Getting into it...

Compelling stories to share:

My co-worker Faustine, with whom I share a desk, is a Hutu. His mother and his child were killed during the genocide. Due to the language barrier, he actually acted out the killing for me which was shocking to watch to say the least. Faustine worked at the airport and fled Rwanda during the genocide. When he returned they arrested him because they thought he was a conspirator in the genocide because he was Hutu and because he worked at the airport where a lot of deaths occurred for people trying to escape. Faustine spent seven years in prison and met Pastor Deo of Prison Fellowship Rwanda. Pastor Deo worked with Faustine to get him to achieve true reconciliation -- reconciliation with those that murdered his family, and reconciliation with the government, who falsely accused him of genocide.

There are stories such as these among countless people in this country -- it is astounding. There are massive amounts of refugees here who have re-settled in Rwanda having grown up in the Congo, Tanzania, Uganda or Burundi. Many of those who were away for the genocide came back immediately after for promise of opportunities -- some have found it who have been educated, but those without have massive problems of poverty and complete inability to own property.

As for me -- life here is a definite adjustment. I am having particular struggles with patience -- it's a completely different life when I was living in the countryside in Kenya where it was basically a cultural immersion experience. I was meant to join the culture and from that culture use it to positively influence the young women in that village. Here, I am trying to make the organizations I am working for more competitive, more effective, and more appealing to international donors. It's pretty difficult to work to change a mindset. For PFR the idea of partnerships is completely new, as it is in many orgs. in Rwanda. For example -- trying to explain to them that there are microfinance organizations here in Rwanda that we could partner with to better equip the HIV positive women we work with with job skills and knowledge on how to be fiscally reponsibile and start their own businesses rather than create our own job training center for the women which would cost an absurd amount of money with little possibility for sustainablility with such a small staff.

Anyway -- these are some of the issues I am working with these on on a daily basis. On another note... I'm impatient with myself because I so badly want to be fluent in Kinyarwanda. At PFR there are only three out of 9 staff members who can speak some english. I am glad I have a good base of Swahili because I have been able to communicate with many of them with my Swahili knowledge. Anyway, I'm trying to improve and learn. "Ndakoza Ibikombe" Means I am washing the dishes! See? I'm getting there.

It is rough now that my co-worker has gone and I am left without a car. That means I am confined to motos -- which are motorcycle/moped taxis. I could take a bus but it's extremely complicated and would take much longer than necessary and cabs are way too expensive and difficult to find. Therefore I'm stuck with the more dangerous option of motos which was really exciting at the beginning, but it's already getting a little old and it's only one month into it! But it's the law to wear helmets so that's good.

Still, I do love it here. It's not as intensely community-based as my experience was in Kenya, so it's been a little challenging for me to find Rwandan friends that are outside of my co-workers as I mentioned earlier. I'm close with one particular Rwandan co-worker named Claire. We have a blast together trying to teach each other English and Kinyarwanda. They have major difficulties with "L"s and "R" in that they confuse them. They also have trouble with "CHicken" and "kitchen." It's hilarious when one of my Rwandan friends asks me to come into the "chicken."

Also -- I love the way some of my Rwandan friends greet each other and answer the phone. Some examples

Me: Benjamin, Hello! Or, Amakuru (how are you in Kinyrwana)
Benjamin: Praise the Lord.

Me: (Calling Emmanuel on the phone)
Emmanuel: Alleluia.
Me: Erm... Hello Emmanuel...
Emmanuel: Yes. Hello my sister.

Emmanuel (wife calling him on the phone): Hello my wife.

It's not as funny without hearing their voice inflections, so maybe it's just myself chuckling to myself at an internet cafe with country music in the background, but I thought I'd share some of my favorite experiences.

I haven't had much time to process my thoughts to share on my blog, but I figure I had better start with some stories.

Pray for me! I need patience so that I can soak in this wonderful environment.

Love,

Rachel

P.S. Photos are the view from my house, a day on boats in Ruhengeri by the volcanoes, and my first African tea (Rwandan style) - delish.