Rach and John in Rwanda

So we did it, we left Rwanda. It was hard to leave and even harder to say goodbye to all the wonderful friends we made while we were there.

There is, however, a lot of good news to report. We managed to get Florence a new job as a housekeeper for a great couple from South Africa and we speak with her regularly to make sure she and her daughter, Sonia, are doing ok. Nadja and Eddy took over the house, are all settled in and love it there. They recently welcomed Woube, their first child, to their family. Joshua and Esther completed their first term at school and between kind sponsors and friends still there we got the fees paid, supplies provided and both of them back for the next term!

As for the Kigali branch, it is thriving. They now meet in the new building opposite  Parliament and even built their own font.

The members cut the top off a large water tank, built a hole, buried it in the ground and tiled around the edges!

The Hyde family left soon after us and an all-African branch presidency was called.

The new Branch Presidency: Titus, Joshua and Frank

Another baptism took place, in the new font, and the branch is growing faster than ever. The young women continue to hold their programme and I hear from them all regularly.

The baptism took place the day before the dedication of the new chapel

The people and the  experiences we had in Rwanda have changed us forever. We miss Florence, her happiness around the house and her cooking, we miss Robin’s bagels in the mornings, we miss riding on the motorcycle in the crazy traffic, we miss the sunsets over the green hills, we miss those in the branch who taught us that it’s the basics that really matter, the young women and young men who taught us more than we ever taught them …..and because of them church will never be the same again! We miss the market with the cheap pineapples and avocados, the beautiful lilies and cute kids running around everywhere. We miss the two-handed waves and the excited shouts from the roadsides every time we passed. We miss a lot.

As for our plans, John was offered a place at the University of Sydney Medical School and we accepted! We will be there for four years and are excited for our next adventure.

Thank you to everyone at home and in Rwanda who supported us and made a difference.

We’ll be back…. one day!

And for one final treat, check out this video of Joshua and Esther dancing on the front porch!

The time has come! Tomorrow we leave Kigali and spend some time in Egypt and Israel before heading back to the UK to see my family and then onto the USA.We have sold everything – furniture, electronic equipment, every little kitchen utensil and even John’s beloved bike!

John's bike. He loves it and is sad to sell it

Although Rwandan drivers are terrible, this bike has been a lifesaver and we have loved having it (especially John). He is sad to have to sell it.  Not only have we been on a few trips on the bike, we’ve had a lot of fun with it.

Fun on the bike

Yes, we got four on the bike

We’ve spent the last few days packing, selling and saying goodbye to wonderful people who have touched and blessed our lives. We have made some really good friends here and we’re sad to leave them.

Saying goodbye to friends. This is Teojan.

Florence (our housekeeper and favourite Rwandan) and her daughter Sonia

We’ve also had lots of dinners with HDI, colleagues and friends. Tomorrow we say goodbye to the branch and then take the night bus to Kampala, Uganda, fly to Cairo, spend 4 days in Egypt, bus to Israel with a week there and then to the UK for a week, a day in Iceland and onto the USA. We’ll keep you posted on what’s next for us and we’ll post more soon. Rwanda has been a life-changing experience for us, we have learned many things and grown in many ways. We’re grateful for the time we have had here.

As we’re preparing to leave Rwanda I was released as Young Woman president on Sunday. I’ve never cried when being released before – it’s usually a celebration – this time it was hard. I’ve come to love and respect those girls so much and they have taught me just as much, if not more, than I have taught them. We have one more Sunday with the branch before we leave. One of the best reasons for us for being in Rwanda has been the Church and serving this new small branch. John always says that church will never be the same! I have a feeling he’s right.

We never made it to see the branch move into the new building. Things move so slowly here and even though it was due to be ready in January the grounds are still unfinished and we cannot move in until it is complete. it will be a great blessing to the branch when they can finally meet here.

The new building - finished, except for the grounds - but we're still not in!

The Branch Presidency. Titus, Eric and Joshua

We also have our first ever missionaries in Rwanda! Elder and Sister Andrus are all-stars and have been here a couple of weeks now. They are teaching the discussions in groups and we have another set of baptisms next weekend – this time in a swimming pool. Having them here is making a huge difference and certainly keeping them busy.

The first missionaries - Elder and Sister Andrus

Thursday was our last Young Women meting together. We made decorations for the new YW room in the chapel and played party games. it was a lot of fun.

We started making decorations for the new YW room

Pass the parcel

This morning we had our last activity and went swimming – which is something the girls have wanted to do since I arrived. None of them can swim and so we attempted to teach them- it was hilarious and hard work. At least Viviane will be a little more prepared for her baptism next week! I have loved serving and spending time with the girls. One day John and I will return and see how their lives have changed because of the gospel.

