Back after 3 years

Monday, July 19. 2010 Muraho from Musanze, Rwanda! This is Abby writing. It is day three back in the beautiful hills of Rwanda. Sarah and I arrived Saturday afternoon after a very smooth flight. For those of you who don’t know me or Sarah, we spent a month at New Hope Homes in July of 2007. It is truly amazing to return to this place so full of hope. It was pure joy to see the kids’ faces again. There are many new, some familiar. Today began with “school” for the younger children at New Hope Homes. Imagine twelve children, age four and under, with boundless energy. Now, picture a lawn thick with spiky grass and flowering trees, toddlers running fast, falling, getting up again. The chaos ensued, but somewhere in there, we taught letter names, letter sounds, and did some writing and drawing. The teacher in me is excited to see where these kids are at and build from there. The day was also full of English / Kinyarwanda exchange. Christine aka Bebe, an auntie at the home where we are staying, is hungry to learn English, just as I am to learn Kinyarwanda. We’ve started a sloppy process of language exchange. Right now it consists of naming objects, practicing greetings, and writing the words down in a journal. The process is so great! I’m hoping to learn and teach as much as I can in this month ahead. This afternoon we headed out to Musanze, a small city 2 hours north of Kigali. Chantal and Mbanda now live here. Chantal is graciously hosting us in their new beautiful home, and fed us a fantastic dinner. Tomorrow we pick up the big kids!!! I am SO excited to see them. Isaac, Lionel, Fabiola and Marie Rose were all here three years ago when we visited. They are now apparently very strong in English, so we will actually be able to have conversations. Fun! The three of us, Donna, Sarah and I have a huge to do list for our time here. Sarah is task master and keeping us all in line. We’re hoping to get a lot done for these kids! Love to all, Abby