Gaiser or Geyser? Yes!

We're writing you from Jackson Hole, Wyoming! It's been a few days and we have quite a bit to share with you, starting with Wednesday's long trip through South Dakota and Wyoming.

Wednesday morning we woke up alive but looking as if we'd acquired the chicken pox. The night before we'd pulled into our campground in Kennebec, SD and were welcomed by mosquitoes and deer flies. Not to mention one of my tent poles was broken. Needless to say setting up the tent was a feet, but we survived!

Wednesday was packed! First, the Badlands, then Mt. Rushmore, then Devils Tower, and finally historic Sheridan. Oh, but not to leave out Wall Drug - a random tourist trap store along the highway that started sensational billboard advertisements 300 miles before the exit. That night we stayed at a comfy KOA Kabin and met our neighboring campers, Bruce and Dee Laporte from Watertown, NY! They were wonderful company and invited us to join them for elk sausage with grilled peppers and homemade cucumber salad. A first for both us and hopefully not the last.

Thursday! Kyle's Dodge Stratus made it up and over the Bighorn mountain range, which was a relief! Then onward to Yellowstone, where we spent the day watching old faithful, and many other bubbling beauties named after Kyle's family. The other impressive sites were the Great Geyser, Cascade canyon falls, and tons of bison that didn't seem to care about breaking traffic laws. The night was bone chilling cold and we heard coyotes in the night, but thankfully no bears.

Friday we journeyed to the Grand Tetons, a breathtaking experience that surpassed both of our expectations. We took pictures of old Mormon settlements and then went separate ways to spend the evening writing, praying and listening to music on Jenny Lake with the sun setting beyond the

Tetons. We happened upon a nice couple that was retracing the route Louis and Clark took on their journey west - a 10,000 mile, 3 month journey by boat that began in Pittsburgh and will end in Oregon. Friday evening we checked out downtown Jackson square where we discovered two fantastic micro-brews: Moose Drool and Snake River.

And that brings us to today! The highlight today was by far an 8.6 mile hike called Cascade Canyon. It was by far one of the best trails that we've ever hiked, with stunning views of the Teton divide, a meandering river, a bull moose, wildflowers, boulders, and wooded forests.

Tomorrow morning is our last day in the Tetons. In the afternoon we head to Salt Lake City where we get to stay in a real bed in a real hotel room!!! Until then, watch out for those bison and practice drawing your bear spray from your holster.

It was the dry season and everything was covered in dust - the seat I was sitting in, the bus window I was looking out of, the air outside. And there, on the dirt covered ground of a Malawian bus station stood a mother with her two children. All their belongings were wrapped in a single bed sheet. What voyage lay ahead of them, what dangers, what uncertainties? What circumstances drove this family to pack up and move?

Sometimes journeys are planned and expected, sometimes they are simply necessary, and sometimes they are forced upon us. As I pack for California, for grad school, I think of this unknown family making their way to a new destination. My souvenirs from Rwanda take up just as much space as all their belongings.

Photo Albums and Movie about Rwanda

Hi everyone!

I've posted links to my Rwanda photo albums as well as a video that I made to say "Thank You" to all those who financially supported my school and church in Rwanda.

The video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IUZG3mODLw

The first half of the video is about my school and the second half is about my church, and all that your support provided for both of them.

Thank you!!

Sell Everything

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
- Mark 10:21

Difficult words.

This morning's sermon was based on this passage, and it reminded me of an old bucket list I had started in high school and happened upon the other day when cleaning my room. On that list, scribbled with my messy high school penmanship, was written, "live poor." Depending on whose standards you use, you could say I accomplished this when I was living in Rwanda: lacking clean water, electricity, food variety, and common accessories or luxuries. In fact, many people naturally compliment and even admire my work or any other volunteer's work based upon this reason alone. "It must have been difficult."

Today the two most provoking words in this verse, sell everything, took on a different spin for me. I did not sell everything. I sacrificed time, energy, even money for the poor, but the whole time that I was "living poor" I had another home awaiting my return, a room with a bed, a closet full of clothes, belongings gathering dust, a budget for travel and another for resettling back in America. In my attempts to live like the locals and understand life from their perspective, I soon realized that I would only be able to view from a distance. Even if they were my neighbors, even if I lived life with them day in and day out, I could never fully grasp what it was like not to have the money to pay for a bus fare or watch your kids go hungry, the fear of not having anything to fall back on, the emptiness of losing your family to war and genocide, the lack of opportunity to go to school or use your degree after you've earned it.

I wonder if this is why Jesus says to sell everything: not just because a rich man cannot serve two masters, but because he knows that as long as we have another option to fall back on, we aren't fully trusting him. And as long as we aren't fully trusting him, we will never be able to fully understand and experience life. Perhaps this is Jesus' definition of "faith." Faith is not so much about belief, but more to do with trusting Him because we choose to abandon all other options in pursuit of Christ. Just as I could sell everything in order to truly understand what it means to "live poor", Christ calls us to abandon all other options to living our life and follow him in order to truly understand what it means to "live rich."

