Wednesday.
First let me apologize for all the typos. I will eventually fix them. The keyboards are bad and the internet slow...so I'm doing the best I can.
It was a wonderful morning with the kids. It's such a joy greeting everyone. Arriving at the second home, the kids had finished their morning baths and all were jammed into one room trying to get dressed. They squelled with delight when I walked in. 7 kids laughing and yelling "miss donna, miss donna". Fabiola "hello missy donna". "Hello Fabiola" was my reply. Then Sabrina "missy donna, miss donna" "miss Sabrina" was my reply. The sequence continues until everyone has said my name and i theirs. It's a ritual I could repeat forever. The perpetual motion in the home is hard to articulate...think the Harvey house on steroids!
The moms and aunties do have the power to get them to settle down but I have not yet mastered it. When I look at them with a serious face saying 'oi ya"...no, "um va" listen, they stop what they are doing and stare me down. The more serious I get the quicker they start laughing. Since I am the tickle monster in the house, I think they believe I am getting ready to tickle them...or they are smart enough to know that I am not going to really reprimand them.
"Plushie please Miss Donna" comes from Marie Rose. That's her request to go outside and get on the swing set. The others follow suit with the request. "Eggo" is my reply. Yes. They all head to the door, put on their shoes and go squeeling to the swing set.
Chantal arrived around noon to being our journey. We drove out to see the cows that Bill, JoAnne and William bought for the kids late last year. On my 1st visit the kids were only able to get access to about 1/2 of a cup of milk a day, now thanks to the above trio they get all that they need. It was quite a production getting there. The rutty road wound through and extremely impoverished area where the homes were made mostly of mud and twigs. I was impressed at Chantal's 4x4 and driving skills to find her way through the various paths. 30 mins later she stopped the car to begin our journey on foot through the hillside covered with brush. A small path lead us an opening. There on the hillside were the cows. 4 in total. They were under a simple but very functional open building to keep the burning sun off of them. The tin roof covered 12 stalls. Hopefully some day we will need them all. I thought about then standing there last when when we had a serious storm. As I was in a home with no electricity anyway and there are no tornados...I just hung out...same as these creatures.
Chantal and Mbanda have hired 5 works to care for the cows. Believe it or not, it takes that many. They have to plant food for the cows to eat, then cut it. In the dry season they have to go to the market to buy it as irrigation is not yet an option. One of the men sleeps under mosquito netting on a bed of hay that sits so guard the cows at night. Additionally they had to build a house for them men to live in. Layer upon layer to simply get milk to our precious kids.
Next we headed to a church to pick up a Pastor. When we arrived the church was overflowing. The people had come to receive mosquito netting from us. They waited patiently while we went to the goverment office to pick them up. The regional offices are small buildings that hold a desk, 2 chairs and tiny bookshelf and often a computer. The machine gun toting guard brought us around to the back of the building to unlock the nets. There were about 30 to a tyvek bag. We bought 100 nets. As we were leaving I noticed too long wooden boxes in the corner. As I starred at them I noticed a cross on each box and some names. I asked if they were coffins. Yes "bones" was the repy. "Genocide?" I asked. "Eggo..yes". I had noticed that the dates were 1994 so I assumed it was. The story behind the bones will never been known as I didn't think it was appropriate to ask more. One box held what appeared to be 2 bodies with the same last name. The other 5. Parents and kids was my assumption. As you know from some of my earlier writing, they are still finding bodies today, so perhaps these were among those found.
Outside the building was an open air gathering of some sorts. It held a dining room size table with 2 chairs and about 5 benches. I asked if it was for local meetings. No, it was for court. These are exactly the meetings that took place after the genocide where people came together for trials. It was also were people would ask for forgiveness and be returned to the communities.
With the mosquito nets packed in the car we headed over to meet 3 widows who had recieved goats from CALM via Chantal and Mbanda. The women spot with nonstop joy about how the goats had blessed their lives. They kept pointing to the heavens and saying something about Emma (God). The goats which cost only $35 each completely change lives. The women use the manure for their gardens, the kids drink the milk and they reproduce quickly. We simply ask that they donate the 1st offspring to another widow to continue the cycle. Ahh, God is good.
We took photos for the website and continued on.
When we returned to the church, the 100+ gathered were singing songs of praise for our arrival. The Pastor read from the bible and gave us chairs of honor in the front of the congregation. It was a rather big production. The group was divided in 2. To my right were people that had survived the genocide to my left were members of various churches in nearby villages who had signed up for the nets. A woman stepped forward and began reading the names. One by one they came forward to recieve the nets. Malaria and Aids the 2 biggest culprits that hold the average life expectancy rates down to under 50, so these nets will literally save lives.
The genocide survivers received their 1st and were honored.
