Anna in Africa

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

It's official....I'm the worst blogger ever!! I have been so busy over the last three months that I haven't even given a thought to writing a blog....well, besides my mother constantly reminding me that I need to make an update. So, here I am, trying to start this blogging thing again. I hope that I will find some time to make some posts about what has been going on here in Rwanda....because it is amazing stuff! My goal is to make a few posts in the next few weeks about my latest projects. Stay tuned!

Friday, March 18, 2011

The Gift of Hearing

For the past few months, I have been serving as the project coordinator with an organization called Starkey Hearing Foundation to help bring hearing aids to over 2250 Rwandans with hearing loss. It is amazing how things come together..considering this is my true passion, training, and experience. In graduate school for Speech Pathology, I went through an intensive track to specialize in working with children with hearing loss. I spent a few months doing specialized training at Beth Israel Hospital/NY Eye and Ear in New York City, and then moved to Little Rock to work at Arkansas Children's Hospital for three years in the Hearing Impaired Speech Department. This is literally what I have been trained for...and then this project just falls in my lap in Rwanda. This has been a a few months of blood, sweat, and tears...but the week is finally here and in a few days I get to witness all of these children receive hearing aids. And I get to host a few familiar names from my favorite American sport, as many NFL football players are volunteering on this mission. Adrian Peterson, Vernon Davis, Santonio Holmes, Roy Williams anyone?

More updates to come....

Here is an article that I wrote about the project that was published in the Rwandan Newspaper today which explains it a little more....

"Over 2,000 people will receive the gift of hearing next week through the efforts of Starkey Hearing Foundation, an American-based charity that donates hearing aids in developing countries around the world.

Although Starkey has contributed over 60,000 hearing aids in approximately 15 African countries in past years, this is the first major gift to Rwanda.

Starkey Foundation was recruited to Rwanda through the request of the Minister of Education, Dr. Charles Murigande. He reached out to Starkey in February 2010 and encouraged them to extend their humanitarian actions to Rwanda.

With no avenue for purchasing hearing aids in Rwanda, this donation is of immense benefit and value to the hearing impaired community. The total number of individuals with hearing loss who will receive hearing aids is approximately 2,250 people from all over Rwanda, with over half of that number being children who suffer from hearing impairment.

The recipients of the hearing aids were gathered over the last few months through Rwanda’s schools for deaf children, local hospitals, faith-based communities and other organizations serving individuals with hearing loss.

Each person registered to receive the aids has previously been fit for custom-made ear-moulds, which will attach to the hearing devices they will receive next week. Starkey Foundation will donate two hearing aids to each person, totalling a donation of over 4500 hearing aids to Rwanda.

The President and Founder of Starkey, along with a team of hearing professionals, will be visiting Rwanda March 21-25 to fit each individual patient according to their degree of hearing loss. In conjunction with the Starkey Team, another US non-profit called PROS for Africa will be hosting a group of NFL (National Football League) professional American football players to volunteer with the hearing aid project. Many well-known professional athletes will be visiting Rwanda for the first time through this mission.

Several local organizations have also been instrumental in coordinating this substantial project, including Bridge2Rwanda, Liliane Foundation, and Hope International. MTN contributed by donating SMS messages to inform the recipients and other essentials to help with the distribution. Participating hospitals included King Faisal Hospital, CHUK, Butare Hospital, Ruhengeri Hospital and PIH Rwinkwavu Hospital, in which they assessed and fit patients for the custom-made ear-moulds.

The distribution events will take place in Ruhengeri on March 21-22 and in Kigali on March 23-25. Starkey Hearing Foundation plans to return to Rwanda on an annual basis to distribute hearing aids and continue to give the gift of hearing to Rwandans with hearing loss."

http://newtimes.co.rw/index.php?issue=14568&article=39320

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

"What I have planned, that I will do." Isaiah 46:11

God’s faithfulness amazes me. I am so overwhelmed with how He fulfills His promises that I can’t even begin to describe the awe that I have in me.

For the past 6 weeks since I have been back in Rwanda, I have been sweating and slaving over two rather intense projects (hence my lack of blogging). Working in a developing country is not all joy and smiles and fulfillment all the time….it is extremely hard at times….it is foreign and far from home and there is so much to do and you can’t even run away from it because the need just stares you right in the face. At times I wanted to curl up in a ball and quit because things got so frustrating. I became so overwhelmed with trying to get tasks accomplished that I completely lost sight of why I was doing it in the first place. I allowed myself to get too caught up in the daunting tasks that were before me that I even started doubted that any of it would actually pull through. And then God steps in and slaps me out of it and wakes me back up. He reminds me that He is really in control and doesn’t need me to accomplish His tasks afterall.

One of the projects I have been working on is developing the first US University Test Prep Center in Rwanda. My time teaching at Sonrise High School led to the development of this idea, as we saw how many brilliant, hard-working young Rwandans are pining to go to America to get a great education and then come back to serve their country. I look at them and I feel guilty….because I know that although I embraced my education, I often took my opportunities for granted. I never appreciated what I had in front of me until I saw how badly these students wanted that same opportunity. So, I made it my responsibility to help them get there. This past year, I helped a handful of students take the necessary standardized tests and apply to several US Universities. And then we (my organization, Bridge2Rwanda) started thinking…why aren’t we doing this all over the country? This is a huge need for this country…but no one seems to be stepping up to the plate. So, although we resisted at first, we kept feeling like this was what the Lord wanted us to pursue.

