Cob Productions

Some final thoughts...

2007-07-23T03:50:00.000-05:00

I thought I would write one more quick note. I'm am almost done here! It's so hard to believe. It will be tough to leave the country and all the people here, especially the other interns who have two weeks left to go! I have to leave early to attend my sister's wedding, which I'm really excited about!!!
Currently I'm at the FHI office working on the video. This morning I ran what have so far by the director, Dwight Jackson. He seemed to like the direction I was going, and offered some advise on revising. So the rest of today will be spent hammering out the voiceover, and hopefully teaching people how to put it all together when I'm done.

I'm leaving Thursday,( :~O) so it's kind of crunch time with all this going on. The other interns are wanting to go on a safari sometime the next couple of days so I can be included. I'm doubting whether I should go, since I want to be sure everything is in order before I leave. Lord willing and the crick don't rise, I'll have most everything done today so I will be free to go tomorrow or wednesday.

Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. There's no doubt I wouldn't have made it here without you all! This experience has been incredible, and I hope that some of you all are able to do something like this in the future. Peace and God bless!

More traveling...

2007-07-23T02:22:00.000-05:00

Hello! I apologize for not giving an update sooner. Things have been kind of boring. Just editing and traveling back and forth between Kigali and Gitarama. I had another little traveling adventure last Monday when I came back from Gitarama to Kigali. I got to the taxi stop in Kigali (as before) knowing which taxi I needed to get on, Kacyru. Problem was I couldn't really remember how it was spelled. So I'm walking around, there's millions of taxis, trying to find the right one.(Ok maybe not millions, a couple hundred, picture to right) A guy walks up and asks where i'm going. "Kacyru" I say. "Kacicyru?" He replies. "Yeah" I say. Now you have to understand. With the way their pronounced, they sound almost exactly the same. Unless of course you know about both areas, and are aware of this fact. I of course wasn't.

So he points to me a taxi that says "remera". "No" I said, "Kacyru."

"Yes" he replies. "You take taxi to remera, then another to Kacicyru"

I was quite sure you could catch a taxi straight from the taxi stop to Kacyru, but he insisted this was the only way there. (I'll spare you the dialogue) So on I get an head, once again, to the complete opposite side of town. I'm pretty sure this is true, but I get off and ask someone. "Kacyru?" They point up the road...so I start walking. I wait at a bus stop for a little while. After seeing several busses pas, I decide to take a moto. One stops, I hop on and say, "Kacyru." He nods and we take off, toward the outskirts of town.

After about ten minutes we are completely outside of town. I'm convinced we're going to wrong way so I tell him to turn around and take me back to the taxi station we had passed. I get off there and talk to one of the taxi drivers. I say, "U.S. Embassy residence." Knowing this was near the guest house, and giving up trying "Kacyru" After a bit he says "Town?"
"YES!" I say, knowing how to get back from there. So to town I went, then got on a Kacyru taxi, finally, then a short walk to the guest house. So four hours and 2100 francs later, I arrive at the guest house. A good time overall....

Weekend Adventures

2007-07-13T14:36:00.001-05:00

Ok so I've tried a couple of times to put pictures with my last blog...but it won't work. Sorry.

Not much has happened the couple of weeks. I've been slowing piecing together a video with the footage I have. Slowly being the key word. Last weekend us interns had the chance to go to Lake Kivu, a large lake on the border of Rwanda and the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). I was honestly a little skeptical, having grown up on a lake. Didn't sound too exciting. I would SO much rather have gone to the south to see some chimpanzees, or north to see the gorillas. But both of those cost a lot more money than I have right now, so to Kivu we went.

The interns from Kigali met us at our house in Gitarama with a rented taxi (please remember the taxis are small buses), Pastor Anastas (the man in charge of the peace and reconciliation project in Rwanda who went with us to hang and translate) and we headed out. The taxi ride ended up being an adventure all in itself. The road was one of the curviest I've EVER been on. And I've been a few in my day. Apparently our driver had dreams of being a Nascar driver, or something, because he took the turns as fast as possible. I swear we hit to wheels at least twice. A few of us were a little nervous, some a little carsick (Emily just about blew chunks) then the few of us just enjoyed the ride! Jim and I had the back seat with some of the bags. We figured out that we could kind of squat/stand and 'ski' the turns. Took some skill let me tell ya!

