Hello from across the pond

Hello from across the pond

Moraho!  That’s hello for you English speaking folk. So we are currently in our 3^rd week here in Kigali and there is a lot to fill you guys in with.  I have been blown away by how fast the time has gone. It only feels like a couple days ago we were all at Heathrow playing Frisbee, waiting to go.

It’s been a bizarre couple of weeks - they have felt completely surreal, but nevertheless amazing at the same time. We arrived very tired on Tuesday 7^thbut were wonderfully greeted by the Tearfund team at the Moucecore Guest House. Our Kigali team also finally had the chance to meet our team leader Tirion, and our ICV’s (in country volunteers) Theo and Catherine, who are brilliant and a great help with translating. Because it was night when we arrived we couldn’t see a great deal of Moucecore (our home for the next week) until the next morning, when we had the full experience of what Rwanda had to offer.

Over the next couple of days we were educated about the Rwandan culture, how to work as a team and the basics of Kinyarwandan – the native language of the country. We were later sent out in our teams in to the local community to buy something of interest, using only Kinyarwandan, which proved challenging to say the least. That weekend we had the honour of visiting the genocide memorial which gave such an insight the sadness and devastation Rwanda has faced. I know a lot of us were overwhelmed by seeing what this nation has gone through, but also amazed by the progress of the last 20 years; clearly displayed by how we were welcomed. We also visited a church that we as a Kigali team are continuing to go to.

After a sad goodbye to the rest of the teams on Monday we arrived at our new home for the next 8 weeks in Kabeza at the AEE (African Evangelical Enterprise) Guest House. Here, we met the staff and settled in quickly before heading off in to the field to visit the schools, co-operatives and self-help groups that AEE are partnered with. It’s been really great to see how much work AEE do and how many people they reach out to. We have been trying to figure out where and how we can best help, but I think it will become clearer over time the more conversations we have with the staff.

Now during week 3 we have started working in schools, planning lessons are well underway and family life is keeping us occupied and busy but reality has set in and the early mornings are challenging for all of us but what we are doing is well worth it. Meeting all the kids and partners is amazing and they are all full of life which is encouraging for us to see and they all lift our spirits and make us happy with their joy. We have also started our work with one of the farming cooperatives to help weed, plant, and water and feed the animals they have, secretly we are hoping to have massive muscles by the end (wishful thinking).

For me personally the last couple of weeks have been great but also challenging, as for a reason I’m sure only God is aware of - 2 weeks before leaving the UK I decided to apply for university, people who know me will know I never make things easy for myself. This is a very exciting prospect for me as I never envisioned myself ever going in to higher education but for future reference to anyone who tries to apply in a different country…. Don’t!! It has been ok so far but needless to say the week was stressful for the whole team, so if you are a person who likes to pray a couple prayers chucked my way for this would be greatly appreciated.

Hoping to update this more often and with more what I’m learning personally. Hoping that everyone is ok….

God bless Kat xx