Lint

As I recall, one of my first surprises when returning stateside was lint. Yep, those little fuzzy balls that get stuck in your belly button or the stringy remnant of socks that stick between your toes, lint was one of the first wake up calls that I was indeed back in America, the land of washing machines and tumble dryers.

As I have come to realize, my experience with lint is a fitting analogy for what people usually define as "reverse culture shock." It's the little things that you don't expect, and it isn't about the American culture itself as it is about the effects of our culture on our lifestyle. So, coming back to America isn't so much about culture shock to me as it is about lifestyle readjustment.

For example, hot showers, driving a car, using a washing machine, the attitudes of people, the way Americans think and interact with each other - these are aspects of our culture to which I adjusted rather quickly and soon accepted as normal because it is what I've grown up with. However, while taking a shower every morning feels completely normal, I am surprised and even appalled by how much perfectly clean water I use - and waste. As a conservative estimate, the amount of water I used to shower this morning (assuming 6 liters per minute for a very low flow showerhead) was about the equivalent of five day's worth of water for bathing, drinking, washing dishes, and cooking in Rwanda. Factor in the water pouring from our faucets, flushing our toilets, and flowing in our dish washers and washing machines and you'll have an idea of how big of an adjustment this is to me.

Another readjustment is how having a car at my disposal increases how sedentary I am. The most I need to walk anymore is from the house to the car and from the car to the store. Before, I was used to walking everywhere, even kilometers, to run an errand. It seems so crystal clear to me why Americans are overweight, why we are prone to more diseases, why we make exercise a sport. I'm recalling Back to the Future III right now, where Doc , in 1885, is laughed at for saying that people in the future "run for fun." At first I enjoyed the freedom of having a car again, but now I'm starting to feel the urge to walk or bike places. I just can't stand taking a car everywhere.

As the honeymoon phase of being back in America settles, I'm starting to see these differences and wrestle with the changes in lifestyle. I'll try to post more "lint" ideas as they come, and I would like to hear what you think of the differences and how we should respond to these differences, if at all.

Closer to the Kingdom

Before I left for Rwanda, almost 15 months ago, I remember talking with a close friend, John Varga, about cultures and Christianity. He offered a thoughtful question to think about when traveling: "How is this culture closer to the kingdom of God?" I've dwelled a lot on this question, I took it with me to Rwanda, and throughout the year I wrote down a list of how Rwandans are closer to the vision that God has for a transformed Christian life, society, and church. On the other hand, I also jotted down how I think they could improve, usually on the days that I came home frustrated or tired of being "culturally sensitive." Of course, it goes without saying that these are also generalizations that don't apply to everyone in Rwanda, but they make for good starting points...

***Closer to the Kingdom***

1. Resourcefulness. Everything is fixed or reused for something else. Hardly anything is thrown away. Rwandans recycle rubber tires to resole shoes. Plastic bags are banned. I could probably fit all of my 14 months worth of trash in 4 garbage bags, and that's from my more "western" lifestyle.
2. Friendship. Focus on friendship and the healthy/good obligations that come with it. Friendships are not about convenience like they often are in America.
3. Focus on the present, not the past or future. They live more "in the moment," so they're more flexible and don't get stressed out easily.
4. Community oriented "Umudugudu" (translates to "Village"). Not only is it fun to say, but it's extremely effective. Each umudugudu is made of about 50 families. It's the smallest unit of societal/governmental structure. They meet every month or so, usually under a tree, and talk about the issues and needs in their community and help each other out. Every few years they vote for new leaders by going to a field and standing behind their candidate of choice. This ties in nicely to Wendell Berry's idea of "community" as opposed to the widening separation of "public" and "private" life in America (see his essay titled, "Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community").
5. Responsibility. Students say that they have a responsibility to help disabled classmates. That is, they feel an obligation to step up and help, where without their help the disabled person would not be able to attend school. The responsibility was NOT the school's. The only thing the school does is to ensure that a student is available to help: like retrieving water for a girl who's missing a foot and on crutches. There's good and bad to this system, but I admire the hard work and community responsibility rather compared to a complicated school/budget/taxes/bureaucratic program.
6. Reconciliation oriented: Gacaca courts (village courts where they dealt with genocide crimes that occurred locally and with the intention to restore peace and cooperation). Openness to state wrongdoings or disagreements with others in meetings.
7. Generous: It wasn't uncommon for a cyclist to offer me a free 6km bike ride home on the back of his bike, and truckers always refused money when I hitchhiked. As I made friends with one particular shop owner, he would always be so glad to see me that he would give me free candy or bottled water.
8. Energy. Rwanda's focusing on sustainable and renewable energy (geothermal, methane and hydroelectric projects).
9. Healthier, more natural diet without a lot of (bad) fat, sugar, and salt. As long as they stay clear of the sugar cane, African's teeth are usually spectacular. Same can be said for their eyes. Maybe cuz they don't have TV or light in the nights; the need for glasses is smaller.