We arrived at the hotel around 5 that night. The lake was HUGE! You definitely couldn't see across it. There were islands scattered throughout. It was incredible! A few of us took a walk. I opted out and waited til the next day. Then we headed to dinner. The food was in abundance! The restaurants, especially when you're in a large group, just bring out all the food in pots and you serve yourself. Kind of nice. Makes things a little easier all around. It was basically a lot of what I've had before. Rice, pasta, beef, fish or chicken, green bananas (they cook them like potatoes), beans. All in all perty good!

The next day we took some time to swim in the morning. I forgot how much I missed being in the water! It was a pretty decent tempt, so we had fun. We walked to another hotel that was a little further out on the lake. There we ate lunch and then hopped on a boat to head to this Island they said had bats. I was pretty enthused about this! I've been a few caves, and seen a couple bats. I thought it'd be sweet to see some in larger numbers.

We got to the island after about a half hour boat ride and got off the boat. We kinda just started walking, not really knowing what was going on. One of the guides ran up the cliff ahead of us. A couple of us guys went after him, thinking he was headed to the cave. Then all of a sudden the sky was FILLED with bats. Ever seen Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom? Yeah, way more than that! It was crazy! I guess they were all hanging out in the trees and the guy ahead of us was tossing rocks to scare them up. I've NEVER seen anything like it!

We walked around the island for a bit (it was pretty tall and had an AWESOME view from the top) then piled back in the boat. We ended up stopping at a really small island about halfway back that had a couple small huts and some white people chilling on the beach. Still not really knowing what was going on, we got off. Apparently we were expected to buy some sodas and enjoy ourselves for a bit. So...we did.

The girls got changed and we hopped in the water, which was a bit colder than earlier. We had just gotten in when our guide come out of the trees...with a monkey in tow. A MONKEY! I know, probably not that exciting for you, but it was so cool! He had it in some kind of harness tied to a rope. He sat and held the rope so we could pet it and take pictures with it. Then someone gave him a have drank coke bottle...and he drank it! Talk about stellar! I'll post a video of it when i get a chance. After that we headed back to the hotel and chilled for the evening.

The next day we went to church in a nearby town. At dinner the night before Pastor Anastas had asked Jim and I if we wanted to share a song or two. We thought...Why not? So we decided to do Those Who Trust, and Come Thou Fount. Our hope was that they would be able to follow along with the second song and sing it in their own language. I unfortunately had lost my pic, so I wasn't that loud. It was a little shaky at first. The people really didn't know what to do. Those Who Trust is a more upbeat song, so finally half-way through Jim got them all clapping. They of course couldn't hear me anymore, but that didn't matter. They loved it! They didn't really sing with Come Thou Fount, just listened. But after we were done, Pastor got them to sing it in their own language.

So, the weekend was a lot better then I expected. Good times were had by all! Welp, must go for now. Hope all is well with everyone. Peace and God bless!

The East

2007-07-05T12:15:00.000-05:00

Ok...so I know you all have been waiting pins and needles to hear about my week. Sorry it's taken me so long to write.

It ended up being an amazing week, both for the shots I got, and the experience. I was honestly a little worried. I didn't mind tagging along with the group, but I really needed to focus on my shots, and was afraid I wouldn't get them if I had to just tagalong everywhere. But it worked out well. The next day, Wednesday, we visited two centers, both of which I needed to go to, and then did VBS in the afternoon. VBS was a little sketchy, considering the group didn't really know what exactly to do. But it worked out pretty good: teaching the kids 'If you're happy and you know it' and telling the story of the ungrateful servant, while acting it out. I was the servants friend, just in case you wanted to know.

That night I was still worried about getting my shots and was actually planning on going back the next day. I talked to Paul, the FH worker for the area, and he assured me I could go to another site the next day. So I stayed, and I'm so glad I did. The next morning I went with the group, they got dropped off at the well, and went with Verdaste to Rwimbogo. This was by far the most heartbreaking school I've been to. They had 2,500 students and only 35 teachers. There is much more malnutrition and other problems in the East. It more like what I expected. They only had three decent classroom buildings. Two were being built, but they had no roofs. They had three run down buildings, which Immanuel, the CDP promoter, informed me had been built by the parents in 96 or 97.

