As we packed up getting ready to leave we started to feel sad  but remembered this incredible trip changed and inspired us all. Life long friendships were made and tighter bonds between the US and Rwandan students was achieved. The 2011 Richards Rwanda IMPUHWE service learning trip was overall amazing and couldn’t have been better!

We gathered on our last day with the girls at the Green Corners restaurant which is a local restaurant in the village of Nyamata. We call it our final celebration because ever since my first trip in 2007 we had carried on a tradition of saying our goodbyes, having  a feast, and saying our beloved thank you’s to all those who supported us throughout the trip.

This celebration was truly motivational. Each Nyamata girl said a few words, along with each American student. Tears were shed from almost every person in the room. We encouraged our girls to remember that the key is to continue studying and striving to become a leader. There was a true sense of family and community in the room and we were all together as one.

I myself could not hold back tears of joy and sadness. I have seen this organization grow and I am proud to say it is truly making a difference. I can’t explain how incredible it is to see how an education can alter one young girls life forever. Her family is so appreciative, she can become more independent, she leads her fellow friends and stays healthy.

In conclusion the goodbye celebration was touching and truly concluded our journey in the best way possible. We can’t wait to return to Rwanda next year!

Until next time..

Jessica

Mama Jessica (Lori Markowitz) sports her new clothes that were made by Grace's mother, on the right.

The day started early with a knock on our doors at 3:30am. We lethargically rose from our beds to greet the three cars that were to take us on our safari. It was a difficult process to fit eight people into the tiny jeep but we managed to cram in for three or four hours as we drove to the Akagera reserve. We reached our hotel and dropped off our bags in order to make more room and then we were off on our first short safari. On this safari we saw mainly birds and impalas but we also saw a hippo. After the trip was over, some people wanted to stay at the hotel and relax while the rest of the group went on a nine hour safari to the north end of the park. That is where the real adventure began!

The three jeeps drove away from the hotel and everyone was excited. About an hour into the drive, one car ran out of gas so the five people inside; Elizabeth, Rain, Molly, Courtney, and the guide Diana, had to join the other two cars. This made the trip as cramped as the first and we had to go three more hours cuddled close to each other. Backs were aching and people were getting annoyed with each other. To make things worse, the road was bumpier than anyone could imagine. We were literally driving on jagged rocks. When we finally got used to bobbing up and down every second, another problem rose. As we drove deeper and deeper into the park, biting flies started attacking the cars. Limbs were flying left and right to try and kill the flies but there was very little progress until we discovered our secret weapon: Diana. She could reach into the air and pinch a fly between her fingers while the rest of us were batting at them with shoes and tissues. For hours we dealt with heat, flies, bumps, and backaches but everything was forgotten when we reached the north end.

The African grasslands rolled ahead of us and we were surrounded but tall, green hills that were spotted with trees and bushes. The beauty was indescribable and the car was silent for a moment with speechlessness. Diana pointed out tons of tope, impalas, gazelle, waterbuck, and other deer-looking animals. We spotted a family of warthogs who scurried along with their tails pointed in the air at a 90 degree angle. Different birds flew above us and each was unique in color and size. We saw zebras running along the hills and an elephant from afar. We watched buffalo with their long horns and giraffes with their perfect geometric spots going about their daily business. Every animal we encountered seemed to stop and stare at the strange metal organisms that were in their space but then they lost interest and continued to do their own thing. It was so unbelievable to watch them so closely in their natural habitat, nothing could be so amazing. It was all worth the difficult, long drive and it was an adventure that would never be forgotten by many.

-Molly

Josh and Jessica during the safari loving the Giraffes

The Maranyundo and US students after a wonderful day of festivities

As we were still feeling the relaxing effects from our Akagera vacation, the group had a lot of energy going into the second half of our 14^th day here in Rwanda. Unfortunately, however, several of us were sick with a virus that has been going around and were not able to attend the day’s events. After a morning teaching session with the Nyamata girls, we all took a fifteen minute walk to a nearby boarding school, Maranyundu. Here we met up with Grace, whom has visited Seattle, and has also been so outgoing as to start a Richards Rwanda chapter (titled A Brighter Future) at the boarding school as well. As we entered, the first thing that the American students recognized was the beauty of the campus (in fact I wouldn’t be able to count the amount of times ‘beautiful’ was said within the first ten minutes of arrival on both hands). Instead of the red soil that is typically seen in schools’ pathways, the red was covered by a layer of cool-beige stones. The buildings matched this color and were lined around a circular field of the greenest grass that I have ever seen. To begin, we greeted Grace and her classmates and they proceeded to take us on a tour around the campus. It was a relief to be with the Maranyundu girls because they were fluent in both English and Kinyarwanda making communication between us and both them and the Nyamata girls’ easy as they are terrific translators as well as conversationalists. We then proceeded to play some bonding games, including snake tag, mingle, and a Rwandan version of rock-paper-scissors. In one activity, we all sat in a circle and all the American students were given Rwandan names: some memorable ones included Ingabo, belonging to Jay, its meaning soldier or shield, and Manzi, belonging to me, meaning the highest class hero (it suits me well, huh?).  Throughout this two hour period, several more American students retreated back to the bus, either from dehydration, or the virus, leaving our group much smaller than usual. In polite fashion, we took our leave and headed back to the bus, ready to eat the well anticipated pizza at the restaurant right down the street from the Auberge.

