July 18, 2010 Abby Cullen and Sarah Wehrenberg arrived yesterday at noon. I thought they were coming the next day and I would pick them up as I landed at 2 am. Thankfully, resourceful as they are, they figured out how to get ahold of Chantal so all was well by the time I heard of the mixup from Nairboi. Being back in Rwanda for me is like breathing. It’s an explicable feeling. All I know I am home here. The country, the people and our kids. Home. It feels so good to home. Chantal, always the gracious hostess, picked me up at 2am. God bless her. We argued about it over email for 3 weeks…but she was unyielding. We greeted the morning with the kids arriving to meet us with happy squeals of joy. We played for a bit and then went down to the compound where the 2nd and 3rd homes are. Approaching the gate you can hear the giggles and morning madness of everyone getting ready for breakfast and church. The guard opens the gate and voila….kids running from everywhere at full steam looking for hugs and kisses…and we have plenty to give. Mama Immaculee and I hugged and kissed forever. She has been with us the longest and is such a blessing to these kids. We have had a great deal of turn over in staff since January so the kids transition again. Hopefully we’ll be in a position to raise the funds to keep these new one. Dressed and ready for church we began the long walk in the hot sun…up the hill, down the hill, through the market, down the dirt road, through the dirt road under construction…and then we arrived at the church. They are sweet to bring us to the early service which is in English and then stay through the 2nd in Kinyarwanda. So imagine…kids 3-5 sitting like angels from 10 am until 1 pm. Simply unheard of, but they do. Week after week. During the Kinyarwanda two young girls came over to sit with us an patiently translate. Yes the hospitality in the country is real. Today is a big day in Rwanda. 16 years ago the genocide that striped the life from 1 million people in 100 days ended. So the day is bittersweet – thankful for the ending but still agonizing over the grief of an immeasurable horror. In the small world stories…as 1st service was ending…Sarah said she needed a minute as “she knew someone sitting over there”. What? Seriously? Sarah spotted her friend Melissa who was a youth leader from Bethal College. Can you believe it? Sarah spotted her before she spotted Sarah. But when Sarah caught her eye we were all able to watch Melissa’s face go from – hey someone is staring at me, to hey she looks for familiar…to OMG, it’s Sarah Wehrenberg. It was a wonderful reunion. Melissa has been here for 8 months with 5 more to go. We traded phone numbers and hope to catch up with her again before we leave Back home we call crashed for a bit and then Sarah and Abby clicked into…OK, let’s discuss what we need to get done in the trip and make a plan. We spent the next hour with Sarah leading the ideation and capturing the to-do list and then prioritizing. She and Abby are such amazing gifts to the kids. Abby is charged with assessing each of the kids scholastically and trying to make a forward plan. That job alone is enough to keep her busy. Abby has a real heart for Africa and teaching so her imprint is certain to be long lasting. Our list is long but Sarah has us organized and will ensure we deliver. We joined the kids for dinner and play time. During that window we went into the room with the cubbies and started to work through the kids one by one assessing shirts, pants, undies and shoes to ensure the kids were in the right sizes. Shoes continue to be the constant that needs attention. We were able to swap some things around so we’re making progress. That job is massive…just asked Kristen or anyone else who as tried to help us. English lessons for the adults was the ending to our night. Their thirst to learn is so strong. We want to ensure we stay focused on helping feed their appetites to learn. Day is done. Day one. All is indeed right with the world. PS We are without internet at the homes, so we’ll update as we can from a nearby market. PPS Charlie and Kate...the Big Ball project is underway. We're going to present them when the big kids come home from school. Stand by for pictures in a few days and THANKS.