Sorry for the delay ...

Another busy few days in Rwanda for our group! Since the last post on Thursday, we have had a full weekend worth of work and adventures. On Friday, we returned to the orphanage to finish up the painting job. We had almost completed the corridor but during our inspection we found what looked to be finger prints and designs in the freshly dried paint. Not sure exactly who the culprits were, but we have some ideas. So we began to retouch and finishing what little there was left to do.

In order to complete the job, we had to make one final run up the hill to the Union Trade Center to get the paint. On the way, the few running the errand were stopped by some kids who talked us into a quick pick up game of soccer.  We weren’t able to play long, but it was fun to get to know some of the kids we have passed by each morning we head into the orphanage.

By 11am we had pretty much finished the job and so were able to go hang out with the kids. By this point, we have almost learned everyone’s name and demeanor so it’s become even more fun to interact, talk and play. We’ll be back on Tuesday to wish the kids, sisters and workers a goodbye before we head home on Wednesday.

The rest of the day was mostly relaxed in honor of our paint job well done. We went to our lunch spot up the hill, ran some errands and finished off our afternoon at Hotel Des Milles Collines. We sat by the pool and a few of us made the wise decision to order apple pies – amazing. From there, we were picked up and headed home since we were to have an early start on Saturday.

Since we had shuffled sometime around to accommodate different activities, we used Saturday as sort of a free day. So the group went two directions – one east to the national park and one west to the national forest.  I was in the group headed west, so I can only fill you in on our day at the forest, but we were able to see pictures from the park and they looked fun. The girls saw giraffes, elephants, zebra and other African wildlife.

For those who went out to the forest, the drive was a long one. It was about 3 ½ hours and then another 45 minutes once we entered the forest. Part of the scenery we had seen before on our drive to Murambi, but the view in the park was new and beautiful. The sunrise was definitely one of the highlights – the sky started to brighten before we could see the sun over the hills, but when it did peek out, it was a bright red circle.

The forest is considered to be African rainforest and home to tons of flora and fauna.  When we pulled into the overlook spot, there were already monkeys running around.  This place was awesome – the temperature was cool and the landscape lush.  Our group decided to do the canopy walk which included an hour and a half hike through the woods with some of the walk on a small walking bridge above the trees.  On our walk we saw a few monkeys scattered around before we made it to the canopy portion.  The canopy was a small walking bridge, maybe a foot wide, suspended from metal landings with ropes. Though the guide assured us that it was secure, the bridge was still definitely vulnerable to swaying and leaning. The rest of the group handled it well but I was terrified (refer to pictures when we are able to post).  We survived though, finished our walk, and headed out of the forest back towards Kigali. On our way out though, we were stopped by a ton of baboons hanging out in the middle of the road. They walked right beside the car which made for some good photo ops.

On our drive back, we stopped for lunch with our driver, Manny at the Dewgrass (spelling?) restaurant. We grabbed lunch and then met with a few people who were contacts of Raul. These contacts hosted us for the afternoon/evening at the National University of Rwanda, medical campus. They were interested us in providing a short presentation of the public health initiatives that they are part of in exchange for feedback. We spent an hour or so listening to their projects – one which spreads HIV/AIDS and sexual health information to soldiers and another which spreads this information to rural populations. We were able to ask questions and offer advice. Following this quick stopover, we got back on the road to finish our trip home to Kigali.

Today, we were back to Kigali City School. Cyrus was able to organize an event for the students that our group has already offered to sponsor as a part of our up and coming sponsorship program. The event was designed for us to meet with our kids, talk, and get to know them so that we could continue to stay in contact over the year. Before we arrived, we picked up snacks for us to share at the school. It was great to be able to spend even more time with these great kids. We learned about what sports they like to play, favorite subjects and that most everyone’s favorite food was chocolate. Luckily, many of the snacks that we brought (and promptly demolished) were candy and chocolate.

