Precious People

I am calling this post “precious people” because I think that has been a theme for me from the last 2 weeks. So yes, it has been a good two weeks! I have been especially thankful for the people in my life here (though I miss you all back at home so much!). Although my first month here being somewhat challenging because I didn’t know anyone – and I still wish some things were different socially – I am now very grateful for the people God has put in my path and daily life here. I will try to tell you about these precious people, though my words will certainly fail to give a complete picture…anyone want to come visit to see firsthand?? J

1. My students are so precious; I want so badly to give them each a hug and get to know them personally, hear their struggles and joys and learn what their life is like outside of school. I guess knowing their names is a start (the English teacher has been with them since March and still forgets them often)…but I hope somehow I can cross the culture and language barrier and really get to know them more in the coming weeks.

2. Random children in my neighborhood have taken a liking to me and come to greet me whenever they see me. This always makes me smile, though I cannot describe the joy in my heart when I hear things like “Hi Bethany” or “Bite Bethany?” (“bite” basically means “What’s up?”). Once I even heard a conversation between 3 boys where one called me “Mzungu Teacher” (what they often say when they don’t know my name) and one of the others corrected him and said (something like this, it was in Kinyarwanda) “Her name isn’t mzungu; it’s Be-ta…no, it’s Be-ta-ni”. Boy was I happy!!! Of course, the pronunciation of my name isn’t perfect, but I am so pleased that many of the children remember my name – I have been trying to tell them my name off and on for several weeks now.

3. My coworkers at Friends Peace House are warm, friendly and happy to have me there (it’s mutual). Some I talk to more than others, but most conversations that exceed the normal one minute greeting make me really happy. Julienne, who works in the library and is responsible for the newsletter (there’s a new one, Peace in our Times edition 3 up now at friendspeacehouse.rw/documents), speaks English and French and is a good resource for my questions and we play football with the girls at school together on Thursdays. Jonas, the director of Mwana Nshuti, likes to ask questions about America and tell me about life here. Ityanga, the cleaner, speaks no English or French but wants to learn English and I want to learn more Kinyarwanda so we try our best to communicate as we can using random words and gestures – I can’t wait till I can really understand her and learn more about her life! Eugene, who is responsible for implementing many programs throughout Rwanda, loves to discuss political, social or other problems in Rwanda and how he thinks things could change – I wish he had more power to use his good ideas. Augustin, the English teacher, has a good sense of humor, tries to help me out with living in Kigali, and is generally so easy to work with. Samuel, the sewing teacher, doesn’t speak any French or much English but nevertheless I can see that he is a very smiley and positive person, and I love playing football with him! And finally, Cecile, the assistant to the director of Friends Peace House (FPH) and the woman who really runs the show around here, is definitely a main reason I love working in the office. For a Rwandese woman, she is incredibly open and honest – she even shares her feelings (this doesn’t seem to be true of any other Rwandese person I’ve met…). I love that she won’t mind answering any question I ask her and without my asking she shares with me certain things that are making her really happy, frustrated, worried, etc. I told her once (and it’s true!) that working the office is much less fun when she isn’t around!

      4. Chris, the 1.5 year old son of Christine, one of the daughters of my host mother, is so cute! AND…he is finally not scared of me! We had a great time “playing” together last Sunday, first with my laptop (I showed him some photos and tried to teach him the word for car in Kinyarwanda!) and later outside on the porch watching the rain. When I got back from the retreat I was hoping he still remembered me – and he did! He was in a really good mood so we danced and clapped our hands a bit together!!

      5. MCCers from the Great Lakes region of Africa – the local and North American MCC workers from Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi had a retreat in Gisenyi (a small city NW Rwanda, near the border with Congo, and on beautiful Lake Kivu) this past week. The retreat was a renewing time of sharing about work and life in our different contexts, discussing parables about the Kingdom of God from Matthew, relaxing together (yoga, origami, swimming in the lake), and having ample amounts of time to talk more during meals (turns out it takes a long time to prepare the dishes of food for 20+ people!). I couldn’t believe when the week was over and wished I didn’t have to say goodbye to my new friends. It’s hard bonding with people and then parting ways, not knowing if/when you will see them again. (This reminds me a bit of leaving orientation in Akron, PA because the SALTers will come together for re-orientation next year but the IVEPers who have been serving in the US and Canada won’t be joining us L)

I am thankful for having time to go away up to Gisenyi on retreat, but it is good to be back too. I am hoping to quickly get back into the swing of things at work and hopefully take some of my recent ponderings from the retreat about capacity building and the Kingdom of God and put them to use at work. What does that mean? …I don’t quite know yet but hopefully it means being an even better MCC volunteer this year!!

Peace to you all!

P.S. If you were to come visit I now know a hotel that has hot water for showers, serves salads and has a view from the  window of a lake that looks like Lake Michigan J It was pretty nice – I didn’t quite feel like I was in Rwanda!

P.P.S. Other people who fall on the 'precious people' list are YOU - my family, friends and supporters back at home. I love the emails and appreciate your prayers. And the care packages aren't bad either :) (thanks mom!)