Although it seems as if we have been spinning our wheels for the last 6 weeks, I finally look up today and see what God has done while I have been wasting time fretting about it all. I see that we have recruited several highly qualified international teachers to teach prep classes on SAT, TOEFL, GRE, and GMAT. We have connected with Kaplan Test Prep to potentially partner with us, and it looks as though they are going to provide ALL of the hundreds of books, resources, and curriculum that we have asked for. We have asked for more classroom space from the government, and they have agreed that we can get another entire wing in the same building as our current office. We have started recruiting students and already have a long list of students wanting to sign up the minute we say “go”. And just today, we received a $50,000 check from some incredibly generous donors to build a first-class computer lab/resource center with about 50 terminals. All this in 6 weeks! We hope to launch the program in April….and it sure seems that God is on our side, so I am hopeful that we will actually meet this goal.

Again, it is times like this when I actually see God putting all the pieces together that I wonder how I even have the nerve to worry. God is good and fulfills His promises…and I hate it that I seem to forget this and have to be reminded so often.

Some of the faces hoping for opportunity...

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Here I am, where I ought to be.

"I had a farm in Africa…the equator runs across these highlands, and the farm lay at an altitude of over six thousand feet. In the day-time you felt that you had got high up, near to the sun, but the early mornings and evenings were limpid and restful, and the nights were cold.
The geographical position, and the height of the land combined to create a landscape that had not its like in all the world. There was no fat on it and no luxuriance anywhere; it was Africa distilled up through six thousand feet, like the strong and refined essence of a continent. The colors were dry and burnt, like the colors in pottery….The views were immensely wide. Everything that you saw made for greatness and freedom, and unequalled nobility.
The chief feature of the landscape, and of your life in it, was the air. Looking back on a sojourn in the African highlands, you are struck by your feeling of having lived for a time up in the air. The sky was rarely more than pale blue or violet, with a profusion of mighty, weightless, every-changing clouds towering up and sailing on it, but it has a blue vigor in it, and at a short distance it painted the ranges of hills and the woods a fresh deep blue. In the middle of the day the air was alive over the land, like a flame burning… Up in this high air you breathed easily, drawing in a vital assurance and lightness of heart. In the highlands you woke up in the morning and thought: Here I am, where I ought to be."

From the opening pages of Karen Blixen's Out of Africa.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

"Dreams are necessary to life..."

I have had the privilege of teaching some of the most incredible young people I have ever met during my first year and a half in Rwanda at Sonrise High School. Inspiration and determination exude from them, and I feel lucky just to be a part of their lives. Although I am not teaching there this year, I am still connected with many of them and can't wait to see what their future holds.

Let me introduce you to one of those special students. Kevis just graduated S6 (12th grade) in November. He was the top student in his senior class and all throughout his upper Secondary career. Kevis is the most disciplined and determined person I have ever come across, as his dream is to become one of the first neurosurgeons in Rwanda. Although he was very respected and loved among students and teachers, he has not had an easy road to get to this point in life. In fact, his whole life has been challenge after challenge. But that is what makes him so special; he has courageously allowed adversity to direct the road for his future.

Only 2 years old when the horrific genocide of 1994 devastated Rwanda, Kevis vividly describes memories and flashbacks of the event. As a small child he sat on his mother’s lap in a Catholic camp where they ran for protection, sure that this religious entity would be a place of refuge for the Tutsi’s who were being brutally murdered all over the country. With other family members at their side, the rebels soon invaded the camp and started leading people out one by one. Kevis and his mother watched as they led his two uncles and close family friend, certain of their fate and sure of what would soon be their own fate. And then a miracle happened: the rebels didn’t come back for them. Something diverted their attention; whatever it was saved Kevis, his mother, and his older brother’s lives. Kevis’ mother spent the next three months on the run, trying to protect her two small children from the violence and calamity that surrounded them. Miraculously, survival won out in the end for all of Kevis’ immediate family. But at an early age Kevis literally stared death in the face, unfairly losing some of his childhood innocence and fatefully learning the injustices of the world.

But just like after any tragedy, life goes on. So his family struggled to keep living, even after the horrors they had witnessed and the many relatives they lost in the genocide. Then life even improved a bit for Kevis. When he was 9 years old, he got accepted to a new school built for orphans and needy children in northern Rwanda. A school where hope, vision, and love were the foundation of the future. A school called Sonrise School, where he would finish out the rest of his Primary education and his entire Secondary career. A school where he would learn lessons about life, discipline, and leadership…all of which would shape his future. But he was not done facing hardships quite yet.

Simply an average student in the 9th grade, Kevis claims that he was more interested in rap music and soccer than excelling in academics. Then one afternoon while he was attending a school assembly, the headmaster called him out to give some dreadful news that would change the course of his life. Kevis’ father had just been murdered. But not just by any random stranger…by his own brother. A family dispute over land caused Kevis’ uncle to snap, murdering his brother with a hammer in his own home. Devastation overwhelmed Kevis as he tried to understand why his uncle would bring such pain to his own family. Kevis represented the family by making a speech and tribute to his father at the funeral just three days later. And then the next week he did the unthinkable….he went to his uncle in prison, and he forgave him. He told him (as quoted by Kevis himself): “You are forgiven, and you are my father now.” Three years later, Kevis still visits his uncle in prison every chance he has and assures him of his forgiveness and redemption. (He has even taken me to visit his uncle in prison, but they will not let the white girl in the Rwandan prison:)

This hardship became a turning point in the life of this 15 year old boy. He watched his father’s life cut short, and determined he would spend the rest of his life becoming what his father dreamed for him to be. Kevis soon became the top scoring student in the class, winning the number one position every year after that. He not only concentrated more on academics, but he determined to build his leadership skills as well. He became known as one of the most well-rounded students in the school, being the best soccer player in the school chosen to play on a national junior team, holding leadership positions throughout various clubs and extracurricular activities, and becoming one of the spiritual mentors for many of his peers.