The news of our visit was spreading through the various villages so people continued to pour in. We had planned on 100 but gave the pastor money to get more nets to meet the needs of the new arrivals. A man on crutches came forward to get his. Chantal, seeing his effort brought it to him. The the Pastor shouted out something to him and the people all laughed. Apparently he said "hey old man, I see you sitting with the church people, but haven't seen you in church lately, you need to come to church". It was said with affection.
Looking into their sea of faces proudly holding their nets was an indescrible feeling. We need to raise more money to continue this very important ministry.
Last, I met 2 women who had received health cards from Chantal and CALM. The health cards enable the user to go to the Dr and pay only a very small fee.
The need is endless.
Chantal was simply exhausted so I told her to take me home but she insisted that we need to have a birthday party for the kids. Since we don't really know their birthday days she decided it would be fun to just pick a day an celebrate everyone. The Harvey family provided the presents along with birthday candles. Lynn hand made earring for each of the girls and the Kittleson's sent hats along. The party was a smashing success. Sara figured out how to take photos with my camera so I was actually able to be in some of the photos.
We sang our now favorite song.."if you're happy and you know it clap your hands". We had a great time.
I walked with them back to the 1st house to charge some of my camera gear. As we rounded the corner we ran into a bunch of goats. 1/2 of the kids were shocked, 1/4 were afraid and the remaing took charge to shoo them out of the way. It was quite a sight.
Back at the second home I hung out with the boys for a while before I announced that I wanted to go back to the 1st home to say good night and play a dvd. Since it was pitch black outside I asked Thomas to walk with me. I was an unexpected visitor as the kids were used to seeing me in the morning. When I walked into the main room they were seated at the dinner table in their undies. An effecient clean up I would suppose. We sat down to watch the DVD and all the kids piled on. 6 kids all trying to get into my lap or under my arms. Heaven. Pure and simple.
Thomas and I walked back to the 2nd home. Thank goodness for the crank light I brought as they were pretty darn functional for our walk.
Returning home the kids were excited that I had come back before they went to bed. We played concentration again. Then ABC then ABC matchup. It was almost as if Issach was trying his best to get every ounce of learning and fun in before I left. We finished the night by working my Kinyarwanda and they worked on their English. I put my camera on audio to record it. I sure hope it turns out.
In the middle of our lesson Issach looked me straight in the eyes and said something I hadn't heard before as he reached out to take my hand. I didn't have a clue what is meant but I could tell he was sincere. Josephine actually knew the English translation as I was saying in Kinyarwranda that I didn't understand. His words were "my friend". Then "I love you my friend."
I think there world came to a halt and froze in that very moment. My eyes filled with tears as I was overwhelmed with his sincerity and the pure authenticity of his choice of words. When I regained my composure I reached out and said a phrase that Chantal had taught me how to say. " I will miss you". They were very suprised at my sentence.
I then began some dramatic acting to ensure they understood I was leaving in about a day and half. First is was pointing at myself "Miss Donna", then I turned into an airplane and took off, lastly I said "Miss Donna's house in America". They started to get it but weren't quite sure so I took the etch a sketch and drew me, an airplane and my home followed by the word America. Ahhh. They were understood. Now the question clearly was when. For some reason I have not been able to translate days of the week or hours and any way that makes sense to them. Then I remembered that I knew the word for sun and moon. So I drew a moon and made it clear that it was this moon in the sky tonight. Then a sun, then a moon for tomorrow. The next sun I connected to the airplane. Voila. A day and half. Quite clever if I do say so myself. Lyionare didn't understand, but Issach got it. We all go sad. I started to tear up and held them back. I can't believe how attached I am to these sweet boys in a week and half.
I tucked the boys into their beds and just stood by each one and stroked their hair. Well it was hard to get to their hair as they were still sleeping in the hats that the Kittlesons gave them. I prayed that God would protect them and they would always know how much I loved them. I'm so thankful that I actually got to stay in this house or I never would have understand how amazing these boys are. I studied every part of their face and tried to sere it into my brain.
I took my last African bath after smooshing the cockroach that suddenly emerged from under that red bucket. It gave me quite a fright as I was were my headlamp and nearly stepped on it. I packed the reest of my belongings so I could get an early start in the morning. We realized today that my flight leaves at 11:10am not 1:50 so suddenly my morning was gone.
I used the hand crank light and my head lamp to finish my packing. I am becoming quite skilled at working in the near dark.
I created a small pile for Sarah and Abby who will be coming in July. While I know their intent is to eat the local food the Mom in me came out and I wanted to ensure that would be ok so I left canned Chicken, Nature Valley bars etc along with sunscreen, bug spray, toothpaste, Purell and some dried fruit. I wrote then a little note to greet them and tucked the box away.
Satifisied that things were under control, I turned in at 11:30, setting two alarms for 5:30 am.
