John from Phoenix and I are sitting discussing my day and his elephants which he bought at the market today. He added we are talking about my dolls too. Just to spark your imagination. We did see lots of animals on the safari. It was great overall. I did a home visit today to see a woman who lost her husband in the genocide, is HIV positive, has a young daughter with an untreated seizrue disorder(the reason for my visit) and older daughter who has dropped out of school and an older son who is using drugs. We talked about her getting treatment for the daughter and she is moving in that direction. We took her older daughter to school and enrolled her and encouraged the mother to attend the support group for HIV positive women. She has attended the group in the past however is still feeling hopeless. There of course is a lot more to tell. This is just one many such situations here.
Even though today was a tough experience it was both eye opening and emotionally gratifying.
I am doing another consult tomorrow with a woman who is suffering from trauma that they are not sure what to do next.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Back to Kigali
I returned to Kigala from Gisengi today on the bus. We went to the boarder of the Republic of Congo yesterday. There are many people trying to cross the boarder into Rwanda. The corruption at the boarder is severe. Susan our guide from New Dawn Associates told us about a trip they took across the boarder. She did not happen to have documentation of have a yellow fever vaccine. They let her in with the rest of the people on the tour bus. They charge for everything they can think of at the boarder. They insisted they buy insurance for the bus, an entry fee for each person on the bus, hire a guide to assist them even though the group was only driving to a view and not getting out of the bus. The guy who wanted to be hired by the group said you would not enter a house without the host so how could you enter his country without a guide. The come up with all kind of taxes you need to pay at the border include taxing someone wearing glasses. They have article 15 in their constitution which says get money through any means that you need to. The president gave the soldiers guns and said. I am not giving you a salary, I have given you a gun so get money any way you can. There is a large refugee camp in Gisengi. It is pack with people.
The northern part of Rwanda is very rich farm land. It have vey high hills with farms from the valley floor to the peaks. The people are very poor however are able to feed themselves. We visited a Batwa Village. It was very moving. The Batwa are a marginalized group of people that used to be known as pygmies. They were considered to be the original people in Rwanda. Overtime they have become taller because of having children by the other groups in Rwanda. It was thought that if a man had back pain he could cure this by having sex with a Batwa. This group was thought to be less intelligent by people in Rwanda and the people here have considered them a people to be avoided. If a kid does something out of order the parents will say, “Don’t be a Batwa”. The village we visited has 39 adults. They have started a project as a collective called “Dancing Pots”. They have been making pots for generations. The former tribal kings considered the Batwa as the entertainers of the country as singers and dancers. They have a continuing tradition of dancing and singing. When we arrived at the village they greeted us with dance and song. They are a joyous people and we felt very welcomed. They invited us into their community building that is a covered open air space. They showed us how they make pots and we were able to buy their wares. The shared a meal with us including roasted ears of corn, bananas, Fantas and Cokes. I ate a little and shared the rest with the children in the village. I danced with a beautiful man who picked me to teach. The villagers enjoyed my attempts to dance. I have a picture of me with the dancer and another with a man whose son is a dancer. The man and I are the same age.
The child mortality rate in this village is very high. Last year 27 of the 32 babies died. Inviting tourist to their village to buy their pots are helping them improve their lives.
The northern part of Rwanda is very rich farm land. It have vey high hills with farms from the valley floor to the peaks. The people are very poor however are able to feed themselves. We visited a Batwa Village. It was very moving. The Batwa are a marginalized group of people that used to be known as pygmies. They were considered to be the original people in Rwanda. Overtime they have become taller because of having children by the other groups in Rwanda. It was thought that if a man had back pain he could cure this by having sex with a Batwa. This group was thought to be less intelligent by people in Rwanda and the people here have considered them a people to be avoided. If a kid does something out of order the parents will say, “Don’t be a Batwa”. The village we visited has 39 adults. They have started a project as a collective called “Dancing Pots”. They have been making pots for generations. The former tribal kings considered the Batwa as the entertainers of the country as singers and dancers. They have a continuing tradition of dancing and singing. When we arrived at the village they greeted us with dance and song. They are a joyous people and we felt very welcomed. They invited us into their community building that is a covered open air space. They showed us how they make pots and we were able to buy their wares. The shared a meal with us including roasted ears of corn, bananas, Fantas and Cokes. I ate a little and shared the rest with the children in the village. I danced with a beautiful man who picked me to teach. The villagers enjoyed my attempts to dance. I have a picture of me with the dancer and another with a man whose son is a dancer. The man and I are the same age.