I may have forgot to mention that settlement in the East is pretty new. It was part of a National park before '94, when they officially opened it up to settle in. So there is really no cities, just small villages. They have much more cattle then they do in the east. With more flat-land for grazing, cattle are an easier form of agriculture.

The school had several classrooms, I counted four, outside under the trees. It was just a clearer look into the needs of these people. I went back to the well, which they were done working on for the day, and then VBS again that afternoon. This time it was 'Arise and Shine', 'Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes' and the story of Noah, with yours truly as the narrarator. The next day I helped again with the rocks, and since I had gotten the shots I needed, headed 'home' to Kigali.

All in all it was a great week. Sure, no shower, but the experience was worth it. And I got to meet a celebrity, well sort of. One of the guys with the church, Chris Voth, was a commedian and had been on the show 'Last Comic Standing'. I guess he had never got into the house, but he had got to the final round before that. Good times. He was a hoot.

Welp that's all for now. Please tell me if the blog is meeting to your satisfaction, if there's something else you want to hear about, or if you just wanna say hi! Peace and God bless!

Communication is Key

2007-06-30T03:56:00.000-05:00

To begin, I'm writing this in a notebook on a cot somewhere in eastern Rwanda. Not really sure where. I arrived today around 10:30 after a three hour car ride with only a driver who didn't speak English and myself. Let's recap the last 48 hours.

I was supposed to arrive yesterday, Monday, but I had some travel problems. I was told to arrive in Kigali before ten, which I had every intention of doing. I had to catch a taxi, and got there only in time to get on the nine oclock. This put me at the taxi hub in Kigali around 9:45. No big, I can probably be a little late. TIA (This Is Africa)

Upon reachin the taxi stop I start asking taxi drivers, pedestrians, whoever if they know where the FHI office is. I didn't really know the area, so I was banking on someone knowing it and being able to point me to the right taxi. One driver hollared at me in broken English and said he knew the place. After driving about five minutes, he stops infront of some child orphanage and asks if it's the place. Nope. A little confused, he keeps driving.

Now, as I might've mentioned before, the taxis are actually small VW buses, that they can pack up to 22 people in, at least that's our record count. So while we're driving he's stopping and picking up other passengers. One hops in next to me and happens to speak a little better English than the driver. After some trying, we decide that the office is on the other side of town. Great.

So at the nearest point, I hop off and my new found friend gets me a Moto (Motorcycle taxi) and tells him to take me to the MTN center, which is somewhat close to the FHI office. We finally reach there, and he doesn't know what it is from there. Neither do I. So I get off, pay him, and assure him he can leave (even though I really have no idea where I'm going). I start walking in the direction of the office. About thirty minutes later, I notice an FHI van drive past me full of white people. Surely that can't be my ride. Dwight would've called me. I decide to chance another Moto, and this one happens to know the office. I get there, finally, at 11:30. There I discover that the van infact was my ride, and they were now too far out to turn around and get me. I'm told to meet with Kanobana, the travel coordinator, to figure out how I'm going to get there. Kanobana is nowhere to be found, and not until two do I finally meet up with him. He tells me there's a truck leaving the next morning at seven with some supplies and I can hitch a ride. Sweet.

So that night I hang in Kigali with the interns and a group from Little Rock that was at the house. The group was a lot of fun, really really loud, and we played Mafia til the wee hours of the morning. The next morning I hop on the truck, pictured to the left, and head out. After the three hour ride mentioned above, I arrive the guest house and go to meet the team I'll be staying with at a well in a community called Nabychiri, I have no idea how to spell it.

The team was about 12 thirty-somethings from Pathways church in Denver. When I arrived, they were moving rocks up a hill to a well they were digging. I got some shots, and not wanting to be lazy, decided to help them. So that was my afternoon. Moving rocks. Now I'm here at the house, which is a very small three bedroom, with 15 people. We have no running water, and I just found out an interesting fact. I was expecting to be here like a day, expecting to just survey and see what shots I could get later. Until Dwight informed me I'll be here for a week. No prob, except I have only clothes for one day. We'll see how this works out. I'm actually excited to see how this all works out, and it'll be cool to hang with a different crowd. I'm just still getting used to the communication, or lack thereof, here in Africa. Until next time, Peace and God bless!

