Richard's Rwanda

Girls from Nyamata, Kigali, and Seattle at the US Ambassador’s residence with the Deputy Ambassador, Ann Casper.

Bittersweet was the feeling. We shared a journey filled with tender moments, sheer joy, and much learning. It was time to say goodbye to the FAWE and Nyamata Catholic girls; our new sisters. We spent the morning teaching our sisters from Nyamata Catholic. We wanted to make the teaching fun and enjoyable. We played and sang songs as we taught. Following the teaching, we went to a local restaurant close to the Nyamata Catholic school called Green Corner. There we spoke our final words to our Nyamata sisters and were greatly humbled when they spoke their final words to us. We realized that our sisters had taught us far more than we could have ever taught them. We acknowledged that our journey would not have been possible without everyone who had accompanied and supported us along the way.
We traveled to FAWE and said our final goodbyes. We thought about keeping in contact, reminisced about the fun we’d had, but then we remembered that we are sisters. Though we are so far apart, we will always remember that we have sisters across the globe who are thinking of us as we are of them. The thought and the heart of us sisters cannot be broken by any distance across the universe. You don’t always need to see to believe. Sometimes you just have to trust that it will all turn out well. And that it will.
Our evening buffet dinner was spent with Emanuel, Vestine, and Angel. The buffet was greatly appreciated and as usual it was delicious. Because the girls were not accompanied to dinner by parents, you can only imagine that it got a little crazy. Emanuel, our friend was constantly being badgered about his relationship status. Everyone including Vestine and Angel were intently listening. It was a crazy, exciting, but a fun evening of pure “girl talk.” Evidently, Emanuel never gave a clear hint about his relationship status and that’s where we left off. We thanked Emanuel, Vestine, and Angel for the entertaining and fun night. They have been by our side during out journey and for that we give thanks.

Blogged by Dayan Flynn-Walsh

Beth and Kiki at Lake Kivu

As we arrived at Lake Kivu we were greeted with non alcoholic (or so we think) cocktails. We walked into the Tiki Hut to watch a tribal dance performance and then ate delicious food served on fish shaped platters. We got assigned rooms by the beach and crashed into bed after a 4 hour bus ride. We woke up to the sunny sky and glistening waters of Lake Kivu and rushed to a breakfast full of crepes and omelets. After breakfast, we sat out in the sun while reading, sleeping, and playing cards. Later on we had a buffet lunch and continued to suntan.

AnnaK meets a small boy in Gisenyi

A group of people went on a boat tour of the islands surrounding Lake Kivu. After a day of soaking up the sun, everyone discovered painful sunburns that were quickly treated with Aloe vera. We finished off the day with a buffet dinner and moseyed on to bed. Then next day we woke up to another beautiful sunny day and had another breakfast on the beach filled with crepes and omelets. We packed up, journaled, and got on the bus back to Kigali. After a long bus ride we were dropped off at the buffet and were treated to yet another buffet dinner. We walked back from dinner and went to bed.

Ana Rae Miller

Arise to the joy of not only our country but for the people of Rwanda as well. We began our day’s journey with a nice breakfast and on to the bus. Streets were crowded, dust was blowing and children singing. As we slowly pace down a very steep hill, we finally arrive to the Mother Theresa Orphanage; where mixed feelings were flowing through the air. There was excitement, fear and curiosity going through our minds as we were being welcomed and introduced to the orphanage. We were first brought to the babies room where we were not allowed to go inside only to peek. This was interesting to us because we were surprised and confused by this yet we continued down the hall. We arrived at the disabled young children, which was very intense for many of us. It was sad to see some of the kids eating their food upside down, and knowing that we couldn’t do anything because we were just a bystander in the situation. However there was a volunteer who asked if I would like to help feed one of the kids in a wheel chair. I felt like I was a part of his life simply because I fed him and gave him a smile. Moving along; we arrive at the 1-2 year olds who were just precious, and Helen had a wonderful time with the little ones. There was one boy who loved sun glasses, so much! So Ellie tried placing them on his eyes and in that moment they were his favorite toy. It was quite hard to take them away and when Ana and I began to play with him, Ana gave him her glasses and I guess that wasn’t the best idea either, because he then began to ball his eyes out. From that point on Ana and I stayed with our new best friend, and once we realized everyone had continued their tour except us we went to a place where the children were eating outside. Kids would pop up from every angle, raising their hands in need for a lift up into their new friends arms. Unfortunately we did not see the elderly, however the comments and reflection I heard was that it was a very life changing experience for some because even though there was so much fear they felt those older people had so much wisdom and weren’t being acknowledged for it. It was a utterly filled two hours.

