Favorite Things in Rwanda: Through the Eyes of an Eight Year Old

Another "guest" blog (aka home-school writing assignment!) - this time, our precious 8 year old will be telling you a little about her experience in Rwanda:

My favorite things about Rwanda are seeing cool places and the activities that I do.

This is me when I visited a tea factory

For example, I went to a place called Akagera; it’s a game park you go to to see wild animals. I saw an elephant, and, get this, I saw lions! I saw lots of flying, swimming, slimy, and furry animals that I had never seen before (or maybe only once)!!

Why did the Grey Crown Crane cross the road?...

Two crocodiles swimming in the lake...looking for dinner

I like to go to see our friend Elson with my family. I like to play with his daughter Aser-Grace; we play a game called ‘’I want. ‘’ There has to be three or more people to play it. All the people have to make a circle and choose someone to be in the middle. Whoever they choose goes into the middle and claps as she/he says ‘’I want, I want,‘’ then the other people say ‘’you want?‘’ They repeat it once or twice. Then the person in the middle chooses someone to do a dance. Then they repeat it over and over again. It is a fun game that makes us all laugh!

My sister and I playing with Aser-Grace (and her
brother) at her house.

There are many places I like to go during the day. I like our yard a lot. It is tucked behind a wall, so we don’t get stared at as much. 

This is all the grass we have in our yard.

I like to go to my friend Heather’s house ; I don’t go alone since I don’t feel comfortable going out alone.

Relaxing at Heather's house (with her husband)

About every other day my dad, Lu, and I go to the shop to get eggs, bananas, potatoes, and things like that.  

Sister love

I’ve had a good time in Rwanda. I’m looking forward to going home, but I hope I come back.

Thanks for reading!

~Beebs

Experience Rwanda: Our Home, in Pictures

Since most of our loved ones have not had the chance to visit Rwanda and will likely never get to see our humble home here in Byumba, I thought a tour might be nice. And, given that whole pictures worth lots of words thing, here we go:

Okay, just kidding. That hut is not our home. But, some of you hesitated.

The front of our home - its a semi-detached, brick house
with a metal roof and concrete floors.

So sorry to disappoint those of you who pictured us in the thatched roof hut.

Panoramic view - back door is by the laundry.
What a lovely garden/yard! (the structure behind the
laundry is the outside toilet and a potato storage room thing)

Our view out the back door (the drying diapers add character!).

The small house to the left (in above picture) is where Prudence lives.  His is a mud brick structure with cement stucco, also semi-detatched, thus the long wall across the middle of the picture is actually the neighbor's cook house.

Stepping inside the back door - kitchen to right,
bedrooms and bathroom to left,
adorable one year old directly ahead

Kitchen - electric/propane combo stove,
sink to the right, storage room straight ahead
(handsome chef not included)

Sink and "counter space" - the sink
was recently fixed and no longer
leaks onto the floor, hooah!

The girl's bedroom, complete with mosquito nets
(which they will NOT miss). No closets or dressers.

I don't have a picture of our bedroom, but it pretty much looks like the girl's room, minus the pack 'n' play, add a peg board to hang clothes on.

The toilet room

The large green bucket in the "bathroom" (sans bath) is filled daily when the water is on so that we have water to use when the water is turned off, which happens daily. The orange bucket is used to fill the green bucket. Don't be deceived by the white tank up in the corner, it does not make water hot. We're pretty sure it is a piece of non-functional art. Ain't it pretty?

To be fair, the bathroom actually does get used for baths...by at least one person!

 And now for our living/family/dinning/school/office room:

Just past the kitchen looking in from the hall

The large cabinet is school supplies on the left, food
and dishes on the right.

Dinning table/computer desk!

Adorable kids on the front stoop

The view out the front door to the front (green) gate,
with our friend, Pacifique

If you step just outside our (red) gate (directly across from our front door), you'll have a tremendous view of the hills around our home. 

Situated directly across the valley from our home, on the top of the next hill, is a large Congolese refugee camp, which is closed to any outside visitors.

Rwanda is called "Land of a Thousand Hills" for good reason.

Its hard to capture in a picture the steepness of these hills.

We have occasionally had the pleasure of hosting guests at our home for either a meal or tea. 

Our friend Shantal (Elson's wife) and her two
youngest daughters enjoying tea and treats.

We were honored to have our sister church pastor, Jean de Dieu, come for a meal not once but twice in the past two weeks. You may recall the road to/from our sister parish, Hunga, so we were quite excited to have him visit our home.

the pastors...and Mo

And there you have it! I will miss the simpleness of our home here - the small number of belongings (hence the house stays cleaner) and the fact that one can just throw soapy water all over the ground to wash the floor (with what amounts to a large squeegee on a stick). 

I will also miss watching these little guys perching on the doors and windows:

These sunbirds are a dime a dozen here but it
never gets old seeing their brilliant colors.

I will not miss the (indoor) latrine smell, the lack of a dresser, or the loudness of the house (concrete floors and walls carry sound like whoa!). 

Thankfully, I get to keep the handsome chef and adorable children.

Coram Deo - The Mrs Dr

Lions and Elephants and Zebras, oh my! - Akagera and Gahini

Exceptional. Unbelievable. Mind-blowingly AWESOME (as in “Awe, God is so amazing”).

male waterbuck, the very first animal we saw

Those are some of the words we would use to describe our recent trip to Gahini and Akagera National Park in the Eastern Provience.

