Final Reflections

Thanks to all of you who made this trip possible! It was an experience of a life time. We had a nice balance of work and exploring and learning about the history and lives of the people of Nairobi and Bujumbura as well as the opportunity to share with and teach them. Hopefully, we made an impact on the lives of those we met.

Day 18 Final Day in Africa

8/11/07 Saturday
Laurie made us a big breakfast—eggs, muffins, and fruit. Then we watched a video of the famous African drummers.
We were able to get on the roads at 10am because we were going to the airport, so we missed the morning rush. We arrived in plenty of time.
We flew first back to Nairobi, Kenya where we had a long layover and I had a chance to practice negotiating for purchases. From there we flew to Paris, France for another long layover. We had lunch in the airport and it cost about $50 for 3 sandwhichs, 2 desserts and 2 bottles of water. Then to Washington, where we had to rush through customs in order to make the next flight, back to Chicago! I arrived back on 8/12/07 in the evening. What a trip!
Photo 1 Bob & Laurie (we stayed with them)
Photo 2 Lanette and a friend (library workers)
Photo 3 The Airport
Photo 4 An African Avocado
Photo 5 The last negotiated souveneir

Day 17 Rainbow Center

8/10/07 Friday
We worked in the library again this morning. Then we went to the Rainbow Center to visit the orphan babies. There were only 3 there that day. Many of the orphans stay with families who bring them back to get food. We went back and had lunch then worked our final few hours in the library. We had dinner that evening and then had devotions and spent the rest of the evening packing and preparing to return home. There were several roaches in the house this evening and the cats were going crazy. I was glad not too have seen that many previously as I didn’t sleep well that last night.

Day 16 The Animal Park

At the animal park we saw snakes, crocodiles, and birds. We watched as they fed a gerbil to a python. They told us for $3 they would feed a goat to the crocs. There was also the traditional African hut that we were able to go in and see what it looked like, as well as a museum with African artifacts.

Day 16 The Drive

From the Naturelle Reserve of Rusizi we drove to the animal park. We passed the lake and the refugee camp.

Day 16 Naturelle Reserve of Rusizi

8/9/07 Thursday
We again worked in the library all morning and accomplished a lot!
In the afternoon we went to the Naturelle Reserve of Rusizi to see the hippos and crocodiles. We had a guide and a guard with a large gun to escort us on our trip.

Day 15 Sister Connection

8/8/07 Wednesday
We all worked in the library this morning for several hours. Grandma did a session with the widows and then the rest of us joined around 12:30 to learn more about Sister Connection and how it has helped these women and their children. After the husband dies, the widow and her children are left with no support system. They are no longer part of the family. So $30 a month provides for a family or $500 builds a house. For more information: http://www.sisterconnection.org/index.php
That afternoon we did some souveneir shopping.

Day 14 Last Day at Mweya

8/7/07 Tuesday
Our workshop started at 9am today. We had devotionals, prayer, and singing. After lunch we went to the Bishop’s niece’s bride dowry party where they negotiate the price of the bride. It was already decided however it is tradition to do this. Afterwards we went to the closing of our session at Mweya where we exchanged gifts. We were given handmade baskets. We brought the babies dolls and balls that were made by people in the SAFMC.
At 4pm we headed back to the city, we luckily made it right before the border closing! We had a birthday celebration that evening for Barb’s birthday. Grandma discovered one of her meds missing so that fiasco began.

Day 13 Catholic Monastery

At 7pm we went back to the church to have left over lunch for dinner. We went back to the monastery around 9pm. Our room smelled liked beer, there were centipedes crawling on the walls, and the toilet wouldn’t flush so we had to get another room. Finally we got to go to bed.

Day 13 Mweya

8/6/07 Monday
We had to get up at 5:30am and left promptly at 6:30am to go up country to Mweya. We arrived around 9am. The other woman started the morning session of our 3rd retreat. I went with Wayne to secure our rooms and drop off our bags at the monastery. Then we did some shopping so that we could do our cooking session that afternoon. We had to take an African with us so that he could stay with the van to make sure nothing happened.
At 12:30pm we arrived back at the women’s meeting where they were acting out bible stories. Afterwards we started the cooking lesson which involved making dough.
We had a late lunch—chicken, rice, peas, boiled bananas, pineapple, and baby bananas. After lunch we reconvened and rolled the dough using empty pop bottles, then fried it and dipped it in sugar. It was very good, too sweet for some of the Africans but most of them enjoyed it.
At 4pm we finished and went back to the monastery to use the bathroom as they only had outhouses at this location. Then we went to an internet café.

Day 12 Rutunga Lunch, School, & Clinic

We then had lunch which included fish, chicken, beef that was not chewable, rice, boiled banana, rice, fried potatoes, brown beans, and manioc. We ate off of dirty plates and silverware. The room looked out onto Lake Tangayeka where Gustav the 6m or 18ft crocodile lives. After eating, we saw the school where uneducated bigger kids got a condensed 3 years of what they missed in elementary school. The rooms had benches, a chalkboard, and dolls hanging from the ceiling to scare away the birds
We also saw the clinic where a mother and her 6 month old twin babies were staying. The babies were probably less then 10 pounds and looked like newborns. The mother could not produce enough milk to feed them.

Day 12 Church at Rutunga

8/5/07 Sunday
Today we got up around 6:30am and left for church around 8am. We followed the bishop to Rutunga. We arrived late but luckily they waited for us before they began services. We were ushered through the back entrance of the church where we sat front and center on the raised platform for everyone to see us. We were introduced, pastor Mark spoke, and there was lots of singing and other speakers.