The child mortality rate in this village is very high. Last year 27 of the 32 babies died. Inviting tourist to their village to buy their pots are helping them improve their lives.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Tuesday and Wednesday in Kigali
Our days have been pack so full it was hard to find time to blog. Yesterday we visited Hospital Neuro-Psychiatrique Caraes Ndera. This is the only psychiatric hospital in Rwanda. There are 3 psychiatrists in Rwanda. Two help out at this hospital. I met Dr. Rutakayile Bizoza who is a good natured and friendly man. He had great questions and offered me the opportunity to stay at his home. We did not have as much time to talk as we would have liked. The hospital reminds me of state hospitals from the 50s. They have a very limited capacity with about 130 beds. This is to serve all of the 9 million people in Rwanda. They had requested hospital supplies prior to our visit and Emma Chambers a retired Denver Police officer was able to get all of the supplies through Project C.U.R.E a not for profit group from Colorado. They were very pleased to get the donation. After lunch at a nearby hotel we visited the Village of Hope of the Rwanda Women's Network. This group began in 1995 with the mission of working towards the promotion and improvement of the socio-economic welfare of women in Rwanda, through enhancing their efforts to meet their basic needs. The Village of Hope accomodates survivors of sexyal and gender based violence from the genocide. It provides shelter for the displaced and disinherited women. The women are involved in a variety of projects to make a living including making clothing and weaving baskets called peace baskets. We did buy many items there. I have never been to a place where the people I bought things from were so appreciative and joyful. The women expressed their happiness with our purchases openly. It moved me to tears.
We traveled to Gitarama, south of Kigali to visit the Urukundo Home for Children. Urakundo means love. This place was established by a 77 year old Pennsylvanian woman, Arlene Brown. She is taking care of 39 children who are orphans to genocide or AIDS. Shortly before our visit the police found a 2 month on baby abandoned on the streets. They brought the baby to her. She is buying milk from a neighbor who has a cow. She was unsure whether the neighbor would continue to sell her the milk or not. Our group bought her a cow. We had dinner with her and heard her story of moving from a life of comfort to uncertainty. She is very engaging and enthusiastic about the work she is doing.
Today we visited the Genocide Memorial Center is Gisozi, a suburb of Kigali. It is a site of burial for over 250,000 victims of the genocide. It moved us to tears.
This afternoon we met with the Handicap International group. They have a project to help people with mental illness. We visited a group in the slums of Kigali where a small group of people have created a clinic to serve the health and mental health needs of the people in their community. They truly had very little in terms of medications. They created an internet cafe to earn money to by medications. They are serving the widows of genocide in this slum and their children. They are paying for the education of 130 children. The cost of education is $15 per student per year.
We had a cocktail party with many of the staff of the programs we have been visiting this evening. I met a young man who is the accountant for Veuvaction a program that works with street children in Gisenyi. He himself was living on the streets and eating out of a dump at age 11 after his parents where killed. He was reluctant to trust anyone when he was approached by a swiss woman who offered him help through the program. After a few times he decided to reluctantly give it a try. He recently graduated from the University. They had a graduation party for him and he invited two people. A boy he lived with in the dump and a professor from his University. When he introduced the two to each other the professor could not believe that he lived on the street. He said, " this is my friend from the dump, he is my witness that I lived there."
We traveled to Gitarama, south of Kigali to visit the Urukundo Home for Children. Urakundo means love. This place was established by a 77 year old Pennsylvanian woman, Arlene Brown. She is taking care of 39 children who are orphans to genocide or AIDS. Shortly before our visit the police found a 2 month on baby abandoned on the streets. They brought the baby to her. She is buying milk from a neighbor who has a cow. She was unsure whether the neighbor would continue to sell her the milk or not. Our group bought her a cow. We had dinner with her and heard her story of moving from a life of comfort to uncertainty. She is very engaging and enthusiastic about the work she is doing.
Today we visited the Genocide Memorial Center is Gisozi, a suburb of Kigali. It is a site of burial for over 250,000 victims of the genocide. It moved us to tears.
This afternoon we met with the Handicap International group. They have a project to help people with mental illness. We visited a group in the slums of Kigali where a small group of people have created a clinic to serve the health and mental health needs of the people in their community. They truly had very little in terms of medications. They created an internet cafe to earn money to by medications. They are serving the widows of genocide in this slum and their children. They are paying for the education of 130 children. The cost of education is $15 per student per year.
We had a cocktail party with many of the staff of the programs we have been visiting this evening. I met a young man who is the accountant for Veuvaction a program that works with street children in Gisenyi. He himself was living on the streets and eating out of a dump at age 11 after his parents where killed. He was reluctant to trust anyone when he was approached by a swiss woman who offered him help through the program. After a few times he decided to reluctantly give it a try. He recently graduated from the University. They had a graduation party for him and he invited two people. A boy he lived with in the dump and a professor from his University. When he introduced the two to each other the professor could not believe that he lived on the street. He said, " this is my friend from the dump, he is my witness that I lived there."