Mama...

2007-06-25T07:04:00.000-05:00

(pictures may, or probably not, have anything to do with the content. just there to give you a 'picture' of Rwanda and to break up the space)

Yesterday we went to the Presbyterian church in Gitarama. Presbyterian: you think somewhat solemn, liturgical, and short services. Nuhuh. I may have mentioned the church last week, which was Penticostal, going four hours. Apparently the Presbyterians heard about this and wouldn't have it. "Let's top em with five." I think is what they said in one of their elder's meetings. Maybe not. But anway...

We were supposed to meet 'Mama' at 9:30 at her house. Mama, which is a nickname in case your wondering, is a 76 year old american woman who a couple of years ago moved to Rwanda, and with her retirement money, wanted to buy a house. She discovered how cheap they were and moved right in. Since then she founded the Urakundu foundation, which I think means Love in Kinyarwandan. The organization sets up housing for orphans in the Gitarama area. Currently there are four different houses used for the foundation. And something like 30 orphans living in them. All within a year of it being founded. Pretty sweet.

Anyway, we had been told about Mama from Abby our coordinator. Kristina was walking the other day and was stopped by a young man who asked if she was American. She said yes, and he said, "You HAVE to meet mama!" Suprised by his English and having heard of Mama she agreed and then got an hour long talk about Mama's work (she's a very chatty little lady.) She invited Kristina and the rest of us to church that Sunday. So that brings us up to Sunday...

SO 9:15 we show up at the house and no one's home. A young man runs up and instructs us to follow. We follow him to the church, which is just down the street. We are seated toward the front (as always) and settle in. Come to find out, it's the 100th anniversary of the Presbyterian church in Rwanda. And there's pastors and visitors from all over. So they've lined up a pretty little program, that they started church an hour early for.

They had I don't know how many choirs, at least three different kids choirs and four adult. All of which shared two songs, some a few dances. Then they gave the message. This was around 11:30 or so. Ok, sweet, get out by noon, no big. Oh no, there's still more choirs, and then they have to introduce all of the visitors (including us) and then it's time to review the history of the church....

Now please understand my sentiment. This is all very well and good. And I'm sure for the people in the church, it was a joyous and funfilled event. But after the 15th song I couldn't understand, and at the beginning of a story, read by a monotone voice, in a language of which I know close to 25 words, this including the words for the numbers 1-20, not so much fun.

Thankfully Mama let us know we could leave early so we split. Before we left though, she invited us to a party she was throwing that night for one of the orphans, Kevin. Kevin had been with Mama since her first day in Gitarama. He came beggin at her door. Every since he had acted as her translator and companion. Now 23, he was planning on attending a university in Kentucky. Having just received his scholarship, and visa, he is set to head out tomorrow, Tuesday. So last night they had a going away party for him.

We agreed then headed back to the house. I did some laundry, with the help of one of the guards, and hung out. Around five we headed over. The party was set up at one of the fours houses, which is just a five minute walk from our guest house. There were kids EVERYWHERE, which we're used to, but most of them spoke at least broken English, which was a pleasent surprise. We hung out for a bit, I talked to Maurice, and 21 year old university student in Gitarama, who's French is better than his English. Turns out he wants to be a radio dj and already has some experience. I hope to meet up with him again and trade some music.

We ate, which was traditional Rwandan food: rice, peas, potatoes, meat chunks in a sauce, and round balls of sweet bread they call cake. (to the left is a picture of an example of this food, but not the actual thing) After that they cranked up the tunes and we dance. I can't tell you how impressed I am that EVERYONE has rythm. Even the little kids! I showed off some of my moves, which they tried to copy, and even swung danced a bit with Alana, we've been workin on it this week.

All in all a blast of an evening. It's incredible how God has used someone like Mama to touch so many people. I only I can move like her when I'm 76....yeah she shook it. I also got to meet a few friends, one of which may take us clubbing in Kigali some weekend. Well, that's all for now. Peace and God bless!

School

2007-06-21T09:09:00.000-05:00

So I'm here at the office again, in Gitarama, deciding to brave the intermittant internet connection. Fortunately, it's somewhat strong today, as I knock on wood.

Once again I'm plagued with what to write. I'll talk about the experience I had last Friday at the school....