We arrived at the Seeds of Peace guest house in Gahini on Wednesday late afternoon. Situated on the shore of Lake Muhazi, this guest house is very aptly named. We were very glad to be away from the busyness (and the stares) of Byumba town, while the girls thought having their “own hotel room” was pretty cool (it was a two bedroom “bungalow”). The respite was welcome and much needed!

The view from our porch to the lake

But we were not in Gahini to just get away, we were there to make visiting Akagera National Park a much easier day trip (it’s a 4 hour drive from Byumba and its recommended you arrive not long after sunrise for the best animal viewing, i.e. 6:30-ish)!

As it was, our visit to Akagera began with a 5:30AM meet up time with our driver/guide. Little did we know, the early morning call was going to be SO worth the lost sleep, especially considering my previous experience at the park.

You see, when we traveled with a team to Rwanda in 2013, we also spent a day at Akagera. 

2013 team (minus half of J) at our lunch stop in Akagera...
something about this picture makes me smile every time

That particular trip included a 4AM start time, approximately one million biting flies, stifling heat that did not allow for keeping the windows shut (and the flies out), a team member getting very car sick (oh Jac, how bad I felt for you), a grumpagus for a guide, and an old bus with a large crack in the wheel well (folks, one could see straight out to the red earth below), which meant the back of the bus was constantly engulfed in a cloud of red dust. Here is how I felt at the end of that day:

Notice my blood shot eyes and dirt streaks
(if you look closely every pore has dirt...and
no, my neck was not tan. That. Is. Dirt) - hi Jen!

For me, that first visit to Akagera, despite seeing some wild animals, was truly miserable, so, needless to say, I wasn’t anxious to go back next time I was in country. However, in July, my sweet friend took the 2015 team again and had a wonderful experience. So, okay, for the sake of the children, I could be persuaded to try again, as long as a vehicle with fully intact wheel wells was promised.

impala

Promise kept. Plus, the flies were not too bad, the heat was bearable, and our guide was wonderful. Oh, and we saw SO. MANY. Animals. God’s amazing handiwork was truly on display. We saw waterbucks, baboons, vervet monkeys, zebras, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, warthogs, impalas, topis, water buffalo, eland, and a monitor lizard. 

so apparently, being a hippo is hard work...

go on, find a friends large rump and just rest your head a while
(notice little junior in the center of them all!)

look closely...its a croc!

monitor lizard

this group of giraffe were all standing very defensively...
we soon realized it was thanks to some unwelcome guests

Look at the vast array of colors and patterns. God, the artist!

Not sure where antler #2 went but I bet he has a good story

these eland looked like a cross between a bovine and an impala

topi are very shy...and kind of purple looking in the right light

the water buffalo were shy, too, and curious

"Hey, Marty, where's Melman?"

so, white with black stripes or black with white stripes?

But, the two animals that put the topping on the cake for us were a bull elephant and lions, 3 of them, two male, one female.

He was playing in the mud

Lions were only reintroduced to the park in 2015, 7 of them. And we saw 3. Umm, yeah. Exceptional, indeed!  

"Alex" the lion and his 2 friends...aka unwelcome guests!

That waterbuck seemed unfazed by the presence of
a flesh eating predator. Apparently, he has much faith in those
spikes on his head!

here kitty, kitty, kitty

We also saw many, many birds, including The Rev Dr’s very favorite, the Lilac Breasted Roller.

Lilac Breasted Roller

Seriously, seeing this bird in flight, streaks of brilliant turquoise-blue gliding by, is a real treat - God’s creative character on display in magnificent form.

Crested Eagle

Gray Crowned Crane...again!

Egret and some duck friends

Double Toothed Barbet (just off our porch in Gahini)

Yep, an altogether fabulous trip through the park (thanks, Schmidts, for the sweet Christmas gift!).

sharing the road has become a bit of a theme for us

same lunch spot as our previous trip (and same
safari outfit for my friend, hehehe)

safari lunch of champions

Our only hiccup for the day was a flat tire on the way back home. Thankfully we were out of the park (read: not near lions or animals that charge or maul) when the tire decided to calmly release its air. 

Our driver was prepared with a nice spare, and after a quick switch (that garnered a small-ish audience) we were back on the road and to the guest house in time for dinner and an early bedtime. Ahh, what a satisfying day.

The next morning, before returning to our Byumba home but after a rather long, strong rain storm, we strolled up the hill for a tour of the Gahini hospital, the first hospital in Rwanda.

the canopied road up to Gahini, a lovely walk

original hospital building

Gahini was the birthplace/center of the East African Revival! Given he is ordained under the Anglican church of Rwanda, as a missionary pastor, The Rev Dr was almost giddy as we strolled through this very peaceful town.  

first church...notice the school in the background

We peeked into the very first Rwandan Anglican church (a rather small prayer hut really), which just happened to be situated right next to a school. When I innocently waved at the students staring at us through the window, I caused quite a commotion (aka totally disrupted the class…oops), so we didn’t hang around long!

apparently the road to Gahini is tiring...she's sort of a hippo!

We arrived back in Byumba Friday evening refreshed and ready to embark upon the last 1/3 of our time in Rwanda. Its hard to believe, but we leave in less than 3 weeks now.

Please pray for us, especially my sweet friend, as we wrap up our time and work here, that we would finish well and get last minute tasks accomplished.

Coram Deo – The Mrs Dr

p.s. Our friend, Flat Stanley, also joined us on our trip to Akagera...he misses you, Auni!