Thursday Morning.
I arose early to make sure that i was ready for the 745am departure, but I know we are in Rwanda so we're on Rwanda time and mobilizing 17 people is a bit challenging. At 9 am the bus beeped at our gate and I jumped in. we bumped along on our way back to Chantal and Mbanda's. I arrived to see suitcases packed. "Are you leaving?" Was my question to a few of the travelers. "It's an overnight" was the reply. "oh". Oh well, what the heck, I just asked Chantal if she had an extra new toothbrush and i was on my way.
At first I suggested to Chantal that I should stay with the kids as I had come to work. She thought it would be a good idea to see more of the country to learn more about the people. I fiugred it was a rare opportunity to I joined in. Imagine a bus with 25 people including 7 kids setting off for who knows where. The twists and turns of Rwanda are wonderful.
We said a prayer for safety and asked for God's protection and we were off.
On the journey we stopeed at the last King's palace. He was poisioned in 1961 which ended the feudal system and created the first election. It was won on a platform of Hutu power.
Next we visited a coffee plantation; truly a highlight. The workers invited us to see everything close up. I took a ton of photos. It was great fun. There were about 25 kids gathering on the other side of the narrow river bank. They were filty beyond words with tattered clothes, but they had incredibly bright spirits. There was an elderly woman with a stick who kept shooing them away, ensuring they didn't cross the rickety old bridge to our side. I came over to visit them and started taking photos and playing with them. They laughed and laughed. Even the sweet old woman thought it was fun. Slowly they each crossed the bridge. Flat Stanley had a great time too.
The other extra special part of the coffee plantation was knowing that Grower's First was involved here. Greg Hoyt from Mpls does work with them and bought the entire 1st crop of one plantation to roast here in Mpls. Grower's First teachs the plantation co-ops how to do justa few extra steps in processing...was, peal and dry.
Those simple steps yielded a 3 fold income for the farmers Greg was working with despite the fact that shipping to the US was included. Remarkable what a little ingenuity can do. Tom and Jay Ritchie (Tom is the famous cyclist) work with a group called Spread. The Ritchie's are making "coffee bikes" so the co-op farmers can speed up the time it takes from harvest to getting to the cenral area. The bikes cost about $125 us each. They are well built for the conditions and the money is raised by people who buy coffee labeled "coffee bikes" in the states. How amazing is that? So many people trying to help make a difference. Such simple things.
It's clear that people come to this country fall in love with the people and pour their hearts and souls into helping. Our Team Rwanda is just one more small example.
Spending time with the workers close up really helped me understand how hard they work to make a buck. It's tedious and long hours.
We then stopped by a roasting station. As a non coffee drinker I couldn't appreciate it as much as the others so I took the kids outside and entertained them with some local kids perched on the side of hill to stare at us. Yes we're as interesting to them as they are to us. Go figure.
We pulled into the University touwn which was shaking with lots of energy. The main street was about 6 blocks long with basic commerce. Impressive. Gas ($4/us gal), cyber cafe, grocery/general merchandise store.
We checked into our hotel. Not bad. Twin bed. Mosquito nets, hot water, toilet, who needs more?
Dinner was great. It felt like a vacation day, but I was missing the kids.
After dinner I went down to the cyber cafe and negotiated for a US Keyboard to make a post to the blog and then off to bed.
Thursday Morning.
I arose early to make sure that i was ready for the 745am departure, but I know we are in Rwanda so we're on Rwanda time and mobilizing 17 people is a bit challenging. At 9 am the bus beeped at our gate and I jumped in. we bumped along on our way back to Chantal and Mbanda's. I arrived to see suitcases packed. "Are you leaving?" Was my question to a few of the travelers. "It's an overnight" was the reply. "oh". Oh well, what the heck, I just asked Chantal if she had an extra new toothbrush and i was on my way.
At first I suggested to Chantal that I should stay with the kids as I had come to work. She thought it would be a good idea to see more of the country to learn more about the people. I fiugred it was a rare opportunity to I joined in. Imagine a bus with 25 people including 7 kids setting off for who knows where. The twists and turns of Rwanda are wonderful.
We said a prayer for safety and asked for God's protection and we were off.
On the journey we stopeed at the last King's palace. He was poisioned in 1961 which ended the feudal system and created the first election. It was won on a platform of Hutu power.
Next we visited a coffee plantation; truly a highlight. The workers invited us to see everything close up. I took a ton of photos. It was great fun. There were about 25 kids gathering on the other side of the narrow river bank. They were filty beyond words with tattered clothes, but they had incredibly bright spirits. There was an elderly woman with a stick who kept shooing them away, ensuring they didn't cross the rickety old bridge to our side. I came over to visit them and started taking photos and playing with them. They laughed and laughed. Even the sweet old woman thought it was fun. Slowly they each crossed the bridge. Flat Stanley had a great time too.
The other extra special part of the coffee plantation was knowing that Grower's First was involved here. Greg Hoyt from Mpls does work with them and bought the entire 1st crop of one plantation to roast here in Mpls. Grower's First teachs the plantation co-ops how to do justa few extra steps in processing...was, peal and dry.
Those simple steps yielded a 3 fold income for the farmers Greg was working with despite the fact that shipping to the US was included. Remarkable what a little ingenuity can do. Tom and Jay Ritchie (Tom is the famous cyclist) work with a group called Spread. The Ritchie's are making "coffee bikes" so the co-op farmers can speed up the time it takes from harvest to getting to the cenral area. The bikes cost about $125 us each. They are well built for the conditions and the money is raised by people who buy coffee labeled "coffee bikes" in the states. How amazing is that? So many people trying to help make a difference. Such simple things.
It's clear that people come to this country fall in love with the people and pour their hearts and souls into helping. Our Team Rwanda is just one more small example.
Spending time with the workers close up really helped me understand how hard they work to make a buck. It's tedious and long hours.
We then stopped by a roasting station. As a non coffee drinker I couldn't appreciate it as much as the others so I took the kids outside and entertained them with some local kids perched on the side of hill to stare at us. Yes we're as interesting to them as they are to us. Go figure.
We pulled into the University touwn which was shaking with lots of energy. The main street was about 6 blocks long with basic commerce. Impressive. Gas ($4/us gal), cyber cafe, grocery/general merchandise store.
We checked into our hotel. Not bad. Twin bed. Mosquito nets, hot water, toilet, who needs more?
Dinner was great. It felt like a vacation day, but I was missing the kids.
After dinner I went down to the cyber cafe and negotiated for a US Keyboard to make a post to the blog and then off to bed.
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