***Possible Improvements***

1. Organization and communication. Do I need to elaborate? Poor organization leads to poor efficiency and lots of delays (lots). Poor communication leads to mistakes and wasted time, energy, and money.
2. Stereotypes. Their stereotypes of Americans/whites. The word "Umuzungu" translates as "white man" and "rich man." They believe America and Americans hold the key to their success and America is an easy life, with money growing on trees.
3. Saving money. When people were surprised that I could travel so much yet I owned the cheapest cell phone I told them it's because I would rather save my money and use it for traveling. Many people are used to just getting by, so when they get a surplus of cash, it's easy for them to just spend it on the cell phone with a camera, music player and internet. Of course, the added status symbol is an extra incentive.
4. Status Lifestyles. Alcohol and food is also a status symbol. Stereotypically, poor men drink water while rich men drink alcohol and are fat. To be rich and important tends to imply a riskier lifestyle.
5. Waste disposal: no garbage, littering, especially as more packaged products are being introduced. Human waste is all underground, not good for water table and not used for things like biomass to electricity. Also, many Rwandans don't compost their leftovers. We had a compost pile, but we never used it for fertilizer.
6. Amusement and Water Parks. Hello? Anyone heard of splash lagoon or a lazy river? Yeah, I could've used some of that for hot boring days.
7. Think! Critical and independent thinking is not always encouraged. Rote memorization and obedience to hierarchy is the norm. Historically, this limits productivity and business entrepreneurship and increases the chance of poor governance and blind acceptance (groundwork for the genocide).
8. Globalization. According to the book "Ishmael," Rwanda is a Leaver society becoming more and more like the Takers. The director of Environment and Water repeatedly told me over a drink that, "this world is ours!!" Every bit of land is farmed, threatening population, diversity of crops, and deforestation. As the number of tea and coffee farmers increases, they are transitioning from subsistent local crops to a fluctuating global market economy, which also lowers the value of their crops and increases foreign dependence.
9. Libraries. Few (or no?) public libraries outside of Kigali. Why not open the school libraries to communities?

I don't think the lists are complete and I don't claim that they're completely accurate or even biblical, but that's why I'm posting them here - to wrestle with these ideas and to hear your opinions too! Now that I'm back in America I am reminding myself that the experience is only half over...

Sliding Glass Doors

I am in the Mumbai airport, listening to Chopin music over the loudspeakers and envying the people boarding the Kenyan airways flight to Nairobi. Fourteen months ago I was leaving all that was familiar for something new and completely different. And now, here I am doing the same thing. I'm not going "back"- that is, not much will be the same and most everything will be familiar in the most unfamiliar way. I will miss Rwanda. I will miss Africa. I will miss India. I will miss the freedom of roaming the planet and visiting the homes of amazing people in amazingly diverse cultures.

It's strange really, how, when sitting on a cold sterilized steel airport bench, the emotion and essence of places and personalities so quickly fades to deteriorating memories. How is it possible that I am sitting here typing on my iPod, the people around me reading their Kindles and watching movies on laptops, when an hour ago I was sitting on the floor of a slum eating curry, rice and cake in celebration of an Indian boy's first birthday? How can a wave goodbye and sliding glass door turn the world inside out so quickly and so easily?

The Top 10

If you're going to live in Rwanda...

10. Always check if there is toilet paper before going to the bathroom.

9. Don't mention pizza. Don't even think about it.

8. Don't let your candle burn too low or else it will fall through the coke bottle, leaving no base for the next candle.

7. Be prepared to wait 10 minutes to open a single web page (sometimes 20).

6. While it's impossible to be friendly with every Joe Schmo who approaches you wanting to know every detailof your life, keep in mind that the guy you snub walking down the road or sitting next to you on the bus might be someone really important, or might become your best friend.

5. "Malaria pills? Oh, I forgot about those months ago..."

4. You will become addicted to the same food over and over and over. Mainly, chapati and tea every morning and the infamous melange: rice, beans, cooked bananas, and chips covered with vegetable or meat sauce. Oh, how much I will miss it!

3. Go hiking! On a clear day from the highest point in the southeast you can see Tanzania, Burundi, and the volcanoes on the other side of the country.

2. Chew Rice cautiously to avoid the rocks.

1. Every morning is like going white water rafting! A little imagination goes a long way in making cold bucket showers enjoyable.

Rainy Day

12 January

Rainy Day

It's 6am and raining cows and chickens,
Sending everyone at the market scattering like the dickens.
My morning run will surely face delay,
And laundry will have to wait for another day.
No cell phones and no transport when it's not sunny,
And teaching is moot amidst a tin roof cacophony.
It's raining outside and not much else to be said,
So I think I'll just crawl back into bed.

