K2Town--- video for the kids at Church

I have the opportunity to spend some time talking about my Africa trip with the kids in K2Town at church (K2Town is K-2nd graders).  This is the video I put together for them.

Do you think they get that they are supposed to brush in circles?????

Rafiki Rwanda Village- Day 9 Tuesday

6am wake-up... off to another day in the dental clinic and computer training with Joy.

Joy and I worked all day together and once we finished up the Excel list, we moved on to the Sponsor letters in Word.  This is a subjective exercise because we get most of the information for the letters from the children's report cards.  So, this is an English lesson as much as Word training.  Joy is a joy... very bright and we laugh a lot!

Lunch again with Mama Judith and the kids (yep, Enid still down at the opposite end of the table).

Joy and I finished at 4pm today, so I was able to go out to the playground for the last few minutes of playground time with the kiddos!  Fun!  I hung out with Enid and found out how much she loves flowers. 

When I got back to the cabin, Will was in his room sleeping and I saw a piece of scotch tape stretched across his door at eye level??? WHAT?  then I saw Barb's face... she was silently cracking up.  THAT was her way to get back at Will.  Sherri and I joined into her silent laughter because of how very lame this attempt was!

Will woke up, opened his door, paused to look at the tape and then gave us a "this is lame" look.  We ladies laughed and laughed and I laugh now as I type this--- it really was such a funny thing.  Thus began the "Get Will Back" attempts.

Cottage time with Mama Judith and her girls was so much fun!  I brought pics of my family to show them... they really liked the pictures of snow.

Rafiki Rwanda Village- Day 8- Monday

It's hard to believe we got here last Monday-- just a week ago!

We finished the last 5 kids in the clinic today!  I called for Olivier first since he was SO persistent over the weekend.

Every time I saw him during the weekend he would say "Me!  You will clean my teeth now?"  and I would say "no, Monday, we will clean your teeth Monday".  Then he would take my hand and lead to me where he was playing.  Cute boy!

After we finished up the kids, we moved on to the adults. Sherri cleaned off a LOT of calculus from the adult nationals teeth, as many of them had never had their teeth cleaned before.  None of them had much decay, because they don't eat much sugar or processed food, but they had never removed the plaque in-between their teeth from the heavy mineral water that had hardened into rock-like layers of calculus on their teeth.  This required a Cavitron (ultra-sonic scaler), and a lot of patience, to remove it.  Five of the adults had so much calculus that they had to come back a second time to get it all off.

Lunch today was at Mama Judiths!  Yay!  Except Enid had been moved to the opposite end of the table, away from me :(  I was very disappointed!  I guess I distracted her too much and she didn't eat quickly enough.

See her in the blue seat... couldn't get much further away.  But, I was happy to get to know the other sweet children seated next to me, and I knew I'd see her a lot more during this week, so I focused on that instead of my brief disappointment.

I worked with Joy all day in Excel--- we merged 3 lists of children's relatives together into 1 list... some of the lists were French names, some English and some Rwandan.  Quite a project!  Joy did such a good job and had great attention to detail.

She learned some formatting, inserting, highlighting & copy/paste functionality.  The hardest part of the project wad deciphering the handwriting of the names-- Joy was really good at that.

Monday night was so much fun in Mama Judith's cottage.  I read the devotionals and asked questions and the kids did so well listening & answering all my questions.  The kids listened with their whole bodies and faces-- what a joy!  I know Jesus must have been smiling at the sight of them!

On the way back to the Guest cottage, in the dark, Will jumped out at me from behind a parked vehicle, making pig noises!  Of course I screamed and then we both laughed all the way back to the cottage.  Stinker!  Barb and I are thinking of ways to get him back, because I found out he got her earlier! (more on this saga each day :)

Rafiki Rwanda Village- Day 7 (Sunday)

Today is Sunday and I was soooo excited about going to church with the kids & their Mama's!  We met the precious group outside the Dining Hall at 7:45 and walked over to the church with them all.  What a wonderful blessed walk it was!  I had both hands filled with kids and was told how "smart" I looked ("Smart" means "Pretty", so I guess all the times I told the little ones how smart they were when they answered questions correctly, I was telling them how pretty they were...hope the boys weren't too offended :)!)


Enid is in the pink & yellow.  Hope is to the left of her.  Little cutie-pies!

Will has one in each hand.



Adam is such a goofy one... boys will be boys!  Medi is the striking cutie behind Adam.

Rev 7:9 "After this I looked and there was before me a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb."

