Keeping In Touch

Koonce Family

2010-06-02T06:14:00.000-05:00

The Koonces are like Claudine... they deserve a post all their own. Even more, because they had to put up with a teenage girl that they didn't even know living in their house for 2 months.

It was so hard for me to know how to tell you all about them. Just because they did so much for me, it's hard to explain it all.

I thought I would put some of the little things that they did for me.

- Louise talked to me and kept me company every day. I loved spending time with her.
- Marty drove me to another city so I could go on the gorilla trek.
- Tucker got Christmas songs stuck in my head. They still haven't left.
- Taylor and Tanner were so sweet to me and asked me to jump on the trampoline with them
- Trevor made me laugh and gave me hugs.

Okay, that ended up being one of each person (duh). I really don't know how to describe all the nice things they did for me every day to make me feel like I was a part of their family. I feel like I've known them forever.

Koonces, I hope you're having a great furlough. Ride lots of rides for me at Disney World! Love you all!

People

2010-05-30T17:59:00.000-05:00

My post about Claudine made me think of this post. I met so many people who helped me, taught me stuff and became my friends. I'm going to put a few picture on of people I met while I was there.

P.S.- This does not show everyone I met (like I would have wanted it to). Somehow, I didn't end up with pictures with everyone.

Claudine

2010-05-27T18:35:00.000-05:00

I feel so lucky to have met Claudine. She and her mom helped me so so much. I went to her house I think 4 times. One time she took me to the market. Even though she didn't let me buy anything, it was so much fun and so different! Another time, her mom made me lunch. I helped her sister with her English. She told me about her family. Her mom treated me like I was her special daughter and would talk to me in Kinyarwandan every single time I went there. She's the reason I know (or knew... it's getting harder to remember) how to say "I'm very happy". They would make me feel special and loved when I was having "I miss my family" days. They would give me gifts and not expect anything from me. Every time I would go to her house, she would walk me home. That was almost the only place I could go by myself without getting lost. Of all the Rwandans I met, they're the ones I miss the most. I really hope we will see each other again.

School

2010-05-25T14:58:00.001-05:00

When I arrived in Rwanda, Louise asked me what I wanted to do there. I said I would love to work with orphanages or really kids in any way. She has a friend who she was going to try to talk to about me visiting orphanages and helping out. A few days later, I had my "interview" at the nursery school and every day after that was busy with school. I love that what God wanted me to do was totally different than what I thought I would be doing.

I have to admit, I'm a school geek. I love buying school supplies, going to school everyday, even doing homework. I love that I got to spend time at this school. (although I have to admit, some days I didn't feel like going there... it's hard work!!) I really don't feel like I helped them at all... it seemed to me like they were doing me a favor by letting me spend my time with them.

The kids were so sweet. Even the ones that had behavior problems gave me hugs every day. I know this is because I'm white, but it still was so sweet. I loved hugging them. They made me not miss my little brothers and sister so much.

I love how we tried so hard to talk to each other, but no one understood a thing. I think it's so funny how I would try to explain their work to them. I would hold their hands and the pencil and try to write, sign language, writing on the tables with my finger. Pretty much anything to help them understand. Sometimes (or maybe most of the time) after a long time of trying, I would just call the teacher over to let her explain.

I love how, when I got to school every morning in my normal clothes, they would say "Good morning!". As soon as the teachers gave me my smock (?) that all the teachers wore, they would come up to me and start talking to me in Kinyarwanda. I guess they thought it was a magical smock.

I loved how, every morning, the first thing they do is sing, dance, pray and sing the national anthem. Every morning.

I miss them a lot. One of the nuns would tell me every day "When you get a break from your university, you will come here to see us. I know it." Who knows?

Finishing Up

2010-05-24T06:32:00.000-05:00

This week will be the last week of my blog. I should have done this earlier... and I wanted to, but we've been so busy with just life in general. My parents have been blogging about what we've been doing.

I wasn't really sure how to finish this. Mom gave the idea of talking about what I learned. The problem is I learned so much! It's hard to put that in words. I decided I'll be talking about the favorite parts of my trip. Hopefully I can do all that this week.

After School

2010-05-12T12:45:00.001-05:00

After my last day of school, the nuns invited me to stay and eat lunch with them. I did and it was so much fun!

The white one is Brazilian. She is so sweet! She made brazilian food just for me. It was so yummy! I think I was missing good brazilian food. After lunch, they took me to see their garden. It was so beautiful. The flowers in my header are from there.

Okay, I never thought I'd say this, but these nuns are so silly! Like making me crack up at goofy stuff.

After this, it was time to go say goodbye to the teachers.

I miss them all already!

Kids

2010-05-11T12:20:00.000-05:00

I normally didn't take a camera to school. It's too much of a distraction for the kids and, since they do the same thing every day, it really wouldn't be that interesting. On my last day of school, I took my camera and took tons of pictures. Here are some of the cutest ones.

Aren't they precious?

Okay, this one has to be the cutest little girl in the school. Her name is Bernadette.

In this one they're doing the traditional Rwandan dance.

Singing the national anthem.

Um, so cute!

I love this picture!

These are my favorite pictures from that last day. I already miss the kids and the teachers. I got an e-mail from one of the teacher's saying the kids asked about me everyday. I don't know if that's true or not, but it makes me feel loved.

Fun Game

2010-05-10T12:44:00.000-05:00

Today we're going to play a really fun game. It's called find the booger picker. Ready?

Wasn't that fun? Raise your hand if you found all of them!

I'm Home!

2010-05-05T14:16:00.000-05:00

If any of you read my parents blog (which I'm sure all of you), you know that I've gotten home safely. I should have told you before (oops) but I figured that all of you read Dad's blog.

I don't really want to have this blog for my "normal" life. I'm really not that interesting and I'm not the creative writing Blume child. I still have a few more pictures of my time in Rwanda that I want to show you, so I'll keep writing for a few more posts.

I'm so glad to be home, but I was going through the pictures of my last day of school and I realized how much I miss it there. I really do hope that I'll be able to go back again one day, even if it is just for a short visit.

Oh, and I have a new blog header. It was supposed to be done on the first of May but oh well.

Para as Mulheres

2010-04-24T02:22:00.000-05:00

Hoje é especialmente para aquelas mulheres que doaram tanto tecido para as mulheres daqui. Eu queria ter feito isso antes, mas parece que uma vez por semana surgia uma nova idéia do que fazer com o tecido. Eu queria esperar pra poder falar todas essas idéias para vocês.

Em primeiro lugar, a aula de patchwork. As mulheres são tão queridas e realmente querem fazer alguma coisa para se ajudar e ajudar outras mulheres que não tem como se sustentar. A costura é uma coisa que elas podem fazer em qualquer situação... mesmo se estão grávidas. Esse era um problema aqui... quando uma mulher engravida, não tem quase nada que ela possa fazer para receber dinheiro. Tem muito trabalho manual aqui... trabalho em fazendas, plantações, etc.

Outro trabalho que eles estão começando a desenvolver aqui é trabalho com as prisões. Eu falei pra vocês sobre o genocídio... imagina a quantidade de pessoas que estão nas prisões. Muitas vezes eles tem famílias fora da prisão que tem que tentar sustentar. Tem várias idéias do que se possa fazer com essas pessoas. Uma é uma cesta feito de cordão e tecido. Outra idéia são coisas feitos com patchwork. Muitas coisas!

