A visit to the blessing water in Kibeho

A beautiful view to take in the morning dawn on the drive home from Kibeho. 

6 hours to Kibeho and well worth the trip

We had a lovely visit with Anathalie. She gave me feedback on the brochure my Dad and I are working on for her.  It should be perfect for my next trip in April. 

We had time for the kids to ask her some more questions about the apparition of Mary here from 1981 to 1989. She loves the innocence of the kids. 

We also met a lovely missionary by the name of Laura from New Mexico who has spend the last 2 years living in New Mexico. We showed her some new things and she did the same for us by showing us a bakery just about a 1/2 mile up the road from where we stay. It was magnificent. 

6 hours to Kibeho and well worth the trip

We had a lovely visit with Anathalie. She gave me feedback on the brochure my Dad and I are working on for her.  It should be perfect for my next trip in April. 

We had time for the kids to ask her some more questions about the apparition of Mary here from 1981 to 1989. She loves the innocence of the kids. 

We also met a lovely missionary by the name of Laura from New Mexico who has spend the last 2 years living in New Mexico. We showed her some new things and she did the same for us by showing us a bakery just about a 1/2 mile up the road from where we stay. It was magnificent. 

Craft Day in Preparation for Christmas

The house is full of nonstop energy as of 6 AM each da. At the latest. They stir and immediately begin their day filled with glee.  The “little’s” a bit more than the “middles” or “big kids”, but each group and each person finds their way to express their joy in another day filled with safety, secured and endless love.

I decided to sleep in like a lazy bum until 8:30. They gave me endless grief for sleeping the day away. Did I mention it was 8:30 AM!  Not quite a total slacker.

After some fun on the basketball court and tramp we began a discussion about what we could do for the Aunties, Uncles and Mama/Daddy for Christmas. On my last trip the kids told me that one of their former Aunties had taught them to knit scarves.  I bought some needles and yarn to surprise them. They quickly decided who should have which color and began their labor of love.  I only brought 3 sets of needles so Peace, MarieRose and Esther got to it.

The boys then wanted in on the adventure to I brought out the obsession of US kids at this time. The rainbow loom.  They decided Mama, Daddy, Erica, the Aunties, Uncles should all have bracelets. As you can imagine the project then became and all day one.

It’s fun when all the big kids just hang together and chat with me rather than racing all over the place. 

I snuck away and took a 20 mins nap in the middle of the project. The kids then accused me of sleeping all the time.  I tried to explain the past 2 weeks I had been to Rome, Singapore, Dubai, Toronto, NY and Minneapolis.  They said…well you are here now and it’s 2pm here – with a get over it attitude -  so you should be away. I tried to explain that I get very little sleep when I am at work and when sleeping on planes. They really didn’t seem to care as I was now with them and I should be awake not sleeping.  Ok, so I will try.

The rain came as usual in the afternoon but not before we had time to play hide and seek, duck duck goose, and simon says with the little’s.

Chantal came by for a visit with a friend of hers from Colorado – Kari.

The evening movie tonight was Herbie the love bug.  A classic.

I usually save movie night for the last 2 nights that I am here, but decided what the heck – go wild.  Enjoy it. Nothing better than a bunch of kids out of their fresh bathing all cuddled up butt to butt to watch a movie projected on the wall.  Ya, I’m selfish because I get lots of cuddles.

Following dinner the little’s marched off to bed and the middles/bigs set up the gently used computers that my dear colleagues donated.  They are so excited to give them a whirl. Tomorrow they will use them for some practice on keyboard and English.

Most of the movies we watch are animated for the adults – who don’t speak any English really like it when they are real people.  They kept coming in to watch the movie as they were prepping for dinner so we asked them after the movie had finished if they wanted to watch it after the kids had gone together. They loved the idea and are currently watching it now. Thankfully it’s really a visual story. 

Sande is hanging with me while I type this hoping that my modem will work and I can get on the internet and check the current chealsea football scores.  He acts like he enjoys handing with me, but I now he’s just yearing for an internet connection…. J  He is reading this as I type…

Tomorrow is church all morning and then decide when we will do Christmas for the kids.

Just Chillin'

Just chillin’

Many people ask me when I sleep?  Well, I know it’s at least 3 times a year in route to and returning from Rwanda.  I slept 14 of the 16 hours of flight time, most of the 2.5 hours to the house after I landed and then another 4 before the kids stirred at 6 am.

Given that I am traveling alone on this adventure and Abby isn’t in Rwanda anymore, I decided to just chill.  Nothing has to happen on any given day.  By the time I leave I just need to have the following tasks complete:  xmas, shoes sizes measured, thank you notes to the sponsors for xmas and and school fees, great pics of each of the kids.  8 days. Seems do-able.

The big kids greeted me wuth…WHY DID YOU COME SO LATE?  We waited and waited for you, but then we feel asleep. I told them my flight was delayed 3 hours in Amsterdam so then everything got delayed – hence my arrival 1:30 AM.

The gigles fill the house in the morning. It’s one of my most favorite times of the day with the kids.  Smooches, hugs and giggles.  Doesn’t get any better than that.

Despite the kids trying to get me to get back on the trampoline I used my best judgement and said no. My last adventure on the tramp resulted in my last knee surgery.  It was fun seeing their new advanced skills.  Lionel is the backflip king.

They also brought me drawings they had done over the holiday break.  Some of these kids have crazy talents in this area. It’s almost as if they traced the coloring book.  I made them show me they could indeed do it by just looking.  Voila, they did.

Lionel, Nshimeye, Fabiola and Issac can all do this.  Nshimeye has been passionate about drawing since he was a small boy.  I then tested his skills by giving him a picture of my Dad that I have here in a frame. It’s a pic of him sailing in his 20’s.  Nshimeye captured it perfectly.  I was really blown away. I wish we had the funds to help nurture some of these wonderful skills but our limited resources need to focus on school fees and operations.

Prior to dinner we fired up the projector and my computer to watch the Disney movie Spirit.  We project it on the wall and it’s great way to settle the kids down prior to dinner and bed time.

Prior to bedtime the big kids played bingo.  Thanks to a former colleague who donated a bunch of gently used games a few months ago when she moved . They caught on quickly.

Given that I woke up Mama early when I arrived at 1:30 in the AM, I asked all the big kids to get to bed early (9 pm) so she could get to sleep. The sweet souls begrudgingly agreed.

Rwanda Bound

Thanks to all the people that filled up Santa's sleigh!  I am in route to Rwanda with all your love to make a perfect Christmas. The kids are always so curious about who the people are the love them so much from places to far away from them.  

Harvin, Norbert and a bunch of kids from my neighborhood in Mpls help load the bags today. The send off was so special. 

We are still looking to help provide with  education fund for Prince for the 2014 school year starting in January. If you know of anyone or a group of friends that could pool your funds please email me at rwandadonna@mac.com. 

The other big need is to replace our van that finally went to van heaven about 4 months ago. We current have zero transportation to drive the kids to their various places like school, doctor, church etc. Thus we need to hire a van and driver each time. We need to get these costs off our plate. A used 18 passenger van is $32k. We have raised about $15k so making progress.  

Will post when I get to the kids tomorrow. 

Blessing and again my thanks. 

Donna