The Day an Alien Came to Town

26-December
Culture Shock - a phrase generally used to describe a person's adjustment to a new group of people and their customs. But, have you ever stopped to consider the culture shock experienced by the group of people who are welcoming the individual?

To anyone who's been abroad for an extended period of time, you know that people make a big deal about the phrase "culture shock." Entire books are written on the subject, organizations train their recruits about the new culture in advance to dispell any stereotypes and make the transition smoother. They inform them about the phases of the shock and how to cope with it. But think about a typical African boy who sees, for the first time, a white man walk into a local restaurant. I can only wonder what goes through his mind. He doesn't have any training about culture shock, no education about Amerians except for their stereotypes, and surely not even a heads up about the newcomer. Nah, the man just pops up one day and expects you not to be shocked at all.

No wonder they call a foreigner an "alien." It's a fitting analogy. imagine a Martian lands in your neighborhood. I'm not kidding, a real live Martian just moved into the house a few doors away from you. No way! You've heard rumors of them before, but you didn't know if they even existed. It could have all been a myth. Is he really green? He can't be; that's such a strange color of skin. What does he eat? what does he wear? If he has a flying saucer, and surely he does, then he can take me back to Mars for a visit. And if he can come all the way from Mars to my little neighborhood by himself, then he must have a lot to offer me.

This is why crowds gather 'round to stare at me. It's why some kids are overjoyed to greet me and others run away crying. I've learned to accept it: I am an alien.

Needs

17-December
Four weeks, 99 hours on a bus, three days on a cargo boat, and seven currencies later, I am home, in Rwanda. My travels have been exhilarating and refreshing, but right now it is good to be back where life is familiar. The people, the food, the culture, the language; it is all familiar.

Being away for a month and coming back to Rwanda has given me a chance to step back and reconsider my work this past year and think about the work that is most needed in Rwanda.

At the beginning of the year, when I first realized that I was going to have a surplus of donation money to spend in my community, I began asking myself how I could possibly use these funds. It seems strange, doesn't it? What does a shopping spree look like in a third world country? On one hand it seems obvious, but on the other it isn't. You would think there should be too many choices, yet when I tried to put pen to paper, I drew a blank. Why? Because I didn't know what the community really needed - I had only been there for a month or two! Maybe that sounds silly. After all, a straightforward cookie cutter solution should fit the bill: shoes, clothes, toiletries, and cans of tuna fish and beans to pass out, right? But poverty is a completely different beast in Rwanda than it is in downtown Cleveland, let alone in Uganda or Zambia. Poverty, entangled in economics, politics, cultural views, technology, climate, and geography, has many faces, countless causes, and elusive answers. So, to ask what a community needs is a challenging question.

Fortunately, through some wonderful counsel from a few leaders within our village, I am confident that we met a great deal of needs. This includes school supplies, school fees, textbooks, calculators, and sports equipment for my church as well as clothes, food, doors, mattresses, and Bibles for individuals in my congregation. Another generous gift from the states was specifically used to provide 200 mosquito nets for my school and a shipment of used textbooks is on the way from my university's TBP chapter. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity that people have displayed in helping my community. A great deal of admiration and gratefulness go out to you folks.

But now, after living here for a year, I want to return to that question: what does my community need? In particular, I want to consider non-monetary needs. As I look around I see countless opportunities to make practical and long-term differences in my community. Science labs need to be organized and teachers need to be trained how to perform and teach experiments. Electricians need to rewire my school so that every bulb and appliance does not run on when the electricity is switched on, and then teach the staff and students about power saving and the environment while they're at it. Agriculturalists need to teach Rwandan farmers how to compost and how to rotate a variety of crops using permaculture, which will not only improve soil and food quality and quantity, but will also contribute to an improved diet. Speaking of which, nutritionists could hold local seminars informing parents about healthy food/crop choices and diet-related health issues. Engineers can teach and help to install gravity fed water systems, local purification techniques and local energy, heating or electricity schemes. Librarians can organize our school's library and teach us how to increase student's access to books and perhaps open the library to the comjunity since no public library exists. Businessmen can teach graduates and young entrepreneurs how to develop business strategies and make the connection between their education and the job market, bringing in jobs and money to their local encomy. The opportunities are exciting and endless. It is not impossible by any means; the people in Rwanda are eager to learn and are ready for change. They just need the guidance and encouragement in the right directions.

In summary, if you have any skill or knowledge, as well as the creativity and guts, then pick yourself up, pack a duffel bag, hop on a plane, and fly to a small village somewhere in the world. You're guaranteed to find your niche.