Um outro projeto é um projeto novo que a mulher da casa que eu estou ficando (Louise) está começando a trabalhar. É um projeto completamente diferente de tudo que podemos encontrar aqui e é um projeto planejado especialmente para a Ruanda. A Ruanda é chamado "A Terra de Mil Montes". O projeto é um painel desenhado com as paisagens de Ruanda, feito em patchwork de mil pedaços. Vai ser bastante trabalho, mas será um trabalho bem valorizado aqui.

Ontem eu "transferi" todo o tecido para a Louise. Até ontem, nós estavamos usando alguns pedaços mas não tinhamos tirado tudo ainda. Como eu falei, esses projetos vieram um após o outro... nós estavamos bastante ocupados. Cada pedaço que eu tirava, ela dizia como ela achava que podíamos usar. Ela ficou tão feliz. Nós enchemos uma mala inteira de tecido. Isso é MUITO tecido.

Eu estou um pouco triste, porque não vou poder estar aqui para ver os resultados desses projetos. Eu queria tanto mostrar pra vocês o que vocês fizeram para este povo. Vocês estão dando oportunidades. Eu sei que não parece... só tecido?! Mas é. Vocês estão ajudando de longe. Eu falei pra Louise que ela teria que nos manter atualizados com o trabalho que eles estão fazendo. Nós vamos ver os resultados desse trabalho logo!

Amo muito vocês e estou com saudades. Vejo vocês domingo que vem!

Happy Birthday!!

2010-04-23T09:51:00.000-05:00

Ans,

I hope you have a really cool birthday today! I thought about you all morning and I wish I could be there with you. Just one more week!

What kind of cake did you pick? Where did you go out to eat? I love you and I miss you so much!

Love,
The Coolest Sister In The Whole Wide World

Oh yeah... I have a blog.

2010-04-22T05:37:00.001-05:00

Oops. I kind of forgot I had a blog. Don't worry Dad, I checked my roots today. No blonde.

I don't really have anything super duper exciting to tell you guys. When I left this morning for preschool, I figured I would just tell all about my day at preschool. I picked an "exciting" (?) day. I just got back and it seems like the last time I was home was about 2 days ago. Fun, huh?

It started out like normal. All the kids were in an assembly type thing singing and dancing before class. I've been in Claudine's class for the last few days and I'm really happy about that. After about an hour, the kids started coming up to the board and practicing their writing. As we were paying attention to the kids writing, on girl runs out of the room. Claudine went to see what was wrong with her.

She discovered a large pool of diarrhea all over the bathroom floor. I didn't know about this, so all of a sudden I was with 30 4 year olds trying to figure out what to do. About 3 seconds (LITERALLY) after Claudine left, another girl puked all over her chair, the floor and herself. Good times.

So here I am, with 30 kids who don't understand a word that I say (and vice-versa) trying to tell them to be quiet while I took the girl to the bathroom. I ran her to the bathroom and left her with Claudine (who was already giving the other a girl a shower). I went back to the classroom and cleaned up the puke. Then I still had another 30 minutes of entertaining them while Claudine cleaned up the 2 girls.

After she was done cleaning up, it was already time for porridge. While we were fixing their porridge, two boys were being really really bad so she had to put one of them in the front of the room by himself. Porridge time went okay. No more vomiting or anything. We started to clean up all the porridge stuff in the hall. Suddenly we hear lots of yelling from in the room. We both went in and discover that the boy who was in the front of the room had grabbed a stick and was beating the other kids. He (obviously) got in trouble.

The rest of the morning went okay. When it was time for the final assembly, I was pretty happy and ready to go home. As we're saying the final prayer, 2 boys pee all over the floor. Just to top off the day.

Let me tell you that my days at the preschool are never like this. At times they can get really tiring or seem to go on forever. But nothing like this ever happens. At the end of the day, Claudine looked at me and said "When you get back to your home, please remember to pray for us. We have a hard job." Believe me, I know. Please pray for all the teachers today. I'm sure they're all tired from our day.

Mountain Gorillas

2010-04-18T13:10:00.000-05:00

Man, this is another hard one. I have 150 pictures of the gorillas. I with I could show you all of them.

We started by getting ready. Marty told us to wear comfy clothes, hiking boots, gators and carry a walking stick and a backpack full of food. I thought it was a little too much. It wasn't. It was perfect. I was so glad for everything I had. Thanks Marty!

We met up close to our hotel and decided which group we wanted to see. We decided on the Susa group.It is the hardest hike and most of the time the longest. We were so lucky. We only had to hike 2 hours uphill to find them. It was hard but so worth it.

At first, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. We kept on walking all over just to find one gorilla alone. We had tons of pictures like this. If you squint your eyes really hard, you might be able to see the gorillas.

At last, we got to this clearing in the forest. It was so beautiful. There were probably 15 gorillas. Really cool! Here are some of the best pictures I got.

Look at all the cute babies!

How many can you find?

This one's called Silverback number 1 or The Big Boss.

He's holding his right foot with his left hand. So cute!

For Grandmommy

2010-04-17T12:55:00.000-05:00

Sorry to all the rest of you for having to look at pictures of me.

Riding on the roof rack.

With Natalie.

Giraffes!

With gorillas and Pippy Longstocking braids.

Safari Views

2010-04-16T12:43:00.001-05:00

Okay, the views from all over Akagera National Park deserve a post of their own. So so amazing.

Safari!

2010-04-15T12:52:00.001-05:00

I really have no clue how to do this post. I took over 350 pictures on our safari. I kept thinking "I know my family would love this, so I'm going to take as many pictures as I can for them." We had SO MUCH FUN!! We saw I think 18 animals, but I was only fast enough to catch some. Here they are...

Cape Buffalo.

Hippos. This one's a little bit hard to see. Look for floating heads.

Monkey. Squint really hard.

Giraffes. We counted 18.

Impala.

Topi. These were everywhere. I don't know how I didn't get a better picture. They surrounded our camp site.

Zebras.
We also saw warthogs (PUMBA!) and lots of different birds. I had so much fun! We got to ride on the roofs of the Land Cruisers looking at all these animals. So pretty!

Busy Week

2010-04-14T13:05:00.000-05:00

This past week was crazy!

We left last Thursday to go camping in Akagera National Park. We stayed there from Thursday to Saturday. We slept in tents, saw SO MANY ANIMALS and rode on the roofs of cars. It was so much fun!

On Sunday, we left Kigali at about 3 in the afternoon to go to a city in the north of Rwanda to see mountain gorillas. That was awesome. We hiked for 2 hours uphill, went through a rainforest and finally got to the gorillas. We were just a few feet away from them.

This morning, I went to Claudine's house again. She took me to the market, but wouldn't let me buy anything because they were overcharging the white person.

I promise I'll put lots more pictures on here soon!

For Ans

2010-04-13T04:43:00.001-05:00

I've got some sweet facial expressions going on here along with a really annoying voice.

Beads

2010-04-12T08:08:00.000-05:00

During our stop in Kampala, Uganda we had the opportunity to meet a lady who makes paper beads and necklaces. That morning, I had the last shower and just as I was getting in, I heard her coming in the house. I was so worried there wouldn't be enough for me when I got out.

