more pictures

elsie (nicholas' wife), the kids and me the night before i left. nicholas and jean had a falling out and i was not supposed to visit him but the scottish people wanted to go and i was the only one that knew how to get to his house so it was a great excuse to see them one last time. this caused some problems with jean but not as bad as last time and it was marvelous to see nicholas' family. the children all speak english with a scottish/african accent. it's great.


christmas in gisenyi. jean and viviane don't smile in photos but i promise they were having fun. the kids (left to right) are florence, jessie, mucyo and ezra.

i'm in the amsterdam airport. i have been traveling for 18 hours so far. i have another 6 hours here and then a 6 or 7 hour flight. i haven't really slept but hopefully that will come when i get back to america. this place is very different than nairobi so the 8 hours i'm here shouldn't be so bad. being in a modern place made me crave the internet, especially on my laptop since i've been using unreliable dial-up for a month. this also means you get to see more photos.

my departure from solace was just another day. i think some people forgot i was leaving so i didn't get to say goodbye to mama lambert, daphrose or consolee. mucyo did come down from ruhengeri and got there and 5 minutes before i had to go to the airport. no big send off, just hopped in the truck and got dropped off. i think i like it that way. the big goodbyes are reserved for the visitors that are only there a short time. i did have a widow come and give me 73000 francs ($131) worth of crafts made by solace widows. all of my things are in my carry-on and my 2 suitcases are only things to sell for solace. as long as my luggage arrives safely this should really help solace.

that's it for now. i don't think i'm awake enough to say anything else. i will attach a picture from christmas

habimana

so, i went to gasabo today. i gave soap and toothbrushes and toothpaste and bracelets and a backpack to vedaste and his brother. vedaste was #2 in his class. i thought it would be hard for him to do well since he was 15 and in second grade but he has done great. his brother flunked the first grade so i gave him a strong lecture.

i also met habimana. he is also 15. his mom died from aids last year and he spent 3 days with her body because he didn't know what to do. he stopped going to school when his uncle refused to pay school fees. his uncle also beats him when he tries to talk to other children. he takes care of cows and other kids are mean to him and beat him. he wants to go back to school. he would start the 2nd grade. the rwandan school system is different. the school year starts monday, not in the summer. i've decided habimana needs to go to gahini, the anglican school where vedaste and gilbert go. there are several students there that are about 8 years behind like them and so they can encouragement instead of ridicule for being so behind.

the problem...gahini is expensive. it's about $80 a trimester plus when a student first starts they have to buy soap, a uniform, towels, etc. it's a boarding school. these orphans can't go to school all day and then come home to farm and cook. they have to go to boarding school. i would pay for habimana myself but i already pay for vedaste and gilbert to go to gahini and vedaste's house is about to fall down so i need to save to get him a new house.

does anyone want to send an orphan to school? a sunday school class or entire church or a family with about $200 to spare? i'm looking for someone to pay for more than one year. what's good with school if you can only go one year before your sponsor gets tired of paying? i'm giving money to solace so habimana can start on monday but it's vedaste's school fees for the next trimester so i need to reimburse solace as soon as possible? anyone want an orphan? trust me, it's marvelous to know you are literally saving someone's life. vedaste was being threatened and barely eating when i first sent him to school and now he actually looks like a man. it made me cry.

for the pictures:

habimana, the boy that wants to go to school. he says he can't smile because he has too much sorrow in his heart. he's 15, he shouldn't know that kind of sorrow. blah.

my gasabo orphans. can you see me? notice the cute braids. we're outside the church where we had to meeting.

me, vedaste and gilbert with the bags i gave them. vedaste is the big one. he was just above my shoulders and his legs were skinnier than my arms when i first met him and now look and him. it's marvelous.

finally found

first off, i have 15 creches that i am bringing back to america with me. i was going to buy more but the price was raised and i didn't have the money. 15 is about all i can fit in my suitcases anyway i think. i also found 15 tiny crucifix and 5 medium size ones that i think are very rwandan and very nice. i spent so much in the store with the creches that the seller gave me a free bracelet. i think i gave him his income for the month.

i also went to see the first bricks laid for a shed at a demonstration farm where they will teach widows and orphans to take care of fresian cows before they are given one to use to sell milk for an income. one cow is all a village family needs to support themselves as long as it is a western cow and not the rwandan ones that don't really give much milk.

we are in day 3 of no water. i think the scottish visitors are finally getting a little bothered. they got dirty and the farm and wanted a warm bath and a cold bucket of water was all the were given. it's really not that bad. i didn't have water for a couple of months during my first visit and for a month the second time. at least we've always had electricity.

tomorrow night i am going to an assemblies of god church (in english) for a night service with nicholas and his family. nicholas used to work for solace but was fired so i can only see him without upsetting jean, the leader of solace, if i meet him at church. i went on sunday and the preacher spoke and extra hour because about half the church came late. he was trying to teach them to show up for church on time. what if preachers did that in america? but, it's the only way to see nicholas, elsie and their 4 children so i will go and listen and pray the pastor keeps it short. he's canadian; he should know better.

that's all for now. i will try to post one more time before i leave rwanda in 5 days but the internet has been not so great this week so we'll see what happens.

so much to say

i have not written in a while because i have been so busy here and so much has happened. here is a brief overview.

the woman i lived with during my first trip, a member of parliment, has a friend whose daughter wants to visit america. i was told she only needed a letter of invitation because her friends were not citizens yet. it turns out she wants to spend a month with me, having me show her around america (i want to see the rap stars on the streets of miami) and buying her whatever she wants (please get me a camera phone and ipod, now). now i have to find a way to tell her she can't come to america through me without upsetting harriet (the mp) or the girl's father (an important colonel). who sends their 15 yr old daughter to america for a visit with a stranger?

the christmas/new years celebration was held at solace. i wore a traditional rwandan outfit and served the dignitaries that came. during one part a widow and orphan gave their testimonies. the testimony of the widow was especially horrible with rape and torture. about 5 people were so traumatized they started screaming and fainting and had to be carried out. one woman had a flashback and thought everyone there were hutus trying to kill her. i didn't like that part.

new years was uneventful. i watched "when harry met sally" with florence in our room and it ended at midnight. there were fireworks and lots of screaming from the national stadium. they started the fireworks last year - first time since the genocide. they always publicize it well so people aren't scared but it is still frightening to hear lots of explosions and screaming in kigali. i really didn't like it, and i wasn't even here for the war in 1994.

today it is off to kabuga to look at a farm or something and then i am buying creches. i spent about 100 dollars buying crafts made by solace widows that i will bring back for main street umc too.