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Les Enfants de Dieu
Rwanda is working diligently to overcome the effects of the genocide in 1994. Today we visited this remarkable program that helps homeless street boys get their lives back together. The boys are from the ages of 7-18 and were fending for themselves prior to coming to the program. These boys are very smart and streetwise. Most have experienced many traumas living on the streets. The director of the program knows that he has to gain their trust and does so by making the program completely transparent. He has support the boys in developing a government to make decisions about the program including how money that is donated is spent. The boys regain a sense of self and self esteem. It was moving to see the full range of development in the boys from those that were still struggling to interact with others to those that have become outgoing and engaged. One 10 year old boy held my hand the entire time I was there. His name is Eric Hakizimana. I should say he held my hand until I asked him to use my camera to take pictures. He is quite the photographer. I will post some of his excellent shots after I am able to download them when I get home.
He gave me a card as I was leaving that I had to have translated. It says, "Am happy that you came to visit us and the love you show to us in coming here. We are very happy, Thank you. I love you." We was crying when he handed me the card.
This is one of the most impressive programs I have ever encountered. I gave one of my favorite soccer balls to the boys. We had lunch together that was a typical Rwanda meal; plantains, beans, rice, irish potatoes, goat with "goat sauce" and beef with "beef sauce. The food is cooked on a large stove that is heated with wood. The are working to have more self suffient funds so they are raising goats, talapia, rabbits whose droping fall into the fish pond which attracts worms that feed the fish. The grow all of their own vegetables. The boys only eat meat occassionally as it is too expensive. There are 100 boys there. The government would like for the program to take in more boys yet the staff knows the quality of the program will deteriorate if they take in more boys. They are hoping the can grow the program at some point.
He gave me a card as I was leaving that I had to have translated. It says, "Am happy that you came to visit us and the love you show to us in coming here. We are very happy, Thank you. I love you." We was crying when he handed me the card.
This is one of the most impressive programs I have ever encountered. I gave one of my favorite soccer balls to the boys. We had lunch together that was a typical Rwanda meal; plantains, beans, rice, irish potatoes, goat with "goat sauce" and beef with "beef sauce. The food is cooked on a large stove that is heated with wood. The are working to have more self suffient funds so they are raising goats, talapia, rabbits whose droping fall into the fish pond which attracts worms that feed the fish. The grow all of their own vegetables. The boys only eat meat occassionally as it is too expensive. There are 100 boys there. The government would like for the program to take in more boys yet the staff knows the quality of the program will deteriorate if they take in more boys. They are hoping the can grow the program at some point.
Livingston Fellowship
I arrived in Kigali yesterday after a long flight. We were able to get through immigration quickly since we were the only plane at the airport. The city is beautiful and the people are very friendly. The weather is ideal around 70 degrees with blue skies. It is summer here which means that it is the dry season. The countryside is brown however there are lots of things blooming. Ethiopia Airlines feeds one often on their flights so we arrived tired but full.
We did a quick tour of the city yesterday visiting the memorial to the ten UN officers who were killed trying to protect the newly installed president at the beginning of the genocide. She did not agree with the genocide and for that was killed. It is very moving to think of the magnitude of what happened here and the long term effects of such a tragedy. One of the striking images at the memorial is a young girl holding a picture of her family off of whom where killed. A second picture is of a young girl who family participated in the killings. She too was orphaned when her parents where convicted of genocide. Two innocent children orphaned for opposite reasons.
I will be looking around the city today to learn more. I have been enjoying the birds this morning including crows that are black and white and some type of kite that has been flying over the city.
We are combining our gifts this morning so that we can distribute them in some sort of meaningful way. Four of my favorite soccer balls will have a home in one of the orphanages here.
We did a quick tour of the city yesterday visiting the memorial to the ten UN officers who were killed trying to protect the newly installed president at the beginning of the genocide. She did not agree with the genocide and for that was killed. It is very moving to think of the magnitude of what happened here and the long term effects of such a tragedy. One of the striking images at the memorial is a young girl holding a picture of her family off of whom where killed. A second picture is of a young girl who family participated in the killings. She too was orphaned when her parents where convicted of genocide. Two innocent children orphaned for opposite reasons.
I will be looking around the city today to learn more. I have been enjoying the birds this morning including crows that are black and white and some type of kite that has been flying over the city.
We are combining our gifts this morning so that we can distribute them in some sort of meaningful way. Four of my favorite soccer balls will have a home in one of the orphanages here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