Um, I was wrong. =) The lady who brought all the necklaces works to pay her school bills. She takes care of some kids with AIDS (I can't remember if they're her family or not). She was so happy that we bought our beads from her!
Thanks Louise for the picture!

My New Header

2010-04-11T08:07:00.000-05:00

So, I have a new header. Duh. I love this one. It's so different than the other one's before. I took all these pictures while we were in Kenya. On Thursday, they had a bird walk for anyone who wanted to go. Since it was at 7, only 5 people showed up.

We saw so many different kinds of birds and all of them were so unique! The prettiest one we saw was the Great Blue Turaco. It's huge! Isn't it pretty though?

No, I didn't take this picture. But this picture doesn't even show how pretty it is. The colors on it are so bright! Did I say it's huge?

We had lots of fun on our bird walk and I wish I could have gotten better pictures of all the birds and beautiful flowers.

Easter

2010-04-10T07:41:00.000-05:00

We had an Easter celebration with all of ATN (the NGO that the Koonces work with). It was in our yard. They hired a big tent for everyone to sit under.

We had worship. We sang pretty songs and heard a really cool comparison between the Passover and Jesus' death and Resurrection. Then we had lunch. Everyone brought different things to eat. We had enough food for everyone to have 2 or 3 meals! After lunch, all the kids did an Easter egg hunt.

"Hey Miss Bwonwyn. Look at my eggs!"

We had so much fun fixing everything for our celebration, and so much fun on Sunday.

P.S.- Carys, I started eating your chocolate!

Claudine

2010-04-09T07:24:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, I went to Claudine's house again. Her sister was home from school and she wanted me to meet her.

From right to left: Claudine, her sister Anestera and her mom (I think I remember her telling me one time her mom's name is Marie).

Anestera came to the Koonce house on Monday to practice her English. I think she will come a few more times before the break is over.

Their house is right behind them in the picture. It is small. It only has a kitchen, 2 bedrooms and a living room. I didn't see any lights. They live in a strip of houses just like theirs. Theirs is in the middle. Their garden is beautiful. They grow corn, raspberries, papaya and avocados. It's big and very beautiful.

Just a little side note - When I got there, she offered me tea. Rwandans drink just kind of a plain black tea. I said yes. She brought me milk. Some people like to drink tea made with milk instead of water. But this was just milk. Milk and sugar. Dad, remember how I told you the milk tasted like a cow? I drank all of it. Aren't you proud of me?

Safari

2010-04-08T00:58:00.001-05:00

This morning we are leaving to go on a camping trip to Akagera National Park. Louise is staying home and we have one more dad and son going with us, so I get to spend lots of time with 7 boys. Does anyone have a gas mask?

We will get home on Saturday, but I'll leave again on Sunday to go on a gorilla trek. I know that when you hear "gorilla trek" you don't think of the coolest thing in the world. But it's supposed to be really cool. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

So, since I'll be gone pretty much from Thursday to Tuesday, Mom sent me an e-mail asking me to leave posts ready for you guyses (all 3 of you). During the week, I'll be posting mainly pictures with explanations. Yipee!

2010-04-07T00:58:00.001-05:00

Today is the first day of the genocide remembrance time. Every year, it is from the 7th to the 15th. Please pray for Rwanda during this week.

Easter

2010-04-05T10:47:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Anderson!!

2010-04-03T00:25:00.000-05:00

Dear Kanderson... I mean Anderson. I hope you have a super mega great birthday today. Eat lots of cinnamon rolls and lots of cake for me. What kind of cake did you pick? I miss going to Inter games with you! Have you gone to any without me? I love you soooo soooo much!

2010-04-02T04:26:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite Sara Groves songs.

2010-04-01T01:00:00.000-05:00

Last Day of First Term

2010-03-31T02:56:00.000-05:00

Today was the last day of school for the next 2 weeks. Today, all the parents came to school to get report cards and talk to teachers about any problems their kids were having. We only start back on April 19th.

During the vacation though, I still go to school every day to teach English to some of the nuns. I actually like it! I taught English for 6 months last year and I couldn't stand it. I dreaded having to go to school and teach. This time is different... I actually have fun!

On Saturday I am going to visit Claudine and her family again. Her sisters are back from school and they want to meet me. I'm taking pictures of my family for them to "meet" all of them.

For My Family

2010-03-29T08:07:00.000-05:00

Dad, I crossed the Source of the Nile. As you look at this picture, remember what the Bible says about being jealous.

Mom, I know you'll know what this is. They're covering my bed. But we have to share.

Ans, this is a tea field. This picture reminded me of the kinds of pretty pictures you take.

Garrett, in Uganda, they drive on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car. It's weird.

Carys, this happened to us twice. These baboons were RIGHT BESIDE OUR CAR!

Anderson, we made this girl a dress out of newspaper. (Mom, she's starting at ACU in August!)

Vuvs, can you see the big scary dinosaur looking bird? It was in our front yard. Creepy.

I missed you all SO MUCH this week. I wish I could have been with you guys. Love you!

Sweet Little Angels

2010-03-27T13:59:00.000-05:00

Tanner and Trevor

2010-03-26T13:59:00.000-05:00

View

2010-03-24T12:30:00.000-05:00

Why It Matters

2010-03-23T02:17:00.000-05:00

The other day, I got really mad at myself. I mean, come on. I've come to Rwanda to help and I'm going to a school every day. I could be going to orphanages, hospitals, helping genocide orphans. But I'm going to this school. What am I really doing to help?

The same day I started having these thoughts, one of the teachers from work named Claudine invited me to go to her house to visit her mom on Saturday. To be honest, I really didn't want to go. Saturday was a busy day and by the time she came to pick me up, I was pretty tired. I just didn't want to go. But I had already promised her I would go, so I went. We walked to her house, which is about 15 minutes away.

As soon as I got there, I felt so happy I had gone. Her mom was the nicest person I've ever met. She told me I was beautiful.... but not the normal kind of beautiful. She said I was beautiful because Jesus lived in my heart. It was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. I'm tearing up now just thinking of how much I needed to hear that and how glad I am that she said that.

Claudine went to her room, got money and sent her mom to buy me a Fanta. While her mom was gone, Claudine showed me her picture albums. She told me "This is my Daddy. He was killed in 1994. I love him." No one here has ever shared with me anything about the genocide... Louise told me they have to trust you very much to share that. She and her mom told me about 20 different times that they were SO happy I had come to visit. They made me promise to come back, bring a picture of my family, send them e-mails when I leave and remember the way to their house so I could visit whenever I wanted to.

When I got home and was talking to Louise about all this, she reminded me of this Sara Groves song. It is called Why It Matters. Here is why she wrote the song...

Sara continued to introduce the song with the story of Vedran Smailovic, a cellist with the Sarajevo String Quartet. In 1992, in the middle of the war in that country, Smailovic witnessed a bomb attack that took the lives of 22 of his neighbors standing in a breadline at a bakery. In protest of the chaos, hatred, killing, and stupidity of war, the cellist immediately brought out his cello, sat in a chair in the middle of the crater, and filled the air with beautiful music for 22 days (one day for each person killed on that spot).

