Chris and Carrie come to Rwanda!

Chris has returned to Rwanda and I'm so happy she came back.  This time she brought Carrie with her and here they are arriving at midnight!  Both of them are friends from our home church, 

Hebron in Penn Hills, Pa!

We hit the ground running the next day on a Charity Visit for AIC to a new NGO trying to get off the ground.  School, day care,
creating jobs for mom so she can be off the streets… a great
venture and they are off to a good start.  

We were visiting to see whether this would be a good place for one of our small grants to be given to.

Carrie showing the little ones their pictures.. . and them checking out Carrie.  Yes, LEGOS are everywhere in the world.

The director on the left… telling us about her venture. 

Ceren and her mom, Carrie and Chris and Kirsty…
all listening and learning about this special place.  

Look at those little sweet feet under the table. 

Handsome!

One of the moms with her little one.

 Chris with one of the moms in training…

We trust that this NGO will get off the ground and grow since there is such a great need to help these women and their children.
It provides them with a place their children can be safe and educated while they are learning valuable skills to help them provide for their families!

The first day of many busy ones to come!

Welcome Chris and Carrie,
to the wonderful world of Rwanda we live in!

love,
margie

 

TWO WEEKS BACK IN RWANDA--WHEW! (Oops.. missed this one)

Flying back into Kigali life from the States is always made easier since the weather is so wonderful..but the next two weeks were really full of fun things.

 First, seeing Kofi (the tall one in the middle in the white shirt)
at his new boarding school… A Youth for Christ School.
This school just started a boarding school so he is getting in on the ground floor!   

The next great thing that happened was that Laura arrived to volunteer at 

Urukundo Children's Home for 3 months!  

She is from Pittsburgh so if was like having another family member coming from home! 

She'd be working with Mama Arlene and all the kids!  Mama came to pick her up and we just went to meet her at the airport and welcome her to Rwanda!

 Then a fun night at the US Ambassador's residence! 

These women are mentors from the Silicon Valley area who mentor other young women around the world in their area of expertise.  They were wonderful and fun and it was a great night!

Another day took us on 
a visit to one of the schools that we gave a small grant to from AIC!  The kids sang for us and sang and sang!
    
Looks like I wasn't the only tired one!  Isn't he dear? 

Valentine's Day was just around the bend so we had
an AIC Valentine Party at Urban Bistro!

Lisa and Chris from the States!

Bruce and Pru…  a good friend from
Bible Study all the way from down under.
Missing her these days since she is home
with her first grand baby!! 

 Mirjam and Johann and Rima!

A visitor, and Gerda and Odette.
(Gerda and Odette both moved away while i was back in the States).  I will miss them so….
Great friends and fellow believers!

My sweet neighbors around the corner, Eric and Shana!

More new friends from Australia… Linda and Paul..

Bernie, Bruce and Chris chattin' it up!

Ceren in red…  and Samela across the table in white.
  We were all supposed to wear either red white or black
to add to the festivities.

It was a fun night with "couple" names that Beulah and Gerda had put on each chair.  Each of us had to find our match..
like Lucy and Ricky, etc.  It was a great ice breaker.  Dinner was
terrific and everyone had a lot of fun!!

That was a whirlwind of 2 weeks and really i skipped a couple things.  It's times like these I remember the folks that told us
before we came here that there "wasn't anything to do in Kigali"!

Don't believe everything you hear, right?
We are so blessed with great friends of every age and stage!

love,
margie

Another Sweet Rwandan Family!

I met Christine, and Christian and Christi at our gate one day. 

Mama came asking if they could have money to send the kids 

to public school.  Her English was very limited but i asked her to go visit a nearby school where she might possibly be able to get a job.  She went but when they called me they said her English wasn't strong enough to do what they needed.  

So.. I talked to Bruce and he said, 'Yes… let's help them'.  That was over 2 years ago now.  They have visited us in our home a couple of times but one day Christine asked if i would come visit them in their home --in their village.  So, with Innocent along as an interpreter we went to her home to be with the family and to meet her husband.  

This was the most frail African foot bridge i had
seen, but we had to cross it to get to their home.
They walk over this every day…. so what was
I so scared of?  For one thing they are little people and
i am not.. BUT we all made it across… even me. 

Once inside their living room/dining room… that consisted of a small table and 2 bench chairs,
 Christine began to sing songs and pray.
Innocent was telling me what her words were saying..
It was very moving.  Her thankful heart from her
and her children was making my eyes well-up with tears.

