterness for being in prison for 13 years and then found to be innocent of the crime. He has a deep faith in God.

This area encompasses the poorest of the poorest. After we left we felt such a deep sense of sadness and a profound desire to do more.

We gathered for dinner and encountered a four hour wait after we had ordered; I just knew that they went out to butcher the chicken that Robert had ordered. Everyone laughed at that statement and soon afterwards here comes a worker with two live chickens in hand. Only in Rwanda.

Kibeho

The first Saturday of the month is designated as a country-wide cleanup day with four hour work assignments. All the local businesses were closed and there were very few roadside travelers. After breakfast we journeyed to the Sanctuary of Our Lady Of Kibeho, situated in Gikongoro district, in the southern area of Rwanda, not far from the Burundian border. Kibeho parish was founded in 1934, but after the apparitions of the Virgin May in 1981, it became quickly a place of prayer and pilgrimages. Thousands of pilgrims from all corners of Rwanda and neighboring countries flocked at Kibeho.

The sanctuary is located high on top of one of Rwanda’s thousand hills; the beauty surrounding this area was incredible. We were the only visitors there; as we approached we felt this intense vortex that surrounded this sanctuary. There was an all girl choir performing; their voices echoed into the open air as if the angels were singing from the heavens. Emotions took hold of me, I experienced the wetness of tears descending down my cheeks and I was rooted to the ground like a cypress tree. Robert offered his hand in comfort. I held myself very still taking in all that I could; a heavy cloud of sorrow and worry lifted and I tasted a strong sense of hope and peacefulness. The choir continued to sing the whole duration of our visit.

Before we left I entered the church and knelt in prayer thanking God for bringing me to the most beautiful place in the world.

You Are Beautiful

Our day moved forward with a kind of determination that comes from people with places to go and things to do. We arrived at the village mid day only to be greeted by more villagers than yesterday. Esther’s family was all dressed in their Sunday best awaiting our visit. Newly washed clothes were scattered across the bushes drying; they had willingly used the soap we had brought to them. The father was dressed in the clothes that Ron had bought him on our last visit to Rwanda; it put a smile on our face and warmth in our heart.

Hundreds of children gathered, smiles wide on their faces, eyes bright with excitement. Ron opened his Northface bag and started handing out soccer and foot balls; at one point he was in the middle of the rutted road teaching them to hike and run for the pass. They all cheered and laughed; there was such a festive atmosphere in the air. Esther and her sister passed out inspirational rubber bracelets. Also a hundred plus “You Are Beautiful” buttons were passed among the villagers. Children were repeatedly saying in a distinct pronunciation the word “beau-ti-ful”. It echoed throughout the village. Ron adorned the women with scarves, their smiles were contagious. One villager said to Esther that this was like Christmas and was so overjoyed. At one point I stood back and watched from afar; Ron was in the middle of a hundred little hands reaching up and touching him. My heart was flooded with happiness and love. Esther’s father, talking through an interpreter, reached for my arm and pointed to Ron and said; “Look at that man with all my villagers, playing with the children, they are all so happy; he is a blessing from God to us.” Once again, tears filled my eyes.

Sharing The Bread

Ron had roll left from the lunch that we had on our way to the village; he shared it with an elderly man who was standing by taking all of this in. Ron adorned him with a scarf too and he was so thankful. Immediately, the man started eating the bread anxiously and before long there were little hands reaching up to him asking to share with them and he did.

A Pair of Goats

A few hours later we made our way to the other area of the village to buy a set of goats for Esther’s father. We bought two female goats for a total of $90. He was overwhelmed with our gestures of love for him. Ron shared with him the how-tos of raising goats and explained to him that he now needed to build a shelter for them.

Brother Joels

As we situated ourselves back in the van and headed out of the village, we had such joy in our hearts. Once again we would hear the choir of children yelling “muzungos muzungos” and chasing after us. We threw candies to them as we passed by; one of Esther’s favorite things to do.

Before we headed back to our hotel we stopped by the orphanage where Esther’s brother Joel lives. He was so happy to see us again; he is a quiet boy with a big beautiful smile. Esther has such a love for her brother. We stayed awhile; Robert and Joel played a little soccer together and Esther handed out balloons to the other orphanage boys. When we were about to leave I looked over at our sweet Esther and her lips were locked into a frown; she was not happy to be leaving her brother and her eyes were wet with tears.

The day ended with another four hour wait for dinner but we had great conversation and laughter filled the our time together.