God Bless Goodbyes

Welcome readers, to the first blog entry I have written outside of Rwanda. That's right. I have recently returned to the United States after my last days of heartfelt goodbyes to all of my friends. Because of this, I have failed to write for a while, making sure to cherish all my last moments in Africa, and God surely has blessed me with many final memories. Allow me to pick up almost exactly one week ago...

Last Friday night, we had a large dinner celebration to express appreciation to all our Rwandan friends. All of us invited a few people, so the meal ended up being quite large. Aside from inviting Felix, Emmanuel, Prudence and the other Felix, I also invited my FHI/R boss Emmanuel and his wife. Unfortunately, she only spoke Kinyarwanda and broken French, so we were largely unable to communicate. Emmanuel and I had a great time reminiscing memorable moments throughout the summer, including when I fell back in the chair at the office and the night in Burundi when we heard "the goats". I felt my throat tighten as I walked him to the door.

It was not long before everyone had to leave in order to make it home before the taxis stopped operating. As many of the others walked their guests to the door, Aaron and I hurried to stuff our backpacks with a few sleeping necessities. The reason: a sleepover at Felix's. Though we technically invited ourselves, they were excited to accommodate us. After an half hour waiting for a taxi, we finally made our way over and settled in. They mocked me: "Do you know where you are? Are you lost?" ... grrr. The room where Felix and his three other roommates (Prudent, Prosper, Eugene) lived is small, about the size of my dorm, and was part of a co-ed student housing unit. We looked at pictures, listened and danced to Boyz II Men and enjoyed conversation about various topics. When it was time for the slumber part of the party to begin, we knew it was going to be squish. Eugene slept on a mattress on the floor, giving Aaron his bed, and Felix offered to share his, since it was bigger than the others. And the mattress was bigger, the frame was not, as I learned when I fell and got stuck between the bed and the wall. Reaching under the bed for support, I discovered a variety of interesting objects: an electric plug, old soap and a pen. "Felix, is this your toothbrush?" "Oh, I was looking for that." We all laughed heartily before falling asleep in the hot and stuffy room.


The next morning before we left, they insisted that we share one last breakfast together. We stopped at a restaurant and got tea and a pita-like matoke. Before we were able to offer, our hosts paid for our meal. Given the obvious differences between us, this was a loving and impressionable gesture, especially when our white skin is associated with money; mzungu means "rich, white person." For Aaron and I, this showed us that Felix, Emmanuel, Eugene and Prudent were true friends. They did not look at us as mzungus, but as Aaron and Jim. As we stood at the taxi stop, Eugene asked me if I had any siblings. "Yeah, I have brother," I replied. "How about you?" Eugene hesitated for a second. "No," he sighed. "My family was killed in the genocide. I'm an orphan." "I am so sorry," I answered, as sincerely as I could, putting my hand on his shoulder. "Now my family is Felix, Prudent, Prosper, Emmanuel, Christian," and making eye contact, "you and Aaron." I smiled and we embraced.

It was difficult to depart from our university friends, but I had little time to reflect as I returned home shortly before we were to leave for a wedding. Sabine, a cook at the Guitarama guest house, was to be married, and all of us were invited. Here is the daily schedule for a Rwandan wedding. 8am - 11am: traditional wedding. 12pm - 3pm: church wedding. 4pm - 9pm: reception. 9pm - who knows: house opening ceremony. Still tired from the previous night, I reluctantly donned my pink shirt and tie. We intended to go straight to the church wedding, but our driver unknowingly took us the traditional wedding a way outside of Kigali, arriving just as it ended. So we turned around and headed back to town. Normally, such a pointless trip would irritate me, but Aaron, Abby and I were the bed of the truck due to the lack of space. After a while, we stood up and gripped the grate at the top of the truck. I closed me eyes, allowing the wind to fly through my face and hair. We sang songs, waved at Rwandans, and avoided raindrops that stung like pebbles as we drove into them. Arriving at the church wedding, I jumped from the truck bed, readjusting my tie, which had become loose in the breeze.