As Sara told this story every night, she emphasized the importance of BEAUTY as a protest in the face of all that is wrong in the world. While bombs were still exploding and sniper fire rang through the street, a lone cellist risked his own life, and protested the ugliness by holding up beauty in its face.

This is so important to me. To realize that all we have to do is be beauty. Just show we are different. It doesn't matter if all I do in Rwanda is go visit this one lady. I will have made a difference in her life, just like she made one in mine. That's it. Just show beauty.

2010-03-22T12:20:00.000-05:00

Randomness

2010-03-20T00:40:00.000-05:00

At school, the snack is porridge. I make myself drink a few sips. The teachers said it was the only thing some of them eat all day.

All of the kids have the same haircut (no hair), so the only way I can tell who is a girl or a boy is by seeing who is wearing a skirt and who is wearing shorts.

The kids pet me. Like I'm a dog.

The sisters have something new to show me every day. And they always want me to drink some water before I go home.

Today I am going to visit one of the teacher's family. She invited me to go and she is coming here to pick me up this afternoon.

We are leaving on Monday to go to a ladies retreat in Kenya. I'm really excited!

First Week

2010-03-18T12:22:00.000-05:00

So, as you all know, I have a new job! I go to school every morning at 7:30 and come back at 12:15. Then, I go back to school at 2:30 and leave around 4:30.

In the mornings, we have school (duh). There are around 150 kids under the age of 6. It's nuts. Every day I go in a new classroom and help the teacher of that classroom (1 teacher for around 40 students). They learn stuff in English, have a snack, have a Bible study, sing songs, have recess, etc. It goes by pretty fast.

In the afternoons, only the teachers are at school. I go to pretty much do whatever they ask. Yesterday I wrote 40 tests for one class and today I colored (yipee!). I'm a good colorer (haha). I think they like having me there because I do stuff that they don't like doing and they get to go home earlier.

I like both parts. I love being with the kids, but it makes me tired. Kinyarwanda makes my brain hurt. It's frustrating to me not being able to understand. Today the teachers gave me a "teacher smock" which is what all the teachers wear. The kids immediately began tattling on each other to me in Kinyarwanda. And expecting me to do something about it. I just kind of smiled and tried to occupy them with other stuff.

Here is a video of the kids singing before they go to there classes. In the first part, they say "We are sleeping sleeping, we are sleeping in the ...........". Whoever can fill in that blank gets a prize. I can only hear something between microphone and rightophone. Seeing as how neither of those make sense, I'm open to suggestions. Any help?

My New Job

2010-03-16T12:29:00.000-05:00

Today, I had a meeting with the nuns across the street. They run a preschool/kindergarden. Some of the american kids go there. One of our friends, Kristin, had already talked to the nuns about me going to help them. The nuns said "Ehh.... we'll think about it." Sounds a little bit like a no to me.

Yesterday, Kristen called and said the nuns wanted me to go there to help them with their English pronunciation. So, at 3, I showed up at the school. They immediately took me to meet the Brazilian nun that lives there. She acted like I was her long lost sister. I think she was so happy to have someone speaking her language. We are even from the same state!

After that the head nun, Mama Teodozi, took me to meet the teachers. They were all in one room grading papers and preparing the next day's lesson. There were 6 different teachers. They asked me to sit in the teachers chair (which was so much higher than the little kids chairs they were sitting on) and introduced themselves. The next part of the conversation went something like this:

"What do you give to our school?"
"I'm sorry... I didn't understand the question."
"We wanted to know what you can offer our school."
"Umm, I don't know. English?! I taught English for about 6 months last year."
"Okay, starting tomorrow you come every day. Tomorrow you just observe and then you start to teach songs and dances and words and games in English. Okay? Okay."
"Um, okay I guess."
"And then, after school, you come here to discuss all problems you see in our school."
"Um, okay."
"And you can help the teachers teach all their classes."
"Okay."
"Thank you so much for everything you do for us."
"Um, okay. Thank you."

It must have been my extraordinary use of the English language or my professional looking clothes or my lovely resume. Whatever it was, I seem to have a new job!

Genocide Memorial

2010-03-14T12:48:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, I went to the genocide memorial here in Kigali. I think it was good for me to go to this one first... it's more of an informational memorial and not so much an emotional. It reminded me a lot of the Holocaust museum in Washington DC. It even had a floor dedicated to different genocides around the world.

These are ladies who are widows and sometimes the only survivors in their families. Most of them were raped and now are HIV positive.

This is the part that killed me. All of these pictures are of kids who were killed during the genocide.

The four above were tortured in different ways before dying.

Aren't they precious?

This little sweet girl broke my heart. She was Giovanni's age. She was burnt alive. How can someone do something like this? To this sweet little girl? I kept thinking of how blessed we are to live somewhere where we don't have to worry about if our baby will live or not. After a while, I imagine the parents started praying for their kids just to die quickly and not suffer. Isn't that awful that they would even have to think that?

2010-03-13T06:43:00.000-06:00

She was super nice. She let these guys start the show.

She let her backup singer sing 2 songs from her new album. (Her name is Melody Olsen... she's amazing!)

She reminded me of Mom. Her clothes, hair, jewelry.

It was a really cool show!

2010-03-11T22:58:00.003-06:00

I'm going to her show tonight.

Nyamata

2010-03-10T13:11:00.000-06:00

Before I even start writing, let me say that I'm awful at communicating what I want to say. Yesterday was kind of like a culture overload, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to babble a bunch. You have been warned.

Yesterday I went with Christine Crowson to Nyamata, a village about 30 minutes out of Kigali. We went with Nsegimana to visit his sister Jane. (A little family history... Nsegimana and Jane have 2 other living brothers. Their parents were killed in the genocide along with their 2 oldest brothers who tried to fight.)

Jane is a widow and is HIV positive. She has a 14 year old girl and a 9 year old boy. She lives alone and doesn't have any work except for going to the market 2 days a week to try to get money for food. Her brothers want her to move out of her house because they think it's too big for her. This is her house.

After we visited Jane's house, we all went to visit Jane and Nsegimana brother who lives about 30 minutes off the main road. He wasn't home, but his wife and two kids were. Both of his babies are sick with malaria right now.

He lives in the family house and has a piece of land to cultivate. These are beans and corn, what I've mainly seen growing here.

Then, we went back to the main road and up a different dirt path to see Nsegimana's new house. The Red Cross donated the land and roofs of these houses to orphans. Since Nsegimana lives in the city, he is building this house for Jane to live in and be able to make some money off the land.

Jane stayed at the new house and we went back to Kigali. Writing all of this, it seems like we just went and came back. We were gone from 9 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon. Everything is so far off the main road, and the dirt roads are awful.

On the way from Kigali to Nyamata, we passed a sign in French that I was pretty sure said something about the genocide. It was a genocide memorial. Then it hit me. I knew where I was. I had read about this place. In this book and this book. I recognized these swamps and the main road. I had seen pictures. This was where one of the worst areas of the genocide was. Christine told me the people would hide every morning in the swamps. The perpetrators would come from other villages and basically hack through the swamps until they hit someone. Nsegimana's family was a wealthy family from Nyamata. They had many cows. During the genocide, they lost not only their parents and brothers, but also their wealth. It's hard to believe that a place this beautiful has seen so much pain.