Soon, he developed his dream of becoming one of the first neurosurgeons in Rwanda. But this dream did not come without hardships either. The inspiration came from his beloved science teacher, who fueled Kevis’ passion for all things science. His teacher unexpectedly found out that he was suffering from a brain aneurysm; two months later it killed him. At this time, there were no neurosurgeons in Rwanda that could even attempt to operate on his teacher. Whether his life could have been saved by medicine, Kevis will never know but always wonder. This ignited his desire to pursue medicine as a career, specifically neurosurgery in dedication to his favorite teacher. He has not let up on this dream since that point. It has become the focus of his entire life. His idol has become the renowned African-American Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon, Ben Carson, who is well known for successfully separating the first Siamese twins. The story of Ben Carson’s life appealed to Kevis, as he also faced many challenges and setbacks but persisted through them. The entire school nicknamed Kevis “Ben Carson” and everyone believes in his ability to reach that dream. More importantly, he believes in himself.

For the past 6 months, I have been helping Kevis to apply to some of the top schools in the US. God brought him two angels named Keith and Teresa Devine, who visited Sonrise last year from America and gained inspiration from the dreams of Kevis. They determined to help Kevis apply to several great Universities in the US in order to reach his goals. Although it has not been an easy road the past few months, he has kept persisting. We have spent countless hours on SAT and TOEFL prep, writing and editing college essays, and gathering all the necessary but tedious documents for the applications. We are waiting to hear back about admittance to the colleges, but Kevis knows that God is in control and has a divine plan for his future…just like he has always been in control.

This student continues to inspire me with his determination and dedication to fulfill his dreams. As we get older, we often realize that sometimes life gets in the way and dreams don’t always come to fruition just like we had hoped….but there is something about having a dream to begin with. Although the specifics of our dreams may change over time, Kevis has gently reminded me of the wonder and beauty of simply having a dream to chase after.

Friday, January 21, 2011

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens" Helen Keller

“So what DO you do, again?” I get this question a lot. I have been on a major blogging lapse since I was home for the holidays, so this is my attempt to appease everyone and start a fresh new year of blogging. And explain to you exactly what I am doing here in Rwanda.

I moved to Rwanda in August 2009 with a year commitment to teach at Sonrise Secondary School in a small town in Northern Rwanda. I fell in love with the country and the people, and my year quickly turned into adding another 6 months, and now another year. So for the past year and a half, I have been teaching English to high school students and developing a college prep course at the school. I became very focused on teaching TOEFL (a standardized test of English proficiency) and SAT prep for students who were interested in applying to college in the US. I also did a multitude of other things at the school, including raising money to buy furniture and build science labs, forming a book club and writing club, counseling with students, etc, etc. My time was spent on loving my students and building relationships, as well as helping them to improve their English and reach their full potential. It was incredibly rewarding and so much of why I fell in love with Rwanda in the first place.

My Senior Class students at Sonrise

The teachers from Sonrise at my house...all my good friends!

Last summer, doors were also opened for me to begin practicing my real profession in Rwanda….speech pathology with an emphasis on hearing impairment. So, I walked through that open door and became the first practicing speech therapist in Rwanda at King Faisal Hospital in Kigali. I only worked one day a week because I was still teaching almost full-time at the school, but quickly built a caseload of children and adults, especially those with hearing loss. It has also been incredibly rewarding to be able to offer a service that the country has never had before. It is amazing to see the how my exact training and experience is just what the hospital needed, and it has been so fun to help set up a Speech Pathology program within the ENT Department with specialized services for children with hearing loss.

Two of my precious patients with hearing loss from King Faisal Hospital.

So….doors continued to be opened and I have continued to walk through them as the Lord has led me. I spent the first year and a half living the majority of my time in a rural Africa where I was one of the only white people in town and every passerby knew my name, where I shopped in one tiny supermarket and ate at the same three restaurants, and where I frequently stared out at the serene and quiet mountains and volcanoes that surrounded my house. But this year will be a little different. New doors have opened, and my African experience is changing. I am now living in the capital city, Kigali, where the bright city lights dot the rolling hills, the choice of restaurants and shopping actually take some thought, noise and traffic are common acquaintances, and the expatriate community is so big I can’t possibly keep up with everyone’s name and story. I will miss the quiet, peaceful life I had in Musanze and will especially miss my students at Sonrise, but I also feel like all of my passions are coinciding to lead me to this next phase of life in Rwanda.
This year, I have taken an administrative role with Bridge2Rwanda, the organization which brought me here in the first place. My official title is “Program Director”, which encompasses a lot:) All my experiences in Rwanda and in the US have led me to this point, and it is a position where I can make an impact in many sectors of the country. Here are some of the programs that I will be coordinating this year:

College Prep Program: Bridge2Rwanda has decided to duplicate what I started at Sonrise and form a US College Prep program to serve students in the Kigali area. We are in the process of developing a program that will train bright young Rwandans how to take the SAT and TOEFL tests, as well as offering intensive college application counseling. We are in the beginning phases, but hope to have the program up and running by April. I am excited that I will still be able to teach and invest in young Rwandan high school students through this program.