The wedding was long, and therefore, I will be short in writing about it. Two couples got married during the church service, complete with constant karaoke background music and some sort of scout dance troupe. I honestly did not know Sabine that well, and was noticeably impatient throughout the ceremony, especially since the nine hour section of the service we attended was entirely in Kinyarwanda. The food served at the reception, a knob of chicken and a potato, was slightly less than satisfied, but given the hundreds of people that attended I was impressed. We left long after dark, and my crankiness was apparent in how I pushed people back to get all our group to get on a strongly desired matatu taxi. I may have even grunted. :I

Sunday was less than exciting as I scrambled to buy last minute gifts and take last minute pictures. In between my errands, I managed to pack all of my clothes and knick-knacks securely in my luggage. So that by Monday afternoon, I was ready to depart. When Alphonse, one of our trusted house guards, figured out that we were leaving, his looked very upset, sharply contrasting his normal bright smile. Surprisingly, before we left, Dwight took Aaron and I for a ride and shared us exciting news about E-Sponsorship. He told us that the idea was spreading like a wildfire within his network, and that a prototype should be ready by the end of August. With some luck, I should be one of its beta-testers sometime this fall. Aaron and I was grateful to hear this before we parted. Dwight drove us to the airport, where we met the girls and my luggage. Before we went through security, I gave my best regards and good-byes to Dwight, who has been a wonderful mentor, Verdaste, my trusty safari driver, Abby, who is now visiting in Uganda, and Aaron, who is enjoying South Africa. I found it difficult to part with Aaron, who has become a great friend, but at the same time, I am confident that we will see each other again, in this lifetime or the next.

I did not have a window seat, so I failed to the landscape as we ascended above The Land of a Thousand Hills. When I did manage to get a look though, I only saw desert down below, and then I knew that I was out of Rwanda.

One story of note about our return journey. Because our flight to Washington was delayed in Rwanda for two hours, we obviously less time to connect with our flight. Miraculously, (literally), the five of us were the first through customs, having received our luggage promptly and experiencing no difficulties. Feeling lucky, we confidently went to retrieve our domestic boarding passes, only to learn that the flight had been moved up forty-five minutes, meaning we should have already boarded. We ran down the terminal and through customs. We made it just in time, panting as we displayed our boarding passes. I thank God for our luck in customs, because without it we would not have made our flight.

Though this would appear to be the end, I would like to post at least once more as I find time to reflect on my experience and seek to make the lessons I have learned applicable to American life. So, if you are interested, please check back in a week or so. If not, thank you for reading. Please return at the end of September to read about my journeys in Rome! God Bless!

Last Week of Work

No, I haven't been fired. I know that is what you were thinking. You can't fire an intern... I think Aaron and I would know if you could. :) Rather, today was simply the last scheduled day of work for us Food for the Hungry (FH) interns.

Other than that, though, it seemed just like every other day at work. Dwight gave us a project to do; we did it. I continued to work on my research project and drafted emails between games of Free Cell and Vegas Solitaire. We stopped working promptly at 10am for morning tea, and did the same shortly afternoon for lunch. Around 2:45pm, Aaron and I looked around and decided there was nothing left for us to do, so we got a ride back to the guest house. I was and am unable to grasp that I will not return there Monday morning. There were a few goodbyes, but I do not think the FH staff grasped the reality well either. The picture we managed to get only has about half of the staff in it.


In general, this week has been a fast-paced one as I have rushed to gather information for my research project, which has, for better or worse, kept my mind off my inevitable departure from this second home. I have interviewed seven international non-governmental organizations and three government officials. I have also been spending most of my nights reading borrowed books pertaining to my research. Due to the my rushed state, I have my doubts on how spectacular the paper will be, but the process itself has given me a deeper understanding research method, interviewing, civil society and African government. But that is what the rest of my summer is for: making money, reuniting with family and friends... and writing a research paper.

But though the preceding paragraphs have given the impression that my week has been sad and difficult, this has not been the case. Many pleasant, hilarious and even frightening events have happened with week, three of which I will share with you now to turn this blog-frown upside-down.

Yesterday, the Jacksons treated all of us interns and a few Hunger Corps (three-year volunteers) friends to dinner at one of Kigali's finest restaurants. Their particular specialty is steak. Though the wait and delivery of the food of inconsistent due to a number of factors, the three-hour evening was delectable. The steak was quite possibly the finest I have ever tasted (and only $8 USD), tender and succulent. Between the main course, appetizers and some wine, the whole party enjoyed sharing our defining experiences and impressionable memories that have helped us discern our future. Dwight also shared with us some of his brainstorming for the future of FH Rwanda. There were funny stories passed around as well, including the many mischievous pranks of collegiate Dwight Jackson and the story in the following paragraph. In its entirely, it was a complete supper, satisfying my appetite for food and conversation.