After our visit, Cyrus Nkusi, the Headmaster at Kigali City School, hosted us at his house just around the corner. There we got to chat, hang out and visit. Cyrus showed us the video of his wedding from earlier in the year and we shared stories and pictures of ourselves. His wife and him also prepared us an amazing dinner. Following dinner, we sat outside and enjoyed the evening before our ride home picked us up.

I hope this post makes up for the delay in my blogging. I hope to be able to post again to keep everyone up to date on our final two full days in Kigali. We will of course be busy trying to make the most of our remaining time!

Sorry for the delay ...

Another busy few days in Rwanda for our group! Since the last post on Thursday, we have had a full weekend worth of work and adventures. On Friday, we returned to the orphanage to finish up the painting job. We had almost completed the corridor but during our inspection we found what looked to be finger prints and designs in the freshly dried paint. Not sure exactly who the culprits were, but we have some ideas. So we began to retouch and finishing what little there was left to do.

In order to complete the job, we had to make one final run up the hill to the Union Trade Center to get the paint. On the way, the few running the errand were stopped by some kids who talked us into a quick pick up game of soccer.  We weren’t able to play long, but it was fun to get to know some of the kids we have passed by each morning we head into the orphanage.

By 11am we had pretty much finished the job and so were able to go hang out with the kids. By this point, we have almost learned everyone’s name and demeanor so it’s become even more fun to interact, talk and play. We’ll be back on Tuesday to wish the kids, sisters and workers a goodbye before we head home on Wednesday.

The rest of the day was mostly relaxed in honor of our paint job well done. We went to our lunch spot up the hill, ran some errands and finished off our afternoon at Hotel Des Milles Collines. We sat by the pool and a few of us made the wise decision to order apple pies – amazing. From there, we were picked up and headed home since we were to have an early start on Saturday.

Since we had shuffled sometime around to accommodate different activities, we used Saturday as sort of a free day. So the group went two directions – one east to the national park and one west to the national forest.  I was in the group headed west, so I can only fill you in on our day at the forest, but we were able to see pictures from the park and they looked fun. The girls saw giraffes, elephants, zebra and other African wildlife.

For those who went out to the forest, the drive was a long one. It was about 3 ½ hours and then another 45 minutes once we entered the forest. Part of the scenery we had seen before on our drive to Murambi, but the view in the park was new and beautiful. The sunrise was definitely one of the highlights – the sky started to brighten before we could see the sun over the hills, but when it did peek out, it was a bright red circle.

The forest is considered to be African rainforest and home to tons of flora and fauna.  When we pulled into the overlook spot, there were already monkeys running around.  This place was awesome – the temperature was cool and the landscape lush.  Our group decided to do the canopy walk which included an hour and a half hike through the woods with some of the walk on a small walking bridge above the trees.  On our walk we saw a few monkeys scattered around before we made it to the canopy portion.  The canopy was a small walking bridge, maybe a foot wide, suspended from metal landings with ropes. Though the guide assured us that it was secure, the bridge was still definitely vulnerable to swaying and leaning. The rest of the group handled it well but I was terrified (refer to pictures when we are able to post).  We survived though, finished our walk, and headed out of the forest back towards Kigali. On our way out though, we were stopped by a ton of baboons hanging out in the middle of the road. They walked right beside the car which made for some good photo ops.

On our drive back, we stopped for lunch with our driver, Manny at the Dewgrass (spelling?) restaurant. We grabbed lunch and then met with a few people who were contacts of Raul. These contacts hosted us for the afternoon/evening at the National University of Rwanda, medical campus. They were interested us in providing a short presentation of the public health initiatives that they are part of in exchange for feedback. We spent an hour or so listening to their projects – one which spreads HIV/AIDS and sexual health information to soldiers and another which spreads this information to rural populations. We were able to ask questions and offer advice. Following this quick stopover, we got back on the road to finish our trip home to Kigali.