-Alec

Hello friends and family!I get to write to you about our experience at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, which was very informative as well as emotional. After we completed the workshop, we proceeded to tour the memorial with audio guides. We were split up depending on the language we spoke, so we ended up being apart from the Rwandan girls. We started out by touring the outside grounds, which included the mass graves. It was shocking to see the size and number of the mass graves; it was quite a lot to take in. We also went around to all of the separate gardens, which symbolized ideas, emotions, and structures connected to the Genocide. The mood was serious but also curious as we continued with our polite British audio instructor inside the memorial. Inside, we were presented with an enormous amount of information about the Genocide, the events and people surrounding it, and other genocides in history. I watched many short films that interviewed victims who had survived and retold the events that had happened to their families and friends. For me it made the information I was being given extremely more personal. To see these people relive the events when they were telling, even on film, was heartbreaking. We continued into the exhibit, faced with facts and images that displayed the horrors of the Genocide bluntly but respectfully. About halfway through, we heard heart-wrenching screams coming from somewhere in the building. We were all confused and stood shocked for a moment, and then rushed to help. The exhibits had been too much for one of our Nyamata girls, Claudine, to handle and she was lead out of the memorial. Shaken and worried about her, we kept on. There was one exhibit for the Rwandan Genocide that hit me the hardest. I was watching a silent film that was quite graphic, when a birds-eye camera view showed someone getting brutally attacked with a machete and falling to the ground. It was almost too much to handle. There was one room where many people had hung pictures of the family they lost in the Genocide, another ofclothes of victims, and another of the bones of the people who had died. It was overwhelming, and a couple more of the Nyamata girls broke down. They decided to end their tour short. I continued upstairs where I was met with the history of other genocides including the Holocaust and the killings in Cambodia. Some of them, I am very sad to say, I didn’t even know had happened in our history. I am very glad that I was able to learn about them even though it was extremely hard. We moved on to the final and most moving exhibit; the children’s’ room. In this exhibit, families had donated pictures and facts about their children that were killed. The pictures were blown up and the facts were underneath, showing their age and names, their favorite foods, activities and lastly, how they were killed. It was so hard to look at the pictures of smiling kids and babies and then hear about how they were brutally killed. I remember one the most vividly, it was a young, happy toddler girl and I cried when I read that she had been burned alive. I will always remember the memorials we visited because I am so in awe of how the people of Rwanda live with this personal story every day. I am deeply moved by the tragedies of the Genocide and I know my fellow RRI members are as well. I am overwhelmingly grateful to have learned about the horrors, because it has not only matured me, but also created much deeper bonds with the girls here in Rwanda. May all the victims rest in peace and all the survivors keep living with the strength I see in them everyday.

-Justice

Just hanging out with Paul Farmer at his health clinic

Today we were fortunate to be given the upmost honor of visiting the Partners in Health Hospital/health clinic in Rwinkwavu, which is in the eastern part of Rwanda. Partners in Health; was founded by Paul Farmer, a passionate doctor and humanitarian tackling the issue of global health. Not only did we have the chance to visit and get an incredible tour, but also we were surprised with a visit from not only DiDi Farmer, but Paul Farmer as well. Both incredible people with hearts of gold and motivation like no other. They discussed their mission and what they do, both In Rwanda, Haiti and all the other places in the world they support. They were so inspirational and speaking on behalf of all of us we were all touched. Paul was so kind and down to earth and I think we all appreciatedthe way he spoke to us. DiDi spoke about the community health workers, which are Rwandan people who go into their communities in which they are from and give medicine to those who are sick and take care of their fellow village members. I felt so privileged to be in a room with two dedicated and passionate human beings. We then carried on the visit by visiting the pediatric ward and some of the outdoor garden areas where people gather to eat and enjoy the sunlight. Overall it was an amazing experience that we all owe a huge thank you to my wonderful mother Lori because truly it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