Hearing Aid Project: This project fell into my lap last year, and I am thrilled to be a part of it. I am coordinating a project with Starkey Hearing Foundation to bring the first hearing aids to Rwanda. The hearing aid event will happen in March, and I am responsible for coordinating with various hospitals, schools, and organizations around the country to find the individuals with hearing loss who need hearing aids. We are hoping to set up a hearing aid repair/distribution center after the big event to sustain the program.

Borrowed Talent Program: I will be managing Bridge2Rwanda’s Borrowed Talent program, which is where we recruit professionals from the US to serve in some capacity in Rwanda. We currently have teachers, lawyers, medical professionals, photographers, pastors, etc. serving all over Rwanda. I will help to recruit new talent in Rwanda, as well as manage the talent already here.

Healthcare Initiatives: Bridge2Rwanda has also started to increase our collaboration with the healthcare sector in Rwanda. We are starting to recruit physicians and medical professionals from the US to come to serve in Rwanda, either for short-term or long-term medical and surgical missions. I will be the liaison between the physicians in the US and the medical institutions in Rwanda, helping to find opportunities to best use their skills.

And many other programs that I’m sure will arise in the next year! I will also still be working as a Speech Pathologist at King Faisal Hospital part-time and trying to help them establish a hearing clinic.
As I look at this list, I have to admit I am completely overwhelmed. Each of these projects could easily be a full-time job. However, I know the Lord has led me to this position and will give me the ability to meet the needs of each program. I also know that I will humbly have to rely on him daily to accomplish what I hope to accomplish….I certainly cannot do this on my own. As I start this year, I am amazed at how the Lord works to bring you just where you need to be. I am thrilled to be working where all of my passions and talents align in one place. And I hope that you will join me in this year of new adventures and new experiences…

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Take A Risk

I spoke to my hometown Rotary club this week (since I am now home for the holidays for a few weeks) and made the statement about how some people think it is really cool and amazing that I have packed up my life and moved to the middle of Africa....but most people deep down really just think I am crazy. Although most would never admit it, I know that is what they are thinking:) It doesn't bother me so much. After all, I am learning that might just be what life is all about. Taking risks. Living outside the box. Having a dream that is bigger than yourself. It doesn't always mean doing something so drastic, but it does mean getting outside of your stable, comfortable surroundings and doing something every once in a while that is a little risky.

Here is our new Bridge2Rwanda video of all of our team members who have taken a few risks and are witnessing firsthand the fruit of what God can do through that step of faith.

http://www.bridge2rwanda.org/borrowed-talent-2010-video/

Click on the video for full screen.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

All in a week's work...

Sitting on the veranda of the US Ambassador’s house, drinking mint iced tea and looking out over the rolling city of Kigali at sunset, I listened as the Ambassador to Rwanda eloquently discussed his beaming pride in American ideals as well as the rapid progress of Rwandan society. To my right was my friend and colleague Blayne Sharpe, the Bridge2Rwanda Operations Coordinator and the only other semi-“ordinary” one in the gathering (and by ordinary I mean under 30 and not quite as accomplished as those sitting around us). To his right was an accomplished Northwestern University Business and Leadership Professor at the renowned, world-class Kellogg School of Business. To her right was a talented author and one of the top Executive headhunters in the US, who placed the likes of the CEOs in HP, United Airways, and JPMorgan Chase. She was visiting Rwanda to begin research on her upcoming book, the story of President Paul Kagame’s leadership and amazing turnaround of the country of Rwanda since the genocide. Sitting on the couches directly across from me were my bosses and the founders of Bridge2Rwanda, Dale and Judi Dawson. Both were once high-up investment bankers at Steven’s Inc., one of the top investment firms in the world, as well as successful business owners. Dale is well-known for his brilliance in entrepreneurship and being head of Investment Banking at Steven’s, Inc., and then for giving it all up to serve this tiny country in Africa. He has even been featured in several books for this bold and unexpected move (including being profiled in a book written by the author mentioned above). To my left was our B2R country director Tom Allen, once a respected California attorney representing the elite of Los Angeles, who left his ocean-front property on the prime spot at Hermosa Beach and moved to Rwanda to start a new phase of life. And as we all listened and conversed about the impact that we individually might have on the country of Rwanda, I couldn’t help but wonder: ”Is this really my life?, How in the world did I get here??”

So what did the rest of the week hold?
Well, let’s see…. I spent the majority of that week running around the city trying to coordinate a project to bring the first hearing aids to Rwanda, an event that will take place in March and will be assisted by a team of about 10 NFL football players led by Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

During the week I also received a phone call from my friend and neighbor Jock Boyer, the first American to ride in the Tour de France and now coaching the national Rwandan cycling team. A documentary film is currently being produced on the story of Team Rwanda titled “Rising from the Ashes”, chronicling the moving story of country in despair to a country of hope through the lives of these cyclists, all of whom I know well from our English tutoring lessons.