Today, we were back to Kigali City School. Cyrus was able to organize an event for the students that our group has already offered to sponsor as a part of our up and coming sponsorship program. The event was designed for us to meet with our kids, talk, and get to know them so that we could continue to stay in contact over the year. Before we arrived, we picked up snacks for us to share at the school. It was great to be able to spend even more time with these great kids. We learned about what sports they like to play, favorite subjects and that most everyone’s favorite food was chocolate. Luckily, many of the snacks that we brought (and promptly demolished) were candy and chocolate.

After our visit, Cyrus Nkusi, the Headmaster at Kigali City School hosted us at his house just around the corner. There we got to chat, hang out and visit. Cyrus showed us the video of his wedding from earlier in the year and we shared stories and pictures of ourselves. His wife and him also prepared us an amazing dinner. Following dinner, we sat outside and enjoyed the evening before our ride home picked us up.

I hope this post makes up for the delay in my blogging. I hope to be able to post again to keep everyone up to date on our final two full days in Kigali. We will of course be busy trying to make the most of our remaining time!

Out of Kigali

This post will have to be pretty brief - my internet connection is no longer cooperating. But I did want to give everyone a quick update of what we've been up to the last two days.

Yesterday was another day at the orphanage, playing and painting. We were surprised how much we were able to accomplish on the corridor - only the baseboard left! We'll be back tomorrow to finish everything up and maybe even take an afternoon off.

Today we headed out of the city to Butare where the Murambi Genocide Memorial is located. It was a long drive but a beautiful one. Kigali is so densely populated it is hard to take notice of the scenery sometimes. The drive gave us an opportunity to admire the rolling landscape that Rwanda has to offer. After around 3 hours, we arrived at the memorial where we were given an introduction and immediately led outside to the graves and massacre site. We had been warned that Murambi is graphic, but I don't think any of us (except Molly, our veteran) were quite prepared for this. Murambi is the resting place for between 40,000 - 50,000 bodies, approximately 1000 of which have been preserved and displayed at the site. Bones and remains were left in tact in the places and rooms they were killed. Once again, I don't want to speak on behalf of the group; I know everyone had a significant and personal reaction to the memorial. This is another experience you'll want to get details on from the kids themselves.

Sorry for the brevity, but hopefully there will be more in depth posts to come so keep checking!

Conquering "The Beast"

Today we were up early and back to the orphanage! We had Mark and Manny drop us off at the Union Trade Center (UTC), a mall up the hill from the orphanage, so we could pick up supplies. Then from there, we made our way down the hill and into the orphanage. We got right to work on finishing up the first room and beginning to prime the long hallway that stretches the length of the orphanage. It actually didn't take us too long to tape and prime the hallway; we were done with our first coat by lunch time.

While we had been at the UTC, we bought items to make lunch instead of leaving the orphanage and trekking up the hill. It was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and then back to work.

The hallway proved a little more difficult to keep isolated since it connects all of the rooms. So through the day, we had kids running in and out which made for distracted painting. We of course took several breaks to play with the kids and enjoy their company. We even got to meet some new babies, one of which has been affectionately given the name "toddles." He slowly, but surely, toddled his way around the whole orphanage throughout the day. We'll be back to paint and visit the kids tomorrow too.

Happy 4th!

Although many of you at home are just getting the 4th of July celebrations started, we have already had a full day! We started this morning pretty early - pick-ups began at 8am. I think we were all a little confused to hear that we needed to be up and moving so early for the festivities, but Mark, our guide, was certainly right. We arrived at the national stadium, where they were holding the Kwibohora 17 (Liberation 17) event, at around 8:40am. There were already mobs of people, many getting turned away from the door. Luckily, we had Mark and Manny, our driver to try and help schmooze our way in ... We tried at the main entrance - no luck. We tried at the VIP entrance - got through one security checkpoint but were turned away at the second. We returned to the main entrance - voila! Mark and Manny managed to sweet talk their (and our) way into the stadium. We later learned that Manny might have stretched the truth to get us in, but we'll take it!

