A Little About Life In Rwanda

These are the flowers on the fence around the center where we are staying:

Aren’t they amazing!

And here’s a look at the center, outside:

And in:

This lizard was in the wall of the hallway outside my room yesterday; He was so very small, just about 2 inches from head to tail.

Our classrooms are outside. Here’s a picture of one:

It’s a perfect place to learn, but in the afternoons I need to remember to put sunscreen on my neck.

So what have I been doing recently? Classes and more classes, but it’s good, I’ve been learning a lot. Also I met two couples from the United States who are here briefly teaching at the university. Together with them I was able to go to a local orphanage. The children sang for us and then we played duck, duck, goose together. It was wonderful to see the joy on their faces and the delight they took in playing, even though they have such hard lives, they are still children who find a game in everything and want so much to have fun and to learn.

So here’s a picture of that:

Finally, I just want to end by saying that this is an exciting place to be. It’s amazing to see all that is happening here right now and to watch Proverrbs 3:5-6 unfold before my eyes. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Hello From Rwanda!

Yes, I made it here safely and I love it. Rwanda is beautiful! It's warm, but not too hot and so very green! After staging in D.C. I flew with the 33 other trainees to Rwanda, with just a short layover in Brussels. We've now been here almost two weeks and are staying in a facility that is run by nuns. Our schedule each day is pretty full. We have breakfast at 7:00 am and then class starts @ 8:00. We have class until 12 and then lunch. After lunch we have a break until 2:30. During this time, I've often gone into town, about a 10 minute walk down the road. Class starts again at 2:30 and goes to 5:00. After class gets out, a group of us often go play volleyball We get back at 7:00 for dinner. After dinner I try to study some. So that’s my schedule.

What classes am I taking you may ask. Well, mostly it’s language. We have small classes of three of four people and Rwandan teachers. The teachers rotate to the different classes, however all teach the same material. That way it’s balanced. Kinyarwanda is hard, but it’s also amazing how much we know after such a short time. I still have a long way to go though! Another type of class we have is tech class. This is done all in one group and covers what we’ll need to know once we get to our sites. We don’t yet know what those sites will be though and so far we’ve just had mostly overviews.

On Sunday I was able to go to a local church here with a service in English and French and then in the afternoon a group of us went for about a 3 hour walk through a forest looking for monkeys. The forest was a mix of all types of trees and flowers, simply stunning to traverse, but absolutely void of monkeys. As we walked back to the center where we are staying from the forest what do you suppose we saw just on the side of the road? A monkey, and not just one, 20! They were small, but very curious and very photogenic. What a delight they were to stumble upon and a reminder of how God orchestrates things in ways we don't always expect.

So, I'm writing now with a thankful heart...thankful to be in Rwanda, thankful for it's beauty and it's welcoming people, thankful to be part of a great team, thankful for you and your prayers, and most of all thankful that God is so amazingly good, that I can trust Him and His plans, and that this is just the beginning.

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name." ~ Psalm 100:4