2010-03-09T08:04:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday!!

2010-03-08T00:16:00.000-06:00

Carys,
I hope you have the best birthday ever! Have fun at school with all your new friends! Tell Dad not to bother you today... it's not allowed on your birthday! I love you so much and I wish I could be there with you today!
Love,
Your most favoritist stister in the whole wide world Bronwyn

Just more pictures...

2010-03-05T13:47:00.000-06:00

I am so mad at myself. I made a video of Marty speaking in Kinyarwanda to one of his friends who is helping him write a dictionary. The problem is, I filmed it from so far away, you can't hear what they're saying (not that you'd be able to understand it anyway). I'm going to have to film another conversation right up in their faces so it'll work next time. Fun. So today, I'm just going to put some pictures of parts of my day (what a surprise, I know).

Sorry some of the pictures are blurry... my camera has been kind of funky today.

Random Pictures

2010-03-04T08:36:00.000-06:00

I don't really have much to tell about these last few days. We are trying to figure out stuff for me to do so I've spent the last few days just following them around to grocery stores, schools, etc. That is completely fine with me! I was/am so jet-lagged. At about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, I would start feeling like I need to go to bed. I've been making myself stay up at least until 8 just so I can get used to the time here. This time has been good for me just to chill. Here are some random pictures of the last few days...

Dirt road we have to go on to get to the house. This is one of it's better spots.

Working on crafts for prisoners to do. Remind you of anything Mom?

Tanner's chapel play about Joseph. He's the one in the blue, standing up. He played Joseph's father. Really cute play!

In Kenya

2010-03-03T09:40:00.000-06:00

To get to Rwanda, there is no such thing as a direct flight. Louise told me she thinks the only direct flight is from Brussels. So, to get to Rwanda from Brazil, I had to go through South Africa and Kenya.

Ans and I counted a few weeks ago how many planes we had been on. It was close to 40. Now, with this trip, it will be close to 50. So let's just say that I've been in a lot of airports. The airport in Kenya was one of the nastiest ones I've ever seen. So gross. Dirt on the floor, walls, people. When they started letting us go through to get on our flight, I was so thankful. Until I saw this.

This is about 5 minutes before we are supposed to board the plane. The plane on the right is Kenya Air. The plane on the left is orange, and Rwandair is blue and white. What's left?

Um... God? THERE IS NO WAY I'M GOING ON THAT. I'VE BEEN IN AIRPORTS OR ON AIRPLANES FOR MORE THAN 24 HOURS. I DIDN'T SLEEP HARDLY AT ALL. EVERYTHING SMELLS BAD AND THERE IS JUST NO WAY I'M GOING ON THAT.

Let's just think about this. I could just stay here in Kenya... they need people to help in Kenya too, right? Right! I'll just find an orphanage here and live there for the next 2 months! No one would know the difference! But what about the Koonces? Well, I could just walk to Rwanda. It's just right next door! Or I could ride a bus. Or I could just pitch a fit until they change the airplane. I could ask them to put me on a different flight. What if I just went back home? That could work. I'll just say Rwanda isn't allowing visitors right now or something.

In the end, it all worked out. My airplane was hiding. It was big and normal and I had 2 seats to myself. See, God does listen to me!

Finally Here!

2010-03-02T09:15:00.000-06:00

I'm finally here in Rwanda! Seriously, that might have been the most exhausting trip I've ever had. It took FOREVER! But, I'm finally here... and safe. Which is the most important thing. No turbulence AT ALL.

Today has already been busy. This morning, we walked to the ladies sewing/quilting class. It was great!

After lunch, Louise and I went to 2 grocery stores. I saw a lot of different foods. Let's just say I don't think I'll ever be eating pickled eggplant, olives, tomatoes or anything else. Gross.

Here are some pictures of my first day here! (which isn't even over yet)

São Paulo

2010-02-28T11:51:00.000-06:00

I'm now sitting on the floor in the São Paulo airport.

This is what I'm doing right now. Talking to goobers.

This is what I've lugged around for the past few hours. The South African Airways place only opened at 1:30.

My flight to Johannesburg leaves at 5:30. Thanks for all your prayers! So far everything has been great!

Psalms 121

2010-02-28T05:00:00.000-06:00

I have this tradition with Bible verses. I normally read a book of the Bible pretty much based on what I think would be interesting to read. I also normally have a verse that I read every day. I pick the verse based on whatever problem I am having. Last year, I had a really grumpy time... pretty much everything that happened made me want to either cry or scream at someone. Lovely, right? My verse was one about being satisfied with what you have. It helped me so much.

If you think I'm completely okay with this trip, not nervous at all, you're crazy. Most of the time, I'm not nervous. But sometimes, at weird times, I get so nervous I'm almost sick to my stomach. Whenever that happens, I read this chapter of Psalms...

I raise my eyes toward the mountains,
Where will my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not allow your foot to slip;
your Protector will not slumber.
Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep.

The Lord protects you;
the Lord is a shelter right by your side.
The sun will not strike you by day,
or the moon by night.

The Lord will protect you from all harm;
He will protect your life.
The Lord will protect your coming and going
both now and forever.

I wonder how many times I'll be reading this tomorrow.

2010-02-27T10:48:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I leave home tomorrow. I'll get to Rwanda Monday night. I don't really have time to be blogging right now, but I didn't want to leave you without my beautiful words for that long. (haha).

I'm almost done with packing... I just have to pack my passport, ticket, stuff like that. That's not all that important, right?

Last night, I got a surprise party! I had no idea, really. Mom and Ans planned it. Also, Dad took me out of the house for 5 hours and stalled so they could set everything up. Thank you so much! My friends showed up... some of them even came back from the beach just for the party. I seriously have the best friends ever.

I have one suitcase almost completely full of fabric. That is A LOT of fabric!

In preparation for my trip, I burned my forehead with a hair straightener, I got an infection on the outside part of my ear, I gave myself an accidental hickey with a nerf dart (SWEET!), I banged my forehead on the closet. All this to add to my normal loveliness, so I'm looking good!

Michael and Chelsey, I took your advice on packing... thanks!

I really wish I could put pictures on here, but I have to go finish packing!

Just 4 more days...

2010-02-24T16:05:00.002-06:00

It's hard for me to believe that I leave for Rwanda on Sunday. I'm not really nervous or scared... but I do get butterflies in my stomach every time I think about it. It's a good thing I have SO much to do... I never really have much time to stop and think about it. It's funny...I've been planning for this for at least 2 years, probably 3. But it's always been something in the distance... a year, 8 months, 2 months. Now it's here. This past year and especially these last few months have gone by so fast!!

I have a list of stuff to take that is a whole page in my notebook, front and back with 2 columns on each side. CRAZY! It's so hard to plan your life for 2 months. Especially when you share most of your stuff. For example: Today in the pharmacy, I had no idea how much shampoo to buy. I've never had my own shampoo... I share a shower with 4 other people. Mom and I share a bunch of our clothes. Ans too. It's hard to separate what I should take. I keep thinking of things I'll need... little but important things.

That's all. I just thought you should know these important things. I didn't know if I had said the exact date I would be leaving, so... now you know!

Also, can anyone see the food in my teeth in the picture? Awesome.