When we got into the stadium, things were still pretty hectic. People were vying for seats and spots to watch the festivities. We again were able to charm our way into some seats way in the back. It was a cool view though because we got to see the entire panorama of the stadium. 

The program began not long after we were seated where a speaker was encouraging the different sections to stand and yell. At one point we almost looked like we were doing the wave. Among the entertainment for the day were poems, martial arts fighting skits, traditional dancers, and military marches. Paul Kagame, the President, did a lap around the stadium and later in the day we heard him give a speech.

Although it was a fun day, it was also a warm and sunny one (I have the sunburn to prove it). So after the stadium, we cooled off under the awning at our new favorite lunch spot - the Shake and Sip. Then it was back up the hill to Hotel Des Milles Collines. We sat by the pool and relaxed for the rest of the day. 

So, we have had a pretty low key few days, but not for long. Tomorrow we return to the orphanage to finish painting the first room and begin to work on the corridor, which we have dubbed "the beast." This will kick us back into service mode so we can push through the next few days.

Happy 4th of July to all those at home!

The Weekend

This weekend has certainly been a busy one for our group. Saturday we had a slow start, let everyone sleep in a little while, and headed off the Genocide Museum in Kigali. Upon arrival we learned that the museum was not just a place to learn and reflect on what had happened in Rwanda 17 years earlier, but also the burial ground for over 250,000 people who were killed during the genocide. Needless to say, this was a powerful outing. Since I'm sure everyone had a very personal and unique reaction to the museum, I won't talk much here about our time there. When everyone returns home though, be sure to ask about it. I'm sure they'll be able to relay some pretty moving stories and facts.

After the museum, we decided to lighten the mood with a day around town. We found a new lunch spot - the Shake and Sip - and did a little shopping and errands. We then returned home to spend time with our respective host families. 

Today was a big day for the group. We had originally planned for this to have been an off day, but instead, we had already decided to return to the school to meet the kids which needed a scholarship. We had such a great morning with the kids. The boys started a game of soccer while the girls played monkey in the middle and danced. Before the day was over, many of us had bonded one or several in the group and decided to sponsor them ourselves. Obviously, with so many kids in need and having only a small group, we could only agree to help a few. However, we spent the remainder of the afternoon taking pictures and learning more about the kids so we could advocate for them when we return. Don't be surprised should anyone get a request to sponsor a child to go to school :)

Tomorrow is 4th of July here and we'll be off to the National Stadium to enjoy the festivities. I will be sure to report back tomorrow with details of the day! Happy 4th to everyone back home!

HoH Orphanage - Day Two

So, we actually accomplish what we had set out to do today! We got to the orphanage, made a mad dash for the room and were able to get started on painting before the kids even noticed we were there. However, because we were so efficient, we were able to spend some time with the kids mid-morning while primer dried.

I wish we had taken a before shot of the room we are working on so I could have posted pictures of our accomplishment. The room, which was formerly a darker teal, is now a pretty, light sky blue. We were almost able to finish the entire room today, just a little base board left to go over. We will return next Tuesday to start tackling the corridor, a tremendous hallway that spans the orphanage.

On our way out of the orphanage, we were able to meet a couple that had just recently adopted 3 children from Home of Hope Orphanage. They had stopped by for the kids to visit one more time before they were off to the U.S. It is so great to see that these sweet, loving kids are finding the homes that they deserve. I should mention that these children are 3 of 35 that have been adopted by families in the last 2 months. Let's hope this trend continues!

Pretty easy day to report on ... Hopefully I'll have more for you over the weekend when we visit the genocide museum, return to Kigali City School and enjoy 4th of July celebrations!

Kigali City School

Another awesome day in Rwanda! Today was our first day at Kigali City School, a private school which teaches ages 3 - 10 or 11. The school day doesn't start until 9:00am so we were able to sleep-in a little while which we all enjoyed. When we arrived, Cyrus Nkusi, the Headmaster at Kigali City School met us and led the group to his office. Here we talked about our schedule for the day - tours, time outside with the kids, lunch, more playing and discussing the sponsorship program. Things didn't go in quite that order, but we successfully made it through our agenda.