Little Christine was showing me her writing skills
and big Chris showed me all of his grades and his notebooks
that he copies pages and pages from the board at school.
They were so proud to be able to learn and show me
what they were learning. 

Big brother!

Mama

Papa

Little Sister!

Innocent took pictures of us all on the one little bench! 

He made us laugh really hard.
The joy in the room was so wonderful! 

Christine walks with the children to church every week…
about 1 1/2 miles.  At least it is downhill going home.
She started a year ago Easter….I had invited her to church but I didn't really think she would come.  I was so surprised to see her.
She doesn't have an easy life but as you can see her life is filled
with the joy of the Lord.  And each Sunday.. she brings her kids to Sunday school so they can learn more about Jesus.   I don't think she can understand more than 10 words on any given Sunday but that doesn't stop her from coming!  

They loved the "photo" shoot!

I think this was the first time they'd ever had their
picture taken together.
Now they have copies to hang on the wall..

This is the front of their home.  They have a wall around it to protect the children from any outside influences that might harm them.
On our way out i asked Christine if there was anything they needed.
She is so humble and kind and said that she had been sleeping
on a thin mat on the floor and if there was anything she
would like, it would be a mattress.

Wow!  Would that be the first thing you would say if you were asked if you needed anything?  

Leaving the little village we stopped
and bought some
fabric to make some clothes from.

After our visit Christine was worried that
people might think we were giving them things
and they might be broken into. She was
also worried for my safety in the village.

It was endearing to think she was concerned
about me….. when all i could think about was her
and that little room with a small table and 2 bench chairs!

She longs for her children ( who are quite bright)
to have an education….They are working so hard.
She walks them to school every day and back… about
3 miles each way.

After I left there all I could think about was what if
ONE family in the world took on ONE OTHER
 family in the world…to assist.

Could it happen?  How could it become a reality?

It has been on my mind ever since our visit to the village
to be with all the Chris's!

I was so blessed to be with them and to know them.
They have enriched my life more than material things ever could.
Yet, they actually need material things and they say i am a blessing to them.

Life is engaging if we will engage.
The Lord has things for us to do… if we will do them.

I trust we will all be open to the people around us
and let the Lord lead us to those He needs us with most.

love,
margie

PS.  Oh, in case you were wondering, Christine and the kids love
 their new mattresses.






 

AIC Outing to Aprohade

Aprohade is an NGO here in Kigali that does Embroidery work. 

This is an art and as you will see there are some great artists 

producing wonderful embroidery pieces… 

be it table cloths or "paintings".

This was an AIC outing so a bunch of us ladies took off to go.
Along they way we encountered a nursery school.
Had to stop and get some hugs!
Kim and Riejtie ( Ricky) --friends from South Africa. 

Ceren and Sherri joined the group. They are all so cute.
Yes, the tall ones and the shorter ones!! 

UP we go to the place we are visiting.

The Rotary is big here and you'll see evidence
of that throughout the country.

And now… all pieces done by hand by these talented women.
 

 Gorgeous hand embroidered elephant.
 She is hemming it with the machine. 

A pillow slip-cover.

 They draw or stencil the pattern on the fabric
and then do the embroidery

Coo-coo-coo-ck-Cool napkin!

It is all done with thread… by hand. 

Kirsty modeling the basket weave!

One of the stencilist!

Another one!

Then there was the thread.. racks and racks of it covered
with cloth "doors" to keep it from fading from the sun. 

Yes, this is all embroidery work.

This is the one i bought.. Mama gorilla with her babies.. This picture doesn't do it justice… but the colors are so rich..
It took the designer 1 month working 7 hours a day. 

Back in the store everyone was shopping! 

Kirsty and Mirjam and Ceren having fun in the process. 

It was a great visit  and i'm sure most of us will go back 

at one time or another! 

Lunch after our visit with Kim and Annamarie, 
Moohaw and Riejtie….
South Africa, Korea and the US. were represented.
We went to the Serena hotel to enjoy this….

A delicious pineapple chicken salad with tons of cashews--
in a pineapple, of course!
Undoubtedly my favorite salad in Rwanda!

Creative designs by talented people.
Whether it be with thread or food or anything else….
God has given each of us talents that we need to use.

Where does your creativity show up?
Mine isn't in sewing or food… but
I'm sure glad all of these folks shared their
talents with us today!

love,
margie