Last Friday Kristina and I went with a translator (something like Karen) to a local school in the Mohanga district. We had been told that there was going to be a celebration that day. From what we could understand, the day was set aside to celebrate when Africa recognized the importance of its children, or something like that. We got there around nine, and the celebration, which was supposed to start at ten, started around 11 or so. For about an hour the kids crowded around us and we just answered questions about ourselves....

It was all staged underneath a make-shift pavilion right outside the school compound. It was basically a frame of sticks in a box shape. They had set up chairs for the teachers, and us, to sit on. I opted to stand behind for a better camera shot. The children filed in in groups, led by their teachers, according to their class grade (P1-P6 is what they call them). They each came up singing a different song, none of which I ever got the translation for. When all the kids, somewhere in the neighborhood of...150maybe? Probably more, were seated around, the first class got up. They were the youngest and did some sort of patty-cake thing while singing a song. They then did another song where the stood in a circle and held hands. This one was apparently hillarious, because all the moms and teachers in attendance were rolling. I just laughed at em...

Each grade had something different prepared. I kind of lost track of what grade was going, and everything got kind of jumbled. Some of the classes had songs, other had dances, others skits (which lasted up to 20 min), and probably a mix of the three. All in all it lasted around 2 and a half hours (yeah, and you thought your school functions were long).

At first it was well organized, but about 30 min. into it, the 'stage' a small clearing just in front of the chairs, had all but dissapeared as the kids scooted in. The moms, who were sitting off to one side, surrounded me with their kids, trying to get a better view. I didn't mind this at all, until a few of the babies decided it was lunch time and the moms were more than happy to ablige. Awkward....

I really enjoyed being next to the mothers and babies though. They all got a hoot out of watching their kids on the camera screen, especially when they couldn't see over the people in front of them, and just watched my screen instead. One kid was pretty fussy and his mom would point at me, I'd make a face and he'd laugh. Then he'd start fussing again...repeat sequence....

The experience was pretty sweet overall. It was really cool to be a part of their culture like that. I felt really priviledged to be there. But, that's all for this post. I may turn around and right a second, but I'll give your eyes a rest. Peace and God bless!

The tree

2007-06-20T03:10:00.000-05:00

So, today, while I was riding in the back of a truck from Gitarama to Kigali, taking in the countryside with the sounds of Jason Mraz, Journey and Louis Armstrong (ok weird mix I know) I was trying to figure out what to write in this blog. It's been almost a week since I last posted, due to limited internet access, and a lot has happened in that time. Not a lot of significant things, just a lot of life. It's hard to pick which experiences to talk about.

I guess I'll talk about the walk to the tree.It wasn't really significant, or life changing. Just a fun afternoon.

It kinda started with me I guess. From our house in Gitarama, you can see this tree (pictured above) off in the distance on a hilltop. As you can see from the picture, it kind of stands alone, with a little clearing around it. Immediately when I saw it, a little voice said, "Yeah, you're going to that tree." This last weekend the interns from Kigali, Aaron, Jim and Karen, came down to hang with the rest of us. (If you're wondering who these people are, please refer to the video above) Saturday, I made it clear I was hiking to said tree, with or without the rest of them. Emily, our resident self appointed activities coordinator, organized it and everyone went. (please realize I don't say this about Emily in a bad way. Just an observation of her character, which is very pleasant by the way...Emily don't hurt me...)

Before we went, the girls insisted I getting directions. I didn't really see the point in this. One: it kinda ruins the adventure of it all. Two: the tree was just down into the valley and up the other side. Not a whole lot of mystery to the route. But, directions we got. Funny thing is, since I was leading, we didn't follow them. They had told us to go around to the next village and follow the road up. Aaron and I decided to take the more direct approach and just take the path that went straight across. I wish I had more pictures, unfortunately my camera freaked out yesterday and I lost all the pictures I had of said trip.:( Sad day. The pictures that ARE on here are from others. Sorry.

In any case, on the trip up the other side we walked through a small village. Where, as usual, we picked up some local kids, fascinated by the group of Muzungus. They followed us all the way to the top, and watched us take pictures, while Jim threw water on them. (picture to the left)

We ended up playing a game with them. It's actually a kind of song that you stand and hold hands singing. I don't even know what it means. We headed back to the village and then played duck, duck goose with the kids. They caught on pretty quick. We only had one mishap, when I was chasing a girl and she tripped. Everyone insisted I pushed her. Then all the villagers got really angry and chased us out of the village. Just kidding. But she really did trip.