While walking into the Serena Hotel (the nicest hotel in the country) one day for lunch, I almost ran into President Kagame as he was leaving and getting into his car. I just happened to get stopped in his motorcade and see his car passing by two other times that week.

One night that week I browsed the vibrant, colorful art in an exhibit by my good friend while discussing issues facing Rwanda with a crowd of gifted and capable professionals. The artist is part of a Rwandan artist’s colony, well on their way to becoming some of the top artists in Africa, and whom we are organizing to come to the US to exhibit their incredible work.

That weekend I attended the retirement ceremony for Bishop John Rucyahana, the legendary Anglican bishop who has been essential in the reconciliation efforts of Rwandan and author of the book Bishop of Rwanda, as well as the enthronement ceremony of his replacement Bishop Laurent Mbanda, former head of Compassion International for Africa.

A few days later I sat in the living room of the past President of Rwanda, drinking a mid-day passion fruit cocktail and listening to this former Head-of-State explain the complicated history of his country dating back to the beginning of colonialism.

And this was just one week!

In between all this running around with such high capacity, distinguished individuals, I get to do what I came here to do….serve the country of Rwanda. Often people have this perception that serving in Africa has to be in some remote village with no electricity or running water, handing out food to impoverished children with protruding bellies…and sometimes it is. But it also includes working with brilliant, talented, educated individuals to work towards the overall development of a country in all aspects. Sometimes our work is with the poorest of the poor and sometimes it is the richest of the rich; sometimes it is hard work and sometimes it is play….but all in all it is a fulfilling experience that brings about novel opportunities with new faces every day.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

My Boys

Here’s an update on two of my boys whom I made recent posts about…John Baptiste, who recently had the hand surgery, and Zac, my little street boy.
John Baptiste is doing very well after his surgery, and his hand has recovered beautifully. He is now able to take vigorous notes in school, playfully throw a ball around with his friends, and perform other fine motor skill activities that the tumor prevented him from doing before. In fact, he and I actually made Rwandan television because of the surgery! The national television station heard about the story while interviewing the surgeon, Dr. Butera, and subsequently interviewed John Baptiste and me about the whole process. The media wanted to show an inspiring human interest story to Rwandans about the ability to make a difference in a child’s life. John Baptiste is now staying with his uncle in Musanze and attending a local school, so we often get visits from him.
Zac has also been showing back up at our house to visit. He assures me he is off the streets, staying with his aunt, and attending school every day. He says, “Streets are bad, auntie’s house is good.” From his report, he got a bicycle so that he could ride back and forth to school every day…a 50 minute bicycle ride. He is back on his regular HIV treatment from the hospital and appears very healthy and well-groomed. He wants me to come visit his aunt’s house very badly so he can “give me lots of bananas,” but I haven’t been able to make it there yet. Zac still has me wrapped around his finger with his sweetness…even though I know that he knows how to work that sweetness.
And funny enough, Zac and John Baptiste have become big buddies from meeting at our house. When the boys visit, they joyfully occupy their time at their favorite “muzungu” house by drawing pictures, reading books, watching movies, riding bikes around the yard….all of which are luxuries to them. And we also put them to work when we need help around the house…which they also joyfully complete. The other day we were preparing for a big dinner at our house for the Sonrise teachers, and Zac and John Baptiste came right in the kitchen and got to work. We didn’t even have to tell them what to do…they just started peeling carrots, washing dishes, taking out the trash, and mopping the floors. Betsy (my wonderful roommate) and I just looked at each other in amazement at these two young boys, cheerfully working without even being asked!

By the way…there are also precious, wonderful little girls in Rwanda. I just seem to have a soft spot for sweet little boys, and that seems to be all the stories that I post about!

My boys!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Beautiful Faces

Here are some pictures of the beautiful children from a recent visit to our village. I think I could bring a few home with me!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Ordinary Life

"We encounter God in the ordinariness of life: not in the search for spiritual highs and extraordinary, mystical experiences but in our simple presence in life."
Brennan Manning

Oh, how often I go searching for extraordinary experiences in order to encounter God...when He has been right here in the ordinary all along. The problem is that although I may come face to face with Him in those mystical, spiritual high experiences, those moments soon wither away, and I am back to my plain old simple life very soon. I love the fact that God reveals Himself most in the "ordinariness" of life...through the things that I see and experience on a daily basis. He is a God that shows Himself through the big, beautiful eyes of a child and through the brilliant colors of a sunset. Sometimes I just miss Him in the ordinary because I am so busy looking for extraordinary...

Friday, October 8, 2010

"...But the greatest of these is love."

Meet my sweet little friend Isaac (or as we like to call him, Zac). I met Zac a few months ago as I was jogging through Musanze late one afternoon. Zac joined me on the last leg of my jog, and I immediately fell in love with his bright smile and charming personality. He was clean, well-dressed, spoke decent English (better than most local children) and was just so stinkin cute that I wrongly assumed that he had to have a good family that groomed him, fed him, and loved him. So, I was confused when I asked him where he lived, and he pointed to the streets and said he slept under a tree. I asked him where he went to school, and he said “no school.” I soon came to realize that Zac was one of the street kids that hangs out at the town bus station. However, Zac was a different kind of street kid. He didn’t beg like the other kids, he didn’t have dirty clothes…and he still had this sweet innocence in his eyes. So, as I seem to have a habit of doing, I made a new little friend and knew that God was calling me to love on this sweet boy.

