Life is so sweet in Rwanda.

It was a good day. The kids are so blessed to have Abby and Sarah here. Oh my, what a gift to have teachers in our midst that love our kids so much. They come from a trained professional background and balance that with just lovin’ on our kids. Abby is magnificent working with the kids. She teaches young kids so we turn it over to her. This is the 1st time we’ve had our little, middle and big kids in our school house all day and it’s quite a feat to keep it all going. Abby and Sarah know just the right balance of playing, learning, singing, drawing etc. Sarah has taken on the task master role…can I tell you how it is to give up that job. She does it effortlessly. Playing with the kids, while measuring their feet, inspecting their clothes sizes and learning special things about them like their favorite colors etc. She makes it look like she’s playing the whole time and then emerges with another spread sheet of info. What a blessing! I ran errands today. In Rwanda a 1 hour errand is usually about 4 or 5 hours so when I left this morning, I told them they shouldn’t worry if I didn’t come back for a long while. I was able to get some things we needed in the house for volunteers, try to assess the internet situation as ½ of the country is down and we happen to be on the wrong ½. Every the tech head, we found a solution and appear to be back on line with a pay as you go plan. I am much the local now with my Rwanda cell phone and modem. For the kids today was a transition day back from School. We wanted to give them school time, but just time to play with their brothers and sisters whom they miss so much when the big kids are at school. It was so wonderful to see how the big kids are so good to the little kids playing around with them. I was also able to skype with Bob Safford and Kristen Cavallo. The kids were so excited to see Kristen. We had a terrific connection and it was wonderful. Kristen was here with me in January and it was a mutual love affair. Today was a day to step back and see how far we’ve come in just 4 years. The kids are thriving and people have been so generous in meeting our financial needs. One of the biggest has been medical expenses, but I can tell you they are paying off. Deborah our girl with Cerebral Palsy has made SIGNIFICANT strides since I last saw here. Physically and mentally the change is VERY apparent. Thanks to people who had donated to New Hope Homes. We’ve used some of the money to get her physical therapy and medicine. One of the Desami twins has struggled all of his 2.5 years of life. His brother is active and running, but the other has a foot that is badly curled and is a bit crossed eyed with some sight limitations. In January we started him on physical therapy and then put a cast and now a boot with brace on the bad leg and he’s making progress. I know the Janssen family will be especially happy to hear the news as they pray for him and have helped me some of his needs. I have never seen his leg straight…but it is. He is not yet walking, but tonight I let him stand up and he could hold his own weight for a bit. Praise God….I believe he will one day walk. Other fun parts to the day were Sarah getting a game of volley ball going with some very special soccer balls (yes Kate and Charlie…your balls…more about that in the next post). The kids were so excited about the balls that after they played soccer (football) they decided to play volley ball tool. The “uncles” and “aunties” joined in with Sarah, Abby and some of the big kids. Laughter could be heard throughout the grounds. It’s almost time to teach English to the adults, so I must sign off. Speaking of…my goodness. I looked at Fabiola’s report card. WOW…Terrific grades in English, French and Kinyrwanda. To think 4 years ago she didn’t understand the “concept’ of another language…much less be conversant in 3. Thank you for following along in our journey and we thank you for any support you can give. Remember your donation is tax deductible and 100% of the money goes directly to the care of the kids. You can donate on the ‘donate’ botton on this page or my facebook page (lower left corner) or calmministries.org At times I feel like I am a begger…but when I know it’s going to a good place, I know the ‘ask’ is important. Every dollar matters…$5, $20 or more…we promise to make good use of your resources. Big plans are coming: Movie Night BIG BALL PROJECT UPDATE Road Trip to Kibeho Let us know if you want to try to skype with your kids. We're taking ‘reservations’ ☺ For Saturday morning US tme.