Saturday Mid-March

This has been a busy day but also a fun day. Bev and I have the duty at the village this weekend, which means we stay here to watch over the children and the village so the other ROS can have some time off.

After being lazy for a while this morning I got out and walked the fence line just to check the security and get a little exercise. As I was going past the EPR church school, which backs up to our lower fence, there were many children around and I could smell something cooking at the Compassion office. I went out to say Hi and found they were serving breakfast, porridge and bread, to 230 compassion children. Most of the the adults working there are from the church so I knew most of them. I asked if there was anything I could do to help and they put me to work helping to serve the kids. They were lined up in rows, apparently by age or class, and were very well behaved and quiet. Amazing for that many children. I was handing out the pieces of bread, like a corn muffin, and others were giving them mugs of hot porridge. It did not take very long to serve all of them and they were all sitting around enjoying their breakfast before going to classes.
It was a joy to help them and meet all those children, most of who had been in the Sunday school class Bev and I taught last year. I was gettign rteady to leave when the leader asked me to stay and eat with them. I have been in Rwanda for 14 months now and had managed to avoid drinking any of their breakfast porridge, but I was caught this time. I really do not know how it is made or what is in it. I know it is boiled and is the consistancy of loose Cream of Wheat but it is brown in color. As it cools off it gets thicker so the bottom of the mug is pretty thick. But all in all it was not bad and I get to chalk up another first.

The rest of the day was busy with contractors working and having to adjust their work here and there, going to the market to pick up the kitchen ladies with the vegetables, going again to get 50Kg of potato's and 10Kg of beans, also had a couple of maintenance issues to work on.

Sam and I had some time for him to teach me to make Posho. We cooked some local beef in a tomato sauce in the pressure cooker, which he had never used before. But it is about the only way to cook this local beef so you can chew it. Then we cooked the Posho, which is not stirred, it is 'mingled', now before you laugh, like I did, you should read the instructions on the bag of maze. It states very clearly that you 'mingle' the flour in the water. Two firsts in one day.

During the afternoon I had time to go play with our Rafiki children as we took a walk down to our main gate then raced back up the hill to the cottages. That about did me in, but Epa, our oldest boy, wanted to play soccer, which is not my best game. But as long as I chase the ball and kick it back to the kids they are happy and think I am 'Pele'.

So it was a very good day and I praise God for it.

Art of Aging

Today was probably not the best day I have had. So while I was having a very good time at my own "pity party" I came across this bit of classic information and instruction. My day instantly became better as I put things into their proper perspective. I hope you enjoy this and pray you have a great day in the Lord.

The Art of Aging

When I'm feeling down, I like to whistle. It makes the neighbor's dog run to the end of his chain and gag himself.

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then you body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

If you think there id some thing good in everybody, you obviously haven't met 'everybody'.

There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take the time to look for it. For example, I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt.

Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

Some people try to turn back their life's odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why' I look this way. I've traveled a long, long way and some of the roads weren't paved.

You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.

Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.

First you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper. It's even worse when you get to the point that you forget to pull it down.

Lord, keep your am around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth...AMEN!!!

A Monday

This was one of those days that start out with you being behind and just never seem able to catch up. I was up early enough, the alarm went off at the usual 4:30, I did lay there for another 10 minutes, but was still through the shower and dressed by 5:20 or so. I have a Bible study to teach every week day at 7:00 am so try to get an hour of prep time and prayer in before that, not this morning.

To back up a little bit. This past weekend was busy, I usually have time to read through the whole weeks Bible study and answer some of the questions, that gives me a pretty good leg up on the up coming week. This weekend, as I said, was pretty busy and I did not take the time to do my study time. So I am already behind the 8 ball, so to speak.

My normal routine is to start the coffee as soon as I finish getting dressed and turn on my computer. Which in hind sight was not the best choice this morning. Our internet service is over a cell phone type modem so is very slow, but in the early morning it is the best. The trouble is I get caught up with reading and answering email and forget about the time. I can usually fight that urge and get back to my study time, but this morning there were more than the normal amount of emails and I was helping Bev set up some files. So I got behind and barely finished the lesson prep before I was to teach. Thanks to the Lord I made it through the lesson OK and was on to other things by 7:30.

I had some scheduling to finish and also had an employee issue to deal with, which is out of the ordinary for around here. Most days this place runs like clockwork, since we have excellent ROS and National staff, praise the Lord. We had village guests this past week and they were leaving today so had to get to the airport, but not until mid-morning. so that gave me some time to deliver thank you notes to the District government and local people who did such a great job helping us with the village dedication. Each one of those stops take a little more time than I had allotted, so now I was getting pushed to get a couple letters written that needed to be delivered today while I was in town getting our guests back to the airport.

Tim offered to take our guests to the airport as he had to go into town for another construction matter. That should have put me back on schedule, but there are always a few little items that pop up that you can never see coming, but have to deal with when they come.

The village truck was at the garage, I use that term loosely, so we had to take another driver with us to get all the vehicles back to the village. Bev rode in and was going to bring the truck back while I stayed in town to finish my errands. We even called ahead to make sure the truck was ready, which was a good idea even if the truck was supposed to have been completed on Sunday. The mechanic said it was nearly finished, which only a half hour remaining. It is 45 minutes to an hour getting to town and over to his shop so off we went.

