Updates from Rwanda!!

Goodbye My Readers

2006-06-19T07:12:00.000+02:00

Hah im only part-way kidding... I'm not reeeeeaaallly leaving persay. I'm actually just moving. Moving on to a different blog. Updates from Rwanda was fun times... but I'm not in Rwanda anymore, so I think it's time I moved on... toooo A Little Perspective--since that is something I can still offer you. So if you feel the need for A Little Perspective from Christie, hop on over to www.justalittleperspective.blogspot.com You will be sure to find me there, talkin' about something or other, so feel free to leave tons of comments still, they will be greatly appreciated. Until then, have a great week, and see you over there!

Making the Transition

2006-06-13T01:11:00.000+02:00

Well since I'm kind of still brain dead since I am on oxycod (some drug supposedly stronger than vicodin) ...I am not going to write twice but instead I will just post the letter that I am mailing out to those who supported me. Soooo enjoy... really though, I will post some blogs in the next week or so... I think. Oh-- and attention to Julie and all other regular blog readers-- I think I will keep this blog and make the transition from "Updates from Rwanda" to "A Little Perspective" (so in a few days, the new blog address will be www.justalittleperspective.blogspot.com) ...enjoy!

Muraho!

I’m back! I made it safely back from Rwanda a little over a week ago and I am excited to be able to share of the amazing work that God is doing in this wonderful country. My team and I were able to be a part of some incredible experiences and we thank God for every second of our trip.

Traveling to and from Rwanda is an adventure in itself; we visited the airports of four different countries and two different continents. Although my specific team had only seven people, we traveled with six other teams and overall we amounted to fifty-five (mostly white) college students. The traveling lasted 42 hours, which provided for a lot of team bonding time in the beginning and a lot of story time on the way home.

My team—Team Amakuru—was chosen to work and live in Gitarama, a small town 45 minutes South of Kigali. We were chosen to help with construction on a learning center for women who have converted from the Muslim faith. Muslim women are taught that they do not need to have any money-making skills, so when they converted from this faith and became Christians, they had no means of making any income. Venantia, our local worker in Rwanda, is in charge of the project. It is her vision to have a place where women can learn skills like basket weaving, knitting, and more, and a safe place where they can learn more about Christianity.

Before going to Rwanda, we knew that we were the labor team, but we all underestimated the work that this would entail. The first day we arrived, we quickly learned that the kind of work that we would be doing would be dirty and it would be difficult. The first half of the trip we used only two tools: a shovel and a hoe. We moved dirt, mixed cement, carried water jugs up hills, moved more dirt, planted grass, mixed more cement, and then moved some more dirt. It was exhausting and tedious at times, but we just would remind each other that we were doing this work for the Lord, and it would get us through each day. Some of the mini projects that we were able to be a part of included: laying cement flooring inside the house, laying a cement porch, leveling the front yard and planting grass, digging stairs into a 15-foot vertical wall, and priming and painting the inside walls, baseboards, and ceiling of the house. We had a great time working.

Another fun and unexpected aspect of our trip was hanging out with the local children. Walking to and from work each day, we would find ourselves surrounded by and holding hands of thirty or so kids. They would run from their homes yelling “muzungu” (white-person) and then continue to walk the rest of the way with us. I don’t remember many times walking without holding a child’s hand. We were also able to spend time with the children at the worksite while taking breaks. We often found ourselves on this one staircase just sitting and hanging out with the kids. They would perform songs for us or we would perform songs for them, but we were never actually able to communicate very much with them. We learned very quickly, however, that our main mode of communication with the children would be through touch. We would just hold the kids or hold their hands, and this was enough to make them happy. Being able to spend time with the children was a blessing.

Our team was amazed at all the ways that we could see God working in and through this country. We all learned so much about ourselves and about God during the time that we spent there. One specific thing that we learned that seems to stick out in my mind is the perfect nature of God’s timing and his plan for everything. We all felt blessed to be a part of the perfect plan that God has for Rwanda, and more specifically, for this learning center in Gitarama. We all felt blessed to be a part of this, but more importantly, we felt comfort and wonder in knowing that God was working there before we got there and He will continue the work after we leave.

Even though we are no longer in Rwanda, please continue to pray for all that God is doing there. Continue to pray for the hearts of those we came into contact with. Pray for endurance, strength, and blessings for the local men and women who are a part of this learning center and are working to finish the construction and then begin the actual teaching there. And please pray for our team, that we would not forget what we have learned and that we continue to grow in our faith as a result of our experiences in Rwanda.