First, Cyrus took us to one of the younger classes. We introduced ourselves and Cyrus had the kids welcome us with songs. They were a few we didn't know but we were able to sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" with them. The teacher let the kids follow us outside where there was no shortage of hugs and high fives. One of the big hits with this younger crowd were races - first, just running, then skipping, then one-legged. Jumping jacks also turned out to be pretty entertaining.

Afterwards, we continued our tour of the school. We visited each of the primary grade classes where kids sang songs, asked us questions and showed us what they learned. In science class, we got to hear about the items necessary for germination and in social studies we learned about democracy. All of the kids were so smart and so eager to participate and show off their skills. Followed by this tour, we once again headed outside where we played games and interacted with the children. Among the things the kids really enjoyed wee playing with our hair and modeling for photographs. They particularly loved that you were able to show them the pictures we took immediately after. They would giggle as they saw themselves and their classmates show on the projector.

Between our visits and time outside, we were able to sit down with Cyrus to learn more about his vision for the sponsorship program. Of the 500 kids in the school, over 300 struggle with schools fees and around 98 are unable to pay. Many of these kids are part of homes with many children and sometimes only one or even no parents. It is Cyrus's dream to see these kids have the same opportunity as others through the generosity of sponsors. Sponsorship for these kids, as Cyrus explained, is relatively inexpensive. It is around $350 for a full year of tuition and another $50 for uniforms, books, etc. So for only $400, a child can get an amazing education at the number 1 primary school in the country. So, our group, excited by this opportunity to help brainstormed how to fund raise and create a system where people could contribute to any number of the projects the school would like to accomplish, including finding school fees for these students in need. We decided that the next step for the project would be to use our day off to visit the students who are prime candidates for sponsorship. Our visit would give us a change to meet the kids, get to know them, encourage them and be able to tell their stories and advocate for them when we return.

After lunch, we returned outside where the boys played a game of soccer with the kids and the girls danced, sang and colored. The kids were able to sing us Rihanna, Chris Brown and Lady Gaga. We must admit, most of the singing and dancing was done by the kids but we have made a promise to bring music and come prepared to sing and dance on our next visit to the entire school on July 8th.

The day wasn't over after our time at Kigali City School. We learned that the American Embassy was hosting an event for their citizens this afternoon for the 4th instead of during the holiday on Monday. It was changed so that the party could also be a farewell to Ambassador Stuart Symington who leaves his post in July. We drove to the American Embassy, which was in a beautiful part of town, enjoyed some barbeque and played games. Though it was just in passing, we were able to meet the Ambassador himself who was interested in hearing about the work we were doing while in Rwanda. He also offered some words of advice on how to continue our partnerships with organizations in Rwanda to make a real impact. We are hoping to return to the Embassy to meet with other officials and hear more about the U.S. role in Rwanda.

So tomorrow is another day at the orphanage where we'll continue our painting project. With so much space to cover, we decided to dedicate all of our time tomorrow to working on revamping the rooms. However, I'm sure when we hear the squeals and get bombarded by hugs, our plans might change.

In Kigali

So after a brutal 24 hours of traveling, we finally made it to Kigali on Tuesday afternoon. Customs and baggage were a breeze and after everyone had their stuff, we were met by our tour guide, Mark and driver, Emmanuel from Rwanda Eco Tours. With Mark and Emmanuel, we started to make our rounds to the host families but not before stopping for currency exchange and some bottled water. We used the rest of our first day in Rwanda to get settled in, take naps and get acquainted with host families. Judging from the discussions during the car ride this morning, it appears as if everyone is getting along great with their families!