So over the following weeks, I got to know Zac pretty well. He actually became my little tag-along, showing up to my house most days, helping me run errands, becoming my basic Kinyarwanda translator, and assisting me with various tasks around the house. He reveled in the fact that someone was actually caring about him. I pulled Emmanuel (my former student and “adopted” little brother) in to investigate Zac’s story. I found out that Zac’s parents died when he was young, and he had been staying with an older sister and aunt in Uganda. They all moved to Rwanda a couple of years ago, and then one day about a year ago, he somehow got lost from them. He has spent the last year living the life of a street kid. He occasionally slept at a lady’s house, but she obviously did not really care for him as he wasn’t even being pushed to go to school. Primary education is free in Rwanda, so I knew the first thing I needed to do was get him into school and off the streets before he became so corrupted that there was no turning back. Emmanuel and I took him to the local Primary school to enroll him in school, and then took him to get a brand new school uniform and other essential school supplies.

Zac and Emmanuel. Emmanuel swears Zac looks just like him when he was a little boy.

Visiting our friend's new baby.

A few months passed, and I grew closer and closer to this sweet boy. I realized that he was not a perfect child, having no one guiding him, loving for him, or even caring where he was. I had to have serious talks with him about boundaries, about not stealing or begging, about going to school every day, about staying off the streets. I checked in to make sure he was attending school, took him to church, and made sure he was properly taking care of himself. I felt like a mom, trying to guide this child in the right direction and advise him on making good decisions in life. He even started calling me “mom”, bringing me small gifts, and drawing me pictures that said “I love my mather” when he came to visit.

Zac and one of my other boys, John Lambert.

After I had been out of town for a few days, Zac showed up at our house with a huge gash in his head (that had luckily already been stitched up). We learned that he had been caught in the middle of a street fight and was hit over the head by a wooden board. As we started talking to Zac about taking care of his wound, he shared with us that he had a blood sickness for which he had to take medicine everyday and visit the doctor regularly. Although he didn’t say the name, we knew right away that Zac was referring to AIDS. Unfortunately, I have been in Africa long enough to know this explanation. My heart sunk into my stomach, and no matter how hard I tried to stop them, the tears started flowing right in front of him. I have become close to several children who have this sickness, and I thought surely God would not let this happen again. Surely He had brought Zac into my life so that I could get him off the streets, help to shape him into the next great leader of the country, and watch him live a long and healthy life. Surely the world wasn’t this cruel and unfair. I was even in denial about it, so I took him myself to get tested at the local hospital. When they showed me the results, they showed me a book with about 100 names written in blue (indicating negative) and one name on the page written in red. It was Zac’s name. It was a heartbreaking and shocking thing to read, even if I did already suspect the results.

From visiting us so often, Zac also became close with our house staff, especially our joyful, energetic housegirl Janviere. Around the time that we found out he was sick, Zac called me crying because the lady he had been staying with kicked him out of her house only to sleep on the streets again. Without even thinking about it, Janviere said that Zac could come home with her and stay for as long as he needed to. Here was our housegirl, recently married and only 28 years old, offering to take into her home a street boy who was HIV+. She didn’t need to ponder it for weeks, she didn’t need to think about how hard it might be to care for a sick child, she didn’t need to think about what a burden it might be….she simply opened her arms and welcomed him into her home indefinitely. She told me that the signs around Rwanda say: “Take every child as your own”…so that is what she did.

Within a couple of weeks, we also found out that Zac had not seen a doctor in months and had not been taking his treatment. So Janviere and I took him to the hospital to get him back on regular treatment. When we walked into the doctor’s office, to our surprise the doctor already knew him and had been wandering where he was. He also told us that Zac’s aunt had recently been to the hospital and was looking for him. The doctors and nurses then helped us locate his aunt, and the next day, Janviere took Zac back to his aunt and sister who lived in a nearby village. We don’t know the whole story of how or why Zac was separated from his family. He may have even run away on his own. But in the end, the best thing that could have happened was to get him reunited with his family.

I learned a priceless lesson through Zac, maybe one of the most valuable I have learned while being in Africa. You see, it is one thing to know from the beginning when someone has this illness. Not that it changes the absolute tragedy or sadness of it, it just makes it easier (that being a relative term in this situation) for you to accept knowing it from the start. It is completely another thing to get to know and love someone first, and then find out that they are sick. But, nothing had changed for Zac; he has had this illness since he was 2 years old. The only thing that had changed was my awareness of it... and my willingness to accept it and still love him unconditionally, even if that meant that I might be more heartbroken in the end. It’s not that I might love him a little less because of his condition; it’s that I immediately found myself pitying him and thinking that I should not become so attached because circumstances like this are too difficult and hopeless to face. Occasionally I find myself unconsciously wanting to distance or disengage myself from certain situations because they are too hard, and I realize that many times it may be selfishly to protect myself. So this situation with Zac got me thinking about how I am called to love and serve the people around me. And I came to the realization: I don’t give love based on conditions. I don’t give love based on whether a child is sick or healthy, whether they have a future or not, whether they do good or bad things. I don’t give love so that I can see a return on my investment. I don’t give love because of the world’s fairness or despite its unfairness. I don’t give love based on how I might feel or how it might affect me. I give love just to give it. Because that is what I am called to do. No other reason.

