Rwanda

I was blessed to get to take a trip to Rwanda a couple of weekends ago. It was an amazing trip, a juxtaposition of unbelievably beautiful scenery and unbelievable horrors of their recent past. 

So the thing that I’m sure comes to your mind when I say “Rwanda” is the genocide in 1994. It was an outbreak of tribal rivalry that had been brewing for years. In a period of 100 days, almost a million people were murdered by their neighbors, friends and some even by their families, in brutal, torturous ways that reach far beyond any understanding I could ever have about the dark recesses of the human heart. That’s a rate of 10,000 people per day. Can you imagine? One of the greatest tragedies of the situation is that the world simply watched as this nightmare unfolded, when organizations like the UN should have intervened and could have stopped the madness. Neighbors killed neighbors, friends killed friends, an entire nation suddenly gone mad. Weapons were largely farm tools, anything people could get their hands on. 

In many ways, Rwanda has made incredible leaps and bounds since then. The current president has brought a lot of peace, stability, and order, and has done a lot of work to completely erase tribal identities and instead unite the people as simply Rwandans. However, just about anyone over the age of 17 either lost someone they loved, or brutally murdered scores of people. 17 years is so recent, that in a lot of ways I saw that Rwanda is still a country that is very much rubbing salve on open wounds. How can the people who survived ever fully recover? They will be affected for the rest of their lives, and of course their children will be affected, and so on for generations. The country will never be the same.

How do you go on? How do you go to the butcher to buy meat for your family and hear the sounds of hacking and see the gleam of the blade slinging up and down, tearing through the meat, and not just have a complete flashback and breakdown? How do you carry on with work and school and daily life after something like that? How do you go to church and sing praises that God is good and has plans to prosper us and not to harm us?

So we went to the genocide memorial in Kigali, which gives an account of the events leading up to the incident, stories of when it took place, and the aftermath. You can give some factors that contributed to the tragedy, but where can you find answers to what turns an entire nation into madness? One day, people were neighbors and friends. Not to say they were necessarily peaceful, but the next day they were killing each other in ways I don’t even want to mention here now. The accounts of “he was our houseboy,” “they were our neighbors,” “he was a student of my father” ...“and he looked at us as though he didn’t know us, and refused to hide us/ killed my family/ etc” were so numerous, it leads the whole incident far beyond any comprehension I could ever have of evil manifested in the human spirit. 

Towards the end of the memorial exhibit, they had a room dedicated to children who were massacred. I braced myself, not sure if I would be able to handle it. They had huge photos of each child, with a plaque of sweet little things about the child such as their favorite food, best friend, what they wanted to be when they grew up-- what they would never grow up to become. Many of them had their method of death listed. I made it through maybe 4 or 5 stories, choking back tears, until I reached a child who died from being stabbed in the eyes. I couldn’t take anymore. I just had to get out of that room. The other girls told me about another child highlighted in the exhibit, a baby died from being thrown against a brick wall. Again, it’s such evil that I simply cannot comprehend. 

Mass graves of victims at the genocide memorial

We also visited a church where 10,000 people sought refuge, but were turned over to the hands of the murderers. The church we went to is supposedly untouched for the most part since the genocide. The benches of the church are piled high with clothes of the victims, and in the courtyard outside are crypts with the skulls and scattered bones of the victims stacked on shelves. I guess there's no way to know if the placement of the clothes is real or staged, but even if it was staged, it was no less powerful. Many skulls were cracked or half missing, leaving no doubt about how they died. It was impossible to imagine that the rows and rows of skulls were once people with a name and a story, and someone could have actually done this to them.

Our trip wasn’t all about the genocide, though. The scenery of the country was simply stunning. Really, just the bus ride into the country was a highlight of the trip. It’s very mountainous and extremely green. 

We took a trip a few hours outside the city to a small town with a Volcanoes National Park. We didn’t get there in time to actually go into the park, but the volcanoes surround the town. It was a very hazy day so we didn’t get to see them too clearly, but it was beautiful all the same, and nice to see a small town outside of the capital city. 

We also went to several craft markets, and I won’t lie, I went a little crazy buying beautiful fabrics. The were all so gorgeous, I could barely restrain myself from buying all the ones I liked! At one of the markets, we gained 2 little friends against our will, 2 boys around the age of 10 who followed us closely and wanted to be our personal translators and negotiators. At first I was very annoyed with them, and wanted them to leave us alone, knowing that they would expect a little money in return for their unsolicited assistance. But when I realized that the women in the market didn’t speak French or English, I let them go ahead and translate for us. They very quickly grew on me, and were super cute and amusing. 

