I am practically African now...

LAST BLOG POST UNTIL I REACH THE STATES IN A FEW DAYS! (Sorry, no pictures…the internet has been worse than normal around here)

Well, first off, let me apologize for not updating you all on my life for the past few weeks. This session of classes has consumed the majority of our time and we have not had much time to do anything other than read and write papers. That being said, we are DONE! Finals have been taken, presentations have been done and debriefing is in progress. Packing must soon begin…AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Kelli, the classmate whom I spent my time in Kayonza with, left yesterday to head back to America because her brother’s wedding is this coming weekend. Because of this, we had to complete our Oral Literature Presentation and Practicum Presentation early. The practicum presentation was smooth sailing; the oral literature presentation on the other hand…not so simple. Over practicum we were required to collect different pieces of oral literature ranging from proverbs and songs to narratives, tongue twisters, and riddles. For the presentation, we had to present them IN THE GIVEN LANGUAGE! Luganda and Kinyarwanda are not the easiest languages to just speak in. The clusters of sounds make it difficult to simply read across the page. If you thought tongue twisters in English were hard…try reciting them in foreign languages. Our professor is a stickler, but at least it is over J We have class on Monday and then the other students have presentations on Monday evening and Tuesday…then the academic semester is OVER!

Now, for a recap of the little bit of excitement I have had over the past few weeks! Here they are:

1)   I am practically African…

2)   I should be an African drummer…

3)   I now fear the taxi park…

4)   I am full of Go ED love…

I am practically African…

Last Saturday, our group visited a mission called, Azizi Life. Azizi Life’s vision is to participate in local initiatives for the development of Rwandan communities working towards physical and spiritual wholeness for all. While they may appear to simply be a “Marketing and Export” company that helps the rural artists of Rwanda access the wider global market, it is much more! The foundation of everything they do is based on the principles that are shown within the Bible. In all of their ministry activities, they strive to work with integrity and to show God’s love and truth to the people around them. They are passionate about telling the stories or their artisans and the communities they partner with. By connecting with the artisans, they hope they are giving them opportunities to participate in the development, and understanding, of friends across the world.

So, now that you have some background on this ministry, how did this play into our experience? One activity Azizi life does is allow outsiders to spend a day in the life of a Rwandan Artisan, so that is what we did. Here was the labor for the day:

First, we were broken into smaller groups and taken to a woman’s house. The woman we stayed with was named Florida and she had 3 young children. Her house was constructed of mud walls and we were shown their “living room” and the kitchen. The kitchen had a small open fire in the corner and then a living room with a few benches. After bring shown her house, the day began…

Traditional outfits: All the girls were dressed in traditional wrap skirts and head wraps before we started the day’s work.

Cultivating the land: We were given hoes and hiked down a big mountain to a square of land where we tilled the land uprooted the weeds. A job that would usually take them several hours, we were done in 30 minutes.

Fetching Water: After we finished cultivating the land, we hiked back to Florida’s house and got jerry cans so that we could dead back down the mountain to the natural faucets. Our jerry cans were a joke compared to the cans that these men and women carry up the hills…

 BABIES: My Africa adventure is complete! I was holding Florida’s little boy, throwing him up in the air, and THEN…Florida comes over to me and puts the baby ON MY BACK!  I carried him like a true African J

Cutting Grass: Next task of the day was to cut grass for their cows. We had these tools that looked like hooks and we chopped grass, tied it together, and carried it on our head back to the front of the house.

Corn: Last labor of the day was to shuck all the kernels off of the cobs. We sat on the floor of Florida’s house on some mats with other women from the community and took the kernels off tens of cobs of corn, which they will use to sell and make flour.

Cassava, Beans and Avocado: For lunch, we ate a traditional meal with the women. We were each served a bowl of cassava and beans, which were grown by Florida and her family. For a special treat, we were given avocado.  The trick was…we had to eat with our hands. Well, that was difficult. Our parents always tell us to use our napkins and not eat with our fingers…well that was thrown out the window today, but it was incredible!

Weaving: For our last activity with the women, our whole group joined up in Florida’s living room. We sat amongst the women and they taught us how to make bracelets out of dyed leaf fibers.

The day was truly incredible; probably one of the best days I have had since being here in Rwanda. It was a blessing to be able to spend a day with these women and support the work of Azizi Life Ministries.