A Little Adventure

Today I decided to go exploring around the area. From my home I can see across a large valley to the next hill where there is a large mound of rocks... in fact, this is the highest point in my district. So, I packed some water and my map of Rwanda and starting hiking. I arrived in the village of Musaza about two hours later, scrambled up the rocks and was astonished by the view. On one side was Rwanda. Facing the side there was Tanzania on my left and Burundi on my right, with the mighty Akagera River dividing the borders. I had no idea I was so close to Burundi! You could see miles upon miles upon miles from this point! I took some pictures, but they really don't do any justice, so I'll just post the map here to illustrate what I'm talking about!

To help you get oriented, the yellow lines demarcate the borders. Rwanda is on top, Tanzania bottom right, and Burundi bottom left. My home town, Nyakarambi, is just next door to the village of Kirehe, which is printed the side of the main road toward Tanzania. I hiked from Nyakarambi to the small triangle labeled 1834 (meters) and then to the town "Musaza" just to the left on the map. Beneath me in the deep valley was the Akagera River and in the distance I could see Lake Rweru, more than half of which lies in Burundi. To the north, I could pick out the tallest points, like Rukira, near Kibungo, which is about 35 km away. (Ctrl + CLICK on the picture for a larger view in another window).

The town of Musaza itself was mystical; a surreal feeling of being on top of the world, at the corner of three borders. It made me realize how small Rwanda is and how easy it is to travel around these parts of East Africa. If I just had a tent, I could easily be at the Burundian border in a day, Lake Rweru the next evening, and so on. Food is never a problem... Rwanda is a country of 10 million people and the size of Maryland (Burundi not too different). Wherever you go you will find people and tea shops and places to stock up on food and water. Hmm. It's just incredible! Now that school is finished, I hope to be able to do a lot more exploring!

Surprise!

25- October

My village has this new thing - it's called the Internet. I was eating dinner with a friend a couple nights ago when he told me that the Rwanda Develpment Board had installed a new computer lab just down the road. I was in disbelief. Internet? in Nyakarambi? My life was about to change.

The weekend only intensified my excitement as I waited in suspense for Monday morning. Could there really be internet here? Was it coming and not yet finished? Would the lab be open and working? Usually news travels fast in our village and I would have expected the whole town to be buzzing about this. In my impatience I had asked a few people on Sunday if they knew about the new connection. Some gave the same reply I did: "Internet? In Nyakarambi? Oh no, not yet," but others verified it. I gave the whole thing a fifty fifty chance.

Monday rolled around and I roled out of bed, did some laundry and took some breakfast until the clock rolled around to 9am. I headed down the road toward the new white building that was rumored to house fifty computers with a fast connection the outside world. The gate was open. Okay, that's a good start. How about the door? Yep; wide open as if magnifying the eagerness of new visitors like me. I walked into the room on my left to find my pastor hunched over a computer punching a keyboard finger by finger and a sea of sleek new computers behind me. He looked up, hugged me, and through his grin said, "I think Nyakarambi is now having the internet!"

I sat at my computer and opened internet explorer. As I waited for the browser to load, I looked around me. A little dissatisfaction set in. The other computers were all occupied by teenage boys, browsing any entertainment sites they could find, loading YouTube videos (hogging precious bandwidth), and looking at new electronic gadgets they could only hope to buy. Gmail's homepage was open and I clicked sign-in. The screen went black; the electricity was out. I let out a sigh. It could be three minutes or three hours. I waited thirty minutes, then gave up hope and went home.

As I write this (having just returned home) my bubbling excitement for the internet was quelched by dissapointment. Sure, the power will come back on eventually and I will probably be posting this blog via the new computer lab. These things are to be expected in Rwanda. But strangely, I am more discontented with my first impression of the internet's use here. What will the internet be primarily used for in Nyakarambi, and by whom? How much time and money (what little they have) will teenagers throw at a box that provides them with music videos, merchandise, and promiscious entertainment? We aim for development and pour foreign aid into Rwanda and hope for what outcomes? I don't mean to sound cynical or condemning, but I do mean to be skeptical or at least cautious and aware of how technology affects the world. And while materialism and entertainment of all sorts is as common as day in America, it is a strikingly new technological and social revolution in Rwanda. And while countries like America have had decades, even centuries to adjust, a small town like Nyakarambi is receiving a concentrated dose of this revolution that is in stark contrast with the hoe-digging, hand picking, cattle herding life they have always known; and this, bear in mind, only sixteen years after a genocide. What curious and unimaginable dynamics are shaping this country. Nyakarambi, welcome to the rest of the world.

Rain, Rockets, Rwanda...

The following is an email update I sent out recently, but before I paste it here, I just want to say Thank You to all who have replied with your words of encouragement. they are a blessing to me. A special thanks to those who've been following this blog... rest assured there are many (too many) 'Brock thoughts' rolling around in my head, and when the busyness of exams and job searches and grad school applications fades, I'll be sure to put those thoughts firmly on paper (or online I suppose). As Rwandans say, "Ihangane" (patience), or as they also say, "Buhoro buhoro," (slowly by slowly)....       

