Simplicity is good for the soul.

January 7th, 2009 9:45 pm The days are long here. But beautiful. I was a slug this am and slept in. I needed it after only 1 or 2 hours the night before. The short rainy season is here. Kinda like Hawaii weather. 2 short rain bursts throughout the day , doesn’t last long. But when it rains…it pours. And pour and pours. While many of the roads are of stone or pavement many are dirt so it makes for quite the mess. The road between the 1st home and 2nd/3rd combo has not been changed one bit in past 3 years. Dirt, bumpy, holes and a truck parked at the corner rusting away. It adds some nice texture. I spent some time with the workers of the 1st home while the teacher was working with the little kids. The staff are lovely and very curious about white people and really want to learn English. So we walk around pointing out things and naming it in English and Kinyarwanda and then deciding what color it is. You’d be surprised how long this game can go on. Grass, sky, trees, glass, water, steps etc. Their big deal was to try to read the book Go Dog Go. One of the young men (26 years old) has been doing some studying so he tried to read the book and translate. The group was fascinated by the story. The part that cracked them up was when all the dogs go to bed and close there eyes. They noticed that one dog had his eyes open and they found that to be worth quite a long laugh. Ahh, the simply pleasures of life. A woman from the government came by to inspect all 3 homes. It took quite a while but she left very pleased with that she sees here. I also went on errands with Chantal which is always big fun for me. Of course they all point out the white woman in the car, in street and in the store. But it’s less of a big deal than it was 3 years ago when they ALL yelled “moozongoo”…aka white person. That means that there are more of us in the country now. I have seen 3. I always carry my camera with me and that makes for great entertainment. I point at the camera and ask “eggo?/yes” and most say “oy-ya/no” unless I have “franc”. Ahh, capitalism is alive and growing in Rwanda. For those that say “ok” I take the photo and then show it to them. Then they ask for more photos and others want in. It creates a bit of fun for the small group that grows. When Chantal gets out of the car I tell her “I am going to go cause some trouble…ok?” Chantal laughs and makes me tell her exactly where I am going and she keeps and eye on me “don’t go far Miss Donna” and then laughs. I feel like a 3 year old but we both know the plan is a good one. Back at the 1st home I sat around and watched the kids learn from their amazing teacher. She is terrific when the kids. So many kids were so far behind in school that Chantal finally hired a full time teacher to tutor the kids after school. So they are currently on Christmas break and in school full time 8:30 until 4ish each day to continue to catch up and in some cases advance. For Chantal education is the key teach of these children’s future. They take it VERY seriously. After school we went to the 2nd and 3rd home and spent nearly 3 hours taking photos of each child with their present from the US. 1st photo- the child and the big Hefty Onezip bag with a pair of shoes, socks, underwear, one set of clothes and a small toy. Then the same bag with the donors photos if we had them, then they changed into their new outfit and took another photo. Then they put everything back in the bag except the clothes so they could be properly stored and used at the right time. It was quite a production with none of the mommies or aunties speaking English and a couple of the older kids trying to help keep us organized and then some of the other kids trying to make the child smile if they were small. All in all it was exciting and exhausting. Later this evening we played more of the ESL games that I brought. They are huge hit. Last night we played a snail game where you roll the dice and then move the snails based on what color dice you have, tonight we played one where you match the adult animal with the proper baby animal and then say the words in English. It’s quite an ordeal with 15 kids climbing on me and wanting hugs while trying to keep the games going and organized a bit. The kids so love being hugged. They love getting attention and they are all so well behaved. The older kids are wonderful a soothing a younger child when he or she cries or falls down. You can tell that they have functioned as a parent not too long ago. At the young age of 7 or 8 they understand what it is to really watch out and care for a younger child. Bless them. Bathing with a small bucket of water is my entertainment for the evening. It is so bizarre to have electricity in the 3rd home. I am used to walking around or playing games by candlelight and then using a headlamp in my room. It’s a real lightbulb in the ceiling. No running water or flushing toilet in the bathroom but 1 outta 3 is quite good! Tomorrow we are going to try to film a portion of a fund raising video. We’ll tour some of the rough way of life in the city and then talk about what the homes are all about. It’s also possible that we may be getting 3 more kids tomorrow. One never knows in Rwanda for everything takes much longer than you can imagine. Put patience bring perspective.