I should be an African Drummer…

For Pastor Antione’s class, we took a field trip to Butare, Rwanda to visit the Kings traditional hut and a museum, which presented information regarding traditional African culture. At the end of our museum visit, we were given a private traditional African dance and drumming show.  As I watched, I tried to compare the Rwandan dance to the dances we saw in Uganda. The Ugandan dance seemed to have much more or a story to it. Different hand movements represented different agricultural traditions or cultural norms. The drumming from this performance, however, was an awesome interactive experience. There were enough drums and sticks for all 15 of us to be up drumming. They set a solid beat and then we could drum however we wanted within that lead beat.

I now fear the taxi park…

So, I had the blessing of being able to visit Lisa Wingard just 30 minutes away from my house in Kigali. She was here in Rwanda visiting with her program, visiting the memorials and touring around the land. Well, the interesting part of the story is about my travels to find her.  The only thing I knew about how to find her was that it was 5 km away. Did I know what direction? NOPE! So, I walked up to the taxi park, stuck my hand up, and asked a taxi driver where to go. He said he knew, pulled out, and started going the opposite direction than I thought! I put my COMPLETE FAITH in him. We drove, and drove and turns out…it was further than 5 km. We kept driving, and driving and driving. Then we hit traffic so we sat and sat and sat. We were then rerouted down a one-way street come to find there was a mattress factory that lit on fire. I started getting nervous that we were in the wrong place because we were driving down dirt roads and pulled up to a rusty gate. I started to get semi nervous so I called Lisa and she came out. WE WERE IN THE RIGHT PLACE! It was honestly a miracle. Now…I asked my lovely semi-English speaking taxi driver how much it would cost. He responded saying, 5000 ($10)! BIBI (BAD!)! It should only cost 3000 ($6).  I was not havin that, so I threw 4000 ($8) on his lap and left. He then proceeded to roll down the window and yell “F*** YOU!” SAYYYY WHATTTTTT?!?!?!? I was angry. But, seeing Lisa was INCREDIBLE and it was totally worth my adventure to find her J

I am full of Go ED love…

Tonight, we had GO ED LOVE FEST FEAST! What does that include you may ask? We began with an incredible dinner consisting of curry chicken with BOMB toppings. Then we moved to a slide show of our semester here. Next on the schedule was a lovely rap performed by Leah Bright. We finished off ;ith some speeches from the house staff and other staff members and handed out “warm and fuzzy” notes that we wrote to each other. We will conclude the night with a group sleepover in the family room with all our mattresses and a midnight breakfast J

LEAVING

I cannot believe we all leave this weekend! I also cannot believe that in a week from today I will be on my way to Costa Rica with Push the Rock and Messiah Women’s Soccer! God is INCREDIBLE. I look forward to reflecting, growing, and making sense of this experience as I return home. Keep looking out for some new posts throughout the summer!

MUCH LOVE!

3 Week Recap: "What de hell is dat about?"

Quick recap of the past 3 weeks…

Pomegranate Tree!

Weekend trip to Gisenyi: A few of us took a weekend trip to Gisenyi, which is right on Lake Kivu and touches the DRC boarder. So while we were there, we: walked to the boarder, met an American actor named Gabriel Olds in our hotel, found an African buffet for less than 2 bucks, saw THE COOLEST lightening storm out over the lake, met a Ugandan soccer team, and hung out at some expensive hotels because it rained the whole time!

Lake Kivu

 Classes: We are already 3 weeks in to our last two classes. Our Post Colonial African Literature class is taught by a Ugandan woman who’s favorite phrase is, “What de hell.” For that class we are reading about a book and a half a week and then we spend Monday, Wednesday and Friday having group discussions recapping the book and diving into the culture of it. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have African Traditional Religion/Culture from 8 to 12:30. Our professor for this class is a Rwandan Anglican Pastor and he is really challenging us to look at our Christian, Westernized faith in comparison to the Traditional African people. His class requires a butt load of reading from a book that often contradicts itself and makes for a difficult, long assignment. Both classes require a lot of work, which does not allow us to get out if the house to much. When we do get out of the house, we usually head to one of the surrounding hotels or cafés to get work done.

Our less than $2 buffet

Soccer Game: We went to the National Stadium to see a soccer game between two Rwandan club teams. The soccer was mediocre and it made me want to be on the field even more! Every time they did something, my MWS training kicked in and I either cringed or approved (mostly cringed). “Take the ball across your body. Pick your head up. End line!” It was fun to be in the crowd amongst a sea of Rwandans.

Drunk fan!

