Our first 2 1/2 Weeks in Kigali

Wow, what is the date? These past two weeks have just absolutely flown by. I’ve been meaning to get a new post up, but as with everything in Africa, this process has taken a lot longer than expected. Yes, we have arrived in Rwanda safe and sound. Our 28 hour journey to get here went about as good as one could’ve hoped. This trip included a car ride from Lancaster to Washington D.C., a flight from Washington D.C. to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, another flight from Addis Ababa to Kigali, Rwanda, which included a short stop in Entebbe, Uganda. Somehow through all this, our bodies, spirits, and luggage arrived complete and intact. While some people would take some time to lay low, let the jetlag pass, and get adjusted, we decided to do the opposite. We jumped right into getting a feel for our surroundings and meeting people. This included meeting and speaking with Erisa, the HOPE Rwanda Country Director for the first time ever. It probably would’ve been prudent to at least have a brief conversation with my supervisor for the next two years; minor oversight. Fortunately, getting to know Erisa even just in a brief period, has assured me that all the great things I had been told about him are true.

The first full week here included two major events for HOPE as an organization. The first was hosting a trip of HOPE supporters. I guess this is the first time a trip like this has been made to Africa. The other was hosting a spiritual retreat for the Savings and Credit Associations (SCA) program and field coordinators. Included with these two events was meeting and interacting with other HOPE staff members, all of whom were great to work with. Most of the legwork for these two events was completed months in advance and so I was not really able to make much of a contribution. Yet, getting to participate with both served as a nice introduction to HOPE Rwanda and got me really excited for the work that I will be doing during my time here. Everything seemed to go incredibly smooth and everyone involved felt blessed by everything was saw and heard, evidence that God is certainly at work here.

Chris Horst - HOPE Director of Development

Chris Ordway, Matthew Rohrs, Christie Wilson (HOPE); SCA program and field coordinators

Here are some highlights from our time thus far:

We had the opportunity to visit Cards from Africa, which manufactures greeting cards. There are three wonderful things about CFA. The first is that they manufacture their cards by recycling paper and other materials. The seconds is that though sales of the cards, it is a sustainable model. The other great thing is that everyone working for CFA is a head of an orphan household (meaning these are orphans caring for their siblings). The workers have even started their own savings group! Check them out here.

We were also introduced to the African Bagel Company, which is a favorite locale of the Rwanda expat community. ABC was founded to provide practical skills to Rwandese women in need. In addition to the vocational training they receive as part of a program, they also receive spiritual discipleship. You would not believe what a blessing it is to have access to freshly made bagels, doughnuts, tortillas, salsa, etc. Regardless to the location of the world, the food there is delicious. We look forward to frequenting this spot in the future. If you ever come to Rwanda, be sure to have someone take you!

On a more somber note, we also took a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial. I have been to holocaust memorials, but there was just something about this memorial, that made it so much more poignant. Having transpired relatively recently and living in Rwanda, there is no way to distance myself from what happened. Despite mentally and emotionally wrestling with the genocide, I am still having trouble wrapping my mind around it or even coming to believe that such an atrocity actually occurred. The memorial helped remind me what real and intense pain exists in this country. That people can even tolerate living together here is nothing short of a miracle.

(Development) Celebrity Sighting! Prior to coming to Rwanda, one of my Willamette classmates, Sophia, gave me a book to read. The book was The Blue Sweater, written by the CEO and founder of Acumen Fund, Jacqueline Novogratz. I finished reading the book on the flight to Rwanda. On the back cover is a picture of the author, which I quickly glanced at prior to packing it away. I didn’t really give it a second thought until I was eating lunch at a restaurant and saw someone who looked very familiar. It then dawned on me that the woman sitting two tables away had to be Ms. Novogratz. If it weren’t for the encouragement of Rachael, I probably would have been too embarrassed to say anything. With a little prompting, I introduced myself and had the fortune of meeting the author of the book I had just finished reading. In the very place which most of the book is about no less. Yeah, it is a small world. 

If meeting Jacqueline wasn’t enough excitement for one week, we also were witness to what could’ve been construed as a presidential assassination attempt. Lack of internet access and fear of motorcycle taxis prompted Rachael and I to walk to a coffeeshop to try and connect to the worldwide web. On our way there, we were faced with a choice, walk on the sidewalk by the road or in the garden path far away from the road (ok it really wasn’t that tough a decision). No sooner had we started down the garden path then did two brand new, unmarked, but with flashing red and blue lights, Toyota Landcrusiers come thundering down the road toward us. Following these two vehicles was a black Mercedes S Class with flags on the hood. As this car was passing us, we heard honking and then a boom as a massive dump truck driving in our direction, hit the median, crushed two small trees, crossed onto the other side of the street (narrowly missing the Mercedes), careened into a pole and then crossed back onto the correct side road. The truck then stopped and was immediately surrounded by men in suits with machine guns. They seized the driver, threw him into the back of a trailing Landcruiser and drove off.  A young Rwandese man who was standing next to us with jaw dropped, explained that the black Mercedes was President Paul Kagame’s car. End of story, no big deal. What?! If it was indeed an assassination attempt it was very poorly executed, but the timing of the whole thing was very coincidental. The moral of the story for us was watch out for dump trucks (we would later see another one cross another median; different story) and always take the garden path when available.

I know this post has already gotten out-of-control long, but one more thing. Yesterday we had the privilege of attending a Rwandan wedding. It was a very interesting cultural experience, albeit a very time consuming one. Overall, the basic format was very much like an American wedding. However, the dancing performances were unique and incredible (see video). All in all, I feel very honored to have been invited and I just hope the happy couple were honored by our presence (we were the only “muzungus” there).