Ahh, life is good at New Hope Homes

Ahh, life is good at New Hope Homes I arrived at 8 pm last night to the welcoming arms of Abby who surprised me by meeting me at the airport with my driver.

Thankfully I made it through customs without a hassle this time. I guess it pays to only bring 5 bags vs 12 bags like last Christmas. Thanks to Harv for for bringing the next two bags in two days.

It exciting to have him join me. Harv and I worked together about 4 years ago and stopped by my Christmas Party Fund Raiser for New Hope Homes. He talked about joining me sometime. When my trip got delayed by a few weeks, I let him know and voila…he decided to join me with just a few days notice. Gotta love a spirit of spontaneity.

Abby and I quickly dropped the bags at the first home and then practically ran down the hill to see the kids. It was like a echo effect as the first child saw us an yelled our names…then the next, then the next, then the next and then they all came running with hugs and kisses. It feels so wonderful to be amidst all this love.

It was raining really hard so we decided that Abby should stay with us vs walking down to get at motobike ride back to her house. Thus it was a big slumber party. The boys were crazy, silly, laughing in their bunk beds. Every time I went in they would pretend like they were sleeping. Then the minute I stepped out the giggles began again. Ahhh, ya, the silliness is one of my favorite parts.

This morning I again went to immigration to try to advance my case for citizenship. The process started 1 year ago this month, so I have learned patience. If they grant it to me, it would be a miracle as I meet all qualifications but one. I don’t own any land or run a business. They have all the proper referrals from the local mayor etc, but they don’t seem to fully understand the value in investing in our kids and aunties, uncles etc vs land. Tomorrow I meet with the ‘big boss’ to see if he will reconsider my case.

Abby then met me at Nakumatt the Kmart of Rwanda, then we did some errands including a nice visit with Abraham who owns a souvenir store. Abby decided we needed to check out a new restaurant run by a Canadian. Burgers and Fries…I kid you not! Wow things have changed in the past 5.5 years.

The afternoon was spent watching Abby teach the kids some wonderful science lessons. They wanted to learn about Space. Thanks to Kristen Cavallo for sending us some great books. They learned the order of the planets relative to the sun, then were assigned one to study and draw a picture. They then stood in line in the proper order. Abby is such a great teacher!

She then left to go play with some friends and I continued the fun. We walked down to the 2nd and 3rd homes to find the Aunties singing and playing with the kids. It is hard to put into words the joy of seeing our Aunties work so joyfully with our kids. The perpetual motion is something that you can only understand if you were here…speaking of…who wants to come in April, August or December of 2012!