Fabric Barn: Talk about overwhelming! In town, there is a “barn” that is full of fabric. You walk back into a kind of sketchy looking area and before you know it a sea of colors surrounds you. Different vendors have stacks of fabric, fabric hanging on the walls and clothes made of various fabrics. The colors are absolutely incredible and the patterns are very joyful. I have been hoarding fabric this semester…I think it may take up a whole suitcase…Good thing I have an AWESOME mom to help me make cool things J

Easter: While I missed the traditions form home, it was an awesome weekend of celebrating Christ’s death and resurrection here at the Go-Ed house. On Friday night, we watched The Passion, which is an incredible reminder of why we celebrate Easter. Seeing the mistreatment and torturing of Christ is a visual reminder that God has taken my sins on the cross with him and I have been washed clean. Every time I watched him whipped, beaten or kicked, I sank into my seat a little further. That being said, I could feel a weight being lift up off my shoulders. Being here in Rwanda, I have seen the meaning of Easter in a new light. As I stated before, this week is a time of remembrance, but it is also a celebration of Jesus Christ. It has been said, “Easter comes at a time when Rwandans need it the most.” On a lighter note of the Easter season, we had several festivities here at the Go-Ed house. Saturday was full of dying Easter eggs and team Easter trivia (losers God eggs poured on their heads). On Sunday, we went to church then came home and prepared for our Easter meal. 

The meal was a potluck, so we each signed up to make a different dish. IT WAS AMAZING! I made my mother’s baked corn and it turned out so well! Everyone told me, “I looked at it and almost didn’t take it, but it was BOMB!” So, it was a hit. We also had green bean casserole, fish, beef, mashed potatoes, salad, homemade bread, hummus, pasta, fruit salad and so much more! After eating, we had a big Easter egg hunt, a spoon egg race, and an egg toss. The house staff participated in the egg hunt and most of them did better than we did. At one point, Kimmie and Julie were struggling to reach an egg on the top of our gate at the bottom of our driveway. The next think I knew it, I saw Aidah running down the hill and climbing the gate like a monkey and she beat both of them to the egg. It was futo share the Easter season with all of these people who I have gotten so close to over the past 3 months!

Zeke's First Easter Egg!

Go-Ed Easter

For my MWS girls :) 

Noodle fangs. So not planned!

The losers of Easter trivia got egged...

Took it like a champ!

"Family Photo"

Rae and I

Zeke and Jordon

Remembrance Week: Remembrance week began on the 6^th of April and will continue Fn for he next several weeks. The first week, everything around the city has different hours and many things are closed. As the 100 days or remembrance carries on, the remembrance “activities” will not be as planned, but events will still be taking place. One thing that is happening around the country is the burial of loved ones. During the genocide, many people had family members killed in front of them, but they were not killed. At that point in time, they would burry their loved ones where they were at in order to pay respect to that person. To remember loved ones that were lost in the genocide, there are burial ceremonies performed. This ceremony, to an outsider, seems as though it has the potential to be very awkward. What happens is this: A person is to dig up their loved ones and wash them so that they can be buried on a site with others who were killed in the wars. During this ceremony, the killer of these people is also present and participating in the ceremony. As I have been praying for the Rwandan people and thinking about the washing of sins, forgiveness, and remembrance of the genocide, I have asked myself many questions. I ask myself, “Are all people remembering the genocide in a light of despair, or are there still radicals who hate the Tutsi’s and look at this week as an accomplishment of the past (which is an absolutely sickening thought)? When it comes to remembrance, do people remember the killings in 1996, 1997, 2000 and before 1994 or do they only focus into the 1994 because it was the largest mass murder? As an outsider, I can only ponder these things; I cannot answer these questions. With being here these past 3 months, the idea of reconciliation is one that is prominent. There is no doubt about it that this nation has had movements of reconciliation since the dividing of the Hutu and Tutsi groups. That being said, it is easy for westerners to just assume that reconciliation has taken place here and that is the end of it. While many people have come to peace and have reached forgiveness, there are bound to be many who still wear a mask of reconciliation.

Co-Op: These past few weeks, I went to a co-op for women who have been both effected by the genocide and have AIDS. An American woman started this co-op and it is geared towards helping to give women an active role in their own survival. The women here are taught sewing skills so that they may create quality pieces and sell them, each taking the wages from their own pieces. The women here are some of the sweetest women I have ever met. Their website is: www.rwandanwomencan.org.