Wednesday.
First let me apologize for all the typos. I will eventually fix them. The keyboards are bad and the internet slow...so I'm doing the best I can.
It was a wonderful morning with the kids. It's such a joy greeting everyone. Arriving at the second home, the kids had finished their morning baths and all were jammed into one room trying to get dressed. They squelled with delight when I walked in. 7 kids laughing and yelling "miss donna, miss donna". Fabiola "hello missy donna". "Hello Fabiola" was my reply. Then Sabrina "missy donna, miss donna" "miss Sabrina" was my reply. The sequence continues until everyone has said my name and i theirs. It's a ritual I could repeat forever. The perpetual motion in the home is hard to articulate...think the Harvey house on steroids!
The moms and aunties do have the power to get them to settle down but I have not yet mastered it. When I look at them with a serious face saying 'oi ya"...no, "um va" listen, they stop what they are doing and stare me down. The more serious I get the quicker they start laughing. Since I am the tickle monster in the house, I think they believe I am getting ready to tickle them...or they are smart enough to know that I am not going to really reprimand them.
"Plushie please Miss Donna" comes from Marie Rose. That's her request to go outside and get on the swing set. The others follow suit with the request. "Eggo" is my reply. Yes. They all head to the door, put on their shoes and go squeeling to the swing set.
Chantal arrived around noon to being our journey. We drove out to see the cows that Bill, JoAnne and William bought for the kids late last year. On my 1st visit the kids were only able to get access to about 1/2 of a cup of milk a day, now thanks to the above trio they get all that they need. It was quite a production getting there. The rutty road wound through and extremely impoverished area where the homes were made mostly of mud and twigs. I was impressed at Chantal's 4x4 and driving skills to find her way through the various paths. 30 mins later she stopped the car to begin our journey on foot through the hillside covered with brush. A small path lead us an opening. There on the hillside were the cows. 4 in total. They were under a simple but very functional open building to keep the burning sun off of them. The tin roof covered 12 stalls. Hopefully some day we will need them all. I thought about then standing there last when when we had a serious storm. As I was in a home with no electricity anyway and there are no tornados...I just hung out...same as these creatures.
Chantal and Mbanda have hired 5 works to care for the cows. Believe it or not, it takes that many. They have to plant food for the cows to eat, then cut it. In the dry season they have to go to the market to buy it as irrigation is not yet an option. One of the men sleeps under mosquito netting on a bed of hay that sits so guard the cows at night. Additionally they had to build a house for them men to live in. Layer upon layer to simply get milk to our precious kids.
Next we headed to a church to pick up a Pastor. When we arrived the church was overflowing. The people had come to receive mosquito netting from us. They waited patiently while we went to the goverment office to pick them up. The regional offices are small buildings that hold a desk, 2 chairs and tiny bookshelf and often a computer. The machine gun toting guard brought us around to the back of the building to unlock the nets. There were about 30 to a tyvek bag. We bought 100 nets. As we were leaving I noticed too long wooden boxes in the corner. As I starred at them I noticed a cross on each box and some names. I asked if they were coffins. Yes "bones" was the repy. "Genocide?" I asked. "Eggo..yes". I had noticed that the dates were 1994 so I assumed it was. The story behind the bones will never been known as I didn't think it was appropriate to ask more. One box held what appeared to be 2 bodies with the same last name. The other 5. Parents and kids was my assumption. As you know from some of my earlier writing, they are still finding bodies today, so perhaps these were among those found.
Outside the building was an open air gathering of some sorts. It held a dining room size table with 2 chairs and about 5 benches. I asked if it was for local meetings. No, it was for court. These are exactly the meetings that took place after the genocide where people came together for trials. It was also were people would ask for forgiveness and be returned to the communities.
With the mosquito nets packed in the car we headed over to meet 3 widows who had recieved goats from CALM via Chantal and Mbanda. The women spot with nonstop joy about how the goats had blessed their lives. They kept pointing to the heavens and saying something about Emma (God). The goats which cost only $35 each completely change lives. The women use the manure for their gardens, the kids drink the milk and they reproduce quickly. We simply ask that they donate the 1st offspring to another widow to continue the cycle. Ahh, God is good.
We took photos for the website and continued on.
When we returned to the church, the 100+ gathered were singing songs of praise for our arrival. The Pastor read from the bible and gave us chairs of honor in the front of the congregation. It was a rather big production. The group was divided in 2. To my right were people that had survived the genocide to my left were members of various churches in nearby villages who had signed up for the nets. A woman stepped forward and began reading the names. One by one they came forward to recieve the nets. Malaria and Aids the 2 biggest culprits that hold the average life expectancy rates down to under 50, so these nets will literally save lives.
The genocide survivers received their 1st and were honored.