Beautiful day, beautiful kids, beautiful service!  Love worshipping with my new American and African friends!

The children were very well behaved and they performed a song for us-- many stanzas and did a fantastic job.  They all looked adorable in their church clothes & I had so much fun walking back and forth with them.  Always had one in each hand and Enid's hand was often one of them!

At lunch we went to a little local restaurant in Nyamata called The Black & White Cafe.  They serve only 2 items and there are no menus...you hold up how many fingers for Brochette and how many for Chips.  The Brochette is goat and the chips are home style fried potatoes.  I was most interested in the garnish... raw slivered cabbage, sliced tomato, onion and mayo.  I swapped my Brochette for Will's raw veggies--- good trade.  Doug told me he'd eaten the raw food at that restaurant with no tummy issues, so I decided to risk it!

Before the meal was served we played a fun new card game called "Oh heck".  Barb consistently bid too high & was the big loser of the day.  She and Will were both tied for last place, but he pulled ahead at the end.  It was all very fun and we laughed a lot... especially Barb.  She is a great sport!

Mike was the overall winner, w Vicky (his wife) coming in only 1pt behind him.  Tough loss!

Fun times!

In the afternoon, I walked around campus and took some pics and played with kids.  Then, we had dinner with our NEW assigned family, which for me was Mama Judith... YAY!  Enid's table!  I got to sit by Enid and it was a fun meal!

Very refreshing weekend... Thank you God for the refreshment that you so generously give!

Rafiki Rwanda Village- Day 6 (Saturday)

I plan to have a separate entry on the Genocide Museums and what I learned about the history of Rwanda.  At such time, I will also go more into depth & detail about the museums & how this information affected me on a personal level.

The aim of this entry is to highlight Day 6, Saturday, at the Rafiki Rwanda village.

Before going to the museum, we  stopped by the coolest little hide-away!   It's called the African Bagel Company (ABC) and it was started "to give vulnerable women the opportunity to learn vocational skills. Our goal is to provide training so they can be employed in order to help themselves out of the cycle of poverty".

They teach African women to prepare products like salsa & tortilla chips, pizza kits, bagels, tortillas, peanut butter, bagel chips & hummus & chocolate chip cookies.  But, they don't teach them on conventional ovens & tools we have in U.S., but rather, using the most common means of baking in their community.  They also host field trips for local children, giving them abbreviated lessons on cooking.

It felt like being back in the U.S. when we walked into the courtyard, edged by a high privacy fence, surrounding the small bakery.  Almost everyone appeared to be an American (they call them exPats- for ex-Patriots) and we spoke English without stumbling (or speaking louder... and, no... it really doesn't help the language barrier to speak louder).

Anyway, we bought some bagels, chips/salsa (yep, you guys who know me know which I voted to buy!) & frozen pizza.

Next, we went to the Genocide Museum... in my journal, I mistakenly called the "Holocaust" museum, but maybe it fits... I dont' know what the official difference is between genocide and holocaust, but it was intended to destroy an entire people, so it seems that they both fit.

The Kigali Genocide Museum is in the nation's capital city, Kigali.  Horrific, sobering, devastating, EVIL.  Really highlights man's depravity & our capacity for evil.  Also a visual reminder that Satan is prowling around the earth seeking people to devour!

There was a casket being carried out of a vehicle when we arrived... more bones had been discovered and there would be a proper burial.  The funeral service lasted 2 1/2 hours.  I learned that the discovery and burial of newly exhumed bones was a common occurrence, especially each year in April, the anniversary month of the Genocide.  I'll share more on this in the entry about the Genocide. (Also, GREAT book to read regarding Rwanda history until present, if you are so inclined, is "A Thousand Hills" by Stephen Kinzer).

The museum in Kigali is a wonderful memorial to the victims as well as a great educational tool.  So.Much.Horror!  Yet... So.Much.Forgiveness!  The Rwandans are an amazing people & God is doing an incredible work of reconciliation in this land.  We hold grudges for perceived snubs,bad calls in a baseball game, & someone making us "wait" too long for anything or saying "no" to us.  These people live in the same community with the people that murdered their families, and try very hard NOT to hold a grudge.  Humbling.

There were almost 30 "stations" to visit at the Kigali Genocide Museum and half of them are outside gardens created to aid in the grieving, remembering & reconciling process.

Symbolized the unmarked graves.

Below is a view of going down into the beginning of the museum with the city of Kigali in the background.

View of Kigali from the museum.