Shout Outs: A lot of exciting things are going on at home! First off, Mike earned the position First Sergeant for next semester. He will be the head junior in charge of Lima company. That means, he will oversee freshman training before school starts and have some more highly regarded responsibilities within the corps. It is an honorable position that he is excited to take on the challenges of. Secondly, my mom has a NEW BUISINESS up and coming this summer. B. Sue Sews is expanding. My mom has plans to teaching sewing classes in our house this summer.  God is providing for this business! She has spoken with Mr. Zimmerman, the man who sells sewing machines (whom she has used for several years for her sewing machines at school), and he has offered to give her 6 sewing machines to put in our house so that she may begin offering lessons this summer. The machines will technically be in ownership of Mr. Zimmerman, but they will be in our house for her unlimited use. GOD HAD PROVIDED! HE IS GOOD! She is very excited to get her classes advertised and to reorganize/redecorate our living room. For both of these people in my life who I absolutely love, I am excited to see God use the gifts he has given them to reach out to other people and put them into action.

Today marks three weeks until I will be on a plane back to America. WHERE HAVE THE PAST 3 MONTHS GONE? 

Much love,

Ali

UGANDA!

A little over a week ago, our entire group was reunited in Kigali after being spread out for practicum for a month. We arrived home on Wednesday afternoon and quickly turned around and headed out for a 4 day trip to Uganda. Overview…tribal dances…drowning down the Nile…real ice cream…LISA WINGARD!

On Thursday morning at 5am, the 17 of us hopped on a "coach bus" to Uganda. Total, it took us about 12 hours to arrive in Kampala, Uganda. Along the way, we had to stop at the boarder and pass through a check point with the Rwandan government and then walk across no man'a land before paying for a visa into Uganda. Part of our reason for leaving Rwanda was so that we could renew our visas. Our visas that we got upon arrival here in Rwanda only last for 90 days, so we needed to leave and come back so that we could have  a visa for the remainder of our stay. It cost us $50 dollars for a visa into Uganda, but the price of a visa varies depending on your citizenship. For US citizens, it does not cost anything to enter Rwanda and for Irish citizens, it does not cost anything to enter into Uganda. I am not sure the rhyme or reason behind this. Well, it is always fun to get a new stamp in the passport, especially from places that I have made such incredible memories in.

So eventually after a very hot, 12 hour bus ride, we reached Adonai Guesthouse in Kampala, Uganda. Not only was I antsy to get off the bus, but a special someone was waiting at our hotel for us to arrive. LISA WINGARD! I think I texted her at least 20 times on our bus ride because I was so excited to see her. Seeing her was so refreshing! After coming off a very draining month at New Life Christian Academy, seeing her was just what I needed :) We were able to catch up, eat dinner together, and go out to get some ice cream in the city. Seeing her was rejuvenating and got me ready to carry on with my Africa experience; but, at the same time, it was such a tease! It was like the rest of MWS should pop out of somewhere, but that didn't happen. That being said, I will be on my way to Costa Rica with them in about 5 weeks! 

On Friday, we woke up and spent the day walking around Kampala. We were paired with a tour guide that was a friend of Go-Ed's who took us to the market, the main university, a craft market, and a mosque. The market was much larger than our market in Kigali and much more disorganized. The mosque was beautiful, and the craft market was inspiring. As we walked around the craft market, artisans were sitting working on their pieces and proud to show off their artwork. Uganda is much, much cheaper than Rwanda. In Rwanda, with francs, we multiply the price of something by 2 and that gives us the approximate price in USD. In Uganda, with shillings, we divide the number by 2 and that gave us the approximate price in USD. 

After a day walking around Kampala, we headed out to a Mexican Restaurant which was absolutely incredible! After eating beans and rice for a month, it is nice to have some different flavors. Kimmie and I shared an avocado chicken burger and a chopped salad. SOOOO GOOD! 

After an incredible dinner, we headed to see a show of traditional music and dances. The show was a compilation of dances to represent different regions in Uganda. Depending on the region of the country, the style of dance varies slightly, but each dance has its meaning behind it. For example. when the women bend over and reach their arm down and then put it up behind their back, that represents agricultural processes of women picking goods and placing them in a backed on their back. The show was full of colorful costumes, various drum rhythms, booty shaking by the women and comedy from the announcer. At the end, we all went up to the stage and danced with the dancers. A few of us were handed sticks to beat the drums and we just went at it while everyone danced around. It was an experience where all people were filled with joy. The audience was in awe and appreciation of the art for being performed in front of us and the artists  were smiling ear to ear because they were able to not preserve their culture by sharing it with outsiders.

Hardcore booty shaking!