The news of our visit was spreading through the various villages so people continued to pour in. We had planned on 100 but gave the pastor money to get more nets to meet the needs of the new arrivals. A man on crutches came forward to get his. Chantal, seeing his effort brought it to him. The the Pastor shouted out something to him and the people all laughed. Apparently he said "hey old man, I see you sitting with the church people, but haven't seen you in church lately, you need to come to church". It was said with affection.
Looking into their sea of faces proudly holding their nets was an indescrible feeling. We need to raise more money to continue this very important ministry.
Last, I met 2 women who had received health cards from Chantal and CALM. The health cards enable the user to go to the Dr and pay only a very small fee.
The need is endless.
Chantal was simply exhausted so I told her to take me home but she insisted that we need to have a birthday party for the kids. Since we don't really know their birthday days she decided it would be fun to just pick a day an celebrate everyone. The Harvey family provided the presents along with birthday candles. Lynn hand made earring for each of the girls and the Kittleson's sent hats along. The party was a smashing success. Sara figured out how to take photos with my camera so I was actually able to be in some of the photos.
We sang our now favorite song.."if you're happy and you know it clap your hands". We had a great time.
I walked with them back to the 1st house to charge some of my camera gear. As we rounded the corner we ran into a bunch of goats. 1/2 of the kids were shocked, 1/4 were afraid and the remaing took charge to shoo them out of the way. It was quite a sight.
Back at the second home I hung out with the boys for a while before I announced that I wanted to go back to the 1st home to say good night and play a dvd. Since it was pitch black outside I asked Thomas to walk with me. I was an unexpected visitor as the kids were used to seeing me in the morning. When I walked into the main room they were seated at the dinner table in their undies. An effecient clean up I would suppose. We sat down to watch the DVD and all the kids piled on. 6 kids all trying to get into my lap or under my arms. Heaven. Pure and simple.
Thomas and I walked back to the 2nd home. Thank goodness for the crank light I brought as they were pretty darn functional for our walk.
Returning home the kids were excited that I had come back before they went to bed. We played concentration again. Then ABC then ABC matchup. It was almost as if Issach was trying his best to get every ounce of learning and fun in before I left. We finished the night by working my Kinyarwanda and they worked on their English. I put my camera on audio to record it. I sure hope it turns out.
In the middle of our lesson Issach looked me straight in the eyes and said something I hadn't heard before as he reached out to take my hand. I didn't have a clue what is meant but I could tell he was sincere. Josephine actually knew the English translation as I was saying in Kinyarwranda that I didn't understand. His words were "my friend". Then "I love you my friend."
I think there world came to a halt and froze in that very moment. My eyes filled with tears as I was overwhelmed with his sincerity and the pure authenticity of his choice of words. When I regained my composure I reached out and said a phrase that Chantal had taught me how to say. " I will miss you". They were very suprised at my sentence.
I then began some dramatic acting to ensure they understood I was leaving in about a day and half. First is was pointing at myself "Miss Donna", then I turned into an airplane and took off, lastly I said "Miss Donna's house in America". They started to get it but weren't quite sure so I took the etch a sketch and drew me, an airplane and my home followed by the word America. Ahhh. They were understood. Now the question clearly was when. For some reason I have not been able to translate days of the week or hours and any way that makes sense to them. Then I remembered that I knew the word for sun and moon. So I drew a moon and made it clear that it was this moon in the sky tonight. Then a sun, then a moon for tomorrow. The next sun I connected to the airplane. Voila. A day and half. Quite clever if I do say so myself. Lyionare didn't understand, but Issach got it. We all go sad. I started to tear up and held them back. I can't believe how attached I am to these sweet boys in a week and half.
I tucked the boys into their beds and just stood by each one and stroked their hair. Well it was hard to get to their hair as they were still sleeping in the hats that the Kittlesons gave them. I prayed that God would protect them and they would always know how much I loved them. I'm so thankful that I actually got to stay in this house or I never would have understand how amazing these boys are. I studied every part of their face and tried to sere it into my brain.
I took my last African bath after smooshing the cockroach that suddenly emerged from under that red bucket. It gave me quite a fright as I was were my headlamp and nearly stepped on it. I packed the reest of my belongings so I could get an early start in the morning. We realized today that my flight leaves at 11:10am not 1:50 so suddenly my morning was gone.
I used the hand crank light and my head lamp to finish my packing. I am becoming quite skilled at working in the near dark.
I created a small pile for Sarah and Abby who will be coming in July. While I know their intent is to eat the local food the Mom in me came out and I wanted to ensure that would be ok so I left canned Chicken, Nature Valley bars etc along with sunscreen, bug spray, toothpaste, Purell and some dried fruit. I wrote then a little note to greet them and tucked the box away.
Satifisied that things were under control, I turned in at 11:30, setting two alarms for 5:30 am.
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