As we pulled into the repair yard, (no building), the truck was still up on the ramps, they were still pulling the clutch back together. Oh Well, this is Africa, so we went to lunch. At lunch we decided that Bev should take our car back, Sam and I would take the truck to finish our business in town. As it turned out that was a great decision. Now nearly two hours later we got back to the shop and the hood was still up, but it was down off the ramps. Bev left and we waited while they finished. As we drove out I noticed that the fuel gauge was below empty and after only a kilometer or so the engine became very rough and stalled a couple times. I was able to take a route to the nearest gas station that was mostly down hill and coasted in. Thinking our problems were over we headed for the next stop, only to have the engine buck and cough worst than before. As soon as we finished our appointment, back to the shop we went. Which was no easy feat as the engined stalled every half a kilometer or so.

Driving into the yard with the engine coughing and hacking, we did not have to say very much to the mechanic, which was a good thing as they only speak Kinyarwanda. We were there all the rest of the afternoon. I was so thankful that Bev had decided to take our vehicle and not the truck (Land Cruiser).

So that was my day. Bev and I were able to get a few more items taken care of this evening, but I still have quite a list left over from today to start off with tomorrow.

Good night, I'm going to bed.

Village Dedication (pt2)

Part 2


There were well over 1000 people on the village for the dedication. Everyone was having a great time listening to the choir and watching the Maranyundo Girls dance and sing. Then the rains came and the people filled the food tent, the gazebo and porches of the cottages, anywhere they could get out of the rain.

As we made our way back to the speakers tent the rain became more intense and the girls from the Maranyundo Girls School, who were doing a traditional dance for the First Lady and other guests were getting very wet. But they never skipped a beat as they danced, sang and played the drums. Everyone fully enjoyed their presentation. Our children were next on the program to sing a song for the First Lady in English. They have done so well in learning songs in English and only having been at the village for a month. It was raining so hard that the First Lady asked that they do not sing as they would have gotten very wet, she also had the Maranyundo Girls cancel their second dance for the same reason. The girls were very disappointed, they had practiced for many hours to perform for the First Lady, but it was her call and only looking out for their welfare.


As I started with the introductions and Pastor Dorothee, from the EPR Church here in Nyamata, gave the invocation, the rain was pounding on the tents so hard you could not hear, even with the sound system. Of course we could not use the podium, so the speakers stood in under the tents with someone holding the wireless mike and at times someone else holding an umbrella.


The rain actually helped keep everyone on schedule which is a hard thing to do at these types of functions in Africa. The big draw back was there was no time for conversation or photos after the ceremony. Most of the dignitaries left as soon as the speakers and Benediction was finished.

Rosemary and the First Lady both gave wonderful speeches. They explained Rafiki's plan for the orphans in Rwanda that would come to live with us. They were both encouraging and challenging.


We had planned food for 150 and again the rain helped us. If everyone had stayed to eat we would have run out of food, but praise the Lord. we were able to feed everyone that stayed after the ceremony.

We were blessed to have our first 12 children at the village for our dedication. Some villages have had their dedications prior to having children. Sometimes that is just the way schedules work out and the Lord will bless them for that. But it was great to have the children with us and see the First Lady and other dignitaries see these children so happy in their new home. Only one month since being in their villages in very poor conditions.

Village Dedication (pt1)

The past week has been very busy with all the planning and arrangements leading up to the Village Dedication on 25 February. We thought we had things pretty well planned out then the different government officials started coming by and most of our program was changed by one or another of them. There were many protocol issues that had to be addressed as the First Lady of Rwanda was to be our Honored Guest Speaker. We wanted to be very sensitive to the wishes of the Rwanda government and protocol. The poor lady who put up the tents had to move them four times as different officials wanted things set up in a special way.

We had planned a closed event with about 150 invited guests.

But could not do that because when the First Lady or the President speaks they need to be speaking to the people of the area and not just to a select few. Of course we readily agreed and opened the ceremony to all. It was market day so there were many people going past our Rafiki Village and most of them stopped for the opportunity to see and hear their First Lady. There were many bicycles loaded with goods for the market, from live chickens and goats to woven grass mats and vegetables. We estimated well over 1000 people came through the gate in addition to the 200 invited guests.

It was a foggy overcast morning, which is not typical here in Rwanda. We may have fog in the mornings but it usually burns off by 8:00 am and the sun comes out. But that was not to be the case this day. Most of the guests arrived prior to 9:15 and the First Lady arrived about 9:30 to cut the ribbon and unveil the dedication plaque. The rain started just about the same time that the First Lady arrived. At first it was just a drizzle but as the ceremony continued so did the intensity of the rain.

After the ribbon cutting and the unveiling of the plaque, the First Lady went to meet and greet the children and toured one of the cottage's with the Minister of Gender, the Governor of the Eastern Province and the Mayor of Bugesera District, plus the press and Aids de Camp. During the time of the VIP tour, the choir from our partner church here in Nyamata was singing for the people. As the First Lady and other VIP's made they way back to the tents the girls from the Maryundo Girls school performed a traditional dance.I will continue with the events of the Rafiki Village Dedication in the next post.