-Jessica

One of the Jeep groups off to their safari

This is the twin blogging sesh. We attained the job of blogging about our two-day vacation to Akegera, and we warn you now, if you want to be entertained, stop reading. We didn’t do anything at the lodge except for swim, sleep, eat, and read. There were two accomplishments, however, that the twins did. Ellie read an entire book in five hours. Jay managed to push every single person in our group in the pool besides Emma, Priya, Lori, and Gina. These were both quite the feats. The food was tastiest thing we’ve had in a while. It was very nice to have a wide array of western food options; there were club sandwiches, pizza, grilled chicken, pasta, etc. At night, we could all see the beautiful African sky full of stars. Otherwise our two days at the lodge were very relaxing because we chose to sunbathe and ignore the many activities we are presented with on a daily basis here in Rwanda.

With loooooooooooove,

Ellie and Jay.

Special shout out to our homies: Hunky Lew, Kermy, Mama Suz, Bradi-o, Davey-boy, and Mama Guyman. We love/miss y’all!!!!

A sign while visiting the Nyamata Memorial Church

Today was a big day for sure. It started off quite auspiciously as we were allowed to sleep in. Breakfast was missed for all those who didn’t wake up before 9:00 but was filled in with sandwiches or snacks till lunch. At 11:15 we had a discussion circle. We talked about expectations, and how they had been both exceeded and not met. The day we visited the girl’s homes was a prime example.  We then talked about our expectations for the church: our fears, worries, and general thoughts on the coming hours. We concluded our discussion by setting off to make lunch. Around 12:00 we left for Nyamata, with three FAWE girls with us to translate: Grace, Alice, and Carol.  The drive was, as always, beautiful, as the rolling hills of Rwanda rose and fell, with Akagera River winding in between. Upon arrival at the school, we were greeted by all our girls, hugging and saying “Hello!” after our day apart. We sat down to lunch, having a mix of peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and Nutella, and Nutella sandwiches which we shared with the girls. Then the Imbuto girls started arriving. Learning names with hugs, Carolyn and I met the 4 girls our Delaware Chapter personally funds. Everyone got to know each other over lunch. Hand games were taught and friendships started.  We then entwined our hands with the Nyamata girls’, and set off walking towards the memorial.

-Carrie

The Church Memorial

Walking towards the Church everyone knew it was going to be tough. It was sort of like the elephant in the room; everyone knew we were going to go to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide Church Memorial, and knew it was going to be upsetting, but no one really wanted to wrap their head’s around it. We all took a Nyamata or Imbuto girls’ hand and walked toward the church.  Getting close to the church we noticed a big group of people surrounding the entrance. Elizabeth, one of our chaperones, later told us that they were burying/celebrating 47 more remains found from the genocide 17 years later. After the group of people left we were met at the front of the church by our tour guide (whose name sadly escapes me). I grabbed on to Flora, my friend from Nyamata School, and Veron, one of the Imbuto girls. The first thing the tour guide showed us was bullet holes in the ceiling and bars on the door that were ripped apart from the extremists trying to get in.

The tour guide let us into the church. On my way in I caught a glimpse of dirty clothes lying on the pews. Slowly walking in the piles of clothes grew. It felt like bodies could crawl out of the clothes. Picture a beautiful church with bullets holes in the ceiling and marks on the wall with clothes scattered everywhere. Clothes of the dead.

Slowly, I realized what was going on. The genocide never really seemed real to me. It was like in 7^th grade when we went to visit the Holocaust museum with my school. I had read Anne Frank and studied Hitler but never really realized what had happened. The same shock hit me when I entered the church. The genocide REALLY DID happen in 1994. The phrase “Never Again” started making sense.

Then, we went downstairs. Downstairs was an eerie fluorescent light that lit up a box filled with bones and skulls. At the bottom of the glass box was a coffin. The tour guide explained it was of a woman who represented many others because of the way she was killed. She was raped by many of the group of people surrounding her and then a stake was put up through her from her private parts to her face. She was severely tortured. Her skull was not on display because her family lived nearby and it felt disrespectful to them to display her. Many of us were crying now. I looked around and realized we all were taking this in and it was happening. The brutality of genocide was visible right in front of us.