Any who we now move on to the Nyamata home visits. This was a wonderful experience for all of us. We were in two different groups so I will speak on behalf on mine. We visited two homes; Diane’s, and Sandra’s. Both had incredible loving families who immediately welcomed us. Unfortunately Dayan and I had to get some footage which was a little challenging, but we got it! So we first sat down and everyone said our names and the parents were so grateful and kind. On our way to both homes we were joined by many little kids which was awesome because we loved it! And on our way to Sandra’s home, Diane’s sisters joined us! We walked up a large hill and then finally reached Sandra’s. Her grandmother was there and was a loving woman who wanted to make sure EVERYONE was sitting and felt as if they were home. Her neighbor Steven spoke English and was a fabulous translator. We discovered her father had passed and sadly her mother was in the hospital. She had one sister who looked almost identical and a lovely community of neighbors. As we said our goodbyes, her grandmother gracious and generously gave me a beautiful woven basket made by hand. We concluded our day with a bus ride home and a buffet dinner for the third time, because we love it so much.

Best regards

Jessica

Ani and Olivia teach kids to read

This morning we woke up after an extremely fun (and tiring) night at FAWE. I woke up to a smiling 12 year old named Pretty looking as happy but as tired as can be. I could tell everyone had so much fun last night, having a Seattle vs. Rwanda song-off, where we sang songs we knew and presented it to one another. Anyways, we woke up, ate porridge that the girls so kindly got for us. However, some of us weren’t necessarily used to the kind of food they eat and had a hard time eating it….. but that’s beside the point. After breakfast, around 20 FAWE girls and us (the Seattle girls) took the bus straight to Nyamata for some bonding games. Some of us felt sick and slept through the bonding exercises while the rest of us had a great time getting to know the girls a little better. Some of the exercises included trust falls, leaning on one another (the “circle-chair” game), and a mingling game. Then the FAWE, some Nyamata, and the Seattle girls went to the church memorial of the Rwandan 1994 genocide. It was extremely powerful for all of us, looking around and seeing our Seattle girls holding hands with several of the FAWE and Nyamata girls as we walked through the church was even more inspiring. Walking into the church and immediately seeing the bloody clothes of those 10,000 murdered was very intense and hard to handle. We looked at the skulls and the bones of victims. I was so inspired by the Rwandan girls, because they had the courage to go to the memorial, and during our time there, they kept comforting me and checking in with ME to see if I was okay. This proves all of them really think about other people before thinking of themselves and it really touched me. Every girl had their own experience with the memorial, and we all took the entire genocide in, which was incredibly overwhelming. After the memorial, Jessica (not our Jessica), Jessica, the head student chief of FAWE, and Lillian, another FAWE student, shared with us their perspective on the 1994 genocide.  Again, it was extremely powerful and overwhelming for us to hear, but we all took it in and each one of us was so moved and inspired by this day. Back at the hotel, we talked about our experience at the memorial. Ani explained how she was holding hands with two Nyamata girls, and when they walked inside the church, the girls grasped Ani’s hand tighter. Ani said that one of the most powerful parts of the memorial for her was the look on their faces right when they walked in. Everyone talked a lot about Jessica (the FAWE girl) and her strength to be able to share about the genocide right after the memorial. After our talk, we had a healthy 2 hours of free time to relax and process our intense experience. We had a fantastic buffet meal and then quickly after went to sleep. (Well.. Kiki watched the World Cup.)

-Ellie

Kayla shows girls books

When they say “the many hills of Rwanda”, they aren’t kidding. As we drive in our BIG van every day, we drive over the many beautiful hills in Rwanda. When we look outside the windows we see lush hills that never end!  Another thing we see is people along the road carrying things up hills that we would think would be impossible. Today we stopped by the FAWE School to pick up a few girls to help us communicate with the girls at the two Nyamata school we were visiting today. All I can say is our bus is packed to the limit, not even a bug would fit.  We stopped at the first school to meet some of the new Richard’s Rwanda Impuhwe members.  They were older and we had to explain who we were and how they were a part of our organization. We were really proud of them because to get into that school you have to work really hard. We promised to keep in touch by letter after we got home.  Then we walked along the road to get the Nyamata Catholic, the school where our RRI girls are. We immediately got into teaching the students. We were focusing especially on conversation and comprehension. We did this by having them read books to us, and putting words they weren’t familiar with into stories and sentences. Unfortunately after a short while we had to leave the school and head back to our hotel to get ready for the sleepover at FAWE. We were all waiting for this night to bond with the FAWE girls and we took advantage of the time we had with them.  Myself being a BIG soccer fan and keeping up with every world cup match, I was overjoyed to hear they watch most if not all the games. We ended up watching the Ghana vs Uruguay game, the favorite being Ghana by far. We had a blast. Event the girls that didn’t keep up with soccer or watch it, ended up staying up for the climactic game. Although the outcome of the game didn’t go our way (Uruguay, 4 and Ghana, 3), I am not here to tell you about the world cup! We all had an awesome time that night talking and bonding with each and every FAWE girl. We were also surprised and happy to hear that all the girls had Facebook!!! I know the whole group can say it was an awesome day in Rwanda.