John and I took a trip with friends Kate, Nadja and Eddy to Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi (one of the countries that borders Rwanda) and had a wonderful time. We hired a Land Cruiser for the trip and took the 6 hour drive down, starting nice and early.

After a 6 hour drive we made it

We were impressed with the beauty of Bujumbura. It sits on Lake Tanganyika which borders the Democratic Republic of Congo and has stunning beaches. Although the country is currently not super stable we are sure it is an upcoming holiday destination.

On arrival we set out to find accommodation and found one resort that had a resident chimpanzee – Lulu (or Ruru if you are a local). Lulu chased Kate along the beach while she was checking out the views and then harassed everyone else, kissing my leg and scratching John’s scar. It was hilarious and at the same time pretty scary. We didn’t stay at this resort – not helped by Lulu, but especially because they had no running water! We found a great, cheap hotel to stay in near town and spent the next day on the beach and at a resort on the lake.

Lulu the chimp had a fascination with John's scar

We loved the beach

By the pool

Hiding from the rain

Kate, Nadja and Eddy taking cover from the rain

We were impressed with the food in Bujumbura and had some great fish and good breakfasts too. John and I even had time for a pedicure at the hotel!

We got pedicures

The next day we took a mini-safari in Rusizi Park to see hippos and crocodiles. We saw hippos, but, to my relief, no crocodiles! Gustave is one of the resident crocodiles, 6 metres long, who the rangers have been trying to catch for over a year. he has eaten more than 20 people in the last year! So far he has evaded them. I’m glad we didn’t run into him.

Safari in Rusizi park

John drove us all in the Land Cruiser and loved it

A great trip, with great friends, to a great place. It’s nice to see more of the East Africa region.

On another note we visited the kids, Esther and Joshua, at boarding school a few days ago. It was wonderful to see them and when they saw us they ran to us so fast and threw their arms around us. We are incredibly happy to report that they are doing well at school, are really happy and get three meals a day! We are going to miss those kids when we leave!

We are discovering that here this is very true!

So I took a trip back to England mid April to have my interview for my permanent residency card for the USA – it was a great trip, wonderful to see my family – and I got my passport back with my visa in it just in time to make the flight back (and it turns out I was very lucky I flew when I did with the eruption of the volcano and the ash in the air)!

I was able to buy school supplies for Joshua and Esther and have many things donated for them from family and friends. Thanks everyone.  The big task once I was back was for us to get the kids ready for school. Other donated money (Nadja’s sister, Kate etc) was given for us to purchase the rest of the supplies they needed – it was quite a long list and included things from nail clippers to mattresses.

New school shoes

New flip flops

Check out my school bag

Packing up

The day before school Joshua came over for a visit  and was very sad. I asked if we could talk and we went outside. He started crying and I was worried that he was nervous about going to boarding school. Wrong – he hadn’t eaten in two days! We fed him up and sent him home with food for his sister and we realised how important it is for those kids to be in boarding school where they will have three meals a day, a stimulating environment and a mattress to sleep on.

The big day came and it required a big healthy breakfast.

Breakfast

Then it was off to school.

Arriving at school

'Oh it's so heavy'

A bed for Josh

Josh's class mates

Esther has a bed

Esther meets a friend - they will be in the same year (Esther is a few years behind)

We got them all settled in, they met some of the other students and then we said our goodbyes. The great thing is that we can visit them at weekends. We were happy, but more importantly, they were happy!

I can’t begin to list all the names of all the people who helped to get the kids to this stage. Thank you everyone!

It’s been a fun and frustrating few weeks for many reasons. The fun times included getting ice cream with our house guests, Jamie and Ariana (good ice cream is VERY hard to find here – but believe it or not they have it at the airport, it is just VERY expensive so this is the first time since being in Rwanda that we had ice cream!) and ALL four us riding on the moto for about 100 yards – we still need to reenact the episode for photographic evidence but it was a really fun evening.

Jamie and Ariana

Even though it cost a small fortune it tasted delicious!

We are back in rainy season (we think, it didn’t really seem to stop) and it is nice and refreshing. We have some beautiful sunsets we can see from the porch.

We are also having some crazy rain and thunder storms, when even inside it is so loud you can hardly hear each other! Jamie and Ariana were very happy about one rain storm that came after a very hot day. They decided to run outside and dance! Florence was shocked (Rwandans never go out in the rain) and told them they must come inside or they will catch malaria!

They were VERY happy about the rain

We also ran into a marketing event for a new phone company while we were at the market. They coaxed John into dancing and they loved it – a muzungu who can dance! it was a lot of fun and he got a prize too.

Dancing at the market

More great news is that Joshua and Esther are both now enrolled in a boarding school, “Bright Light’, and start after the Easter break on 19th April. We will post pictures of them in their uniforms when they start school. Both Joshua and Esther are really excited to be going back to school and are excited to board as well. It is great news!