Our group, outside the Museum.

Pictured:  me, Sherri Bush (my roomie), Vicky Koch, Will Fraser, Barb Freeman, Carolyn Koepke

After leaving the Museum, surprisingly, we still had an appetite and so we went to the original "Hotel Rwanda".  Below is the pool view from the outdoor restaurant.  Food prices are similar to the US, so it's obviously not a place average Rwandans dine (average annual income $250).

 











After lunch we went shopping and spent most of our time at one of the local favorites, Abraham's shop.  There were some really nice hand-crafted African items & I checked off much of my intended purchase list for family/friends.  Next, we went to a grocery store which had all the makings of a SuperCenter.  Their assortment ranged from washing machines & dishwashers to groceries, to clothes etc.

The fresh produce aisles were non-existent... there was one small refrigerated section that had produce that wasn't in the best, freshest condition.  BUMMER!  Oh well, I'll eat plenty of salads in two weeks!

I think this would be the very hardest thing to get used to if I lived in Rwanda! ...well, that and the fact that the electricity goes out multiple times a day.  The village has a generator which kept the dental clinic open during the blackouts, but it was a bit spooky when it went out just after stepping into the shower before bed in a dark cottage!  We learned to keep flashlights handy.

This day spanned the gamut of human emotions and ended with some very silly laughter!  After an emotionally draining day, we opted for some light, silly humor (the Koch's have a rich DVD library of classics), popcorn, lemonade and lots and lots of laughter with the ROS as we watched a movie projected on their wall!

Thank you Jesus for friends!

Playground time... kids are the same everywhere!

After spending some time out on the playground with these kiddos, I have come to the conclusion that kids are really the same no matter where they live....  regardless of whether they are in Africa or America!


Bebito, Emmanuel, Diane, Mahoro

Claude, Enid, Bebito, Emmanuel

Epa on Swing

Jeanne jumping rope.

Medi hanging from the bars.



Hope and Keza on slide.

Centia on bars.

Big group playing a "football" game (soccer).  Keza in front with ball.

Will & Keza.

Playground fun!

Another call out of "thanks" to Will for helping me assign names to all pics before we left Africa!  Very helpful 2 weeks later!

The Rafiki Village Rwanda-- a simply beautiful place to live!

Many of you may wonder what an African Rafiki village is like... be prepared for a paradigm shift!  For those of you thinking I was roughing it over in Africa, I'm afraid you may experience some disappointment.  The extent of my "roughing it" was that I had to share a room & bathroom... and since I had such a great roommate, there wasn't anything "rough" about it.  Giant.Slumber.Party.


Front View of the Guest Cottage:

Back view of the Guest Cottage

See that beautiful Hibiscus at the back of the Guest cottage in the pic above? 

Here is a close-up!  The plants and flowers are all similar to those that grow in Southern FL & Southern CA.



Here's the view of the front door and living room area for visiting.

Below is the view of the dining room & kitchen from the living room.

Here is a close-up of the kitchen...

Below is a pic of Barb's room... all the bedrooms have 2 beds in them and an adjoining bathroom.



Now I'll take you on a little tour of the rest of the village campus:

The village is designed to have several PODS consisting of 3 cottages for the smaller children (up through age 12 I think?) and their "Mama's" with a gazebo in the middle of them.  The cottage directly behind the gazebo is Mama Marie's and the cottage to the right is Mama Judith's (Enid's) cottage.

The Dining Hall, where we all had our meals.

This is one of the ROS staff cottages. (ROS is Rafiki Overseas Staff-- they are employees of Rafiki)

See the cement sidewalk leading up to the ROS building in the pic above?  We were told that was just put in the week before we arrived at the village.  NICE!  That would have been quite an experience on a rainy day when it was a dirt path.  #notenoughSpraynwashinAfrica!

Side view of the school building.  The Dining Hall the building shown partially to the right.

Below is the view of the school building from the Dining Hall down below.  You can begin to get a sense that the village is on a hill.  The Guest cottage is at the top of the hill-- so that is how I got my daily exercise-- up and down that hill!

Aren't they so cute in their school uniforms?

So, did this change your perception of what an African village looks like?  It is true, not ALL African villages look like this, but all RAFIKI African villages look very similar.  One of the aims of Rafiki is to help change the standard of living in the 10 poorest African countries and one way the address this is by creating simple, comfortable homes for the orphans they adopt and the Nationals they employ.

Check out this address for more info about Rafiki:  http://www.rafikifoundation.org/