Field Trip!

Field Trip to Kigali Museum of Natural History

A Walk in the Neighborhood

Wednesday evening I went on a walk through our neighborhood. Here are some of the things I saw:

Home, sweet home!

Teaching Pre School in Africa

I accepted a job two months ago in Kigali as the Supervisor/Pre K teachers at First Impressions Day Care.

There are about 30 children at First Impressions and I have ten in my class. The children are from all over the world: Rwanda, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Eritrea, Libya, Burundi, Holland, Bolivia, America, Korea and India.

My sweet class

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree

Rainy Season bulleton board (there are only two seasons: rainy and dry)

Reading Center

Word Wall

Class names and star student

Rice Sensory Tub
Chicka Chicka Coconut Trees

Calendar and behavior chart

It's amazing what you can do with paper, scissors and crayons!

Smile!

Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. ~Mother Teresa

JanViere is our house girl in Musanze. I have never met anyone who loves Jesus as much as JanViere. Her love for the Lord and for others just explodes from her body and soul. JanViere always has a smile on her face and everyone who meets her immediately loves her.

JanViere is married to a wonderful man, Dameon. They have adopted two children who were both double orphans(they have lost both mother and father): Alice, age 19 and Olivier, age 7. JanViere once told me that "it is her duty and the duty of Rwandan's to take in those children with no parents." Alice is a relative of hers and she found Olivier sleeping outside the market. She woke him up and asked him if he had a family...he said no. JanViere invited him to be part of her family. She says that "Jesus took her right to where Olivier was sleeping."

Since my return in January, JanViere has been complaining that her tooth was "sick". It was her front two teeth that were bothering her. One of the teeth was discolored. She was not able to drink or eat many foods because the pain was too much to handle. A few weeks ago, she came to Kigali to see a dentist. He told her that she would need a root canal and cavities filled.

We got her back to Kigali this morning to have the root canal. With her rosary around her neck, she sat down in the chair saying, "Jesus is coming! Jesus is coming!" The root canal was very successful but she also ended up needing two acrylic crowns put on the front two teeth. She sat in that chair like a champ for over two hours! I felt like a mom as I sat in the corner, reading my book and checking on the brave patient.

When everything was finished she looked at her new smile in the mirror and jumped out of the chair yelling, "Thank you! Thank you!" She was the happiest girl in the world with the brightest smile in all of Rwanda!

Thanks to Kat for snapping these photos.

Sweet Diane

About 7 weeks ago, I went to visit Diane in her home. Diane is a P1 student at Sonrise. As we were eating lunch (cooked potatoes, some kind of meat, green peas and a fanta) her mother and father were telling me why she has not been at school: over the Holidays, Diane became very ill and her parents had to spend a lot of money on her medical bills. This meant they couldn't afford to send her to Sonrise. As I was hearing this, my heart sank and I knew something had to be done to get this little girl back to her home away from home. I emailed some friends of mine in Fort Smith who immediately expressed interest in wanting to help. It costs $1200 to send a student to Sonrise for one year and within 7 days we had the money and Diane started school 3 days after that.

Yesterday was Visiting Day at Sonrise. This happens 3 times a year and parents, relatives and friends come to campus to visit their children. As I walked into Primary, I saw a sea of faces hoping their parents have come to visit. For some this is a joyous day. For others, this is a very sad day. I noticed Diane among the sea of children with a sad expression on her face. I immediately got on my knees and wrapped my arms around her asking why she was so sad.

I gave her a big bear hug and she buried her face onto my shoulder. I didn't know if her parents would be able to make the journey to Sonrise so I told her I was her visitor. I made funny faces and kissed her cheek and this got a smile out of her.

I took her by the hand and we walked together to greet the other children and families we were there to visit.

A few hours after I had left Visiting Day, I received a call from Diane's teacher, Christine. Christine was asking where I was because Diane's parents were at Visiting Day wanting to greet me. I wasn't able to see them yesterday but I have a feeling that their excitement and love could have been felt all the way to Arkansas!

Didier, Diane and I: All Arkansans at heart!

This post is dedicated to the amazing individuals who sponsor Diane's education at Sonrise. I pray that one day you get the chance to meet this sweet, precious girl.

On behalf of Diane and her family, thank you to: Rick and Jan Beauchamp, Martha and Vent Murphy, Hector and Kathreen Mendoza, Steve and Kyle Creekmore, Bob and Jan Cooper, Mike and Donna Stec, Kelsey and Chris Rogers, Linda and Henry Udouj, Candy and Neil Crow, Charlotte and Dudley Flanders, Carolyn and Breck Speed, Bob Cooper Jr., and Ricky Beauchamp.