This last week we decided it was time for a break and for us to see more of this beautiful country – and beautiful it is.We took a drive up to the west of the country to Lake Kivu where Rwanda borders the Democratic Republic of Congo and spent a couple of days at the lake, relaxing and enjoying a break. We stayed in a beautiful little resort called Paradis and stayed in a bungalow on the beach, enjoying breakfasts overlooking the lake and candlelit dinners on the shore watching the sun set.

Lake Kivu - view from our beach bungalow

Relaxing

Chillin on the beach

John testing out the water

At dawn and duck the fishermen go out in their handcrafted boats (pretty impressive) singing their songs loud and strong.

The fishermen in the distance

On the journey home we stopped at Ruhengeri and took a detour to the Volcanoes National Park on the border with Uganda. There are 6 dormant volcanoes and 3 active that smoke by day and glow by night. The volcanoes are also where the silverback gorillas live (few remaining in the world) and you can hike for a visit with them (which we will attempt to do before we leave).

Volcanoes

It was pretty chilly with the clouds so low over the volcanoes

John is a kid magnet wherever we go and they love the camera

John and the volcano

Women at work

It was a great break and we’re planning more trips in Rwanda and surrounding countries too!

These last few weeks we have been spending a lot of time with Angelique and her family trying to help them to become independent and stable. They moved out to their own small home (thanks to donations to help with the first months rent) and now Angelique has a job, rent payments are possible. It was bitter sweet to see them go. We have grown to love those kids and all here who are living at our house have gained a love for them. It is also nice to have the house back to ourselves, a lot quieter and a lot easier (there were a lot of issues that Angelique brought with her that were difficult to deal with). John found himself having a lot of ‘adult’ conversations with Angelique about her responsibilities, about budgeting and about putting her family first. We learned a lot!

We had some fun dance parties with the kids on the porch (they love to dance – video coming soon) and some fun bathing Esther (at the time it had been a while since she had been bathed and once she was in the water she had no objections).

Jamie with Esther

She did a nice job!

Esther was a superstar

All clean

We’re currently searching for a school for Joshua and Esther to attend. They have been out of school for a little while now and desperately need to get back. We have found sponsors to pay for the school fees (no schooling is free here) and just need to find the right school that will take both kids. Boarding is a popular option here and Angelique (and the kids) would like to have them in boarding school. We agree this is a great option as the kids will have more structure in their lives, not to mention hot meals every day!

Yesterday John and I went on an adventure and looked at a few different schools. Next it’s a chat with the sponsors and then enrollment begins. They will be able to start school next term (middle of April) and Josh will be able to get back on track and start pursuing his dream career – a doctor or a pilot or in his words ‘both, because people on planes need doctors too’.

Here are some pictures of the Kigali branch. The branch has been here in Rwanda (the only one) for almost two years now They went from 6 people meeting in a home to about 67 meeting in Hotel Okapi (thanks to one of the members who owns it). Last August Elder Holland dedicated the land for missionary work and now things are really moving. In about two weeks we will have our own chapel and our first missionary couple – everyone is very excited.

Kigali branch Relief Society

The guys - there are a lot of them

Everyone!

My young women with their Books of Mormon from Spokane YW and bags from Mim - I still need to teach them to smile for the camera

There are some incredible people in the branch and we feel honoured to be a part of its beginnings.

We’ve been back in Kigali for a week now and really happy to be here again. We didn’t realise how much we were missed and we had lots of visitors and calls as soon as we landed.

We had a wonderful break. Christmas in England with my family, New Year’s skiing with John’s family, a perfect first year wedding anniversary (skiing and a great night in a very lovely hotel), January in Spokane with John’s family – and medical school interviews for John – and then back to the UK to meet baby Eliza Jane Kear who arrived on 21st January. I was able to spend a week with Eliza and the Kear family and be there for her blessing as well – wonderful. A few days in London (I had my medical examination for my US visa) and then back home to Rwanda.

A number of kind donations from family and friends meant we were able to bring back gifts of clothes, toys and school fees for Angelique and her family as well as Florence and her daughter.

Florence gets dresses for her daughter Sonia - thanks Liz and Amy and Sacha

Esther gets a doll - thanks to the Ford family

Josh gets car - thanks Mum

New dresses for Esther - thanks Liz, Amy and Sacha

It was so wonderful to see how happy they were and how much they appreciated their gifts. It’s great to see that they have some toys to play with (Esther’s first ever doll, and who knows but maybe the first toy of her own) and also some more clothes to wear.

A baby carrier for Angelique to carry Queen - thanks Han

Angelique was thrilled and baby Queen seemed to like it too

So happy

Josh putting his new lego together

Esther's doll goes everywhere with her

A fun day! We’re now busy working again with HDI and Orphans of Rwanda, enjoying the sun and this beautiful country and the community of friends we have built here.