Heading Back to Rwanda Permanently

We have been asked to help run Urukundo Home for Children in Rwanda. In June we visited Urukundo and fell in love with the 41 children! Now we will follow God's call on our lives and head back to help Arlene Brown with the children, build a school and a medical clinic. Andria and I are very excited about what is ahead.....and a little nervous. We also want to start a family soon. Hopefully we will build a house that we can raise a family. Please pray for us! We will be leaving in May 2010.

Saying Goodbye

As we pulled out of the Children's Home the many of the kids came up to say goodbye. It was VERY difficult leaving. We made some special friends. We hope to return soon!

Eating Platforms

Two of the five eating platforms are almost complete. I was able to help (a little) with some of the construction of these platforms. Manual labor is a way of life here. No one is exempt. The platforms turned out very nice. Umbrellas, chairs and table will need to be purchased now. We are planning on driving into Kigali early (right after lunch today) to go and see what the cost of the umbrellas will be. Our flight leaves tonight at 6:45PM. We fly to Burssels (9.5 hour flight) then to Newark (6.5 hour flight) then on home to Phoenix 5 hour flight. We will arrive home on
Wednesday at 7PM.

Andria's New Outfit

For everyone excited to see Andria's new extensions and braid....guess what? They are coming out! She thinks she may be alergic to the extensions and they were driving her crazy so she and the girls spent a couple of hours pulling them out!

Andria's new dress!

The neighbor next door (we literally walk at roof level of her house) fitted Andria for a new dress yesterday. She sews on a foot pump sewing machine on this patio by the light off one of the Children's Homes building. They have no electricity or water.

Tombs

This is the view from the tombs of the Genocidce Memorial at Kigali of the nearby homes wedged in together on the hillside.

250,000 individuals have been buried so far in the memorial, all victums of the genocide. The total count is somewhere over 1 million deaths occured during the tradegy. Many remains are unidentified but are still brought here. Pictured here are the most recent tombs that are being filled.

Genocide Memorial

When we first entered the Genocide Memorial we came to this torch. It is a reminder about the horrible things that happened during the genocide and the effects that are still taking place in Rwando today. Rwanda's motto is "Never Again". The torch is lite for the 100 days that the genocide took place in 1994.

The Babies

This is a picture of Andria and Sarah. We were trying to help the Mamas by keeping Sarah wake during the day instead of her being awake all night long. As you can see it was a difficult task.

Natete saw Andria caring Sarah on her back and then decided that she needed a baby to carry also.

Andria still has baby Sarah. It looks like she is carrying a backpack. She is thinking this might be the way to take Sarah to America. (Haha)

Saying Goodbye

Micaela, Arlene, Ellen, Meredith, Andria. This was Monday morning saying goodbye to Mica and Ellen. They were flying to Kenya where Mica works with Christian Blind Children. She has a two year commitment there to fullfill. Ellen will stay there for one night and then continue on to Amsterdam and then home to Ohio. We (Andria and I) are going with them to Kigali (airport) and then on to the Genocide Memorial.

Mererdith Lu's House

Meredith is a Peace Corp worker. She has just started a two year stay in Rwanda. She lives just a stone's throw from the Children's Home. She comes spends all of her free time with the children. She showed us her home. It has no running water. The bathroom is a separate building in the back and is just a hole in the ground. It is pretty primative. This picture is of Andria and Ellen talking to her in her back yard.

Baby Sarah

Internet was down yesteday so I could not post anything. Here is little Sarah again. Andria was able to care for her all afternoon giving the mama a break. Part of the problem is that they allow her to sleep all day long and then she is awake all night long. We had trouble waking her up so most of the time she slept for Andria.

Andria's Dream Comes True!

Andria was able to carry baby sarah in the traditional way mamas do in Rwanda. She was absolutely thrilled. She is walking around looking in every window to see her refection (there aren't any mirrors here because of the cost).

Scruffy

Arlene pulled out the object lesson with Scuffy. It was a Rwanda Frank and a credit card. We talked about how God values us even more than all the money in the world. God made us and knew us before we were even born Psalm 139:14.....

Tree Planting

We were honored after the foottball game on Saturday to plant a tree in our honor. Their even was even a little ceremony. The tree has a tag on it with our name.

Pipi Longstocking Sighting

Andria letting her hair down with Deborah looking on!

Football (soccer) Saturday

We played football for over two hours. Within the first minute of play I managed to do a flying swan dive and skinned up my arm! Mike fell doing drills before the game even started. I guess old guys need to slow down a little!

Here Discoo is schooling John on the finer things in football. It was amazing at the skill level of these kids playing in bare feet and in flip flops!

Sportsmanship

Sportmanship was one of the key elements that Tracy taught the kids. They, as you can see, embraced sportsmanship to the fullest. This picture shows both teams giving "hi 5's" (Muimuigitano)!

Baseball Day!