We got very excited when we noticed that one of the boys was wearing TOMS Shoes. If you don’t know about TOMS, they’re a one-for-one organization, meaning that for every pair of TOMS shoes you buy, they donate a pair to children in need around the world. This boy said that they came to his school and donated shoes to 1,700 kids!! I have TOMS shoes at home, and it was encouraging to see them on the other end of the deal! 

We also had a spontaneous trip to Burundi! We stayed with some fellow AIM missionaries in Kigali, and one of them was kind enough to drive us to some places. After the memorial church, he asked if we wanted to go for a drive to see more of the scenery. After half an hour or so, he said we were close to the Burundi border, so asked if we wanted to go. Why not? He was kind enough to ask if we would be allowed to walk across the border and get a photo with the welcome sign, and they let us! So there you go, I’ve been to Burundi. So random. 

The thing that struck us about Rwanda that was in stark contrast to Uganda is how clean and orderly it is. In Uganda, litter rules the road, while in Rwanda, plastic bags aren’t even allowed into the country, greatly reducing litter. They search your bags at the border and confiscate them. The country had a little more infrastructure, so most of the roads in Kigali were paved, whereas in Uganda, a lot more of the roads are dirt, which means much much more dust. While apparently Uganda has rules such as “all boda drivers and passengers must wear a helmet,” “only one passenger allowed on each boda,” “only 14 passengers allowed in each taxi van,” the rules are largely not followed and will only occasionally, randomly be regulated by a police officer who really just wants a bribe. In Rwanda, however, they actually follow the rules. It was really just weird to see such order next door to the chaos of Uganda. 

A few prayer requests: 

1. We have recently been looking at the Exit Program and some of its strengths and weaknesses. I am so inspired by Denis, our Exit Coordinator, who has such a strong passion for successfully helping the kids. We're really looking at how we can re-focus the program to ensure we're preparing the youth to live on their own. Please pray for God's guidance as we work through the challenges we're facing. 

2. Thank God for safe travel to Rwanda, and seriously every day on the bodas! I've been completely safe so far. Praise God, and ask him to continue to protect me!

3. My Luganda teacher is hoping to plant a church, but seriously has no money. Currently the only income he has is what we give him weekly for our lessons (we pay him about $10/ lesson, and either have 1 or 2 lessons each week). He has such a passion for creating a God-centered church and is really facing some broken relationships in his current church, on top of his financial struggles. I want to help him, but I want to do it in a way that empowers him and involves the community, rather than just giving a handout. Please pray for God's guidance as I move towards that!

I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

I’ve traveled to some places that I expected to be vastly different from America, then arrived to find that with globalization these days, I felt like I could have been in America. Sure, things were different. The food was a little different, maybe they spoke a different language, and the architecture was slightly different. But things were developed and bustling, people mostly dressed the same, American music blared and most things were fairly familiar.

I supposed I expected the same before my trip here. “Oh, don’t be naive,” I thought. “People have this stereotypical view of Africa, but it will be less ‘African’ than I’m really expecting."

Wow, was I wrong! I’ve been thinking about this lately, how I could never for an instant be fooled into thinking I’m in America. I think about my boda ride to work, and about the things that flash before my eyes, several things each second that are constant reminders of where I am.

First of all, even being on a boda, a motorbike taxi. The greetings to my boda driver in Luganda. Out the gate and onto a paved road with more potholes than pavement. Then up the hill on a dirt road with poor drainage, with a canyon cutting through it about a foot deep that gets deeper each time it rains. Don’t fall in! Goats, chickens, cows roaming around the roads. Huge bunches of green bananas ready to make matoke. Piles of trash on the road. Boda men washing their bodas in the ditch. Women and children drawing water into jerry cans and carrying them on their heads. Rows of dukkas, little shops, all selling the same items. Stores with random combinations like “Stella’s Salon, Video Store, and Phone Charging” or “Electronics and Dry Cleaners” because one business usually isn’t enough to keep the family fed. Children playing freely and entertaining themselves in the most amazing, simple ways. Children running around with knives. Don’t worry, they’re only off to peel some matoke. Houses left midway into construction, probably because there wasn’t enough money to finish it. Everything constructed of mud bricks, cement, sticks, and sheets of metal. Women with children on their backs, wrapped tightly in a piece of cloth. Women carrying the most amazing things on their heads. A field with huge storks roaming around. Bodas hauling the most unimaginable things, maybe their passengers carrying a door, holding it vertically. Or my personal favorite sighting, a whole other boda hoisted up on the seat of another boda, strapped on and heading probably for repairs. Women hand washing clothes, dishes, or children in plastic tubs on their porch, or sweeping with a homemade hand broom. Children yelling “Bye Mzungu!” Dust flying if it’s dry, mud flying if it’s wet.