What Aaron and I did to Abby the night before though, may have been more satisfying. After being sent to her room to fix the wireless Internet port ourselves, we started thinking of some way to prank her. With a sinister grin, I snatched the clock on her desk on put it twenty minutes ahead; Aaron suggested a full hour. "She's not going to notice, dude." Good point. So after setting her alarm clock, room clock and computer clock, we went back downstairs. "Abby, do you know what time it is?" Aaron inquired. "No, my cell phone's in my backpack. Can you get it for me Jim?" All guilt I had stored inside me melted away. "Sure. I'll bring it back after I go to the bathroom." Out in the hall, I snatched her backpack, found her cell phone, and changed the time on that as well. When she finally got a hold of her cell phone, she was shocked. "Oh my gosh, its 10:30 already." Karen and Emily almost blew our cover, but less-than-subtle winks got the message across. As expected, Abby woke up an hour earlier than everyone else, but she still had no idea. "Oh I'm so glad Dwight said we could come in an hour late," I yawned. "That's weird that the cook was late," prodded Aaron. She was still oblivious. She even told Aaron that she felt as if she had woken up an hour too early. Eventually, Emily told her (go figure), but apparently it had confused her all day. We're thinking about it doing it again tomorrow, but maybe two hours this time.

The joke was on me though early Wednesday night, hours before Aaron and I turned the clocks back on Abby. Abby was near our Rwandan friend Felix's house, and wondered if any of us wanted to come over as well. I was the only one. So I donned my hiking boots and my light-blue Lifeguard hoodie before venturing up to catch a matatu. It was after dusk, so I brought my iPod to accompany me in the dark. I brought me digital camera too, just in case Felix's house yielded an optimal photographic opportunity. After finally getting a taxi and riding it to the appropriate stop, I took off down a dirt street toward the house. There were no streetlights and only a few shadows walked to and fro. I came to what I thought was the house, and I climbed the wall a little just to check. Wasn't it. I continued to wonder for about ten minutes before I took a deep breath and analyzed my situation. Mzungu + light-blue hoodie + peeking over walls + over $200 of electronics + dark, foggy and dirty streets = 'Jim, what are you thinking? You're gonna get jumped.' I quickly swallowed my masculine pride and called Abby: "Hi Abby, I'm coming over... Where am I? Good question." Don't worry mom, I made it all right, and I soon found myself reciting the chain of events sitting on Felix's bed, munching on a cookie. Though as I explained my hoodie, he looked confused. "Lifeguard?" he asked. "Yeah, see. I'm a lifeguard. That's my job." Suddenly, a smile exploded across Abby's face. "Jim, he doesn't understand. Here in Africa, Lifeguard is a popular condom company. I've been meaning to tell you for a while now." So not only was I a lost and vulnerable idiot, but I was a billboard for condoms too. Not only then either, but every time this summer that I have decided to wore one of my four lifeguarding shirts in public. With less than a week left in Rwanda, I am glad that Abby eventually told me what she knew all along... I have yet to get even.

And so concludes this blog entry. Turns out that I wrote a lot. Thank you for tuning in. And don't forget our season finale! My guess is that it will come around this time next week after our FH debriefing. Thank you for reading. God bless!

My African Safari

Greetings friends. It has been said that we learn something new everyday. Hopefully, somewhere during the course of blog, you will fulfill your quota. For starters, "safari" means "trip" in Swahili. And being that this summer's safari is only a week from completion, last weekend I thought it was necessary to go on a modern African safari, while I still had the chance. Besides, after a week of the 4Rs (see the previous blog), I thought it would to take a little break and enjoy God's creation.

Leaving dark and early on Sunday morning, shortly after 6am, Karen, Kristina, Alana, Emily and I took off in an FH van driven by Verdaste, one of the FH hired drivers. I had packed everything the night before in the excitement of my anticipation to go. Taking after my father, I over-packed, putting in an extra pair of shorts, a book, two journals and too many snacks, bringing them "just in case." The hardest part of planning the trip had been predicting the finances. We figured that it could cost only $30 if we got the foreign resident price, but $60 for the visitor fee. We had also heard about a student price, but we did not know its amount.

We arrived at Akagera National Park at around 8:30am, which is good timing considering it is in the eastern most part of the country. I talked for the group at reception and determined that we could not get the foreign-resident price, but could get the student fare. Including payment for Verdaste, a vehicle permit and Charles, our tour guide, our entry fee was only $28. Very nice.


