Nitwa MuToni Uwase.

Walking up the hill to Sonrise this morning, I heard the beautiful sound of little voices singing. They were singing the Rwandan National Anthem and their voices were so sweet. I couldn’t help but smile. I took my camera to school today so below are some of the events of the day.

Brown bear, Brown bear

Looking at books

Break time

Gloria and I

One of my little P1 girls, Benneta

My new co workers Pennine and Grace

John Lambert!

Benneta and I.

Washing the students clothes

Vincent, the gate keeper

The computer lab-they were writing about their holiday.

B2R mousepads

Sonrise Primary Chapel

The Spiritual Committee with Pastor Celestine

Primary kids filling the chapel

I am so blessed to be working at Sonrise. I forget that I am the only white face among a sea of Rwandan children and teachers! They have taken me in as if I was born and raised here. My KinyaRwandan is coming along “bohoro bohoro” which means “slowly by slowly”. Every morning I greet the matrons including my new Rwandan momma, Betty. I have tea or a banana with them and I learn some new phrases. They have named me MuToni Uwase which is my KinyaRwandan name. From what I understood, it means the girl with the Father in her heart.

The Village

Yesterday and today we went to the Village near Virunga lodge. We played with the village kids at Mwiko school. Here are some pictures to recap the days events.

Showing off her painting.

Jenna...LOVE HER!

John Lambert and I.

Suzie and I with John Lambert, John Gaspar, James and some other kids.

It's good to be home

Yesterday afternoon, we went to the Genocide Memorial in Kigali. It was heartbreaking. There was an entire room dedicated to the children who were killed during the genocide. As you walk through, you see pictures of the children and can read about who they were. Some things mentioned about different children were: their name, age, favorite food, personality type and behavior, favorite thing to play and their last words. Reading what some of the precious babies said at their final hour was difficult for me. I can't imagine anyone doing such terrible things to a child.

Yesterday afternoon I sat under the gazebo at Tom's house and read a book as I looked out over the amazing city of Kigali. I could hear singing and music coming from various church's in the area. It was beautiful and I could really feel God's presence in Rwanda.

Today is election day in Rwanda. It's a neat experience being in an African country during an election. We have seen many people walking to the voting locations. When a Rwandan votes, they dip their pinky finger in ink to mark their choice. Everything in the city is shut down. It's like a holiday. Very few places are open today.

It's so good to be back in Africa. I really feel that my heart belongs here. It was such an awesome feeling stepping off the plane and taking in the new smells (much better than in Uganda!!).

Below is a picture of our new friend, Christopher. We met Christopher and his friend as they were leaving the voting station. They walked with us for quite some time telling jokes and asking questions. Look closely on his pinky finger and you will will see the mark he used to cast his vote.

I have fallen in love with this country.