Thank you so much for being a part of this experience. Thank you for your support, both financially and for your prayers. I have posted some of the pictures online at http://photos.yahoo.com/pacs023 in the “Rwanda Captures” photo album.

Wisdomless

2006-06-10T07:06:00.000+02:00

I know, I know I know... I need to update really bad! Butttt tonight is not the night for that... I got my wisdom teeth out today, so I actually have internet access since I'm at home and I technically have the time to update, but really, my body is just telling me to lay down. No promises, but hopefully I will feel up to it tomorrow or Sunday. Oh, and I miss my friends that are in Turkey and Rwanda-- just thought I'd throw that out there. Ok, i'm going to go crash now.

Proportional Hugs

2006-05-24T18:49:00.000+02:00

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY SARAI RIGHT NOW!!

Well this is my last post for sure, i have had fun updatin and even more fun readin your comments, thank you so much for stayin involved and praying for the team, it means so much to all of us! I am only oin to write a quick account of the last few days, as I dont have much time to write.

Work this week was different finaly and it was a much needed and refreshing change. I spent most of Monday on an african made, not so sturdy ladder, sanding wood beams on the ceiling. We also started puttin primer on the walls. Tuesday and today was more priming and lots of painting... everyone on the streets stared even more at us as we had paint coverin us- hey, its not easy paintin a wall that is textured mission style. We have also been able to work long days which has been fun and tiring at the same time.

We have heard some cool stories from Venancie about herself as well as about Salim and Edward, they have lied throuh some amazing things that I could only imagine, It has been really cool to develop these relationships despite the lanuage barrier. Salim is great and a really funny guy, I will miss them all.

Dont worry mom we have TONS of pictures and even some video.

Ate fish tooday and I liked it... I hear your tastebuds change every 7 years and I am approaching 21 :)

Mom im thinkin crispy chicken salad with honeymustard dressing. Is that possible? oh, and goldenspoon. Simple but amazing. But if you can think of something better then do it. Oh, can you get a pineapple from the store too, I might go through withdrawls when I get back.

Ash i didnt buy anythin yet, there is nothin in gitarama so we are shopping on saturday before i see you YAY YAY YAY... you are leaving today, fly careful I love you buddy!

Thanks for all the prayers, these last few days have been really great, I have enjoyed every second and just lived in the moment, not even thinkin past the next hour, its been great.

Robin and Jenni, Julie and I prayed for you today as you left on your way, and we both ,miss you already, but dont miss me, just have fun there

Shower doesnt work anymore here so its bucket baths- I think i decided to just not bathe haha, Im only half way kidding.

More funny stories, but not enough time to tell them... we dont have to worry about bugs tonight, Erica and I have a pet lizard in our room named Jimmy who eats other insects, yeaaah!

Tomorrow Ray is going to come work with us, then we are goin to leave work at 2 to go shop at a prison, you heard me right, a prison. They make wood carvings apparently and the prison is only a 2 min walk from the guest house, how convenient haha. Friday we will finish up the painting and say goodbye to everyone. Saturday mornin we head back to Kigali, shop in the morning, visit 2nd wave (Ashfool), and eat dinner at Venancies house and meet her family. Then hopefully visit 2nd wave more. Sunday we leave Africa -sad- and get a 6 dollar starbucks in the london airport, oh yeah!

Ill ask Vanencie about the adoption thing :)

They say that the length of a hug is proportional to the amount of time that you spend away from that person... well Im looking forward to some nice long hugs from all of you! See you on Monday!

Goatbobs

2006-05-21T18:03:00.000+02:00

Bon Swa!

(no idea if i spelt that correctly, but it means good evening in french...i hope)

It i almost 6pm here so that means it is almost 9am back home, which probably means you will be getting online to check this since i always post sundays and wednesdays at this time. ok, anyways...

THURSDAY:
-normal work day, mostly gardened because the rain didnt allow for much else
-did laundry for the first time here, that was an african experience
-ate goat bruchette at lunch, thats goat meat shishkabobs, and let me tell you, i hope we only eat goat for the remainder of our time here, amazing! It is a little weird, however, to walk by a goat on the road after lunch time
-We saw some white people at the restaurant where we eat lunch, we were staring and calling them mazoongoos--i think we are becoming like the locals

