Sunday, Sara was picked up by some guy named Herman, who is the brother of Pastor Francis of Christ Gospel Church in Kimironko. At church she ran into Mary whom she'd met on her last visit in October 2008. She sat with Pastor Francis' wife, Dorothy, whom she'd met once before but only briefly as she was off to America. The church service is bi-lingual so Sara had no problem understanding it. Her one comment which made me giggle was that she wondered why all the missionaries from America are always grumpy old woman? Sara recalls on her last trip meeting 3 missionaries, all of which she found rather down spirited and here at CG church again she met another one who looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders . . . Sara wondered how are these people suppose to help in Rwanda? She thinks if they came to help her she'd become more depressed from them. It also made her happy that she was here representing Itafari Foundation, which is not a faith based oragnisation, as she didn't want to be associated with these "down in the
Once church was over, Herman showed Sara to his office, where her sponsored children sat quietly on chairs, looking rather scared of the "muzungu" (white skinned person) who had come to speak to them. After introductions Sara gave them "I love London" tshirts and we went outside in the sun to take some photos. Yves & Alice were very shy at first (understandably so!) but once they put the shirts on & they started to take photos, the children started to open up, smiling & giggling. The highlight apparenlty was when Sara allowed them to take photos with her camera. Having never used a camera it took awhile to teach them since they only speak Kinyarwanda at this point & Sara's Kinyarwanda is limited to greetings, asking for water, and answering I read a book when asked what's she's been doing, so as you can imagine giving directions for using a camera can be rather difficult, but the children are smart & after watching Sara twice they got the hang of it. Pointing at the desired direction, was a whole other story, so Sara ended up with about 30 photos of feet, noses, fingers, and walls. The other highlight during the photo taking time was "funny photos" where we would stick our tounges out & take a photo - they just LOVE it when Sara would make a funny face & they would snap a photo & then they could see it again & again & show it off to the other children near by.
After church Sara, Yves, Alice, and a few other church goers got on the church's bus to be driven home. Sara got to see the area where her children live. During this time, Charlotte, Sara's Rwandan sister, called to say she was free all day, so Sara had the bus drop her off at the Bloom Hotel and then walked to Charlotte's house. Last time Sara visited Charlotte & Charles they only had a 10 month old son named Chyelle, now she has a daughter who is 4 months old name Charlene and Chyelle is 2! They are very beautiful children. We had a great afternoon catching up over lunch. On the way home, Charlotte offered to meet up for dinner on Sara's birthday.
Monday, Celestine picked Sara up at the Iris Guesthouse & brought her via taxi (public bus) to the office of ASSIST so she could get some paperwork done. She had lunch at La Plante near the office & then went over to Gahya Links to visit with Joy and see all of the baskets, earrings, wall hangings, etc which they've been busy making. After that Celestine made sure Sara got on the correct taxi & she managed to make it back to Iris on her own.
That evening Emmanuel arrived at 7pm, Charlotte at 8pm and then they went to a Chinese Restaurant for dinner. Arthur met them there after work. The food was apparently delicious. Charles (Charlotte's husband) met them after he was done with his night courses. They had a wonderful evening & Sara got home around half 11.
Today she was up early with big plans of going out on her own for the first time. Emmanuel had given her directions on how to get the taxi from city centre to ASSIST office in Remera. So Sara had breakfast and then headed up the hill towards the Union Trade Center (UTC). She was walking at her normal London pace, passing locals like it was her business. About halfway up the hill, she realised why the Rwandans were walking so slowly, there was NO WAY you can maintain London walking speed in the heat/sun without passing out, so she slowed to the pace of everyone around her & was able to manage the rest of the hill. For those of you who don't know Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills & I'm pretty sure if you counted them, it's more like a million! Once Sara made it to the round about she decided to go to the bank first before getting the taxi to Remera. So she turned up the next part of the hill to the UTC building. Along the way she was offered numerous MTN cards (minutes for a sim card) and maps of Africa. Once in the UTC she went right upstairs to Access Bank, made her way to the customer service section, got her banking done. On her way down stairs she took a quick wander around the UTC and realised it looks basically all the same with Burbon Coffee, Kenya Airways, Nakumat, travel agent, and the small pizza/bakery. Just before leaving she got a few more minutes added onto her Rwandatel phone. [don't worry Vic I'll get you an MTN number, but everyone has this one already so don't wanna switch with only a few days left] Then off to the taxi stand she went . . . a bit intimidating, but she stood waiting for the TiGo bus which was going towards Remera. The conductor asked her where she wanted to go, she told him, Alpha Palace, and he let her know when the stop came - SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!
Sara here now, I'm having a great time, learned a few new words:
Ndashaka = I want
amazi ikonje = cold water
amazi a/shoe/shay = warm water (unsure of spelling, but that's how it sounds)
Nawe = you too (said in response to thank you)
ni beyza = it's good
Gahunda yawe nkyihe? = what is your plan for the today?
Gahunda yange = my plan is
gusoma igitabo = read a book
Anyone interested in learning more about the foundation I am working with her in Rwanda, please visit, www.itafari.org
Well, Penny, you surely do tell a detailed and wonderful story. Makes me tired just listening to all of the walking over hills and up and down. So glad but not surprised that Sara is managing to get places on her own. Believe me, I KNOW and am always impressed! Yves and Alice sound so adorable and bright. Can't wait till Sara is able to download photos. I sent the picture of the Rwanda pastor Francis and his wife plus photos of Yves and Charles to many friends here who were so happy to see a bit of what Sara is doing. Tell her that it rained like crazy yesterday leaving a lovely layer of ice over everything. There were people who couldn't get OUT of their driveways OR they got out but COULD NOT go back in. Luckily, she did fine. Take care both of you! Love, MOMMIO
ReplyDeleteHey dude, I agree completely about the depressing missionaries - that's definitely not the right attitude to have if you're trying to help people - I wonder how aware of how much their attitude shows - they need an "attitude adjustment!" luv ya!
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