So that was our lazy Saturday afternoon. I'll post more later. Remember: wherever you are, you're there. And we live in a God drenched world. Peace!

Check it...

2007-06-13T13:57:00.000-05:00

So today I actually started something to do with my job. I went to Gitarama, a town south of here in the southern province, to meet with the people there and see what I needed to film. I got there and saw the other three interns, Kristina, Emily and Alana, at the office there. They moved there yesterday and are planning on teaching English to the teachers of the schools there. I found out that they were going with me to the schools. Which I was pretty excited about, because...well...they're cool.

So we headed out in the truck. There were too many of us for the cab, so they said some of us would have to ride in the back. We all did. Abby, Julie (who were there with the interns), Alana, Kristina, Emily and I, all rode in the back of the Toyota truck. Good times.:) Along the way there were some awesome little houses. Beautiful countryside. It's just awesome all around.

Out we went over potholed dirt roads into the 'boonies' of Rwanda. Along the way people would shout and wave. It was a blast! About 30 min out we reached the first school. The kids ALL came out and met us. All 500 of them. It was soooo cool! We were just swarmed. They showed us the classrooms and told us what they were doing. They taught Primary 1-6 there. Kids from around 7 to 13/14. There were just happy to see us.

We went back for lunch, which I ate at a restaurant with Deogene and Ernest, two of the nationals who I'll be working with. The waiter told me they had rice, beans, spaghetti, vegetables, chips and meat. Then asked me what I wanted. After a little confusion, I just ordered everything. They came out with a plate full.

After lunch we went to another school. It was interesting to see the difference in how the kids acted. At the second school they were more reserved. Still just as friendly, but less willing to come right up and approach. Still...the people are beautiful.

The trip home was kind of interesting. I found out I'm moving to Gitarama, at least for a while, to be closer to the things I need to film. Otherwise it'd be an hour commute every morning and night. But I had to come back to Kigali to get most of my things, including my camera. So we started back in the FHI truck (which by the way is the only vehicle they have in Gitarama, which means they have to have 'other' transportation for me) Anyway, they had to pick up some furniture before we left, but that ended up getting delayed. So Diogene, one of the nationals, and I went to take a taxi back to Kigali. Now, a taxi is actually a toyota bus that they cram as full as possible. So I had hunched shoulders for an hour on our way to Kigali. Good times. It's all about the experience. Worst thing was when I was walking back from the taxi drop off, the FHI truck passed me, then stopped to pick me up....yeah...

In any case it's been an awesome day! Hope things are well with all of you out there. I'll continue to keep you posted! Peace and God bless!

P.S. Keep an eye out for an upcoming intern video.;)

Genocide...

2007-06-12T03:37:00.000-05:00

(I added some pictures of the memorial to break up the space)

Ok so...here goes. It's hard to process these thoughts. We're such a desensitized culture that when something really strikes us, we don't know how to deal with it. With the recent publicity, I'm sure most of you know about what happened here in '94. Starting in April and lasting for about two months, people were slaughtered left and right, simply because of their classification.

Sunday night, one of Julie's friends from the area, Felix, came and shared his experience in the genocide. He was only eight when it all went down, and lost his entire family. The only way he survived was a family friend, a woman, hid him under her bed. Her husband was one of the killers, so Felix and his cousin had to lay under the bed quiet....for two months. I can't even process that.

Everyone here in Rwanda has been effected by the genocide. It crazy to think that everyone lost somebody. When the killings were finally over, more than one million people had lost their lives. One million people. More people than live in Kigali, the largest city, right now.

Yesterday we went to the genocide memorial. It was very interesting, and so tough, to go through. Outside they have a garden and several places one can sit and reflect. Right near this is the mass graves. Over 200,000 people are burried there at the memorial. So hard to picture. Inside the memorial they laid out the history of the people, the influence of the europeans, and how something like this could happen.

