Oh Thursday, the Taylor and Volpe families left at 5:00 a.m. For Akagera National Park while the Wright and Neil families enjoyed another few hours of sleep! Tim and Linda Berg met at Steptown en route back to Kibogora Hospital so it was lovely to be able to catch up with them over breakfast before heading out with..,KARA!!
Kara, Ryan. Lindsay and I had a full day of fun. I finally got to see where Kara lives and works, which was great. The neighborhood she is in is beautiful; within easy walking distance of her work, several small shops, and even a dog park! Before seeing Kara's part of Kigali, though, we first needed to visit a few locations: SHE and Centre Marembo,.
SHE is an organization started by a group of women with some serious brain power: one is an MIT graduate, three are from Harvard. They were aware of the issue of girls missing school so wanted to find a way to create locally made, inexpensive sanitary pads. With some trial and error they've come up with a product made with discarded banana fiber and are hoping to sell to schools and churches for distribution. The exciting thing about SHE is if all goes well, this business could be expanded, providing more opportunity for education but also providing jobs. Kara Ryan Lindsay and I met with the director Yvonne, the marketing person, business development person and finance guy. Sorry, I don't remember their names! After visiting with them and hearing about their business goals we left a donation and headed off to Centre Marembo!
Centre Marembo was great to see. It has moved to a much nicer location that really doesn't compare at all to the previous location thank heavens. There is a palpable air of sorrow, though and most if not all of these children have suffered horrible abuses. One little five year old named Gesiane was literally tortured by her drug crazed mother. Little Gesiane was missing the lower portion of three of her four limbs due to severe burns. Her left cheek had a wide circle of very deep-looking scar tissue, yet she still approached us for a hello. This tiny little girl who has suffered so immensely hasn't given up on people! After a nice cuddle on my lap, she walked with Lindsay, holding hands. I wish I had a photo of her but her injuries were so horrific it didn't seem right. To get around, Gesiane puts crocs on backwards on her stumps and could actually move very well. She is scheduled for stump repair and prosthetic fitting this April in Austria.
Every time I come to Rwanda I'm struck both by the brokenness of the human race and by the hope that God gives us. Over and over we've seen horribly difficult situations but have also seen people of love and integrity working to help.
I can't remember the actual quote but whenever something bad happened Mr Rogers' mother would tell him, instead of focusing on the bad stuff, to 'look for the helpers'. We have seen SO MANY helpers in every place we've visited. It has truly been a privilege to be part of this adventure.
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