As we departed from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, we were told the plane had to make a stop in Entebbe, Uganda, a city of 90,000. Some of you may remember "Operation Entebbe," also known as the Entebbe raid, it was a counter-terrorism hostage rescue mission carried out by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda in 1976. That stop-over completed, we then headed for Rwanda. At 2:00PM on Tuesday, March 4, we finally landed in Kigali, Rwanda! Flying into the country, the first thing we noticed was the lush green landscape. Ethiopia was brown, barren, and relatively flat. Rwanda by contrast was green, beautiful, and had rolling hills and mountains. We arrived and after some confusion on transportation, the trucks arrived to transport us to the Urukundo Children’s Home in Gitarama, Rwanda about 90 minutes south of Kigali. WHAT a ride to the CH!!! First, the country is beautiful, the people are so glad to meet and greet us, and we fell in love with the countryside immediately.
On the other hand, it struck us how sad that such a beautiful place could have experienced such horror as genocide in the 1990’s. Another amazing thing is the number of Rwandans who don’t have jobs and are just milling about the villages, and even the capital city. These folks are good people and soooo friendly, they want to work, jobs are very limited.
Culturally, we learned that given the lack of education, coupled with the basic need to survive, children and families simply work the land together to provide for their basic daily needs. During out trip to Gitarama, the darkness of the evening fell and we saw literally thousands of Rwandans walking along the highways and local roads. In the evening, families visit, villages pour out into the centers for discussions and just good ‘ole neighborly visiting. One of the most striking sights is the darkness itself. In the countryside and these small villages, there are no streetlights and almost 100% of the mud homes have no electricity. Some folks would describe these “homes” as shantys. In fact, they really are shantys, yet these shantys are HOME to the families who occupy them.
When we arrived at the Home we were met by Mama Arlene and her assistant John (her manager and body guard), Chantel the manager of the Christian Home where we are staying, and Olivier’ who is the nighttime manager. We also met the security guard who is at the gate each night. After introductions we were shown to our rooms.
After working through logistics...the best part of the day began at…….7:30PM.
Half of the team went to visit with the boys and enjoy dinner, the other half of the team went to visit and have dinner with the girls. Here’s the perspective of one of my sisters-in-mission, Jen:
Once we finally arrived and unpacked a bit we had the opportunity to meet some of the children. I went to the boys home with a small group of 7 where we were greeted by hugs and many different songs sung by the boys and a few of the smaller girls. We had a very nice meal in the common room of the home and were received nicely by the “mom” of the house and our cook for the evening, Hope. A fter our meal we hung out with the children and got to know most of them a little bit better. They sang songs and really loved singing, "Do Lord, Oh Do Lord, Oh Do Remember me!" with one verse in Kinyawanda. They are excited about spending time with us and really ready to play soccer. We then retired to our own house for some much needed sleep.
Ed and Jen
On the other hand, it struck us how sad that such a beautiful place could have experienced such horror as genocide in the 1990’s. Another amazing thing is the number of Rwandans who don’t have jobs and are just milling about the villages, and even the capital city. These folks are good people and soooo friendly, they want to work, jobs are very limited.
Culturally, we learned that given the lack of education, coupled with the basic need to survive, children and families simply work the land together to provide for their basic daily needs. During out trip to Gitarama, the darkness of the evening fell and we saw literally thousands of Rwandans walking along the highways and local roads. In the evening, families visit, villages pour out into the centers for discussions and just good ‘ole neighborly visiting. One of the most striking sights is the darkness itself. In the countryside and these small villages, there are no streetlights and almost 100% of the mud homes have no electricity. Some folks would describe these “homes” as shantys. In fact, they really are shantys, yet these shantys are HOME to the families who occupy them.
When we arrived at the Home we were met by Mama Arlene and her assistant John (her manager and body guard), Chantel the manager of the Christian Home where we are staying, and Olivier’ who is the nighttime manager. We also met the security guard who is at the gate each night. After introductions we were shown to our rooms.
After working through logistics...the best part of the day began at…….7:30PM.
Half of the team went to visit with the boys and enjoy dinner, the other half of the team went to visit and have dinner with the girls. Here’s the perspective of one of my sisters-in-mission, Jen:
Once we finally arrived and unpacked a bit we had the opportunity to meet some of the children. I went to the boys home with a small group of 7 where we were greeted by hugs and many different songs sung by the boys and a few of the smaller girls. We had a very nice meal in the common room of the home and were received nicely by the “mom” of the house and our cook for the evening, Hope. A fter our meal we hung out with the children and got to know most of them a little bit better. They sang songs and really loved singing, "Do Lord, Oh Do Lord, Oh Do Remember me!" with one verse in Kinyawanda. They are excited about spending time with us and really ready to play soccer. We then retired to our own house for some much needed sleep.
Ed and Jen
