Rwanda

I am so thankful that God gave me the opportunity to visit Rwanda!  It is right next to Uganda but it is very different than Uganda, and also Tanzania.  The infrastructure here is much better, the corruption much lower, and the effects of that are very obvious.  I don't have many pictures yet, but it is so organized, clean, and landscaped.  The roads are all paved, there are traffic lights, crosswalks...in some places I feel like I'm in America!  God has surely opened my eyes about East Africa and how different each place is.

I have met many new friends here, and everyone has been so helpful.  A lot of people here don't know English though, so sometimes communicating is difficult.  Rwanda was originally a French colony, so most people know French, Swahili, and Kinyarwanda, but the country has recently switched to teaching English in schools, so some people know a little bit.

I have also had the opportunity to visit three different orphanages to do some research about starting some kind of project here in East Africa in the future.  The first place was called Gisimba Memorial Center, an orphanage that's been running since 1990.

 The government of Rwanda is trying to close all of its orphanages now, to go back to the Rwandan culture of adopting children into families rather than having orphanages.  So this place is slowly getting its children adopted and turning its buildings into classrooms that they rent to a school.  

I learned some interesting things from this place, especially about culture.  The boys dorm is just an open room with bunk beds, but the girls room has small wooden partitions to divide the room into very small "bedrooms" with two bunk beds in each room.  I didn't understand this at all, so I asked "Why did you put these here?  If they are all girls, why isn't it just open like the boys dorm?" And they said "Maybe in our culture girls need more.... protection?  For example, boys it is easy to just go out in underwear but girls need to be protected."  But I still couldn't understand, because it's a girls room... I thought it was a nice idea, but I didn't understand the need for it.  But it opened my eyes to the fact that understanding the culture of a place is important if you want to start a ministry there.


Another place we visited was very humbling.  It is an orphanage that cares for physically and mentally disabled children.

The stories of how kids come to this place are terrible, because it is often considered shameful to have a disabled child, especially a mentally disabled child.  Kids get tied to trees in the backyard, or are living in cages outside, so that they don't wander into the community.  Or they are just left somewhere, and the authorities find them.  This organization takes them in and has the plan to raise them for the rest of their lives.

They have some help from World Vision, which donated a lot of good wheelchairs, and other miscellaneous personal donors, but they struggle very much to meet their financial needs.  They only have 9 staff and I think maybe 20 or so children living at the place.  Some months the staff members aren't even paid, but they don't complain.  Most of those children can't even dress or feed themselves...many are so mentally disabled that they just sit in a wheelchair and stare.  But some of the children are well enough to learn how to dress themselves, play games, and other simple things.  They have a small exercise room where they do physical therapy with the kids as well. 

The people who work at this place have such big hearts... it was amazing to see.  No one else will care for these children, and they don't get any financial gain out of doing this hard work, but they continue to do it in Jesus' name, and somehow God provides for them each month.  It was incredible to see how local people with a common love can create something that is small but changes lives forever.


The last place we went to was a group home that is run by Catholic Sisters.  They don't really allow pictures, but they allowed me just a few photos with the children.  

This was another place that inspired me by how a few people with a common idea can start something.  It's not a big place, and they struggle sometimes, but they are making a huge difference in the lives of these children.  It is incredible to see people who have dedicated their lives to helping others, even at their own expense.

God has been showing me many things while I've been here, answers to prayers and ideas for future work...it has been invaluable to me already!  Tomorrow I think I will visit the YWAM base to talk with someone about their Vocational Training School, so more useful information is on the way!