9-October-2010

Dear Friends and Family,

After a solid three months without a single rain cloud, the dry season has come to a close in Rwanda and the fresh rain is restoring the green to the land of a thousand hills as well as the skip in people's step. The dawn of October also heralds the last month of school. With one month to go, my students and I are buckling down to finish the curriculum and prepare for exams. In mathematics we are finishing
trigonometry, and in physics groups are giving their presentations on eight different renewable and non-renewable energy sources.

I am incredibly proud of my students. First, I thought that their physics presentations might be a disaster, but far from it. After
doing their own research, each group taught the class about how a certain energy source works (like hydro power or fossil fuel
stations), outlined the advantages and disadvantages, and discussed the practicality of the technology in Rwanda. To top it off, a few
teachers and I took over thirty students on a field trip to see a hydroelectric power station in the Northern Province of Rwanda! They
asked very intelligent questions and it was a joy for me to take the teaching experience from the blackboard to their country's very own
hills.

The other highlight of this term was last week's official opening of the Rusumo High School Science Club. The first experiment was a rocket
that I had built with a few students. Curiosity, excitement, and skepticism permeated the hundred of students encircled around us. They
counted down: "...5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." Nothing. We scrambled to troubleshoot a loose connection while our onlookers chuckled and
opinion tipped toward skepticism. Unexpectedly, the rocket lept to life, piercing a good thousand feet of deep blue sky. Five days later
we found it hanging in a banana plantation, still in tact, and still airworthy for future flights.

Needless to say, the past few weeks have been a special time of bonding with my students. I am looking forward to the next few weeks
too. In addition to teaching, I will be purchasing sports equipment for my school, as well as Bibles, doors, and other basic needs for
orphans and widows at the church I attend. These funds have been graciously provided by the Vacation Bible School programs at Bethany
and Zion Covenant Churches (Cleveland and Jamestown). Thank you!!

For one week in early September I returned state side to celebrate my sister Kristen's wedding. The wedding was beautiful in every way:
weather, ceremony, company, food (no rice and beans), and all. Making the transition back and forth was surprisingly smooth. Life in
Nyakarambi has become pretty normal by now. Nyakarambi itself is still
making that transition from village to town. A new bank is being built now; it will even have tiled floors and air conditioning!
Unfortunately, these conveniences have yet to reach my home, which leaves lesson planning to candlelight.

Please continue to pray for my friendships in Nyakarambi. They mean a lot to me, but as the school year approaches and end, it is difficult
to balance quality time with accomplishing my projects and goals. Pray that in this period of business I would still find time to relax and
enjoy the culture and natural beauty surrounding me.

Many thanks to all of you who are reading these updates, sending emails or mail, or praying. It means a lot to me. Keep in touch.

Peace and blessings,
Kyle

P.S. As I write this on my ipod, I am sitting in a bus playing classic
American hits: Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean," Michael Bolton's "How
Am I Supposed To Live Without You?" and of course, Celine Dion's "My
Heart Will Go On." It's the small things that make you feel at home,
eh?

The First Rain

29 August 

Last night I was sitting in my favorite chill-out shop drinking tea and chowing on some capati when the TV flashed to a meteorologist reporting the weather in Rwanda. I let out a chuckle of disbelief; i would never expect to see a meteorology report in Rwanda, one because I'm in rural Africa, and two, there isn't much to report on during the dry season. I can't remember seeing a drop of rain for three months straight. Of course, the weather map showed sunshine and partly cloudy for the entire country. "At least they try," I thought to myself, and returned to my tea.

This morning I woke up and stepped outside and the first thing I noticed was a different smell. It smelled like spring but before spring arrives - that foreshadow of a scent that hails the changing of seasons. I didn't think much of it; the weather was sunny and hot. Until I got to church. While everyone was singing and dancing I thought I heard a different sound that didn't match the clapping and hollering of the congregation... like rain hitting a tin rough. I looked outside and sure enough, it was raining!!!!! Hmmm. Something about rain, especially the first rain in months. There's only more to come!        

Parade of One

18 August 

"Pastor Pascal," is how he introduced himself.  We were sitting on a small wooden bench hunched over a table sized for an eight year old. Light green walls lit the otherwise drab cement hole-in-the-wall restaurant. We drank umutobe, a pungent banana juice that would make even the most stoic face scour. That was back in February. Many conversations and just a few cups of banana later, Pastor Pascal and I share a special friendship.   

Pascal works as a shoe repairman at our local market. Originally from the DR Congo, he recently moved his family (wife, two daughters, and a three year old boy) to our random village of Nyakarambi, in hopes of finding a job as a pastor; but until that materializes, you'll find him sitting on a cement slab every Tuesday and Friday polishing, stitching and gluing soles back onto the bottom of shoes, and making sandals out of old rubber tires (very durable I must say). Each job he does, each pair of sandals he sells, is a profit of fifty cents to a dollar, and this only two days a week, and this for a family of five.