-Kiki

Ana K and Alena with FAWE girls

Today we woke up, well rested and we were fed a healthy breakfast. Ana Rae and Alena woke up early to have a quick run around the hotel rooms to get a good start with their day. Many girls are planning to join them tomorrow morning. After breakfast we all gathered on our bus and took off to the FAWE School for Girls to pick up six girls to help translate and meet the girls at Nyamata. After meeting the Nyamata girls with some fun get to know you games run by Jessica, Ellie and Ani we began with our teachings. Before we started to teach the girls we enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by the parents/adults on the trip. The teaching started off with a boom, all the girls were speaking, reading, and writing excellent english. The rest of the time went by very quickly, we bonded over education and as much conversation as we could have. After a long bus ride that was filled with beautiful scenery the exhausted Seattle girls got their reward of the day and had three hours of free time. After our free time we rehearsed the dance with a few tweaks (sorry mom) and went off to a great dinner at a fabulous restaurant. What a great day!

Blogged by: Ana K

Welcome at FAWE School

We woke up after a long day of travel of around 26 hours on the plane, although we were beyond tired we managed to stay semi-awake through a meeting with the welcoming Danatha, who is the head of all the FAWE schools Rwanda. Most of us had to hold our eyes open in order to pay attention. At around seven everyone crashed but woke up again thanks to the annoying tropical birds. The breakfast was surprisingly much better than we expected. Soon after we all met up and discussed the movie groups. After the discussion we hopped onto the bus and made our way to FAWE school. Once we got to the school  we were welcomed by a traditional dance and song with drums and everything. Let’s just say “Lean On Me” (the song we have prepared for the girls) has a lot to live up to.  We all introduced ourselves, awkwardly and then ate rice, beans, and mini bananas! After lunch we moved outside with all of the girls and began playing ice breaker games which included blindfolding a partner and dragging them through different obstacles which included a tree. After a long day of playing games with the girls, we boarded the bus and rode to go to a nice Italian restaurant. We arrived home, and went to bed. – Olivia

Ani makes a new friend

Welcome Song

Kendall Makes a New Friend

At the airport in Seattle, June 27th, 2010

Everyone gathered at the airport on Sunday evening, excitement and nervousness in the air. Bags were checked, pictures taken, farewells bid. On Tuesday morning, a 7am phone call alerted Stateside parents that everyone had arrived safely and without incident. Everyone is checked into the hostel and is hopefully beginning to catch up on some much needed sleep after over 24 hours of travel.

Tomorrow’s activities include the first trip to FAWE school, the highlight of the trip where the students will all get acquainted for the first time.

Zawadi Nikuze

We recently had an assembly at Garfield High School where we were honored to host Zawadi Nikuze who was an absolutely inspiring speaker who gave us her input and personal story about the conflict in the Congo. Richards Rwanda IMPUHWE was hosting this assembly and we began with introduction of our organization group and then continued with background on both Rwanda and Congo. Zawadi counsels and conducts workshops for rape survivors.There is currently a lot of trouble for women since rape is being used as a weapon of war and and probably the most brutal weapon that could possibly be used. Zawadi told us about a day in a life for a women who has a child born of rape. Many women became even more below the poverty line and their situations are dire. Zawadi is a strong advocate for these women and has reached out to them with compassion and love. The assembly was very touching and heart felt and many students had questions. Sometime we all need a reminder about how lucky we really are and that assembly did just that.

Zawadi Nikuze, 33, is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She was born and raised in Goma, in the eastern province of North Kivu, as the youngest of 4 children. Zawadi has been active in peace work since high school where she was involved with a youth group that promoted peace through drama and songs and supported street children.

After finishing high school in Goma, she received a degree from Eveylne College in Kenya, and then moved to Kigali, Rwanda in 1999 to begin work with “Mwananshuti,” an outreach program for street children. She then became a facilitator in the peacebuilding program and Assistant Coordinator of the Friends Peace House in 2000.

After four years in Kigali, she moved on to consulting work with the Change Agents for Peace Program, World Relief, and others, first in Kenya and then back in Goma. In 2007, she accepted a position as Coordinator of the African Great Lakes Initiative’s work in North Kivu. In this capacity she plans and facilitates Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities workshops on trauma healing and reconciliation with citizens of Goma and displaced persons who fled violence to camps outside Goma. Zawadi serves on the committee of Goma Relief, and also works regularly with survivors of rape in the camps in facilitating support groups and listening sessions.

Jessica

The Richards Rwanda Impuhwe SGS chapter had an ice cream sale on Thursday the 20th! Everyone in the group was really helpful, and we all had a blast selling lots of ice cream. We made a total of $561.00! We sold everything from cofffee, to apparel, to ice cream and even leftover toppings. We were really happy with how successful the event went, and we were also glad we put the sale on the same day as honored elders day at SGS. There were a lot of parents and grandparents that gave us donations and were really interested in what we were doing for the girls. All in all, the sale was a great success and everyone had a lot of fun.

Kiki B.