FRIDAY:
-slept in till 830, amazing!
-First day of doing somethng different here in Gitarama... Kelli, our contact for all Rwanda teams, came and took us out for the day! His plan was to take us to Kings Castle, a historical landmark where the king of rwanda used to live, however- deviation- it was closed for a ceremony for a museum opening up nearby, so we went to it. We saw ballet, which is really traditional African Dance, and it was really cool to watch- dont worry, we took video! Then we walked around th museum and saw the art and got free drinks and appetizers(more goat!) Then we went back to Kings Castle and looked around there for a while.
-We had the rest of the day off to relax and we all played phase 10 and snacked since we didnt have lunch... bad idea for me, since i had started to have a stomach ache earlier that day
-I sat in my room readng and journling with a stomach ache, decided to skip dinner, and eventually got sick (threw up)around 730pm... fun times
-Still had a stomach ache the rest of the night but didnt throw up again thankfully

SATURDAY:
-Woke up feling great but decided to skip breakfast because i wasnt ready for eating yet... 30 minutes later i got sick again... which meant i didnt get to go to work that day
-Spent day in the room with Erica being bored, trying to read, nap, or anything to make time go by faster--too bad the tv wasnt working (sarcasm)
-Everyone got back and we hung out outside to get some fresh air and enjoy the nice weather, we talked with Itian, a worker here who knows a little english, he is one of th many pople we have met here who have malaria
-Felt sick all day but didnt throw up again
-I was able to eat some by dinner, mostly fruit, but thats th best part anyways

SUNDAY:
-Went to church again, only 3 hours long this time
-One little girl kept running up and down the aisle next to me, punching me as she ran by, i think it wa her way of showing love :)
-Been relaxing since so we will be ready for work tomorrow

I dont knoow if we will update again, probably wednesday or thursday if we do at all, sooooooo:

-Fly careful Jenni and Rob, I already miss you like crazy and I cant blieve I wont see you for so long, but I am sure you will have an amazing time and make tons of turkish friends, watch out for each other and dont be letting any turkish men near you! i am excited for your updates, i love you guuys i love you i love you!
-Sarai, happy 21st, dont be goin to get stoned, you koow just cuz your 21 doesnt mean you can smoke pot okay... have an amazing birthday, i am thinking about you, love you so much
-Ashfool fly careful, I am Soooooo excited to see you, Julie and I keep talking about it, dont forget the letter i wrote you, you better not have read it yet! See you in Kigali! ps: try not to sleep on the first flight cuz its a good one to stay awake
-hooch and sarai- if youarent busy next monday you should come to airport and if you stll arent busy come to my house and if you still arent busy spend the night... drive to airport with my parents to save gas money... or just come to my house after... just come see me somehow whn i get back!!!
-mom dont worry throwing up wasnt that bad, i survived! :) i love you and im excited to se you soon... ummm is it possible to have turkey meat wheat bread and honeymustard pretzels at the house... im having some big cravings for those! oh, and dont let dad go shopping with you and get a bunch of junk food haha
-dad i love you and miss you and dont be taking pictures of me when i walk through the tunnel okay, ill be nasty from 2 days of flying haha, see you soon
-emily im so happy about gabe, that is great! thanks for praying
-hooch, the tea, its a toss up
-jenni i can hear you writing your comment too, i love you, and we are having a date when you get back!
-linda, we sleep on low beds, kinda like asians- a little hard, but still okay... thanks for praying
-robin, dont hug any turkish men... i love you
-lindsey, thanks for the comment, your comments are always good reminders and make me think, and thank for praying for us, ill see you soon, hae fun up in big bear
-robin and jenni check julies blog

PRAYER REQUESTS:
-Physical body aches, especially backs
-Julies cold
-Money to keep coming in for the learning center we are building
-Painting supplies Vanencie is trying to get in Kigali
-Safe trael for Vanencie back from Kigali
-For Itian and Auntie, too workers at the guest house who are SOOOOO kind and have a servants heart, just to bless them and their families
-That our minds are focused completely here and not on gettin back or seeing everyone i kigali-- its hard to not be thinking about it because we are so excited to see everyone
-that we maintain energy and spirit which is hardwhen doing same thing every day

ps_ its weird when dogs bark at you because your white :)

LOVE YOU ALL SEE YOU SOON. POST COMMENTS FOR ME :)

No Particular Order

2006-05-17T15:43:00.000+02:00

very quick update... it took 23 minutes to load the page so i have 7 to write, so im just going to write quick bullet points...