I could go on. There’s maybe one place I could maybe feel like I was in America, and that’s a huge shopping center which I refer to as “Mzungu Land.” It’s very Western. I hardly ever see another mzungu except for those I work with, then when I go to this shopping center, I’m like, “Where have all the mzungus been hiding??” (At that shopping center, apparently.) But even there, my dirty feet and face, and my exhaustion from figuring out transportation, haggling down prices, the language, etc, ensure that I don’t forget exactly where I am.

sweet Juma, one of our kids at the rehabilitation home, playing one afternoon

The girls at the rehabilitation home peeling green bananas to make matoke, one of the local staples

a local market along the side of the road

Prayer Notes:

1. My prayer lately has been that God would open my spiritual eyes. DP is a Christian organization, but that doesn't mean everyone who comes across its path is a Christian. In fact, it in a way makes it an easy place to hide, to just blend into the background so no one will bother you. Please pray that God will show me those who are in need of him and how I may minister to them.

2. Please pray for Jeremy, my boyfriend, as he begins his deployment in Iraq. He left Monday morning and will be gone for about a year. I said goodbye to him on a bus from Rwanda to Uganda. Not your typical relationship! Pray for safety for him and that the year will go by quickly!

3. Part of my work here is working with the youth in drama. I would like to lead them in writing their own play, pulling from their own experiences. The truth is... I don't really know how to do that! Pray for guidance as I start this project soon.

mpola, mpola

So. I have been here a solid 3 weeks now, and I've only managed 1 blog entry. I feel like I should have written more by now, but every time I sit down to write, I find that I cant really put this all into words yet. I've been just taking everything in, and haven't really been able to process it into a blog entry just yet, but now I will do my best.

My title says it all: mpola mpola. In Luganda, it means slowly, slowly. (Also very good vocabulary to have on those boda boda rides!) There is so much I could write about, so many questions I've gotten so far. What's it like there? What kind of food do you eat? How's the weather? What kind of work are you doing? How are the kids you work with?

I just feel like I can't write about those topics just yet. "What's it like here?" Where do I even begin to try to find words to describe it? Mpola, mpola. I'll get to all of that.

Right now I feel like I'm in a learning phase, and I'm so perfectly content in that at the moment. I don't feel any need to rush in and feel like I'm really accomplishing anything right off the bat. I'm learning about the culture, about DP (Dwelling Places), how they function, who's who, getting to know the kids, slowly but surely learning a little Luganda. I'm sitting back, listening, watching, asking, learning how to dig into a culture that is relationship-oriented rather than task-oriented.

I'm learning how to sit and do nothing for hours.

Necessary skills for Africa! I'm also kind of finding my niche at work. They have me placed in a role where I feel absolutely useless. I feel like the work I'm doing could be done by the people who are already in the office. I'm going to be teaching, but the kids are on holiday for another week, so I haven't been able to start that up yet. I would also like to do some drama with them, and they seem to be interested too, but I haven't dug into that yet. Still observing, learning, getting to know the kids, etc, and then I will move in that direction in the next few weeks. So hopefully soon I will be transitioning out of my role in the office a little bit and into other projects. But mpola, mpola.

Anyway, the important thing is I'm absolutely loving it. I just feel like theres no way to be here and not absolutely fall in love with Uganda. This country does something to you, this whole continent does something to you. I'm not sure what it does to you or how, but it does. It touches your heart, it changes you.

So, in fun news! This weekend I went white water rafting at the source of the Nile! AND bungee jumped INTO the Nile!!!!!! It was unbelievable!! I'd never been rafting or bungee jumping before, so what better place than the source of the Nile? We went up there Friday night and hung out at the campsite, with a nice patio overlooking the Nile. It was so beautiful, I couldn't believe it. I didn't expect it to be so beautiful. I was just like, "oh yeah ok its a river" but the land around it was so fertile, it felt like something out of Jurassic Park.

It made for great scenery while we were rafting, too. There were long stretches of calm water where we just swam and admired the views (and prayed for no crocodiles!). Then we went over 8 rapids. Level 5 is the most extreme level of rapids, and 2 of them were level 5! The rest were level 3 or 4. Our boat flipped twice. The first time was really panicky because I got stuck under the boat and couldn't get up to get a breath. Then I pushed the boat off of me, only to have it fly back on me! I survived though! And the second time we flipped was just all sorts of fun. We all went flying out of the boat, then were swept away downstream! Safely! Not the kind of "stuck under the current" sweep downstream. The fun kind!