After coming back above ground, we went outside. A priest and an Italian woman were buried outside who had tried to save the lives of around 10,000 people who were killed in this specific massacre. They were nicely decorated graves and large in size to show respect. After that, we went over to an area with steps leading down under the ground. Due to my experience 10 minutes before when we went underground I was not excited. The tour guide announced that if we were strong we could go down underground. Some of the girls walked over to “Mama Jessica” (Lori) and didn’t go down.

When I saw the faces of people coming up after going underground (I had no idea what was down there) I didn’t really want to go. Many people who weren’t crying before came up the stairs sobbing or red eyed. At the bottom of the stairs were more bones. But they weren’t in a glass box and the bones and skulls climbed high above your head. And when you stood, you looked into the eye sockets of actual people. It was overwhelming. A lot of people started crying, but when we did the Nymata and Imbuto girls were there for us. They were so wonderful. They were caring about us before themselves.

The Church was very emotional. But, I am glad we all experienced it. We all took it in different ways, including the Nymata and Imbuto girls who were so strong. It must have been so hard for them to care for us and make sure our tears went away when they just probably wanted to cry or breakdown, too. I really admire our girls.

-Carolyn

Afternoon:

We settled into our seats in the school room. Phillipe stood and talked about what we just experienced, Grace translating for him. He said that it was important we did this. That it was the key to it never happening again, that it was necessary for the future of Rwanda. He said we were the ambassadors of the genocide. We were the key to the future, and we were the ones who could make a difference. He told us to put smiles on our faces, to be happy because it was over, and it would never happen again.

We went outside and soon smiles returned. We played “Duck, Duck, Goose!” the Rwandan way, which requires the two players to run opposite ways and race back to the spot. It was immensely fun, and many a races were run. After “Duck, Duck, Goose!” we played “Scratch” which involves a secret person scratching the palms of everyone else, and hiding their identity from the group.  After games, we went to the front of the school, sang “Lean on Me” and then took a group picture before sadly departing from the school. We went back and then had to go straight to dinner, where we filled our stomachs once again with the delicious Rwandan food. Bed followed shortly afterwards, because the day had been trying.

-Carrie

At tonight’s dinner, we were very fortunate to be joined by Richard Kananga, the man who started the foundation of Richard’s Rwanda IMPUHWE, and for whom the organization is named. After dinner, we all walked into a conference room where Richard spoke to us about how he met Jessica, Rwanda’s future, and the genocide. He is a very charismatic and personable speaker, so all of us, despite being on the brink of sleep, enjoyed what he had to say. He started by asking us how our experience in Rwanda had been so far, and then spoke about how he met Jessica. He then gave us some background on himself, telling us about his work with various organizations in Rwanda concerned with several different topics of concern. Richard also spoke about the genocide memorial in Nyamata, which we will visit tomorrow, and talked further about the genocide in general. This gave us some idea of what to expect for tomorrow’s visit. The talk ended with the story of how Richard met his wife, Kelen, who also joined us for dinner, and then we headed back to l’Auberge Beauséjour. Overall, Richard’s talk was both informative and engaging. It was very nice to meet the man who sparked it all, and it was enlightening to hear him speak about both his personal history, as well as the history of Rwanda.

-Josh

 The first thing on our itinerary for this morning, July 2^nd, was shopping at the market. We were all very excited to see all the goods and buy souvenirs for our family and friends. However, the prospect of bargaining (a common practice in the market) daunted many of us who had either never bargained before or were not very good at it. We spent the whole morning practicing with each other and learning techniques and Kinyarwanda phrases that could help us in the market.

            After a short drive, we arrived at the market, which consisted of multiple stalls next to each other inside a small building. Most of the stalls sold the same things: brightly patterned bags, silk scarves, wood carvings, large colorful earrings, handcrafted paintings of African scenery, traditional Rwandan clothes, beaded bracelets, beautiful woven bowls, elaborately decorated flip-flops, necklaces, and various other miscellaneous items. All of the vendors were very happy to see us and kept trying to entice us to their stalls. 

            As we spread out across the market and hunted for the best deals, we got the opportunity to put all of our newly learned haggling techniques into practice.  Walking past the stalls, I often heard things like “Can I get 5 of these for 2000?” “That’s too expensive!” and “I think 3000 is a fair price.” Some of us were more successful than others, but in the end we all managed to buy the goods we wanted at a decent price. We also gained confidence in our bargaining abilities, and most of us are now comfortable with bargaining in markets such as the one we were in.

            The rest of the day, I noticed several students carrying around Rwandan bags and wearing the earrings and bracelets that they had bought. All in all, shopping at the market was an exciting and entertaining experience, and we all had a lot of fun! 

-Priya