Rwanda: Days 1 and 2

For me, visiting East Africa is like going home. The landscape of Rwanda was possibly even more beautiful than that of Uganda. Stepping off the plane onto the runway my lungs were filled with that sweet, warm air. It's a place that feels familiar... the red dirt, the waving children that run alongside your car, the beautiful faces of the people.  Being crammed in the back of a car and bouncing along the unpaved roads suddenly becomes an adventure. Rwanda felt like a place of joy, where a simple wave out the window would lead to broad smiles and cheers from those standing alongside the road.

Rwanda, however, has a broken past, filled with hate and murder and terror. Our first day in Rwanda we visited the genocide museum. My heart broke as I looked at the faces of the children who were brutally murdered, who were sliced and stabbed and beaten. I read the stories of those that tried to help and those that stood back and did nothing. I can't help but feel that we, the rest of the world, is nearly as guilty as those holding the machetes, because we knew yet stood back and did nothing. If you don't know anything about this part of Rwanda's history I would encourage you to go learn about.

The museum was a heavy place to begin our time in Rwanda, but it created context to the place and the people that we were stepping into. But the people were a people of joy, who are learning to work together for the betterment of their country. Our second day was spent at World Relief Rwanda where we learned from the staff the roles that they had in the community. There was Mobilization for Life, where teaching to youth and families was done on the value of faithfulness and HIV prevention. There was the Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) programs where volunteers in the community partner alongside those children and families. And there was the Savings Group where men and women in the community come together to save their money, creating small loans and spurring each other forward to move up out of the poverty they've been in for so long.  More to come on all these things.

It is a privilege to be a part of a church that partners with such an organization!

*Photos will be added upon my return... unfortunately I am unable to upload any of them while traveling*