This evening I visited his home for dinner.  As usual, a visit to his house included several detours to visit his neighbors and chat over fanta. Walking from house to house kids swarmed around me, kicking up dust from the parched dirt road. They ran ahead of me, trailed behind me, came close to touch my arm. They sang, shouted "abamaraika," ("angels"), danced in their beige and blue school uniforms and toted their toy cars made of plastic bottle bodies and bottle caps for wheels along side me as we paraded ahead.

His house was simple, typical. Cement walls, crumbling on one side, and sticks supporting corregated metal sheets above. A wooden table and two benches furnished the room where we sat. Kids peared through the square hole window, their heads bobbing up and down, appearing and suddenly disappearing like the hammerhead arcade game. Gabby, his youngest son, sat on the floor. His pot belly stuck out, exposing an inflated belly button atleast five inches long. Pascal's wife served our dinner: cooked banana, rice, beans, and sardines mixed together in one enormous heap on an 18" diameter plate. The sun was setting as we finished (still half the food left on the plate). We walked to the road; this time neighbors silenced the crowd of kids they were so loud. Pascal hailed a passing policeman who let me hitch a ride on the back of his motorcycle, sitting comfortably against the rifle slung across his back.                                

"If God lent us many forgivenesses, we will have many benedictions." Pascal repeats this phrase every greeting, salutation, and just about every ten minutes in between ("benedictions" in kinyarwanda is the same as "blessings"). I don't know if Pascal needs many forgivenesses, many jobs, or just a bit of good luck, but I do know that for a family and a community so generous, so caring, so eager to learn and work hard, many bendictions is the least they deserve.            

General Update

Warm greetings from Rwanda! I am always amazed at how time flies, especially when there is no change from winter to summer in Rwanda; it is hard to tell exactly which month it is sometimes! It seems a daunting task to write this update since there is so much to write about. I wish I could relate all the conversations, all the lessons learned, all the pictures worth more than a thousand words to all of you in one email. All I can say is that Rwanda is a country of change and a country of adventure; you never quite what to expect on any given day. I wish each of you were able to come join me for a week and experience it for yourself.

School
We are well into the second trimester of school and I am truly enjoying my students; although it is not always easy, we find ways of keeping each other entertained. For example, I've established the "powa sign" in my classes ("powa" is swahili for "cool"). When I finish teaching a concept, I ask them to give me the "powa sign," that is, a thumbs up for "yeah, I totally get it," a thumbs sideways for "eh, somehow," and a thumbs down for, "I have absolutely no idea what is going on, Teacher Kyle." They always laugh and perk up at the "powa sign."

A couple weeks ago one of my closer Rwandan friends, Ben, came to visit me at school to look at our broken array of solar panels (Ben is an electrical engineer in the capital, Kigali). We did a few calculations and if all goes well, we hope to fix the solar panels! It is a good practical learning experience for me, and it's something I hope to share with the students so they can see a practical application of their education.

Community
From my school, 2km down a dusty dirt road, take a right down the hill another 4km of paved road, and you reach my home in Nyakarambi, a village that is rapidly becoming a small town. It is incredible to watch a village change before my eyes. A new gas station is just about finished, and power lines are being strung from pole to pole, soon carrying electricity, and with it a whole new set of changes. I did a double take the other day as I was walking down the one stretch of road that is Nyakarambi, and saw a garbage can on the side of the road. To my amazement, the street was actually lined with garbage cans, evenly spaced every hundred meters. This is the first waste disposal system I've seen in the Rwandan countryside!

I have plugged myself into a local church. The pastor is a very humble and caring man. He regularly visits me to see how I am doing and to give me a short message that he has prepared in English since the Sunday services are in Kinyarwanda. The singing and dancing at church is lively and colorful. There are a few songs that I know the tune to and can play on guitar (even if I don't fully understand the Kinyarwanda). A few weeks ago I played guitar for the church. I'm also helping a local branch of Compassion International on Saturday afternoons. They have two broken guitars and no one to play them. If we can fix them, I'm hoping to give the staff some lessons and teach the kids a few songs!

Culture
While the change in Nyakarambi is exciting, the most significant part of life to me has been coming to understand the people and culture of Rwanda. There are some things that just do not make sense to a Western mind; Rwandan life can be full of contradictions, some humorous, some just flat out frustrating. But I am at a point where I feel settled. When someone tells me a program will start at 10am, I can guess the actual start time within half an hour (4:30pm). Where before I would spin my wheels to get work done, I now know that Rwandans really can do a job well; they are very capable, but they need motivation, and that requires lots of encouragement and persistence.