Inter Game - Anderson's Story

2010-02-23T15:37:00.001-06:00

I asked Anderson to do a blog about the Inter game we went to on Sunday.

Hello I'm Anderson. We lost the game tomorrow, I mean yesterday. We lost. I'm watching Diego right now and I'm on the sebenty six level on Sponge Bob. That's all.

The End.

Tea for Rwanda

2010-02-21T04:59:00.003-06:00

These are pictures of our tea yesterday. We thought no one would come and we would get no fabric. We were so wrong. All the ladies gave a ton of fabric and wrote sweet notes to the ladies in Rwanda. We had so much fun! Please excuse our shiny faces... it was 96 degrees yesterday.

Tea for Rwanda

2010-02-20T04:52:00.000-06:00

Today we are having a tea to collect fabric for the ladies in Rwanda. We are organizing it with our friend Auristela.

Yesterday we made...
zucchini bread
frozen cherry dessert
moccachino brownies
cheese straws
8 pillows for our living room

Today we still have to...
make canudos (brazilian food)
make mini pizzas
make molasses cookies
clean the entire house
look cute and happy by 3:30

Wish us luck!

Blah Blah

2010-02-17T15:03:00.000-06:00

Today I had this GREAT idea of what to blog about. We just re-did our room! I took these super cute pictures... I was going to do a before and after kind of thing. So, 2 seconds ago, I got on my computer. Turns out Mom stole my idea. Thanks a lot Mom.

Today I got 2 shots. Someone please feel sorry for me. No one here does. So far the most sympathy I've gotten is an offer to cut both of my arms off.

Today we are babysitting this cuteness.

The End.

2010-02-15T07:03:00.001-06:00

- Dad blogged about our Valentine's Day weekend. Check it out over there! ---------->

- Yesterday Mom and I spent the whole afternoon getting our hair done at our neighbor's house. I got mine cut and she got hers colored.

- Today we're going to see Invictus. I'm going to spend 2 nights in South Africa on my way back from Rwanda... I'm excited about seeing the movie!

- The Koonce's blog: http://kooncefamily.wordpress.com/

- I went to the doctor last week for malaria medicine and last minute instructions. This is what I left with.

Yes, this would be 7 different pages of instructions, telephone numbers, shots, medicine, etc. I was in the doctor's office for about an hour. And I get to go again this week! So much fun.

What to do on a hot day...

2010-02-11T08:43:00.002-06:00

Itu!

2010-02-09T15:00:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged this past week... I know everyone who reads this blog (pretty much Mom and Dad) missed reading my lovely blog posts, but it was for a good reason. Ansley and I were kind of busy. We spent the week in Itu, São Paulo with Mark and Ali Kaiser. They have 3 kids: Bárbara, Manu and Carioca. They are all in their 20's. They also have a dog Buckeye and a crazy maniac that they also call a dog named Jeremias. We stayed there to do the ACT on Saturday in a city near Itu. We had so much fun!

We stayed SO busy. I know Mark and Ali are probably laughing at this because I think it was pretty much their normal lives. Mom asked us what we ate there, and we only could remember 3 or 4 meals. Crazy!

Playing mexican train... we played this game at least once a day I think.

Ali and I organizing stuff at their house and getting ready for the Chique Show (homeless people come over to eat lunch every Friday at their house).

Going to a birthday party in São Paulo, about an hour or 2 away from Itu.

Our new big brothers Carioca and Manu. Sorry about my drunk face in this picture. I think I knew I was in the middle of a blink, but I was too tired to pose for another picture.

At the airport on Sunday.

Us with Buckeye and spaz dog.

Ans, I'm so glad we got to go on this trip together! I had sooo much fun. Love you!

Mark, Ali and kids, we're so glad we got to spend this week with you! We had a blast! We love you and miss you already.

Birthday!

2010-02-08T18:31:00.003-06:00

Today is Mom's birthday. She turns 27. My dad wrote about her being pretty much the coolest person in the world on his blog. Go check it out.

I love you Mom! I hope you had an awesome birthday.

New Header

2010-01-31T16:29:00.003-06:00

So... in case you haven't noticed, I have a new blog header for February! I probably should have waited until tomorrow, but I'm bored right now. I'm sorry you have to look at such a large picture of my head, but I couldn't figure out how to shrink it. Good thing February is a shorter month!

I probably won't be blogging tomorrow, because Ansley and I have to pack. We're going to Itu, São Paulo to take the ACT. It was the only place they had to take it before I go to Rwanda. I also have to get a shot tomorrow. For meningitis. Have you ever googled how to get meningitis? Apparently people who hit their heads often (clumsy, otherwise known as me) have a greater chance of getting it.

Also, does anyone ever wonder why February is spelled with the R after B? Because you don't pronounce the R. I know this because I spelled it wrong and had to redo the blog header. I'll do great on the ACT, right?

It's so extremely hot here. Right now, at 9 pm, it's 86 degrees but it feels like 99. No air, just ceiling fans. Anderson just came in the den to tell me, almost crying, that he was so hot and nothing could help him. He already took a cold shower and he knows, it doesn't help. He didn't want a hug because of the heat.

Books I've Read - Part 4

2010-01-29T12:20:00.000-06:00

Okay, this is the last one I promise.

The last book is called "Machete Season - The Killers in Rwanda Speak". It is written by Jean Hatzfeld, the same guy that wrote the last book I talked about.

So, in the last book, he interviewed only the survivors. He said that he had no interest at all in interviewing the killers. But, after tons of people sent him letters asking him about the killers, he decided it wouldn't be too crazy to try to interview them. He interviews 10 men in a prison. Before and after the genocide, they were a close group of friends... he calls them a gang. Out of these men, only 1 is different than the normal Rwandan farmer (a school teacher), most of them are in their 20's or 30's (2 of them are in their 60's) and they all lived in the same village at the time of the genocide.

This book is kind of hard to explain. It's really good, but creepy at the same time. When I was reading it, I marked all the parts that I liked (not really sure if this is the right word... I don't really like talking about people being killed). I'll put the parts here.

"I saw papas teaching their boys how to cut. They made them imitate the machete blows. They displayed their skill on dead people, or on living people they had captured during the day. The boys usually tried it out on children, because of their similar size."

"We were well prepared by the authorities, We felt we were among ourselves. Never again did we think even for a moment that we will be hampered or punished. Ever since the plane crash, the radio had hammered at us - The foreigners are departing. They had material proof of what we are going to do, and they are leaving Kigali. This time around they are showing no interest in the fate of the Tutsis."

"Saving the babies, that was not practical. They were whacked against walls and trees or they were cut right away. But they were killed more quickly, because of their small size and because their suffering was of no use."

I marked a lot more, but I didn't want this post to be too long. One thing I noticed during the whole book is the lack of emotion in their voices. It may seem that it's kind of weird because it's a book, but I could kind of tell that they really could care less about the things they were saying. When I got to the end of the book, this is what the author says about that:

"Not one of them presents the slightest symptom of psychic distress. Not one of them shows signs of any disturbance. There are regrets, complaints, homesickness, dejection, and ailments due to imprisonment-but never any fits of depression about their machete blows... At every interview, the men speak in even voices with a familiar tone that denotes astonishing impassiveness."

