Today we did wash, rinse, repeat on our breakfast scene - outdoor patio, cool, spectacular views! I could get used to this! Anna Mears picked us up around 8:15 and we drove to visit a wonderful ministry known as the Noonday co-op. Noonday is one of IJM's partners in Kigali and they are a group of women that help break the cycle of poverty by teaching other women to sew and then giving them jobs making products that are sold in the US. Here is a link to their webpage and a video at the bottom that tells about an upcoming Noonday/IJM trip that people are entering to win: http://www.noondaycollection.com/styleforjustice
We thought it was pretty cool that we are taking that trip right now! Currently two of our clients are working there and we got to meet them and buy some of their products - E got a new laptop case!
After Noonday, we visited another amazing ministry called The Sparrow Studio (http://www.thesparrowstudio.com) that helps women who are very sick and poor come out of their bad choices and lifestyles and learn to earn a living in an honorable way. They make beautiful necklaces and sew cute dishtowels and tons of other things and also have the opportunity to learn to read and write and hear about Jesus in the process. We had fun shopping in their store room and getting to hold one of the tiniest babies there!
Then it was off to the market, which was an enormous covered, crowded, hustle-bustle of people and activity. Everything under the sun is sold there - we picked up some fabric to have made into skirts and a couple other crafts. We had plans to visit a couple of girls that are in IJM's aftercare program in the afternoon so had fun buying beans, rice, oil, tea and a lovely pineapple. We had a blast at the market haggling over prices, staging walk-aways and sometimes giving extra Rwandan francs just for the fun of seeing the vendor's face. Gosh, I love a good market.
A quick stop at Anna's for a pbj and then we were off to the IJM office with two aftercare staff - who were so much fun and refreshing to be with - to visit some IJM clients and take them our gifts. The girls live outside Kigali in a rural area. We can't post their photos on the blog for their protection, but they are so beautiful and sweet and too young to have experienced so many hard things. We will have to show you pics when we get home. We sat in their two room, cinder blocked, dirt floor home and visited via translation, laughed with them at their babies, and prayed with them. They are both very courageous and very afraid and it was an honor to hear their story and spend some time with them. The babies had never seen a muzungo (white person) before and every time we looked at him he burst into terrified tears - too bright, too white, look away! I think the girls were glad we came - they have experienced so much rejection. I am hoping it felt good to have even strangers come to love on them a little. They asked us to spend the night so that's a good sign.
From there, we went back to the hotel, packed up, and left for the airport. We said goodbye to Kigali and it's thousand hills with a magical sunset at the airport terminal. Our flight was quick and a full moon rose over Lake Victoria, purportedly the source of the Nile, as we decsended into Entebbe, Uganda. The Rudy's driver met us and took us to a random little Inn where we ate surprisingly delicious Thai food on a charming open-air patio and prayed against Malaria - ha! We got to the Rudy's house around 11:30pm and have fallen into bed under our mosquito nets. No A/C here so that's a promising sign - I think it means we won't be too hot while we're here!
The Rudy's live just two houses down from the IJM Uganda office so they use a router to connect them to the IJM internet connection and, wouldn't you know it, their router broke just the day before we arrived - argh! Still no ability to call tonight or upload pics...will try again tomorrow...love to all!
We thought it was pretty cool that we are taking that trip right now! Currently two of our clients are working there and we got to meet them and buy some of their products - E got a new laptop case!
After Noonday, we visited another amazing ministry called The Sparrow Studio (http://www.thesparrowstudio.com) that helps women who are very sick and poor come out of their bad choices and lifestyles and learn to earn a living in an honorable way. They make beautiful necklaces and sew cute dishtowels and tons of other things and also have the opportunity to learn to read and write and hear about Jesus in the process. We had fun shopping in their store room and getting to hold one of the tiniest babies there!
Then it was off to the market, which was an enormous covered, crowded, hustle-bustle of people and activity. Everything under the sun is sold there - we picked up some fabric to have made into skirts and a couple other crafts. We had plans to visit a couple of girls that are in IJM's aftercare program in the afternoon so had fun buying beans, rice, oil, tea and a lovely pineapple. We had a blast at the market haggling over prices, staging walk-aways and sometimes giving extra Rwandan francs just for the fun of seeing the vendor's face. Gosh, I love a good market.
A quick stop at Anna's for a pbj and then we were off to the IJM office with two aftercare staff - who were so much fun and refreshing to be with - to visit some IJM clients and take them our gifts. The girls live outside Kigali in a rural area. We can't post their photos on the blog for their protection, but they are so beautiful and sweet and too young to have experienced so many hard things. We will have to show you pics when we get home. We sat in their two room, cinder blocked, dirt floor home and visited via translation, laughed with them at their babies, and prayed with them. They are both very courageous and very afraid and it was an honor to hear their story and spend some time with them. The babies had never seen a muzungo (white person) before and every time we looked at him he burst into terrified tears - too bright, too white, look away! I think the girls were glad we came - they have experienced so much rejection. I am hoping it felt good to have even strangers come to love on them a little. They asked us to spend the night so that's a good sign.
From there, we went back to the hotel, packed up, and left for the airport. We said goodbye to Kigali and it's thousand hills with a magical sunset at the airport terminal. Our flight was quick and a full moon rose over Lake Victoria, purportedly the source of the Nile, as we decsended into Entebbe, Uganda. The Rudy's driver met us and took us to a random little Inn where we ate surprisingly delicious Thai food on a charming open-air patio and prayed against Malaria - ha! We got to the Rudy's house around 11:30pm and have fallen into bed under our mosquito nets. No A/C here so that's a promising sign - I think it means we won't be too hot while we're here!
The Rudy's live just two houses down from the IJM Uganda office so they use a router to connect them to the IJM internet connection and, wouldn't you know it, their router broke just the day before we arrived - argh! Still no ability to call tonight or upload pics...will try again tomorrow...love to all!
1 comment:
Wow! What a great day! Y'all must be exhausted. You're packing a ton in. Can't wait to see photos. Sorry the internet hasn't worked yet. Look forward to seeing photos.
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