I didn't realize how hard it is to explain all the rules and objects of baseball until today (Saturday). Tracy Evans from Kid's Play International brought all the gear and enthusiasm to tackle this task. The kids loved it. They called it tennis not baseball but most had great hand-eye coordination. The rules are another story. Baseball is very complicated so we just basically let everyone bat and didn't worry too much about the rules and outs. Even the littlest ones were able to participate. Tracy and Mike will continue on to Malawi to do a full blown sports clinic there. They hope to return here someday to do a full-blown clinic here with the schools.

Clean Day!

Toady, Saturday, was cleaning day. One of the projects that was built this past week was a pit with three sections. Each section will be used for different kinds of garbage: cans and other materials that don't break down, compost and burning barrel. There is no garbage service in this area so many of the kids just throw stuff on the ground. Today starts a new system of garbage collection. Garbage containers were purchased and are now positioned throughout the 10 acres. Today was a major cleaning day and all the kids were told to pick up all the garbage lying around. It was amazing how much garbage was found.

Andria's Hair Is Done!

It only took 8 hours! But here is the completed look. The women said she is now a true African!

Football Time!

Tracy Evans, a three time olympian, from Kids Play International (she is here at the children's home for a short stay) brought out the cones and lead the children in some football drills: weaving between the cones, passing the ball back and forth to your partner between cones and avoiding the cow pies. After the drills the boys had a rousing game of football.

Scruffy Time

Scruffy lead a teaching on being forgiven. He had a bar of soap in his heart as an object lesson. Forgiveness is like being washed with soap. It takes all of our sin away completely. We are made clean. 1 John 1:9. Every Saturday the children are quized on all the devotions from that week. All of them take notes on what is taught. Learning in taken very seriously. Opportunities to learn are tough to come by so when there is an opportunity they take the most of it.

Hair Extensions

Andria is getting hair extensions braided into her own hair. She spent more than 2 hours yesterday and now this morning she was suppose to meet again at 6:30am but she went down there (the boys dorm) and noone was there. So she is hoping that means it is just "Rwanda Time" and that her hair dresser gal is still coming.

New Basketballs

We are trying to change the national past time from soccer (football) to basketball. The kids enjoyed the game!

School Swarm

The kids at the school in Mucyakabiri were excited to see abazungu (White people). We were treated like celebrities. They swarmed over to us when school was dismissed. The dismissal bell was a car tire rim that one child hit with a rock.

Handwashing

The school (k-6th) made these simple handwashing units. The jugs are on pivots with strings attached to a piece of wood on the ground. If you want to wash your hands after using the outdoor bathroom (which is a simple hole in the ground) you step on the wood that is attached to the string and the water jug tips up letting water out of the holes in it. The school is trying to educate about cleanliness, health and nutrition. They also showed us gardens they are planting to help families who have no food.

Going to School

Today we went to school. This school is where most of the kids here attend. We went into six different rooms and went around shaking hands and asking names. The kids were so excited to see us. We were swarmed outside. Tracy Evans talked with the principal about doing a sports clinic with the kids sometime in the future. The kids from the orphanage were so excited to see us in their classes. The school is about a 15 minute walk. We walked the kids back to the orphanage when school was dismissed.

Sambussas

Anassiamo is making sambussas. They are a pastry filled with meat or vegetables. They are so tastey! Here he is cooking the dough. He then cuts the dough into small triagular pockets filled with hamburger or vegetables.

Mike the Cook

Mike and Tracy arrived last night. Mike is an incredible cook and it took him no time Friday morning to whip up a scrumptious omlette! He can cook for us any time! He put cheese, swiss chard, green peppers, unions, garlic and who knows what else in the dish. Yummy!

Kids Play International

Tracy Evans and Mike arrived last night. They are making a quick stop here before heading to Kenya and then onward to somewhere......... Her company promotes introducing sports to kids. She is donating a few things now but will hopefully return soon to bring lots of sports stuff to the local school and to the orphanage. Tracy was in three Olympics in Freestyle skiing, where they go off jumps and twist and flip! Mike is a commercial pilot bringing troops and cargo on international flights. Later we will visit the local school. Pictured are Mike, Mikayla, Tracy and Andria.

Stove

Here is how they cook their meals. The ventilation is a little lacking. They tried cutting holes in the ceiling to get the smoke out. The women are constantly adding wood to the fire and keeping it roaring. The ceiling is blackened by the smoke through out the entire building. There is a smell of smoke all the time outside. At first it really was noticable but now I am getting use to it. The kitchen does have a gas stove but it is too expensive to run off a portable tank. Kitchen staff take turns every other day cooking.

Football (soccer)

Usually a couple of times a day a soccer game breaks out. Here Martin (Gatete) and Dada are having a little fun. The children do half days of school. There are too many children and too few classrooms and teachers. Classes are sometimes 60 kids.

Here's Johnny

Johnny is too cute!

Basketball

Andria drives past Amin and Fabrice in a Thursday afternoon basketball game. The kids seem to enjoy basketball almost as much as soccer (football). With the weather in the mid 70's each day it is perfect for outdoor fun!