At the end of the book, there is a picture of the men(which I couldn't find anywhere on the internet) and an explanation of what happened to them. Only one of them remains in prison. He has a life sentence. The other 9 were released in 2003 or earlier. They all returned to their village and live with people that they tried to kill.

Random Stuff

2010-01-27T17:49:00.003-06:00

Today...

- I went to the mall with Júlia (one of my best friends).

- Júlia passed on the vestibular!! It's one of the hardest tests in Brazil. It's for you to be able to go to college. WE'RE SO EXCITED!!!

- I've had the hiccups the WHOLE day. All the time. So much fun.

- Me and mom are awake making prizes for our bunko group tomorrow. Tomorrow night is our first time playing. Fun!

- I discovered that one of our new dogs (Rex) sounds like a squeaky toy.

That's all.

2010-01-26T16:25:00.004-06:00

Since my last post, I have learned that dork is a bad word. Sorry Dad and Anderson.

We also have gone from 97% sure that we don't want a dog to being the owners of Rex and Lucky. See here for the whole story.

Studying...

2010-01-23T13:47:00.003-06:00

for the ACT with this dork.

French Class

2010-01-19T13:30:00.004-06:00

Today I would post about the last book I read about the genocide, but I haven't exactly finished it. Oops. So instead I'm going to tell you about my French classes. I decided to take French because it is the second language in Rwanda. I know that I won't speak fluently, but I wanted to at least know how to say my name, age, etc. and to understand fairly well what people are saying.

I have this friend Grace that also wanted to take French at about the same time I did. We decided last September that we would sign up for classes and take them together. The problem is, we had to change our furlough to Sept-Dec instead of later. So I ended up not being able to do it and Grace couldn't do it either (she really could, but she missed me so much that she spent everyday crying, not able to leave her house... right, Grace?).

About a month ago I called Grace to invite her over for our craft night and she told me that that day had been her first day of French class. She said that she loved it and that I would like it too. So the next morning I went to the French place (the place in the picture) and signed up for class.

Now, we have class Monday through Thursday for 3 hours every morning. Yes, 3 hours. Good thing there's a coffee break and they have the best coffee machine in the whole world. There is seriously a line that winds around the whole lobby area just to get coffee.

I'm sad because Thursday is the last day of class. I'm not sad that, as I write, I should be studying for the final exam. I'm not sure if I'm sad or not about the fact that now, all the time, I have a bunch of random French words running through my head (like 60, what's your name?, I'm 18, I'm American, sorry, good morning, yes, no, teacher, party, coffee, 39, 13, 77... you get the picture). I'm sad that now I don't get to see Grace everyday.

Je t'aime Grace! See, I did learn something!

Excuses & Books I've Read Part 3

2010-01-16T03:44:00.004-06:00

Okay, so I know I haven't blogged much, but this time I have an excuse! I started French class last week. I have 3 hours of class every morning Monday through Thursday. It's kind of tiring, but I love it! Also, I just spent 2 days with my best friend... it was her birthday. So see, I do have an excuse!

Today I figured I would tell about the third book I read (don't worry, after this one there's only one more). This book is called "Life Laid Bare - The Survivors in Rwanda Speak" by Jean Hatzfeld. It's a book of conversations between the author and the survivors of two villages called Nyamata and N'tarama. These villages are in a region with hills and marshes. During the time of the genocide, the Tutsis hid in the marshes during the day, under plants and mud.

The author spoke to 14 different survivors. They were teachers, kids, mothers, teenagers, etc before the genocide. Now, it seems like most of them just wander in the streets or take care of orphans. These people are completely different from one another except for the fact that they all suffered through the same thing together.

The saddest people to me are the kids and teenagers. The author interviews 2 little boys and about 3 or 4 teenage girls. The little boys aren't even kids anymore. One of them has no family at all. He lives with another family that took in a few orphans. All he does is go to school and walk back home. He can't go any where else because everywhere he goes has memories of his parents and his siblings... all of them were killed.

The second little boy isn't a kid either. He only has one older brother left. During the day, while his brother works on their farm, he has to take care of their cattle. He can't go to school, because he is working so hard just so they can eat.

But the teenage girls are the saddest to me. All of them have "adopted" kids that aren't their own - other orphans of the genocide. They take care not only of these kids, but also their siblings and cousins. Their parents and older relatives are all dead. Most of them were raped during the genocide and have babies because of that. They don't think about having husbands because the only men who would like them and take on the responsibility of so many children are dead.

This was my favorite book because these people, who have lost so much, have so much responsibility that shouldn't be theirs. But none of them complain. Not even once. Also, these mostly uneducated people give such good explanations of the genocide. They explain such a difficult thing in such an easy way to understand. I think everyone who had any interest at all in Rwanda should read this book.

New Favorite Song

2010-01-10T15:40:00.002-06:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. I'm lazy. Dad showed me today a post his friend left on our family blog. This is what the post said:

Hi Kevin and Benay

Just wanted to share about a New Zealand christian singer called Brooke Fraser, she is beautiful inside and out and her voice is wonderful. She does a lot of work in Rwanda, and you can find her music and a couple of interviews on youtube, about her time there. I thought Bronwyn might like it :)

Hope all is well

Roberta in NZ

So I decided I needed to go right then to check out her songs. It may or may not be because I was supposed to be studying for the ACT. Just saying. I now have a new favorite singer and favorite song. I love her voice and her songs. She seems like she has the same feelings I do about things (from the 2 or 3 songs I have listened to so far). Here is my new favorite song. I'm going to put the lyrics on the bottom. Please oh please read them. They are so special.

I am sitting still
I think of Angelique
Her mothers voice over me
And the bullets in the wall where it fell silent
And on a thousandth hill, I think of Albertine
There in her eyes what I don't see
With my own.....

Rwanda
Now that I have seen, I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you in my own arms
I cannot let go till you are....

And I am on a plane across a distant sea
But I carry you in me
And the dust on, the dust on, the dust on, the dust on, the dust on my feet....

Rwanda
Now that I have seen, I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you in my own arms
I cannot let go till you are....

I will tell the world, I will tell them where I've been
I will keep my word
I will tell them Albertine

Rwanda
Now that I have seen, I am responsible
Faith without deeds is dead
Now that I have held you in my own arms
I cannot let go till you are....

And I am on a stage, a thousand eyes on me
I will tell them Albertine
I will tell them Albertine

Thank you so much Roberta!

New Blogs

2010-01-06T08:20:00.001-06:00

Check out everyone else's blogs over on the right. Especially Carys' blog. She's awesome and so creative!

Books I've Read - Part 2

2010-01-04T09:21:00.006-06:00

The second book I read is this book called Genocide In Rwanda: A Collective Memory. The book is actually just the speeches of survivors who participated in a conference in Kigali the year after the genocide. It was edited by John A. Berry and Carol Pott Berry. They lived in Rwanda for 3 days of the genocide, hid a Rwandan family in their home and were evacuated.

The book is basically a copy of everything everyone said at this conference in 1995. The people that spoke included genocide survivors, academics, human rights activists, journalists, members of the government, officers of the army that stopped the genocide, etc. The book starts (as all of the books I've read so far) with a time line starting in 1885 and leading up to the genocide. The chapters of the book are based on different perspectives of the genocide.