I have seen Zac one time since that day we took him to the hospital. His aunt’s house is too far for him to come visit us regularly. I miss seeing his sweet face and bright eyes, but I know that he is right where he needs to be, reunited with his family. And I know that God brought this little boy into my life not for me to teach him but for him to teach me a valuable lesson about love.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others"

The quote above and the quote below have both been hanging on the back of the door in my room since I arrived here in Rwanda last year. I guess they were left from the last girl who lived in my room...but I love the words and often reflect on its powerful message. I recently attempted to convey a similiar message about how my time in Rwanda has affected me (see blog post on August 8, 2010), but I can't quite articulate the thought like GK Chesterton.

"What we need is not the old acceptance of the world as a compromise, but some way in which we can heartily hate and heartily love it. We do not want joy and anger to neutralize each other and produce surly contentment. We want a fiercer delight and a fiercer discontent. We have to see the universe at once as an ogre's castle, to be stormed, and yet as our own cottage, to which we can return at evening" GK Chesterton

Monday, September 20, 2010

Goodbye Emmanuel!

We sent Emmanuel off to South Africa to go to school...I felt like a mom sending my child off to college! (See my blog post on July 21 for more info on Emmanuel.) My mom and Judi Dawson sent him bags full of clothes, school supplies, and everything he might need to survive high school in South Africa. Here are a few pics of his going away party and his last night in Rwanda.

Eating at Republica for Emmanuel's going away party!

Our artist friends from Ivuka, Emmanuel and Innocent, gave him paintings to decorate his new room.

Emmanuel ready to go to the airport!

With Dale and all his bags.

Saying goodbye to my little brother...sad and happy moment.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

"Where everybody knows your name..."

I have been living in Rwanda for over a year now, so naturally people are starting to recognize me as a local around here (not that I stick out or anything). The town Musanze, where I have spent most of my time, is the most populated area of Rwanda, which is well known to be the most populated country in all of Africa. There are literally people covering the town at all hours of the day...but very few white people besides several other non-profits and the tourists passing through. So I love it when I go for a run in the mornings, or to my favorite restaurants, or to the local market…and everyone greets me by name. Or when I am sitting on my front porch and neighborhood children (and adults for that matter) come peer through the blue front gate to say hello. Or when I am driving down the two mile stretch to school with the windows rolled down and every few seconds I here “Anna!” yelled out from all directions by the local children. Or when the moto-taxi (motorcycle taxi service...with literally hundreds of drivers around here) driver says“Thanks Anna” as I pay him his 300 francs. Or when random numbers constantly call my phone just to say hello, with me having no idea who the caller is (ok, maybe I don't love that!). I not-so-politely asked one of those callers the other day where he got my number, to which he responded that some children were giving it out:)

One of my favorite, most random events in the last year happened a few months ago when all of my roommates were hanging out in our Musanze house one Saturday afternoon. This man, who our guard mistakenly let in the gate because he said he was “friends with Anna,” just walked right in our door and sat down with us in our living room, greeting us like we were old friends. All of us sat in shock, until I finally asked: “Who are you??” To which he casually replied: “This is my home!”, “You are my wife!” (pointing to me), and “I am the President of Rwanda!” His face seemed quite alarmed that we did not recognize him as our roommate, husband, or the President of the country. So we sat in astonishment at the absurdity of the situation for a few more minutes as this man repeatedly professed how much he loved his wife Anna and how honored he was to be the President of this fine country. Finally, Museveni graciously ushered our friend out the door. We soon came to know him as the harmless town crazy, Joseph, whom I still see walking the streets frequently. And he always greets me: “Hello, my wife.”

In America, I might have been alarmed at random people calling me at all hours of the day and a crazy man convinced that I am his wife…but here in Rwanda I just find it harmlessly humorous.

I am a small town girl at heart, so I like being in a place where everybody knows my name.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Family

A great pic of our Bridge2Rwanda team! (most of us) Griffin's family came to visit and took all of us to eat at one of the best restaurants in Kigali. Love my Rwanda family:)

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

All my children...

Taking all my "children" to school on the first day of class for the last term of school!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Surgery for John Baptiste

Last week I added yet another amazing experience to my list of amazing experiences in Rwanda. I was privileged to take a 12 year-old Rwandan boy from a remote village to have a life-changing surgery in the big city hospital. John Baptiste, an energetic, brilliant, and wide-eyed boy from my favorite village, stole my heart about a year ago. He showed me his hand when I met him, which had a large and slowly growing “lump” on his right metacarpal. It appeared to be a cyst, and I made sure that his family was seeing a doctor at the local hospital in Musanze. A couple of months ago, we had a visiting veterinarian who looked at the supposed cyst and informed us that it was definitely not a cyst but probably a growing bone tumor, one which was too serious for local doctors to treat. We also found out that John Baptiste had lost most function of his right hand, including the inability to write or take notes in school. In a culture where note-taking is the fundamental skill in the educational system, this also greatly affected his performance in school. I just happened to have the perfect connection at the best hospital in Rwanda (which just happens to be my new employer…I’ll write about that next!).

