Kigali Experiences and Homeward Bound!

The last day… oh my… how i hate these "end of our time together" times!  But today will be that day with Heather and Colin and the kids! 

But this morning..  was an AIC outing to RwaCof so off we went!

RwaCof is a plant in town run by the man on the right…. He is my friend, Nalini's husband!  At this plant coffee beans are brought from all over the country.  They are cleaned, sorted, dried and distributed from this place.  They travel to Europe and America for the most part but the beans are not roasted until
they reach their location! 

Some of the gang going for the tour!
Heather and Colin are the babes of the group.

One of the loaded trucks and the AIC group hearing all about how it works.  Colin took all the pics on the inside and i think you've seen those before… but they had a great tour and learned alot
about coffee from Rwanda.  They have friends in Indiana, Pa that
run Commonplace Coffee and I believe they are now
ordering from Rwanda to share its coffee with their customers ! 

 After the tour and lunch Heather and Colin went to visit the Genocide Memorial.  I left them there on their own and took the kids!  I had not seen the outside all redone… It looks wonderful
and is very functional. 

A view of downtown from the parking lot..

They have really made major revisions

From the memorial down to the parking lot!

The new,  yet to be completed amphitheater next to the lower
part of the parking lot with tons of seating. 

  The new Eternal Flame is lit for the 100 days in remembrance of those lost during the Genocide.
The Memorial begins in April but the flame burns on..through the 100 days. 

It sets near the mass grave of over 250,000 Tutsis killed during this time. 

This is the plaque that thanks all those that donated and provided the additions to the Memorial.  They did a beautiful job!

Sitting down for our last meal together.

Having hamburgers and fries…. getting ready for
re-entry into life in the States.

Gramma (me) made a terrible mistake on birthday front.
We celebrated Elizabeth's day and a little of H's since
it was June 7th.. BUT I forgot it is also Brian's big day
on June 7th..  so I created a veggie cake with the end
of our carrot cake and added the tomatoes and lettuce
for decoration.  It was pretty lame.. but Brian was
glad we didn't forget him.  He is such a great little guy..

And he loves veggies!!  He'll be turning 6!  Wow..
where has time gone.

 The Turkish Air flight leaves around midnight.. so the kids were
doing great for being up and ready to go.   Ready to take the long flight back.

 Innocent wanted this picture of us together…
I'm glad we have it, too…even though my eyes
are filled with tears.

It is so exciting when the kids come with their
families but the leaving part is pretty hard.  It seems
so right to have them here with us.

Thanks for coming Heather and Colin and Elizabeth
and Brian and Katherine.  You certainly brought our
quiet house to life here in Kigali…..but it will
be awfully quiet in the days to come.  It was
so wonderful to have you here with us!!!

love,
mom/margie