Chapter 1 - Historical and Political Perspectives. I liked this part because it was good for me to understand what caused the genocide. Even after reading this part and other parts like this, I still struggle to understand why perfectly normal people just one day wake up and start killing their neighbors. But this helped me a lot.

Chapter 2- Unity and Division. This part I liked because it was about things that happened after the genocide. In this chapter people talked about the way that the outside world sees the genocide and how that (most of the time) is wrong. One example that they use a lot is about how the press cared more about the camps in Congo (where the killers ran to) than in the survivors who were in Rwanda.

Chapter 3 - The Voice of Extremism. It talks about how the radio was used to influence the way people thought. It shows a letter that the old government (that planned the genocide and is now hiding in Zaire) wrote to the world. I actually found this really funny. It's completely outrageous and I can't believe how they expected anyone to take them seriously. The whole letter is pretty much accusing the rest of the world for things that they, themselves, planned and carried out. In this chapter, there is also a part called "The Hutu Ten Commandments". You can read them here. I really liked this chapter.

Chapter 4 - Legal Interpretation of the Genocide. I have to confess that I read one paragraph of this and skipped the rest. It really just doesn't interest me to know legal definitions of certain words and terms.

Chapter 5 - Before, During and After the Genocide. This part is to explain the role of people or organizations that were present around the time of the genocide. For example: United Nations, Women, Church, Red Cross, etc. This chapter was helpful for me to understand how the genocide affected people because of the actions of these organizations.

This book is different than the one I read before because it isn't an author that writes it. It's just people that participated in an event and had their thoughts recorded. Besides the legal stuff, it was a really good book.

New Year

2010-01-01T08:57:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I was thinking about how so far I haven't posted anything with very many pictures. So I figured that today I would put some pictures of our New Year's Eve party. We had a lot of fun!

Our awesome chefs.

A famous soccer player. He told us that he will be not only the best soccer player in the world, but also the best scooter rider. By the time he's 12.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

The family photographers and a really cute baby.

Joe Jonas also paid us a visit, but since he wasn't wearing a shirt, he didn't allow the picture to be posted.

My blog and the family blog (blumesinbrazil.blogspot.com) have gotten New Year's makeovers! I think they both look so much better than before.

Books I've Read - Part 1

2009-12-28T07:23:00.005-06:00

When I first started talking to the Koonces about going to Rwanda, they recommended that I read some books about the genocide, to help me understand better. I thought that I would explain a little about each book so that you can understand better too. The first book I read is called "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families" by Philip Gourevitch.

The title of the book is kind of unusual... it comes from a letter that's in the book. It's a really short letter, so I'll put it on here for you guys to read. It was written by a group of people who were in danger of being killed (the Tutsis). They decided to hide out in a church because they thought that they could be more protected that way.

Our dear leader, Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana,
How are you! We wish you to be strong in all these problems we are facing. We with to inform you that we have heard that tomorrow we will be killed with our families. We therefore request you to intervene on our behalf and talk with the Mayor. We believe that, with the help of God who entrusted you the leadership of this flock, which is going to be destroyed, your intervention will be highly appreciated, the same way as the Jews were saved by Esther.
We give honor to you.

The pastor said that after receiving this letter, he gathered his family and started to drive out of town, stopping only to tell the policemen to give the people a message saying that nothing could be done. Nice, right? But the real story is kind of different. This pastor organized this killing. In his own church. The same story is told not only by the United Nations, but also by the survivors of that horrible day. The pastor instructed Tutsis to take refuge at the church, helped take out the "non-Tutsis" and then helped kill them and many more innocent people in the following months. As of 1997, Pastor Ntakirutimana lived as a free man in Texas. To me, that seems like one of the main problems after the genocide. There are SO many guilty people that you can't punish all of them.

Another thing I read in this book is that this wasn't the only time a pastor or preacher or priest called people into his church so that they could be killed. I can only imagine what kind of permanant damage this does to any kind of church in Rwanda. How can the people ever trust again? If even your preacher tried to kill you, who could you trust? It must be so hard.

This was the first book I read and I'm glad I chose it first. It is a good overall description of everything that happened. It's more of a history book, where the other ones are more about individual personal descriptions of what happened.

Fundraising

2009-12-17T05:28:00.003-06:00

Before we left the States, I sent out about 80 fundraising letters (not my favorite thing in the world to do). I figured I would put the letter here in case you didn't get one.

Since I was a small child I have felt a calling to Africa. Something in me has always wanted to go there and help in any way that I could. In the past several months, God has begun to work out the details of a possible mission trip to Africa.

A little over a year ago my parents had another baby. It was about the same time that I was graduating from high school. I really wanted to stay at home one more year and get to know my new little brother better instead of immediately going to college. After talking with some missionary friends of ours from another part of Brasil I also felt convicted to try to go to Africa before I left for college. One of these friends went to Nepal for 8 months before he entered college and he said it was the best thing he could have done.

My parents have some friends who are missionaries in Rwanda, Marty and Louise Koonce. They live in Kigali, the capitol city. They have invited me to come and help with their mission work next year. My plan is to go there and live with them in March and April. Then I will go back home to Brasil for a couple of months before I leave to start college at Abilene Christian University in the fall. Some of the things that I will be doing will vary from serving the orphans of the genocide, helping teach English classes and helping in new women’s ministries. I plan to major in nursing at ACU, so I also hope to be involved helping and observing medical professionals while in Rwanda.

I wanted to share this letter with you for two reasons: The first is to ask you to pray for me and this new ministry that God has opened in my life. I am very excited about it and would appreciate your prayers. The second reason is to let you know about my financial need. It will cost around $5,500 for everything. This will include roundtrip airfare, food, supplies as well as a possible safari at the end of my trip.

I understand that times are tough right now and I also understand if you aren’t able to help financially. One thing God has taught me in my 7+ years in Brasil is that if He wants me to go to Rwanda, He will provide a way. If He doesn’t want me to go I am completely okay with that as well. If you would like to learn a little bit more about where I am going and the ministry of the Koonce family and their team, you can go to rwandaharvest.com or atn-rwanda.org.

I’ll be updating everyone about my trip to Africa through my blog: Thank you in advance for prayerfully considering this request.

If you're interested in helping, leave me a comment and I'll get in touch with you!

About Rwanda

2009-12-02T09:16:00.000-06:00

When I first started talking to the Koonces about coming to Rwanda, they told me I should read some books about the genocide that happened there in 1994. I don't really think the word "genocide" registered until I started reading about it. It's so hard to explain unless you read everything that I read, and even then I'm not sure I can explain it very well. There is so much that happened, I can't tell everything so I'm going to tell the things that stood out the most.

- The genocide lasted about 100 days and during that time, about 20% of the population was killed.

- The people who killed were normal people, normally not a part of the military or anything like that. The people responsible for organizing the killings used a radio called RTLM to tell people who to kill. - From the things I've read, the politicians responsible for the killings were called Hutu Power (supposedly representing an ethnic group) and they killed Tutsis (another ethnic group) along with anyone who defended the Tutsis and even those who didn't take sides.

- This genocide got almost no publicity and no help during the times of the killings.

- People were killed mostly with machetes and many people suffered so much before they actually died.

I hope this gives you a little more information about the place I'll be going. This happened 15 years ago, but I know that so many people still suffer because of what happened.