The Bible verse of the day was Psalm 18:16. "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters." hahaha

So I will leave you with a few pictures. Click on the pictures for a larger view. I can't even begin to respond to the question "What's Uganda like?" so the best way I can do it is in a picture. This was taken at one of the markets downtown, and for the record, most of the city is not this jam-packed or chaotic, especially not the areas where I work or live. But every time I go down there, I feel like it is absolute chaos and madness just like this. There's a lot happening in this picture that sums it up pretty well. 14-passenger taxis stuffed with 18 passengers, battling for space on the road with bodas weaving in and out of impossible crevices, pedestrians somehow navigating it all, a garbage truck picking up garbage that is just piled openly on the ground, vendors working hard and not really selling enough to make a day's wage, the dust, dirt roads, the energy of the city, the mix of traditional African dress and very nice Western clothing.

And here we are rafting the Nile! I'm the second one on the bottom, with a face full of Nile.

And here is a link to the video of me bungee jumping!!! aaaahhh still can't believe it!

http://vimeo.com/24086614

Tsaminamina zangalewa-- 'cause this is Africa!

So the Shakira song in the title has been stuck in my head to the point of insanity since one of the other girls played it in New York at our orientation. It was the 2010 World Cup song, if you don't recognize it. Roughly translated, from what I can gather, it either means "Where do you come from" or "Why do you come." I thought it was fitting.

Right, so. Im in Uganda. I feel obligated to give an oh my gosh Im here and this is what its like and just aaahhh wow post, but I dont really know where to begin. In some ways it feels like oh my gosh wow Im here and just aaahhh but mostly I still dont think its fully hit me that Im here yet. I think Im still just absorbing it all. Im not sure if its just because Ive travelled a lot and nothing surprises me anymore, or if everything here is just so insane and Im still in the honeymoon phase so I just smile and nod.... but...

Day 1 flying down dirt roads on a motorbike taxi, dodging potholes, children, cows, goats, taxis, trekking through muddy roads, collecting a solid 2 inches of mud on my sandals, meeting everyone in the office, hmm no one seems to realize that I was arriving, oh well, meeting the kids, I am now Auntie Carolyn, rain rain rain, waiting 3 hours for a program to start that just never started because hey its Africa and things run late anyway, plus its raining so no one will be expected to be here yet, back to work, no work to do, tea time, lets just have some tea, I think Ill leave work now and go get set up on the internet, back on a motorbike taxi, oops got on the wrong one, he doesnt know where I live, theres the motorbike guy I was looking for, and away we go through rush hour at frightening speeds, again dodging everything, taxi vans grazing my knees at 50 mph, dust flying in my face, Weebale ssebo (thank you sir), dinner with the neighbors, oh the power is out, shower time with a flashlight in the corner, dogs fighting in the street, roosters crowing outside......

It just seems so... normal.

Im oddly not phased by any of it. I feel like I should be. I started out my time here with a retreat with all the short-term missionaries in this region, which was great for getting to know everyone. Hearing their stories was interesting too, but I would almost rather have been able to make my own observations first. So I guess I was prepared for the bodas (motorbike taxis) and things working on African time or not at all, and all the other aspects of the culture that seem so bizarre to a Westerner. Perhaps thats what led me to this nonchalance, or perhaps its a mix of that and previous travel experience. It just feels extremely normal that my day should involve collecting a few inches of mud on my shoes and waiting for programs to start that never start, and motorbike rides zipping through rush hour and still somehow not crashing or flipping over in a pothole. The normalcy is what I find weirdest of all.

You know, at first I didnt want to mention the bodas. Especially to you Mom and Dad, I figured you would worry. But it might be too hard of a secret to keep, plus I expect many great stories to come from them. They seem crazy to a Westerner at first, but you have to remember that the boda driver doesnt want to crash either! Plus they know every pothole and every road, so they can be trusted. The best part is, the same boda driver will take me to and from work every day. His name is Qurish (pronounced like Christ, but with an sh rather than st at the end), and the other short-termers talk about how once you get to know your boda driver, they really look after you. So not only will he take me to work, I have his number in my phone, and I can call him any time to come pick me up. I have a few other phone numbers of tried and true drivers some of the others use, so I really have an arsenal of trusty personal drivers to pick me up any time! Its great!

