"Abana" means children here in Rwanda and they have been my exceeding joy! The children are so precious. As we walk down the street to our house they come running from every direction yelling "Muzungu, Muzungu" which means white person! To us that may sound strange and even rude but it is just part of the culture here and I have learned to love the sound of their little voices! They usually just want to touch you or walk with you. Recently they have started to run towards us with their arms out wanting hugs:) That is my favorite. It is the same in the village as we walk they come running.
Today Theresa and I spent most of our time just hanging out with the children from the village. We play ball with them, sing songs, play hand games, and my favorite just hold them. Today I held a little girl named Mariete for probably an hour and she was just as happy as can be. I was too of course. Sometimes I wonder if I am making a difference by just holding the children but I know that they sense my love for them. I wish I could give them everything they need. Their clothing is very dirty and torn in many places. I can tell that some of them are sick and they are not well nourished. But as I hold them I pray to my Father that He would bless these little ones in a special way.
I am really hoping to post some pictures on my blog but at the moment it is not possible. I have tried but these computers are too slow to upload them. I wish all of you could see what I am seeing!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Gitarama
So I have been in Gitarama for over a week now and things are good. It was a rough beginning I must admit. Getting used to the pase of life here is the challenging thing. Everything is so slow. We are finally getting started with our work. We are going to be teaching English at a primary school in the village of Byimana.
On Tuesday we got to visit the school. Wow! There are 1600 students and only 24 teachers! Here some of the children go to school in the morning and some in the afternoon. Some go all day but I have not figured out the system yet. Theresa and I will be teaching the children in the sixth grade because they have to take national exams in November and there isan Englis component to the test. Here in Rwanda, national exams are a HUGE deals to the kids. If they pass they can go to secondary school (which is like 7th, 8th, and 9th grades). So we will try to help them be prepared.
It is going to be a huge challenge for us. It seems like they can do really complex grammer but they really don't know what they are readingor saying they have just learned the formula and the rules. How do you teach English to someone who can make a direct statement into an indirect statement but has no clue what that statement really means? Interesting....
We had quite an experience when we first arrived at the school on Tuesday morning. Hundreds of children running toward us and surrounding us to the point that we could barely walk! They were so excited to see Wazungu (white people)! Most of them had never seen so many white people before. There were ten of us counting Theresa and I and a team that is here from Florida State University. What an experience. Some of the children couldn't wait to touch us and others would touch us and then scream and giggle.
On Tuesday we got to visit the school. Wow! There are 1600 students and only 24 teachers! Here some of the children go to school in the morning and some in the afternoon. Some go all day but I have not figured out the system yet. Theresa and I will be teaching the children in the sixth grade because they have to take national exams in November and there isan Englis component to the test. Here in Rwanda, national exams are a HUGE deals to the kids. If they pass they can go to secondary school (which is like 7th, 8th, and 9th grades). So we will try to help them be prepared.
It is going to be a huge challenge for us. It seems like they can do really complex grammer but they really don't know what they are readingor saying they have just learned the formula and the rules. How do you teach English to someone who can make a direct statement into an indirect statement but has no clue what that statement really means? Interesting....
We had quite an experience when we first arrived at the school on Tuesday morning. Hundreds of children running toward us and surrounding us to the point that we could barely walk! They were so excited to see Wazungu (white people)! Most of them had never seen so many white people before. There were ten of us counting Theresa and I and a team that is here from Florida State University. What an experience. Some of the children couldn't wait to touch us and others would touch us and then scream and giggle.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Rwanda!
I can hardly believe that I am writing this as I sit in an internet cafe in Kigali. My heart is overwhelmed at the thought of all that God is allowing Theresa and I to be a part of here.
We arrived here on Friday afternoon and spent the day just enjoying Les and Yvonne and their preicous family. I am in love with their family! There have taken so many children and young people under their wings! Though they are in the process of adopting four Rwandan children, they have many many more then that! I have so enjoyed getting to know each one. They each have such distinct personalities and even though I can not speak their language I have come to know and love each one even in this short time. Eric is one of their unofficial sons and he speaks english very well so that is helpful!
Tomorrow afternoon we will be traveling about an hour and a half to a village where we will be spending the rest of our time here in Rwanda. We are excited to get started there but we are also sad to leave Les and Yvonne and their family. They have been so welcoming to us that we already feel like they are our family!
One special memory that I will always have was on Friday night when we had just arrived in Kigali. We went with Yvonne to the home that they have started for some of the older girls who had to leave ths orphanage down the street. There are about ten girls (most in their twenties) who now are able to live in a house together rather then just being kicked out on the street to fend for themselves when they got to old for the orphanage. I will never forget them as long as I live. Yvonne had brought some nail polish along so that we could paint eachothers nails but the girls just wanted to do our nails. They heated water and washed... I take that back... Scrubbed our feet. Then they trimmed our toenails with a double-edged razor! Then they took such care in painting our nails. I think they must have been working on our feet for an hour or more! How percious. We could not even talk to them because they did not know english but we were able to enjoy eachother's fellowship in such a special way. I could not help but think that we have never treated any visitors with such love in America! God teach us to be like these people.
We arrived here on Friday afternoon and spent the day just enjoying Les and Yvonne and their preicous family. I am in love with their family! There have taken so many children and young people under their wings! Though they are in the process of adopting four Rwandan children, they have many many more then that! I have so enjoyed getting to know each one. They each have such distinct personalities and even though I can not speak their language I have come to know and love each one even in this short time. Eric is one of their unofficial sons and he speaks english very well so that is helpful!
Tomorrow afternoon we will be traveling about an hour and a half to a village where we will be spending the rest of our time here in Rwanda. We are excited to get started there but we are also sad to leave Les and Yvonne and their family. They have been so welcoming to us that we already feel like they are our family!
One special memory that I will always have was on Friday night when we had just arrived in Kigali. We went with Yvonne to the home that they have started for some of the older girls who had to leave ths orphanage down the street. There are about ten girls (most in their twenties) who now are able to live in a house together rather then just being kicked out on the street to fend for themselves when they got to old for the orphanage. I will never forget them as long as I live. Yvonne had brought some nail polish along so that we could paint eachothers nails but the girls just wanted to do our nails. They heated water and washed... I take that back... Scrubbed our feet. Then they trimmed our toenails with a double-edged razor! Then they took such care in painting our nails. I think they must have been working on our feet for an hour or more! How percious. We could not even talk to them because they did not know english but we were able to enjoy eachother's fellowship in such a special way. I could not help but think that we have never treated any visitors with such love in America! God teach us to be like these people.
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