And then we were off, driving on a bumpy and dusty road through the middle of the African wilderness. Within a few minutes, we spotted some antelope, quickly proceed by a cluster of zebra, all hiding in the brush along the road. We sneaked out of the van to get a closer look, but they were scared away. After half an hour, we found ourselves surrounded by thick and tall brush, not ideal for animal searching. Then suddenly, we saw figures moving across the road; it was a pack of baboons. Making our way along a ridge for about another half an hour, we eventually came to a herd of impalas, enjoying the shade of a few trees. Now these impalas were not Japanese cars, but rather an animal very similar to the antelope. Next, Charles told Verdaste to drive off the road into the grassy plains. We were baffled at first, but then up ahead we spotted two giraffes munching away at a tall tree. Their slender long necks enabled them to reach the tallest branches, where other animals could not. However, it also made them look ridiculous, like a horse with wretched case of scoliosis. We continue to drive through the grass until we stumbled upon the road again.


After this, we did not see any animals for a while, except birds and bugs. Oh the bugs. I have never killed so many horseflies in such a short amount of time, but I had no choice. Their bite stung even through a sweater and a tee-shirt. Using my second journal, I smacked and splattered many flies while I wrote about the animals I saw in the other. At first, all of us were thoroughly annoyed at the constant infestation, but eventually we made it a game. Twas all that kept us from going crazy.

At least an hour and fifty dead horseflies later, Charles and Verdaste brought us to Hugo Lake. Driving along its coast, we sped quickly, as if we were going to miss something if we did not. This was particularly unpleasant because the roads were in horrible condition. But as we approached a large gray animal, cooling itself in one of the lake's lagoon, we knew it was worth it. As the elephant casually chilled himself in the water, two birds perched on his back, I climbed on top of our vehicle and combined my camera and the binoculars to take photographs. I used this same technique about ten minutes later when we stopped by the lakeside to observe the hippos bathing by the shore. By the way, as Joye has told me multiple times, a hippo is capable of chomping a person in half if it feels threatened, so we stayed clear.


Once we were done with the hippos, the group decided to return back to Kigali because we had a dinner date to make. I was noticeably upset, because I wanted to see more zebras and check out some wild boar and buffalo, but I respected the group's decision. On our return, we stopped at a lakeside tourist development, where we watched as dozens of the park's protected baboons took over. They climbed on top of the buildings, one broke in through the window, all to get more food to eat. We were all very entertained by them, except for Verdaste, who seemed to be looking at the van more than the primates. When we asked about it, he informed us that the van was broken and would not make it back to Kigali.

Thankfully, we made to the Akagera lodge, going incredibly fast so Verdaste would not have to downshift. When we got there, we luckily found a ride back to Kigali for Kristina and Alana, who had to travel still to Guitarama that night. So then Emily, Karen and myself picked up our stuff and walked into the lodge. On the other side of the parking lot was a pool, and a set of outdoor couches that overlooked the lake. On the other side was Tanzania, as dorkingly displayed in the picture below. I threw on my extra shorts to go for a swim, and then laid on a couch to read my book. The food there was expensive, so we were lucky to have so many snacks to munch on as we waited for about three and a half hours for another vehicle to come from Kigali. Though it is easy to look at this situation and feel sorry for us, you should not, because it was wonderful. Laying on that couch with a warm Tanzanian breeze drifting me in and out of sleep was the most relaxing experience of my safari thus far.

Poor Verdaste though was having a tough time. In addition to his vehicle breaking down, he started to get sick. As we returned home, we had to stop twice for him to throw up. We think we are going to make him a baked good or something.

Since then, life has kept me busy with this new research project. As of now, I have interview three NGOs and one government officer, and I plan to double that number by the end of tomorrow. So far, it has been very interesting to hear about the trust issues between the Rwandan government and international NGOs, but my data gathering must continue. Which reminds me, I best be off to bed. I must wake up early for my interviews tomorrow.

The tale of one city is almost over. Thank you for reading about it. God bless.

P.S. As a sign of my thanks for reading this far, I will let you in on a little secret. Aaron and I had some authentic African outfits made; go to his blog to see pics!