-we spent 2 days digging a staircase out of a mud cliff and we finished yesterday... it was a celebration after and it was cool to see the appreciation and how amazing simple stairs can be to some people

-i have a huge knot in my back from shoveling that julie keeps trying to get out but it hurts too bad and im a wimp so i dont let her

-they have a milk tea here that i love... julie does too, we are addicted

-today was christie day... brett gave me a mini skunk figurine, i dont know if that has hidden meaning

-mom did you get the call

-jenni and rob fly safe

-our translator went back home for the weekend... so we are a bunch of scared white kids roming gitarama...edward is helping us out but he doesnt speak much english

-salim is the work boss...he is a cool guy and communicating with him despite the language barrier is awesome

-we have work tomorrow then friday kelli our contact is going to take us around to cool places and then saturday back to work

-we are all craving american food bad now...we are actually missing the caf

okay no more time. love you all...post more comments i love to hear them!

love, christie

Fish Food

2006-05-14T18:25:00.000+02:00

MURAHO, AMAKURU?

Still here in Gitarama, it has been only 3 days since my last entry, but so much has happened since, and we had a day of rest, so Brett thought we should send an email to our moms and let them know we are stil safe and Happy Mothers Day! I hope you have a good day mom and thank you for the card, i love you too... and Sarah, treat her good today!

Anyways, we started construction on Friday and worked on Saturday as well. We took bricks out of the house, mixed cement, retrieved buckets upon buckets of water from a pond type thing in a jungle-esque area (miss ya jenni and hooch), shoveled cement into buckets and carried them around the house, dug grass up and leveled the ground, replanted grass, finished cementing the house, andmade a cement cover for the septic tank. Relatively simple tasks in America-- but a little more difficult in Africa. We are sore, but we are still loving it!

In between work we get to play with the kids and we all love that. We sit on the steps and they sing to us or we sing to them, we take pictures and show it to them, we try to understand each other, but most of the time they just stare at us and touch our skin or our hair in amazement. They jus want to be touched and loved, which works out great because that is all we want to do as well. They are beautiful and I wish I could bring them home with me-- Mom and Dad, i could pick one out for you guys if you want :)

We had Sunday off to go to church--which ended up being 4 hours long-- but it was good and a great cultural experience... everything you think of Africa, this was it. It was loud and people jumping singing clapping and dancing... even the young children were dancing, and I really mean dancing-- not like us white people :) It was traditionAL African Dance, and it was amazing.

I also must share, just to shock everyone that knows me, that i have eaten-on a consistent basis- fish soup, fried fish, fish kabobs, liver, some kind of green veggie mush, and cabbage.

There is so much to say but not enough time-- go onto cbu website for isp updates because i get to write this next time for my team.

I love you all and thanks for the comments, I love to read them!!! Lindsey, I will definitely take you up on that... Robin, see you then! ...Sarah be safe and smart ...jenni i just freakin love you ...kimmy thanks so much ...mom and dad i love you and thank you

Maricose,
Christie

Two Triangles & A Circle

2006-05-11T17:18:00.000+02:00

Bonjour,

I am safe and sound in Gitarama and able to write my first update... however it will be brief because the keyboard is a little different and its taking a long time to type, plus the internet is really slow.

Traveling here was really not that bad, it didnt seem like it took us 42hours, however, I do not reccomend traveling with a group of 55 people... especially when theyre 55 white loud americans, its just not smart. I do however, reccomend traveling on virgin air...it doesnt get much better than this: double decker, bendable headrests, blankets and pillows, care package with eye cover, toothbrush and toothpaste, ear plugs, and face wash cloth, hugey meals, individual tv zith movies, tv, video games, and seat to seat text messaging...wow In fact, it was so amazing i decided not to sleep on that flight at all...or in the london airport where you ca get starbucks for 6 bucks... so i stayed awake for 28 hours before i finally slept 6... then i finally got a good nights sleep the next night.

Enough about travel, lets get to the good stuff... arrived in kigali at 1030am on may 9th (happy anniversary mom and dad)...drove to our guest house, changed into girls clothes, ate lunch, and rested for a few minutes before everyone got back in vans to head to the genocide memorial. We recieved a tour there and walked around for a few hours. Then back to the hotel for dinner. I must not have been paying attention when they said that fish is big here... fried fish, fish kabobs, oh yeah. And yes... I ate it, well not all of it, but some of it. I just put each piece between ten or so fries to cover the taste... so it was manageable. Wow this is taking a long time, I need to type faster... the next dqy in kigali we walked through a poor village--all 55 of us-- and it was then that i remembered that i was white... this was made clear by the hundreds of people that lined the path, stared, sometimes pointed, and called us whities in their languqge... but it was all worth it to shake those little kids hands as we walked by...they just wanted to touch us...and i just wanted to hug them. If you wish you could have seen it yourself, just turn the tv to one of those world vision commercials, because that is exactly what it looked like, now just stick 55 white kids in there with them... so we walked to a huge tent, heard some speakers, hung out and then ate lunch...two triangles and a circle mmmmm ...triangles are beef and onions and circle is a flat bread type thing, but really good. walked back, should have worn sneakers- blisters are no fun. dinner. sleep.