For those of you who don't know, Rwanda was taken over by the Germans in the early 1900's. With their defeat in WWI, the Belgians took over. The Belgians saw the Tutsi as a more intelligent people than the Hutus, while the Twas weren't considered people at all. The Belgians placed the Tutsi in favorable positions, giving them more power, which caused resentment among the majority, the Hutus. Before this time all tribes were largely considered one people. They intermarried and shared the same traditions, customs and stories. The Belgians wrongly thought otherwise, and separated the two groups. In 1932 they instituted ID cards. If a person owned more than 10 cows, he was Tutsi. Less than that, he was Hutu. And so it starts...

Somewhere in the 1950's the Belgians pulled out of Rwanda, and for some reason left control in the hands of the Hutu. This wouldn't have been a problem, but they pinpointed the Tutsi as less desirable. What few people know, is that when the Belgians left, a genocide of a smaller scale occured. Tutsi were exiled in the thousands, with 700,000 forced to leave between 1959-1973.

Several factors escalated the tension until 1990 when the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front), largely consisting of Tutsi exiles, invaded Rwanda attempting to arrest control from the Hutu majority. This was seen as a major threat by the government, and the Tutsi were placed in an even more unfavorable light. Small scale "practice" genocides happened in the outlying districts between 90-94. Hate radio broadcasted across the country, calling the Tutsi Inyenzi (cochroaches), less than human. In Dec '90 the "Hutu Ten Commandments" were published. Basically saying no Tutsi could serve in the army, and no Hutu should ever marry a Tutsi, or they would be seen as Inyenzi themselves.

Lists were made. Doctors, teachers, lawyers, everyone. All placed on killing lists. Things were organized to a 't'. To where 1,000 people would die every 20 min. This was all done in secret of course. The UN or anyone had no way of knowing this would happen. So wrong. On Jan 10th, 1994, three months before the genocide, an informant named "Jean Pierre" came forward to the French encombants and told of a planned genocide, killing lists, weapons cashes, names of government officials involved, everything. General Romeo Dallaire sent code-cable to New YOrk to the Secretary General about the informant. He was told to stand down, with the U.S. fearing intervention. Jean Pierre dissapeared.

On April 6 1994 in the middle of the night, President Junvenal Habyarima was killed when his plane was shot down. He was in the process of enacting a cease fire between the Tutsi rebels and his own governmental forces. The genocide went immediately into action, with close to 100,000 being killed in the first few days.

It's so easy to dismiss these facts and stories. To say they were another time and another place. It's hard to do that here. Living among these people. Looking at these hills and imagining the screams. But what are we to do? It's already happened. But what of other places? What of Darfur? Rwanda is not an isolated incident. People are still killed everyday in genocidal acts. We stand aside and let these happen. Can we live with ourselves?

Church

2007-06-10T06:39:00.000-05:00

We just got back from an Anglican church nearby in Kigali. It was amazing!

The church is about 15 minute walk from our house, and we left around ten to get there. We ended up arriving late, which we didn't know when the service started so...
When we arrived they seated us toward the back, and then proceeded to separate us with men from the church. I thought this was pretty weird at first, but then noticed the men spoke English, and intended to translate the service for us. My translator's name was Anthony(pronouncing the 'th' as a 't') and was the regional director of human resources for Compassion International in Rwanda. He spoke pretty good English, though he was little tough to understand at times.

When we arrived they were reading from Acts 22, and then started the songs for the service. With Anthony translating, it seemed like most of the songs were centered around our life to come in heaven. Looking toward being free from suffering and living forever with our brothers and sisters. I asked Abby about this on our walk back and she confirmed that. She said the believers here, especially in Rwanda, have a very real sense of suffering and pain, with the poverty and memories of the genocide. They see God as good and giver of goodness, and our life as Christians centered around the hope of heaven. Really interesting to learn and note.

The music was very upbeat and energetic. It was a lot of fun, even if we had no idea what they were saying for the most part. I started to get the hang of the last song we did, something about meeting one day in heaven. One song had a lot of the congregation, mainly the kids up front, dancing and jumping.

They had us, as guests, go up front and introduce ourselves. They were so welcoming and appreciative of us being there. It was so good to see.

The speaker was a woman from the church who was very energetic and passionate about her message. She shared from Matthew 22, the parable of the ten virgins. She correlated the oil to God's gift of salvation, saying we had to be prepared when our bridegroom, Christ, returns.