Reseraching, Reporting, Reading and wRiting

This week can truly be summed up in the title. And while most may read and suddenly conjure images of dreariness or exhaustion, on the contrary, I consider them the 4 Rs (almost) of productivity. Closing in on the last week of our internship, it has become a priority to tie loose ends in order to ensure that the work we have started continues after our departure. In fact, Caleb has already left, enforcing the reality of our approaching homecoming, a bittersweet sentiment, to be sure. Instead of examining my week by days, as I normally do, today I will categorize the paragraphs by the 4 Rs.

Researching: I will start with this, not only because it is the first in the title, but mainly because it is what I have doing the most of. On Tuesday, I finished my research for Stephen, finding many interesting websites along the way that I bookmarked for the upcoming school year. With a bit a luck, I may find out that I am building my Model UN binders already. Additionally, I have finally settled on a research project to do while I am in Kigali concerning NGO management. As of right now, my primary question is how is the underlying pressure from the Rwandan government to get rid of foreign aid effecting international NGO operations and their effectiveness. It is certainly an original question, and one that will hopefully produce fruitful and pertinent results. As of right now, I have set up appointments with five international NGOs for next and am working on getting at least two more. Furthermore, if I have extra time of the interview, I will ask each organization's acting director about other topics I am interested in. For example, "How has the fact that food commodity prices have risen 21 percent since 2005, effected your organization?" This will probably consume most of my last week here in Kigali, considering that once I leave I will have a much harder time getting field information.

Reporting: Aside from drafting up mini-reports for Stephen about what I researched, Dwight Jackson informed Aaron, Emily and I that he wanted a full report about our ideas for E-Sponsorship by Friday. For those who are unaware, E-Sponsorship the new online sponsorship program that we have been brainstorming and developing for many weeks now. From the philosophy of E-Sponsorship to the web page format and features for a sponsor's personal page, everything was included in the report. For all that we have developed, combining all of our ideas in a few days proved to be difficult. However, it was also extremely rewarding and brought great closure to the project. Now the document has been drafted, it will be circulated to multiple people, here in Rwanda and internationally, to see if it fully explains our ideas. If not, next week will allow us to make revisions.

Reading: Aside from all of the reading that naturally comes from the former activities, I have picked up on reading some news articles from the Christian Science Monitor and am planning on reading The End of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs. I recently finished a book entitled A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, which is quite graphic, but an eye-opening read. Joye had begun to read Paradise Lost this summer, but stopped after half-way. We are committed to finishing, but when it comes to Old English epic poetry, one should take a breather from time to time.

wRiting: This pseudo-R has also been a frequent activity of mine, more so than just the reporting and editing that has controlled my life at work. I have written emails, and as of right now, I am writing a blog, believe it or not. In all honestly though, my accomplished piece of writing though is not this blog, or any of the reports that I have completed or will begin, but a song that I finally finished last night. It has taken God and I about six weeks to write it, and I feel that it is my greatest piece to date. For some, this is not saying much, but it means a lot to me. Songwriting is perhaps my greatest form of reflection, forcing me to question my basic foundations, process my thoughts, carefully formulate them in a limited amount of space, and to top it off, turn it into music. As one can imagine, this summer has given plenty to think about. Anyways, if you are interested in listening, please let me know when I return; I feel committed to playing it.

I will finish this blog a little piece I read in the Christian Science Monitor. The article was titled "Climate change escalates Darfur crisis," but the fourth page of the article seemed nearly misplaced with the rest of the article. It tells the story of Emmanuel Uwurukundo, a Rwandan Tutsi from Rwanda who now willingly operates three Darfur refugee camps in Chad, often facing hatred from people because of the very few resources he is able to provide them. I was stunned. Why would this man who has experienced the worst genocide in history (he was in Kigali in 1994) put himself in the same situation again? His answers is a beautiful one: "When you are a survivor of something like this, you have two choices. Either you come to the conclusion that life is meaningless, and for all intents and purposes, you are dead to the world, without hope. Or you think, if I am still alive, there must be a reason for it. There must be something I can do with my experiences to make things better."

Thank you for reading. God bless.

Bye Caleb, we'll miss you. Sniffle sniffle.

Life is Full of Surprises

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to my 16th blog post, a post like none other, with twists and surprises like you've never seen before. Okay, I apologize for the sensationalism, but the past four days certainly have been full of unexpected surprises. Hope you agree.