wake up. flood bathroom. breakfast. leave for gitarama. stopped by our work site... kids following us again and i just want to play with them all day...after stopping by, we are all excited to be here. Lunch. Get into rooms. Meet translqtor and new friend Vanencie... us girls hang out with her and talk about usa for a while. living the african lifestyle... communal unisex bathrooms haha, not the cleanest either, but we will live, we all just laugh about it. we start work tomorrow. pray for no rain so it can happen... it rains more in gitarama than other places.

food is good. people are great. bugs arent bad. i smell but so does everyone else. i dont know how often i will update, probably in a week or so. random notes:

-thanks for card mom i didnt open it yet
-happy bday rob dog in 2 days
-i miss you hooch sarai robin jenni ashfool
-miss you mom dad g-na
-congrats on graduation sister

that is all for now friends, i love you all and stay safe... leave me some love okqay. thanks.

christie

Trois Jours...

2006-05-05T06:20:00.000+02:00

If you would believe it... I just wrote a 5 paragraph post and accidently erased it... so I'm not feeling up to writing it again haha.

Basically--- I leave for Rwanda in 3 days! Yeah! ...I'll write again before I go :)

7 days!!

2006-04-30T08:50:00.000+02:00

It is 11:46pm which means that in 14 minutes, it will be exactly 1 week till we leave for Rwanda!! I don't have much time to post here because there isn't much battery left on my computer and I need to charge it, but I wanted to write a quick financial update.

Thank you SO MUCH to all of you who supported me, It means the world to me that you are willing to help me out to get there, and that you are willing to partner with me in this journey. I want to also point out something that my cool friend Ruth said... she said that some people don't realize that giving financially is some people's way of "going." Everyone isn't able to pack a bag and dissapear to Africa for 3 weeks like a college kid... but through your donation to this cause, you are just as big a part in going as I am. I couldn't go if it wasn't for people like YOU who support this cause, or at least support me. So thank you so much, thank you for being a part of this journey with me, thank you for making it happen.

Because of you, I am doing extremely well. In a matter of one week, I increased from $900 to $1900 and one week later I am up to $2700. How the heck is that possible? Well the obvious only way something like this could happen... GOD. Thank you Lord for supplying for my needs even when it seemed impossible... but nothing is impossible with God! So now I am only $200 from my goal, and my church is going to send that last bit of money in. Just admit it, it's amazing!

I also want to thank those who are supporting me through prayer. Here are a few things to pray for as we are getting ready to leave and as we head on over there:

1. Our 42 hours of travel EACH WAY (including an 8hr layover in the London airport on the way there, and a 7hr layover in the Nairobi airport on the way back)
2. For safe travel and everyone to not lose passports/immunization cards/ID/money (hey-it's happened before haha)
3. For good weather so we are able to effectively help out in building the shelter in Gitarama
4. For continued financial support--my team is at about 91% so we are doing great, but I do have some friends that are at less than 50% still, God is just reaaally testing their faith haha
5. For 2 specific relationships for each person on our team... 2 people to meet and start a foundation of a friendship, one that could continue through email once back in the states
6. For our time in the marketplace-- prayerwalking and building relationships
7. For tensions to be low amongst team members, that we get along and don't push each other's buttons too hard :)
8. That we be completely in Rwanda--especially in our minds
9. Just to prepare the hearts of those we will come into contact with, soften their hearts as they have been hardened over the years as a result of the genocide and nobody coming to their rescue

OKay I think that's enough for now haha. Well my battery is about to die, I am tired, and now it's only 2 minutes till 7 days!! I still have 3 finals before then though, so I better go burn the midnight oil... ah, who am I kidding, it's bedtime!

A little visual

2006-03-20T00:25:00.000+02:00

Well this is a picture of my team by the way, holding the newly updated Rwanda flag:

Team Amakuru (from left to right): Erika, Ben, Alicia, Julie, Johnathan, me, and Brett

....but now I should definitely be studying for a few exams I have next week :)

Africa!

2006-03-18T22:35:00.000+02:00

Just setting up this website so that it's ready to go when I'm in Africa... check here for updates, I'll be gone from May 7th-May 30th... thank you all for your support and your prayers!!