Rwanda 2014: Day 4

Catch up on Part 1 of our Rwanda trip here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here

SATURDAY | September 13th

We went to bed Friday night thinking Ben would arrive in Musanze to meet us later that night, so to be on the safe side, we decided we would be ready to go at 7:00am Saturday morning, since Ben is an early riser. Amber and I got up early and got ready and headed to the guys’ room around 7:00. I knocked on the door and heard some shuffling around when a sleepy-eyed and crazy-haired Cory answered the door.

Here Amber and I are, completely dressed and ready to hit it and Cory and Jarrod were laid up asleep!

Cory realized he hadn’t heard from Ben the night before so he gave him a call and found out he wasn’t able to catch a bus the night before but was on his way, which gave us some free time to do our group devotion {over pop-tarts} and for the guys to get ready. It was nice to have to a few hours in the morning to relax and catch up on my journaling since I was ready to go and didn’t have to rush to breakfast.

Ben and Gaudence met us around 9:30 and it was so nice to finally get to meet Gaudence after a year of hearing about her from Cory. We loaded up in the truck and headed to Nyabihu for a big day of home visits.

Since we had Gaudence, Anastase, and Onesimus as guides and interpreters we were able to split up into two teams and really get some ground covered. We decided that Cory, Gaudence, Anastase, and I would take the truck and head to some of the houses farther away and Jarrod and Amber would walk with Onesimus to the houses closer to the school. They thought it would be beneficial for us to see just how far some children walk to school everyday, and I must say I was shocked!

Jeremiah tagged along with Amber and Jarrod.

And apparently stole Jarrod’s sunglasses.

Home visits are indisputably one of the most important things we do in Rwanda. Not only are we verifying the children’s answers because many of them don’t know basic facts such as their actual age {and some of the parents didn’t know either} but it gives a chance to pray with the families. It’s hard to describe what it means to the families when we volunteer to not only come into their home and visit with them, but to let them know that we muzungus actually care about them and yes, we came all the way from America just to pray with their family. It may not seem like it, but it really is a big deal–for them and for us.

I can’t help but boast a little on Gaudence. As soon as you meet her, you can’t help but fall in love with her. She is so full of life and has SO much energy. Her personality is so infectious and you just enjoy yourself more while in her presence. She really made us feel at ease and made being in the homes so comfortable because she made herself right at home and the families didn’t seem to mind it at all. It took me a few homes to realize she didn’t really know all the parents because she acted like she had known them forever and was so comfortable around them. And boy, does she love these children! It is evident because she goes in and loves on the kids, tickles them, sings with them…whatever she can do to get a smile, she does! She is a blessing to RCRI and everyone she meets.

I had some gum in my bag and Gaudence asked if she could give it to the kids. Why, of course! But then we had to get out quick because children were coming out of the woodwork, dropping in from everywhere like little African ninjas for a stick of gum.

This family was incredibly sweet! While talking with the mother, she told us that her older son {who is 6 and not pictured} enjoyed doing chores like pulling weeds and helping in the garden. We actually waited on the father and oldest son to return home from picking cabbage and when the little boy walked through the door, he was carrying two of the biggest cabbages I’ve ever seen in my life. They were almost as big as he was! The father then went on to say that his children were a gift from God, and that he knew that he and his wife would always be together because God brought them together.

Also, when Patrick {3 years old and pictured above} was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, he replied “A man.”

Well said, Patrick. Well said.

The hills, y’all! Never in my life have I seen as many hills as in Nyabihu. I guess that’s why Rwanda is called “the land of 1,000 hills”. At this point, we had ditched the truck {because the road ended} and walked to the rest of the houses. While walking up this hill, Anastase very slyly asked if I was tired and between gasping for breath I managed to get out “just a little”, which everybody thought was just TOO funny.  Everyone seemed to get a kick out of how out of shape the muzungus were, except the muzungus.

Our last stop of the day was at Anastase’s house to meet his wife and son. I’ve mentioned the fact that some of the young children are afraid of us and his son is the perfect example. While sitting in his home, Cory asked if he could hold the baby and as soon as he was in Cory’s lap he was instantly screaming bloody murder. I mean just check out the look of terror on the poor little guy’s face from just having to be beside us for the picture!

After about five hours of home visits, we met Amber and Jarrod back at the school. We were all pretty tired and dirty so we called it a day and decided to head back to Musanze. While waiting on Ben to finish up, we tried to play a little hacky sack. Emphasis on tried. 

Always represent. So far we’ve never failed to get this shot everywhere we’ve gone.

That evening, it was back to Tawakal Restaurant for some normal Rwandan food: potatoes, cassava, baked banana, beans, and fries! I opted to stay away from the Akabanga Chili Oil that everyone loves to put on everything there, primarily because Benjamin just refers to it as “Atomic” and Cory says it’s basically just a dropper full of concentrated heat.

So he brought home three bottles.

After that, it was time for another relaxing evening in the boys’ room, and as you can see above, strawberry-flavored marshmallows. As you can also see above, everyone was exhausted so we didn’t do much other than try to get our phones to connect to the flaky wifi while Cory worked on his sermon for Sunday morning. Cory spent most of the evening in a state of general panic and terror in preparation for his big preaching debut. He doesn’t consider himself much a of preacher–he doesn’t get nervous to sing in front of people, but he does when he has to speak. So while he fidgeted over his notes, we all laid around trying to check Facebook and football scores.

Cory took this panoramic shot of us hanging out in the room. It makes for a nice memory to be able to see the room and remember hanging out in there. Apparently I wasn’t quite as exhausted as everyone else…?

Anyway, it was a big day for all of us and we were all excited about church the next morning, after hearing so many stories from last year about the dancing and the music.

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