Welcome Back

Thursday was pretty much dedicated entirely to the orphanage. It was really good to spend a whole day there, as it really let us get a feel for daily life. I spent a little time helping out to organize our service project, providing bags and school supplies for all the people who live at the orphanage. The majority of the time, though, I spent with the kids. Since we were there for so long it was easy to find some kids who weren't doing much and play around with them for a while. Some of the kids discovered that I have both hairy arms AND legs, so that was a pretty big hit.

Some of the university students who were raised at the orphanage were also around, so I spent a lot of time talking with them. In general they speak English really well, and a few of them have even been to America before (with the East African Children's Choir). I really like talking with people my age about our lives and the places we come from.

I remarked to one guy that I was amazed how all hundred or so people of the orphanage get along like one giant family, and how happy everyone is in general. He told me about some of the stories of the kids I was playing with. One boy was found abandoned in the forest as an infant; one boy lived in the streets for 5 months with a foot too badly burnt to walk; one girl was born to a handicapped woman who was raped and abandoned. He said he has watched all these babies grow up into the amazing children they are now, and knows they must have a special protection. Gisimba really is an incredible place.

A small group of us students were picked up from the orphanage by someone I'm going to call a very distant relative - the uncle of a woman from Rwanda I met through an obscure relative of my grandparents. We visited Jotham's home and were welcomed with open arms. It was a wonderful experience to visit a home here in Kigali, and we were treated to a traditional Rwandan meal that has left me so full I am nearly unable to walk.

It really feels good to be back in Kigali... it's amazing how you can meet people across the world and turn a foreign city into a home.