It began Saturday with a pleasant walk up Mt. Kigali with our Rwandan friends, Emmanuel, Christian, Felix and Thaddeus. After getting dropped off at the nearest matatu stop, we all hiked to the top of the one of tallest hills of Kigali. Half of the hike was through the village that was established there, which gradually became wilderness near as the peak approached. Not only did we get great views of Kigali and the country beyond, but we had the privilege to interact with the local children as well, who became our tour guides. They all requested a sip of water from my bottle, so after teaching them the word "please," I pour sips of water down their throats as they tilted their head backs, mouths opened wide. Nearby, Aaron also requested a sip, assuming the position that the children had adopted. I smiled. Unable to resist, I took the opportunity to splash water all over his face and shirt. The children laughed.


After our walk though, us interns and our other friends at the guesthouse called it a day. I spent the afternoon reflecting on my experience thus far and writing a song about my struggles. As I prayed, thought and wrote, I felt that I made some true connections with God through the song. I am excited to share it with everyone once its completed. I think its my best one yet. : ) However, all of deep-thought needed to be countered, so Saturday night found me watching Beauty and the Beast. Say what you want, but it was wonderful.

Sunday morning church was a blessing, especially during the praise and worship part of it. However, I still yearned for more spiritual nourishment, so Aaron, Nathan and I went to go see a speaker that was advertised through a text message on our phones. We arrived at 3pm in a huge inflated meeting space that probably seated a couple thousand. Selecting seats near the front with ample leg room, we waited until 4pm, at which time there was standing room only. Preceding the renown speaker, whom I am sure you all will recognize, there were three praise bands. The first was my favorite, sharing a Jamaican-style version of "Here I am to Worship" and "Lord I Lift Your Name on High." Ja mon, praise da Lord mon. The other bands were good too, singing songs primarily in Swahili. Ugh, if only the Alma College chapel band could pull all that off.

Once everyone was energetic, the speaker was introduced, who was none other than Rick Warren, author of A Purpose Driven Life. Now, I have never read his books, but just the thought of seeing Rick Warren, in Rwanda of all places, was an experience I wanted to have. Rick shared with us that after reading his book, President Paul Kagame called him up and told him that he thought Rick could help in the reconstruction of Rwanda. What an extraordinary outreach opportunity for him! So Sunday night, in the presence of First Lady Kagame, the mayor of Kigali, over a thousand Rwandan youth and a handful of muzungus, Rick Warren talked about purpose, God's love and leadership. Overall, I felt that the message was too repetetive and watered-down for me, but for the youth of Rwanda, it was perfect. When him or his wife spoke, the room was attentive, unlike the Rwandans at the Liberation Ceremony during Kagame's speech. He also provided great explanations to concerns about God's love in relation to the genocide, which I feel is an underlying question for all Rwandan Christians. And though it was a bit repetitive, I certainly gained insight as well. Funny how we sometimes forget the basics.


The next surprise arrived Sunday night, when I was informed that someone found my driver's license, which I lost on the beach in Hawaii, and was nice enough to mail it home to Michigan. Phew! I thought the ocean had swallowed it. Considering I did not have time to reapply for a new one, I was very much relieved to hear this. This way, when I return a few weeks, I will be able to drive. Woo-hoo!

Returning the office Monday, I kept myself busy research subjects for Stephen, including the agriculture technique of double-digging, the benefits to using particular plants as green manure and the newly established Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa. Thrilling, I know. But truthfully, I learned a lot from this experience and picked up a few new online sources that I will be able to use at school. Moreover, I also took the day to plan out some interviews with other international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as World Vision, in order to write a research paper on NGO management. Though I have little time to complete this field research, I am confident that I can gather enough information to learn about the different techniques and frameworks used in operating an NGO and evaluate their effectiveness.

After working hard on Monday, a group of us from the house decided that we need to take a day off, but do not worry, we had Dwight's permission. A FHI/R vehicle was heading to Burundi and was able to provide us free transport to the Rwandan National Museum in Buture. Unable to foresee a better time to go, we all piled into the vehicle and drove a few hours to museum. Once we reached our destination, I excitedly began to read the displays and learn about African history, which is fascinating when you are still able to see remnants of it today. However, about one-fifth way through the museum, the English display information stopped, and we were left with text in only French and Kinyarwanda. This was a major disappointment, a negative surprise if you will. We continued to look at all of the artifacts, but much of the learning was lost. Aaron and I have concluded that if we do not know a second language by the time that we are thirty, we will never be successful in doing development work.