After the service a lot of the people just kind of milled around outside and visited. It was so great to see the body of Christ outside the U.S. How they work and live together and love each other. Just another reminded we as Americans aren't the end all of Christianity.

2007-06-10T06:29:00.000-05:00

First Impressions...

2007-06-10T00:29:00.000-05:00

Well it's my first morning here in Rwanda. We got in yesterday around 1, managed to find all our luggage, by the grace of God, and headed to the guest house in Kigali. I don't ever recommend spending 36 hours traveling unless you have to. Our flights went from Phoenix to Denver to D.C. to Addis Abba (with a stop in Rome) to Nairobi to Kigali. Good times...

The people I'm with are great! I'll post a introduction video soon. The house we're staying at is pretty much amazing. It's got 7 rooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms and an incredible view. We have wireless Internet here, so I'm hardly roughing it. Yesterday we took a walk around town, saw the market, and got some money exchanged. We took small buses called "mugotas" or something close anyway. It's a whole new experience to walk down the street and have EVERYBODY staring at you. The kids would hollar "Muzungu!" and wave. We didn't have much problem with people asking for money or selling things. There were a few patches of people in the market, but nothing overwhelming.

Dwight, the FH director for this part of Africa, is a great guy. He cast a vision for what I'm going to be doing with the video here, and I can't wait to get started! We ate over at his place last night. His wife cooked us rice with a meat gravy type topping. REALLY GOOD! He has three kids here with him, and one or two more elsewhere.

Abby came over here this last semester with the GO-Ed program, which allows students to spend a semester studying abroad. She spent her time in Uganda, but they also take students here in Kigali, Nairobi and a couple of other places. She stayed on this summer to replace Melissa, who apparently is usually in charge of the guest house and interns. She'll be our 'mom' for the next two months.:)

Today we're going to an Anglican church nearby, then having a meeting to learn more about our job descriptions here. They encourage us to explore the culture and make friends. Meals are provided here, but we're welcome to by things and cook for ourselves, or even plan a meal for everybody. All in all, I'm so blessed to be here right now. I can't wait to get my hands dirty and see what God has in store. I'm excited about the friendships with my other interns as well as with the Nationals here. Your prayers are much appreciated friends! Until next time...

The beginning...

2007-06-05T21:15:00.000-05:00

So this is my first attempt at a blog, so go easy on me. I'll try to keep up with these blogs to keep ya'll posted. But we'll see how it goes....

For those of you who don't know, I'm traveling to Rwanda this summer with Food for the Hungry, a mission organization based in Pheonix, Arizona. I'll be there for roughly 8 weeks. This is the first of my posts...

I arrived in Pheonix on Sunday and was met by Mark Klink, part of the Food for the Hungry team. I moved in with his family, who have been more than gracious. His two kids, Caleb (4) and Rachel (9) have even let me stay in their play room. But have forbidden me to play with their toys. Just kidding...I just play with them after they go to sleep. The kids have been a blast to be around, hopefully I'll get some more pictures or video posted soon.

We started orientation yesterday, Monday, at 9. We sat and listened all day about what Food for the Hungry was all about, their Mission, Vision, and Key Goals. 'What are they?' You might say. Well I'm glad you asked!

The vision of FH is that God called, and they answer until physical and spiritual hungers are ended world-wide. A huge goal, but it really sets the goal high in what their trying to do. The important part of this vision is the idea of combining and focusing on both the physical and spiritual hungers and needs. Too many times church focus only on the physical, not the spiritual, and mission organizations see only the physical needs, but leave the people still hurting spiritually. FH is committed to ministering to both, until both hungers are satisfied. Which, realistically, probably won't happen until Christ returns, but that'll keep em busy til then.

I still have little idea what exactly I'll be doing in Rwanda. I know I'll be staying in a guest house. I know it'll be video related and have something to do with their Child Sponsorship program. The rest is on a need to know basis...I guess...I met the team I'll be going with and they all seem like some stellar people! We're from all over the U.S. and all of us are ready to get over there and serve.

I'll be sure to keep these posts coming. In the meantime, I'm super stoked to see what God will do in and through me and the people I'm with. So far I'm really impressed with FH and the people involved and can't wait to be a part of what God is doing through them! Peace and God bless!

- CoB