Today was our first day at Home of Hope Orphanage. Apparently we were a little eager to start out project, so we arrived before the nuns and kids had finished their morning prayers. The group was able to chat while we waited outside for a few moments. We were soon welcomed by the nun who was to give us a tour of the facility and the rooms we would be painting. On our way down the steps into the facility and before we had even stepped foot inside, we were met by squeals and a gaggle of toddlers who greeted us with hugs. Each of the kids picked their favorite of the group who they then latched onto for the remainder of the tour. I can't speak for the rest of the group, but these were by far some of the most loving and personable little kids I've ever met. We were able to spend some time with the kids before we got to work on pre-painting prep. We laid drop clothes, taped baseboards, door frames and windows and strategized our approach. This pretty much took up the morning portion of the day.

During our lunch break, the group headed up the hill to a sort of town center with shops and restaurants. We ate lunch at Bourbon Coffee, a pretty western cafe were we were able to get snacks. At lunch, Cyrus Nkusi, Headmaster of the Kigali City School, joined us to introduce himself. With Cyrus, we were able to discuss what we will be doing with our time at the school. We were also able to talk about how to promote a sponsorship program for students who are unable to afford school fees. For just $350/year, one student is able to attend Kigali City School, which just ranked as the number one primary school in the country. We agreed that this Sunday, instead of our day off, we would meet with Cyrus and the students in need to learn more about them, sponsorship and how we can make sure these kids get a chance at a great education.

After our meeting with Cyrus, the group ran some errands. We were able to purchase cell phones with international and national calling/texting capabilities to help us keep in touch with each other and home. We also found paint supplies to help us begin our project upon our return to the orphanage. By the time we got back, there was little left in the day but we decided to start plugging away at putting primer on one of the rooms to be painted. This will give us a jump start when we return Friday.

Stay posted as we get further along in our projects!

Less than a week!

So, in this last week before wheels up, we have been able to tie all of the trip's loose ends together. We received information about our host families, assigned students to their respective families and locked down our itinerary for our time on the ground. Most importantly, we were able to touch base with Home of Hope Orphanage and Kigali City School to see what kind of work and projects on which they might need our help.

At Kigali City School, they have asked that we come prepared to do any number of things - we can work with administrators to update their website and design brochures, we can help the kids in English, math, science and art, we can help organize and play sports during their time outdoors or for those with a good singing voice, we can assist in chorus lessons. No shortage of things to keep us busy during our days at Kigali City School!

At the Home of Hope Orphanage, we will be spending most of our mornings and afternoons with the kids and helping with the day-to-day activities. However, during the lunch time, the orphanage closes and they have asked that we use this time to help this revamp their facilities. There are several indoor rooms which need a new coat of paint and some sprucing up.

Knowing a little bit about these projects beforehand can certainly help us prepare (and pack) as the trip approaches. While we obviously won't be able to bring paint with us, we can feasibly bring supplies - rollers, brushes, tarps, etc. We can also brainstorm about things that may be useful to us for our time at the school - old books and school supplies, among other things.

So to our travelers, keep these things in mind as you begin to think about packing for the trip. Many of the things we need are cheap, lightweight and would really help us contribute to our two main project locations. To our followers, if you are interested in contributing to any of these projects or tasks, please feel free to get in touch with me and we will certainly work to arrange it!

Mwiriwe (Goodbye) for now!

Welcome to the AoH Rwanda Blog

Hello all!

Welcome to our blog for the 2011 summer trip to Rwanda! We wanted to find a way to keep families and AoH followers posted on our adventures while we're across the pond.

As many of you may know, we are again headed to Kigali, Rwanda on June 27th to do work with Home of Hope Orphanage. This year we are taking with us a small, and terrific, group of high school and college students. During our time in Rwanda, we'll be spending a majority of our time with those - kids, teens, adults, elderly - that call the orphanage home as well as working  to complete needed tasks within their facilities. It won't be all work for us though, we will also be using our time abroad to experience and learn more about Rwandan history and culture.

There will be a lot to report as the trip develops and of course there will be plenty of stories from our time in Rwanda. So from now until our return (July 14th) check back with us to see what we're up to ...