And as a final surprise to a busy and complete couple of days, I just found tonight that my security clearance with the state department went through, meaning that I am all set for my second internship at the United States Mission to the United Nations in Rome in the fall! That internship, of course, will also be covered in the blog as well, hence the two cities mentioned in the title. Being that my information arrived late, I was truly worried about the security clearance process, but God has delivered graciously, as he does with all things.

This is the city from on top of Mt. Kigali. I love the way the sunlight bursts through the clouds. Thank you very much for reading. God bless!

A Welcomed Change of Pace

Well hello there. It's a pleasure to see you again, or for the first time, depending on whether you have seen this blog before or not. Either way, welcome.

As a briefly mentioned in my last blog, though my work has been productive, it has also been repetitive and not worth detailing. However, Tuesday began with an interesting meeting with Food for the Hungry/Rwanda (FHI/R) country director, and my boss, Dwight Jackson. Among the many topics we discussed, it also came to my attention that Emmanuel is no longer is charge of agriculture at FHI/R, but rather the environment sector. In his place, a British gentlemen named Stephen will lead the agriculture department while he and his wife Anne work in Burundi for the next three years. They both have living at the FH guesthouse here in Kigali while making preparations and waiting for Anne's foot to heal from an unfortunate slip-down-the-stairs accident. Though the injury to the foot is regrettable, it has been wonderful having them around. Technically as the agriculture intern, I quickly realized that I had a new boss. Stephen quickly gave me mini-research projects to do. Even though he is an experienced agriculturists, he is spending his time in Rwanda to learn as much about African agriculture before going to Burundi. So my research tasks were all agriculture-related, though diverse in nature. As I scanned the internet, I was hauntingly reminded of our Model UN team at Alma College. : )

After a morning of internet research, Stephen was gracious enough to take me to GAKO Organic Farm Training Center for some more interactive learning. Essentially, GAKO is an NGO that operates month-long training courses to promote efficient and sustainable organic farming, particularly for rural families with small plots. Admittedly, even I was skeptical about just how thrilling a farm training center could be, but I was truly impressed. The center had developed many innovative techniques for small and poor farmer. My favorites included the kitchen garden (a mound garden with compost-like core), sock cultivation (a vertical garden in potato sacks filled with rocks and dirt) and biofuel stove methane (processed from cow waste). The center also shared with the benefits of composting, natural pesticides, as well as the characteristics of particular plants and trees that can be planted in a garden. For example, one tree, known as Neem, is a natural mosquito repellent. I think we need some of those trees in Michigan, eh?


Wednesday I found myself continuing with research throughout the morning, but because of a faulty internet connection, we all went home a little earlier. However, five minutes after arrival, Karen invited me to join her for HIV/AIDS child home visits done through the organization she has been working for. My laziness caused me to hesitate, but thankfully I agreed to go. It was a splendid afternoon. Because the HIV/AIDS victims are given free medicine through the government and the NGO, none of the people we met with appeared to be terminally ill. They were wonderful people though, certainly undeserving of any ailment at all. They lived in a small village on the outskirts of Kigali, as if their living conditions had gotten them pushed out of the thriving and clean city. While scanning the walls in one house, I noticed a tapestry with a Kinyarwanda Bible verse on it from "Abagalatiya". Apparently, the verse had a list and each listed word was bulleted by either a orange or green fruit. Smiling, I pointed to it and recited "The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." They clapped, impressed by my reading of Kinyarwanda, when in truth, that annoying song from high school youth group is still stuck in my head.

Thursday, much to my dismay, the internet in all of Kigali did not work. Unable to research, I guiltily played Free Cell, which I've become quite fond of. After lunch, though, Dwight told me to talk to Brenda, his wife, with a task he wanted me to do. It turns out that Brenda, who is currently the headmistress for the nearby Kigali International Community School, was planning a parent's night to celebrate the end of the school's second year. Her and Dwight had thought it would be a good idea to give out next year's billing early, promising a five percent discount if the full tuition was paid before next Thursday. So my job, hours before the event, was to type of the billings. Fortunately, a rough template had been made up for me in Microsoft Excel, but none of Excel's formula features had been utilized, so I spent an hour setting that up. After that, it was simply a matter of typing in a few names and numbers, based on the school's scaled price rate, which was five times cheaper for locals than it was for embassy kids. All in all, as much as I hated Business Technology freshman year of high school, I must admit, yesterday it came in handy.