So, work. The big question before I came was What exactly will you be doing over there? and the big answer was I will let you know as soon as I know. From what we sort of discussed today, I think I will be splitting my time between 2 tasks. I will be working with the exit program, which is with kids ages 15 and up, to make sure that they can live on their own sustainably and dont become dependent on DP (Dwelling Places, the ministry Im working with). It looks like I will be doing some teaching as well, but that has been only developing on my initiative so far. Even though I sent in an application with my skills and experiences to them, no one seemed to be aware that I had experience teaching ESL. Well let me go further back. No one seemed to know who I was or that I was coming. haha. Not that I needed any like oh, you are here! Weve been anxiously awaiting you! But initially when I got set up with them, Rae, my coordinator in the US thought they would want me teaching. Then I was told that I might be working in the office by one of the girls already there. Then orientation in New York came and Rae still thought they would want me teaching. So I brought it up once I got here, and they were like, oh yeah thatd be good. You could teach part of the time and work in the office the other part of the time. Its just comical, I guess. A good intro to how things will probably go most of the time here. Flexible, flexible, must be flexible.

Well I feel like Ive only scratched the surface, yet Ive written so much. So I will leave you with a thought that hasnt been able to leave me since I heard it. At our short-termer retreat, a few of us were casually talking about greetings and how they differ between languages and cultures. In the US, we would say Did you sleep well? when greeting people in the morning. A couple that worked in the Congo mentioned that the phrase they use translates to Did you wake up well? which I just found quirky and intriguing. Then a couple who is working in Rwanda said that the phrase they use translates to Did you survive the night? That hit me hard. We wondered if they have always had this phrase, or if it surfaced around their period of genocide in the 90s. How blessed we are to live in a culture where the concern is whether you had a pleasant nights sleep, not whether you even survived at all or were able to wake up.

here it is

I received this fortune cookie a few weeks ago. I thought it was perfect.

Well. It's here. I'm actually in Pearl River, NY at the moment for a couple of days of orientation before heading to Uganda. I intended to blog a little bit before I left about the preparations and my thoughts before the trip, but it just didn't really happen. That's life.

But I made it, all packed up, with everything in one bag and one carry-on! Aren't you so proud of me? And I even had plenty of room for 8, yes 8, cans of mousse! haha. It's the one essential for me, and I don't think they have white girl hair products in Africa. Imagine that.

Goodbyes were hard this morning, but I'll be ok. Saying goodbye to Talley was hard. I've been putting this trip in the works for well over a year, so I can't just cancel it because of my boyfriend. It sucks though. After many years of being friends and having feelings for each other, we're finally together, and now we're going to be apart for almost a year and a half. He'll be deploying to Iraq over the summer, and he found out recently that they'll pretty much be the last ones there, so they'll be shutting off all forms of communication in about October. So we'll have a good 8 months or so without any communication! It's going to be so hard, but I know we'll be fine. If we can get through a year and a half with a long distance relationship between America and Uganda and Iraq, I think we can get through anything.

Well someone asked me a few weeks ago if I had any idea what I was getting into, and the answer is not really. I've actually received very little information about what to expect and what I'll be doing. More information has come in as I've been in touch with people working with Dwelling Places (where I'll be working in Kampala), but that's really only been over the last 2 weeks or so. Right now, it sounds like I will be working more in the office, which isn't really what I had expected. I was picturing working a little more hands on with the kids, but I will be happy doing whatever they need me to do.

It sounds like I will be in a pretty decent apartment, with a washing machine and a cleaning lady. I knew I'd be in decent living conditions in the city, no mud hut in the bush, at least not for now. But I didn't expect such convenience as a washing machine and a cleaning lady! Kampala is a pretty modern city, and one of the girls working there said that sometimes you feel like you could be at home, but other times you're in a completely different world. I've actually spoken with several people who have been to Kampala, and they all rave about how much they loved it, and say that they felt safe everywhere they went.

So that's what I'm expecting at the moment. Up until a few days ago, I really had no clue where I would be living or what I would be doing, and even now there are a lot of things I'm not sure about! I don't mind, I'm always up for the adventure of just finding out when I get there!

Well it's only the first day of orientation, so pretty low key. Just meeting people and touring the offices and that sort of thing. They have hotel-like rooms set up on site, so that's very convenient. Tomorrow is more intense orientation.

Well I've written enough for having only left home about 12 hours ago! Thanks again for all your love and support!

8 months in Uganda with Africa Inland Mission

Hello! Thanks for visiting my blog!

Well if you know me, you know I don't do a very good job of staying in America these days. I feel like I'm always chasing the horizon, so that seemed appropriate. My wanderlust has taken me on long trips to Europe, Reunion Island, and South America, and now I'm chasing the horizon until Kampala, Uganda pops up on the edge of the horizon. This trip will be different than my "bumming around" trips through Europe and South America. I'll be doing mission work with Africa Inland Mission for about 8 months! I'll be working with Dwelling Places, an organization that works with street children and at-risk children. I'm so excited! Can't wait.

More to come soon! Thanks for journeying with me!