I met Dr. Alex Butera when I first arrived in Rwanda at visiting day at Sonrise High School where I teach his oldest son. I became friends with this brilliant doctor, as he welcomed me into his family and helped get me connected for a Speech Pathology job at King Faisal Hospital in Kigali. Dr. Butera is the Medical Director of the hospital and is considered one of the best orthopedic surgeons in East Africa. So, I knew just who to contact when I found out that John Baptiste had a bone tumor and needed surgery quickly before the tumor could completely eat away at his hand. Within a couple of weeks, Dr. Butera worked John Baptiste into his overbooked schedule for a surgical removal of the tumor.
Here comes the fun part….along with Tom Allen (B2R Country Director and my dear friend), I got to be right alongside John Baptiste through the whole experience. We asked for permission from his parents, who gladly granted, to take him to the big city of Kigali and care for him while he had the procedure. John Baptiste lives in a very remote village on the top of a mountain and has never been outside of the small local town of Musanze. So the journey began as I drove him on the two hour trip from Musanze to Kigali….definitely the longest car ride he has ever been on, as proved by the sudden carsickness that fell upon him. He could not quite understand why the car was making him sick. Every ten minutes he asked “Are we there yet?” and every small town we passed through he asked “Is this Kigali?”, as he had no concept of a long car ride and definitely no concept of a big city. When we finally arrived in Kigali, his eyes widened and jaw dropped at the towering buildings, honking cars, and sights of a modern, busy African city. He marveled at the shooting water fountain in the town center as he questioned: “What is THAT?”…”But where does the water come from?” The only water source he is familiar with is the large lake that surrounds his village. More “novelties” came as we explained to him how to use a toilet, the purpose of ice, and the comfort of a real bed. Tom and I laughed and cried as we experienced all of these painfully familiar things with John Baptiste for the first time.
We checked him in to the pediatric ward of the hospital, where he met several new friends and played in a playroom with real toys for the first time in his life (and watched movies for the first time!). Two special friends…Imable and Marie…had both been in and out of the hospital for years with chronic heart conditions. They all took great joy in trying to teach the muzungu girl Kinyarwanda!

Tom, Blayne, and I hanging out with John Baptiste and his new friends at the hospital.

Early the next morning we wheeled him into surgery. Since Dr. Butera is a friend, he allowed Tom and me to scrub in and observe the surgery. Dr. Butera worked carefully and precisely to remove the tumor (which is most likely benign), protect the muscles and nerves, and restore the use of John Baptiste’s hand….all while explaining every detail to the onlookers peering over his shoulder. The surgery was a great success, and John Baptiste woke up in high spirits, greeting and thanking every nurse, doctor, and passerby as the anesthesia wore off. There is one particular thing that I love about John Baptiste….he has the most expressive face I have ever seen. Many Rwandans hide expression and emotion well behind serious faces. Not John Baptiste. His eyes and facial expressions say it all. And when he woke up from surgery, his face was full of pure joy. At several points during this whole process there were tears of gratitude in this young boy’s eyes, as he knew that this surgery would allow him to continue to succeed in school (by being able to write again) and gave him hope for his future once more.

Getting ready for the surgery.

Wheeling off to surgery in the elevator...another novelty!

The tumor exposed...I know this is a gross picture, but kind of cool!

Dr. Butera and I after surgery.

Waking up after surgery.

John Baptiste spent a total of three days in the big city of Kigali. He experienced many things for the first time and probably ate better than he ever had in his life. Now, he will go back to life in his village. He will probably continue to live in complete poverty for a while. But, now he will have a little of something that we call hope. He has seen a whole new world and the possibilities that are out there. He knows that education and hard work are his opportunities to that outside world. He promised us that one day in the future, when he has completed college and has a good job, that he, too, will reach out and help a child in need.

One happy boy!
Many thanks to Dr. Butera for his kindness and medical expertise in treating John Baptiste and to Tom’s friend who helped to cover the cost of the surgery.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

A Whole New World

These words of the famous “Aladdin” song kept running through my head this last week as I experienced the Middle East for the first time. Not just because I was reminded of the familiar movie scenes where Aladdin runs through the market or flies on a magic carpet or rides a camel in the desert…but because it truly was a whole new world. Kelly and I were on a break from school and decided to visit the luxurious Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, also known as the center of commercialism and industry in the Middle East. We both dropped our jaws in culture shock as we took in the over-the-top luxury and wealth in this city. The city is filled with skyscrapers of intriguing architecture, mosques outlined in gold and jewels, massive shopping malls with pricey designer stores…quite a stark contrast from our life in Rwanda. Dubai has basically been built in the last 15 years, so everything is brand new and nice. Not to get on a soap box…but it is also somewhat disturbing coming from a place where there are starving children surrounding you. Someone told us that around 2/3 of the population in Dubai has diabetes because of the rich foods they overindulge in and the capabilities of getting literally anything they want at any time. In Rwanda, I’m sure around 2/3 of the population suffers from malnutrition.

Despite the outlandish luxury, this really was an incredible place to visit for vacation. We saw the tallest building in the world and the most expensive hotel ever built. We visited a sheiks palace, an indoor ski resort in a shopping mall, a restaurant made of ice, and manmade islands in the shape of a palm tree and the world. We enjoyed the relative comforts of home, including McDonalds, Chili’s, Starbucks, and a movie theatre (keep in mind all of these are luxuries for us living in remote Africa). We ate Lebonese food, Thai food, Japanese food, Mexican food, Indian food, Arabic food…pretty much a tour of the world. The most authentic experience was the desert safari, where we went sandbashing (quite an adventurous ride in an SUV through the sand dunes in the middle of the desert), rode a camel, decorated ourselves with henna tattoos, and ate a local flavor barbeque while being entertained by belly dancers and other Arabian cultural dancers. Overall it was a great vacation and a new cultural experience!