And that brings me to today, which consisted of a trip far into the Eastern Province of Rwanda to meet with the local leaders of the Ngoma District to discuss coffee production, among other things. Regrettably, most of the conversations were in French, effectively excluding me, but I did get a chance to the see the region as well as observe Stephen and Emmanuel as they conversed with potential partners. Though the district stated that they primarily wanted large private investors, such as Starbucks, to help with agricultural extension and development, my bosses did a good job convincing them that FHI/R may a role to play. We left with them satisfied in the outcome of our first meeting with the district. On the back, around 2pm, I realized that I had had no lunch. So, without whining, I strategically suggested that my stomach was imploding. We stopped at a guest center on a small lake, directly across from President Kagame's farm. However, due to a local convention, no food was available, so instead we were invited to enter their traditional Rwandan hut and enjoy some milk. To make a long story short, somehow I was given a huge glass and drank a pint of the thickest, richest milk ever. It was like whole milk times two. Needless to say, I felt queasy afterwards, but thankfully recovered a few hours ago after eating dinner.


So there you have it. Tuesday: farmer. Wednesday: HIV/AIDS social worker. Thursday: Financial Consultant. Friday: FHI/R non-Francophone representative. Not monotonous at all.

Thank you for reading, and before I stop for tonight, I would like to give two shout-outs to my adorable girlfriend Joye Kallgren, who is reading this sentence with a flushed face. One, because yesterday was her twentieth birthday and two, because today is our 1.5 year anniversary! How exciting! Joye, you given me happiness and purpose in more ways than you know, and I thank God frequently for blessing me with such a likable friend.

Urakundo

Dear and dearest readers, thank you for joining me again. Work has been productive, but repetitive, and so I will do all a favor and spare you from the details. In essence, Aaron and I are still doing good work in developing concepts for E-Sponsorship. However, today I did organize a stack of papers into four books after watching Emmanuel struggle with the ordering the pages.

This weekend though brought about some fulfilling fun, as we traveled to Gitarama again for a dinner party that Alana was putting on. I knew she invited many guests, but it was not until the twelve or so girl orphans arrived that I figured out who the guests were. Though they only spoke Kinyarwandan, we had an excellent time entertaining them with games like 3-legged races and Steal the Bacon. After the games, we all enjoyed a wonderfully made Mexican meal, complete with tortilla chips and guacamole. Mmmmmm. Then came desert, which consisted of pineapple, peanuts and Aaron's and my surprisingly fabulous maple brownies. We're humble about it though. Following desert, the girls performed a native Rwandan dance for us before they had to leave to get to bed. It was definitely in my Top 10 list for best parties ever.

The girls were part of an organization Urakundo, which means 'love' in Kinyarwanda. The head mistress of both of the girls' and boys' orphanage was a 76 year-old women from Pennsylvania, known as Mama. She told us that upon retirement, and after her husbands death, she found her life becoming increasingly meaningless. But God changed all of that when she got pushed into volunteering abroad through her church. Now, she has lived in Rwanda for four years, having established and developed the orphanage and has found her purpose once again. When we told her that we had made brownies, she excitedly asked for one, saying she had not enjoyed a brownie in four years. I gave her two, commenting that she should just as well have two, since she would probably had four years until her next brownie. I hope that when I am her age, I will have the courage live and work abroad as well.

Sunday night, after another crowded ride back from Gitarama, us interns and a few others were lucky enough to be invited over to Dwight Jackson's (our boss) house for dinner. Aside from being a wonderfully gracious and kind lady, Dwight's wife Brenda is an amazing cook. She prepared for us a dish known as Mt. Kilimanjaro, which was essentially chicken curry with a wide array of toppings. In her explanation of her dinner, Brenda instructed us to add the coconut last, to represent the snow. "It's a good thing we're eating this now," I muttered, "because in twenty years we won't get any coconut." No one got it... but I thought it was funny. Anyways, dinner was delicious, as expected, successfully concluding an eventful weekend.

Tis all for now. The picture above is of a matatu, the primary form of public transportation in Kigali. I like this picture; it reminds me of Little Miss Sunshine. To accompany the picture, I have also added another video, complement of Aaron. Simply click the appropriately titled video on the sidebar of this page to activate it. This was the matatu ride on the first trip to Guitarama, which was some time ago, but it will give you an idea of this crazy mode of transportation nonetheless. This one is only moderately packed though, on the way back we were in one that had 21 people in it. I hope you enjoy it as well as the rest of your day. God bless.