The whole group after the performance

WHITE WATER RAFTING! On Saturday morning, we headed out with a company called The Nile River Explorers to get ready for our Nile rafting adventure. We met at their center where we got suited up with helmets and life vests then we hopped on a bus to drive to the Nile. They fed us breakfast with consisted of a rolex and some fruit. What is a rolex you may ask? It is scrambled egg with vegetables rolled in chapati. It is BOMB!


Well now that I officially survived the experience, I can tell you my survival story of drowning down the Nile (not really!). There were 14 from our group that went, so we filled two boats of 7 people in each boat and then a guide. As they explained the river, they told us that our boats needed to decide whether we wanted to go light, medium, or hardcore. Of course we chose HARDCORE! So, we sat through the "safety" instructions, which consisted of a 5 minute briefing (safe right?) and then we went out onto flat water and practiced our paddling, tipping the boat,  getting back in, and all that jazz. Let me just say that I was the only girl in my raft who could get in by myself on the first try. Those toothpicks on the side of my body that look like arms…they have MUSCLE! 


So, my boat consisted of Arley, Ryan, Mikaela, Nicoya, Rae, Kimmie, Myself, and our guide, Davey D. We started out on our adventure and upon reaching the first rapid, we had to get out of our boat and walk around part of the rapid because the rapid had turned into a waterfall due to high water. Dying on the first rapid wasn't really on our to do list. The rapids range from level 1 being the lightest to level 6 meaning hospital/death. The second of 8 rapids that we reached was a class 3 rapid. Level 3 rapids=guide tips you because you want to go hardcore! So, we are going down the rapid and they tell us to duck which means to squat in the boat and hold the rope with you paddle under your arm. Well as we tipped, I somehow managed to go flying like 15 feet away from our boat and was under water for a good minute. They tell you to tuck in a ball and just stay there because if you fight the rapid, the force will keep you under longer. Well, in my head I was like, "Oh, yea…stay in a ball." But my body didn't listen so I was trying to come up and, well, I thought I was going to die hah. So eventually I came up and was bobbing down the rapid and one of the kayaks came up to me to take me back to my raft. There were about 10 kayaks that are traveling with the pack to grab people when they flung from their boats. They would instruct you to grab the front and link your legs up or grab the back and help kick. So my little kayak friend came up and got me and took me down through a level 1 rapid, safely to my boat. the next rapid we hit was EPIC! As you approach the rapid, it is a level 6 which means we aren't allowed to go down it because we don't want to die/be hospitalized. We got out and walked our boat around. As we looked at the rapid, it was incredible. There was so much force in the rushing water. Davey D, our guide, had been down through it in a kayak and said he got destroyed by it! The guide on the other boat went down it and ended up in the hospital for 3 months. So, we walked around and got to the point where we needed to put our boat back in. There were three options at that point. We could paddle really hard to the left and go down a class 4. Paddle equally hard and go down a class 5 in the middle, or coast down a level 1 on the right side. Well, the HARDCORE mindset kicked in and we took on the level 5. Near death experience number two (that may or may not be a little dramatic). We started to go down the rapid and our guide tells us to just duck and fling our paddles. He tells us to not even try to stay close to the boat because level 5 is a guarantee flip. As out boat is going down front first, all you could see is a white wall in front of you and then the front of the boat just keeps going up and up until it flips completely over. Mikaela lost her helmet, Ryan got hit in the face by a person, and Arley got hit with a paddle. Well, this time I remembered to tuck in a ball and I popped up much quicker :) So then, I was just floating down this class 5 rapid, trying to find my boat/members of my team but somehow I am floating much faster than everyone else. One of the kayaks came up to me and asked me if I was okay and that usually means they are going to help you out, but I responded, "Yea, I'm great, that was so sick!" So he proceeded to paddle away and leave me floating.  Eventually when our whole group got back into our boat, we stopped on some flat water and they gave us each half a pineapple and some glucose crackers, which are actually really good. Throughout our whole adventure, we flipped probably 5 of the 8 times, so I got to use my line from The Guardian, "I'm a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, here to save you!" We didn't flip on the last rapid, so as we were in the middle of it, Davey D told us to jump out of0the boat, so we did!


It was honestly one of the most epic things I have done in my life thus far! It was definitely worth my $115 and an experience I will remember for a LONG time.  Not many people can say that they have been rafting down the Nile Rive. Well, check, that's off my list :)


Well, since class have started last week, I have been challenge with many new thought provoking questions that have challenge my beliefs and all that stuff so I look forward to sharing them with you in a post soon.


I hope all is well :) and I will see you back in America in a month (TOO WEIRD!) Love, Ali