Well, my body finally rebelled! All of the activity, sitting three in the back seat of our vehicle, bouncing along dirt roads yesterday, as well as being fraught with so much emotion in this Land of A Thousand Hills caught up with me duing the night and my right sacro-iliac joint is well and truly inflamed. And so, while my traveling companions are driving for 2 hours to one of the Clinton Initiative/Partners in Health sites in eastern Rwanda, I am stretched out in MM's room at her hotel, trying to stretch out enough to restore some balance to my physical self. I am terribly disappointed since the site involves maternal-child health, my nursing speciality for a number of years, but I am trying to hold positive thoughts by spending some time with this blog, reflecting on all that I've seen and heard and experienced over the past three days.
* * * * * * * *
For you frequent fliers in the U.S., here's some interesting info: the flight from Nairobi, Kenya to Kigali, Rwanda was just a little over an hour. In that short while the staff found time to bring us warm towelettes to wash our hands and then serve us a lovely little meal with beverages, keeping us happy and most comfortable- and all of this done with the greatest courtesy and utmost efficiency. American airline companies, TAKE NOTE!!!!
* * * * * * * * *
From my journal on 6 July 2010:
In Kigali, Rwanda...a very clean city of about one million people...beautiful new airport...very modern with a great deal of constuction and refurbishing taking place. Eager to see it in daylight, to explore the city's heart...to drink real coffee and blog a bit...to go at a slow, observant pace. I am having trouble grasping the fact that a mere 16 years ago, the worst genocide since the Nazi holocaust took place here during one hundred days of living hell, with people tortured, hacked to death, shot, enduring every imaginable atrocity, the streets flowing with their blood- more than 1 million, I think. It boggles the mind...or perhaps it is only that the mind refuses confrontation with such horror, such recognition of human inhumanity. This afternoon, the Genocide Memorial/Museum... I wonder how that will be...feel...hard to anticipate...
And then the journal entry from 8:20a.m. on 7 July:
How do I even talk about the Genocide Memorial Museum? One of the most emotionlly draining things I have ever experienced...and no time at all to process the experience. What was populating my sleep, I wonder? What images are now implanted so deeply that they will forever be a part of me? I am finding our pace exhausting, not so much physically as mentally, emotionally. It is difficult for me to switch gears so quickly...I simple need to be able to dwell in what I am feeling a bit more...to let it sink in deeply so I can come to a place of clarity- at least about my inner experience. And I realize how much taking pictures pulls me "out there"- good in some ways not so good in others. So, time to leave once again- and I'm hardly ready- SAIDIA!
* * * * * *
Met Pastor Deogratias today (isn't that a great name? "Thanks to God") He is the head of the Prison Fellowship of Rwanda and works with prisoners, many of whom are still there due to crimes committed during the Rwandan genocide. Quite a remarkable man, with a heart for the work of reconciliation. Four reconciliation villages have been established so far where genocide perpetrators released from prison and their families are living side-by-side with victims and their families. The government donated the land and building has been facilitated by Norwegian Church Aid. We've been invited to visit one of these villages on Friday morning before we return to Nairobi.
* * * * *
Then- now change gears with me- we headed to Gahaya Links where women are taught crafts and Joy, the founder, designs fabric and jewelry items which are then made by the women for sale around the world. They have been helping to train some of the Nyanya grandmothers in paper beadcraft. Joy is a real dynamo- energetic, intelligent, and an excellent businesswoman. We saw about 30 women sitting outdoors on the grass, working on various projects as they develop their skills to enable them to earn a living which will help to support their families and raise their standard of living.
* * * * *
Okay- one more shift...off to Ngiryi, in the hillsides northwest of Kigali, home of the grandmothers trained by Gahaya in cooperation with Nyanya (our dollars support this project on an on-going basis and these 15 women are "Nyanya Grandmothers"). The drive was beautiful, though the last several miles uphill were over rutted dirt roads. When we arrived at the local Ngiryi community center, a meeting of the area council was taking place on the hillside, a kind of neighborhod court in which disputes were heard and settled. Probably 50-60 people were there and things were still going strong when we left a couple of hours later. The grandmothers were so welcoming, greeting us with hugs and "Bon jours" and smiles as big as all outdoors. As usual, I was captivated by the children and got to know a couple of names- and stories.
The adorable little guy above is Moisies (Moses) with his grandmother, Anastasia, a beautifully regal woman...tall and slender as a model. At 3, Moisies is cheerful, laughing (though at first he feared that we were going to eat him, something his grandmother has warned him might happen if he played in the road!) He sported a clip-on necktie which he wore with a great deal of pride and during the lengthy afternoon displayed the same kind of patience I have seen in all of the African children I have met so far on this trip. Just before I took this photo, he and his grandmother had been singing a little song together, with much hugging and exchange of affection. And- if I may use a very American expression- I could have just "eaten him up"...though I would never tell them that!
And then there was Emmanuel, a wonderfully articulate 14-year-old who attends Primary 6 and speaks remarkably good English. He told me that he loves school and hopes eventually to go to university. "I love learning languges," he said with great enthusiasm, and then revealed that he also loves to sing and dreams of being a reggae singer. With a bit of encouragement, he sang an original song for us about himself, his school, and his life. And then, prompted by some questioning by Bosco, our driver, Emmanuel revelaled that he is an orphan, both parents dead, and he now lives with an older sister. Saying goodbye was not easy and we hugged tightly, as I thought of my grandchildren back in the States who have so, so many advantages of which this little guy can only dream- or perhaps not even imagine. What places one life here and one there? What chance of birth or genetics? And what really IS the responsible of the "haves" toward the "have-nots"?
* * * * *
And so the day comes to an end. Are you tired yet? I certainly was- which may account for my depleted and "in pain" state this morning. But the rest- and a lovely HOT shower is slowly restoring my equilibrium and bodily homeostasis...the hip pain is beginning to abate, as m body, heart, and mind come more fully into alignment. Basi! basi! much love to mi watoto, mi wajukuu, mi mwenzangu. Kwaherini from Rwanda.
No comments:
Post a Comment