On a deeper level, my frustrations have been replaced with a deep respect for the people of Rwanda. It is sinking in that sixteen years ago this country was in pieces. There was no unity, no peace, no government, no hope or belief that they would even survive the genocide. Communities, families, education, business: everything had to start from scratch. And to see what Rwandans are doing now is incredible. Some of my students have written letters that they would like me to share with you all at home (I will send them to my churches in Cleveland and Jamestown next term). Reading their letters and hearing even just a little about the effect of the war on their families puts into perspective what they have gone through and how remarkable it is that they are learning about electrodynamics (even if they don't understand it) and dreaming about being doctors (even if they have no funds to attend university).

Prayer Requests
As you can imagine, Rwanda has a difficult and complicated history, which is sometimes an obstacle to moving forward. While Rwanda is rapidly changing and growing, there are still underlying political and ethnic tensions. Sixteen years is a short time to find a complete remedy to a struggle that has lasted over a century. Elections are also coming up in early August. Pray for peace in Rwanda and for reconcilliation. Those are two words my students always use, but it's one thing to say them and another to believe them and put them into practice in order to replace hatred with love. The NY Times has recently published several articles on Rwanda. A good one to read is this: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/world/africa/17rwanda.html 

Also, please pray for my interactions with people in my community. I want to be more intentional about strengthening the friendships I've made and inviting them to share a meal or a coke.

Marabou Stork

I just put up two new posts, but I just had to add this one as well. Thanks to Jo C who found this info on one of the more peculiar sitings on our trip to Tanzania, I introduce you to the Marabou Stork.

Marabou Stork

To the casual observer the massive Marabou Stork with its balding, scabby head and pendulous pink air sac may appear to be one of the ugliest creatures in the world. If this same observer were to notice the Marabou's fondness for carrion and its habit of squirting excrement onto its own legs he or she would probably consider the original opinion to be justified. It takes a real bird lover to see past all of this stork's bizarre adornments to recognize the scruffy charm underneath.

For more, And I picture that I couldn't upload, see http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/Facts/FactSheets/fact-maraboustork.cfm

Belonging

May 26

Before I came to Africa I remember struggling with finding my place, as many new graduate do, in that strange period between the comforts of college and the security of settling - the vastness of an unknown life ahead of me. I had a strong hold on who I was, but a slippery grasp of who i was to the rest of the world.

Now, in Rwanda, finding my place looks very different from when I was in America. In some sense it's easier.  A clearly defined role as a volunteer, as an American, as a voluntary outsider (by color and culture at least), the new friendships in my community, and the comradeship of other volunteers in the same position all help define my place in Rwanda, making it feel at home. But in a different way, a more subtle way, home is difficult to establish. With all the new surroundings, it's not hard to detach or distance myself from this new home, to be distracted from my work here, or to sort of turn the autopilot on: going through the motions of teaching, building friendships, and working around cultural barriers.

A friend from home recently sent me a prayer (as she does every month - thanks!!) on this subject. Here's part of it: 
   "Do not let it sit in. Teach him to embrace it, knowing and constantly thanking you for the world you placed him in and the knowledge you have given him to pass to others. Bring back a childlike faith in him to relearn everything in the new surroundings... Let him find your presence in every piece of the surroundings. How can one yearn for anything more than your presence?"          

A couple days before I left Cleveland for Jamestown to begin packing for Rwanda, I heard a worship song that said, "I finally found where I belong, in Your presence." I'm finding it's true, in any situation. I can travel the world, alone or with life long friends, and I know where I belong. I always have a place. 

Warm sun on my back, cool breeze on my face. Smell of freshly cut grass. Hum of birds' wings around me... a world of open doors... 

Marato Amahoro

May 24

This weekend my fellow volunteer and friend Mitesh and I ran in the 6th annual International Peace Marathon (Marato Amahoro) in Kigali, Rwanda. Mitesh ran the full marathon and I ran the half  It was the first marathon experience for both of us, so we didn't quite know what to expect. 

In all the months of training leading up to the marathon, I was running alone (accept for the crowd of 20 little kids chasing me on their way to or from school), so it was exciting to arrive at the stadium surrounded by over a thousand other runners from all over the world. We met a man who was traveling the world running a marathon a week for one year (52 marathons!!). Last week he was in China, next week Hungary. Another man from America visiting for the week to run and do some orphanage work, and several people from Belgium and Germany and Japan, some working in Rwanda, others visiting. And of course there were all the east African countries competing, including the Kenyan runners - best in the world. There were young kids and even older women (they ran the five kilometer fun run) and a race for wheelchairs too. 

The race began an hour behind schedule, 9am instead of 8am., which meant the hot sun, unabated by the thin line of clouds in a predomiately blue sky, was scorching by midday. I have a nice tan - note to self, the rainy season is now officially over; wear sunscreen! My first lap felt great - I was pacing myself just as planned, but as the day grew hotter and the water stations started running out of water (go figure) the second lap was more grueling and I slowed down by 8 minutes (the half marathon route was two big laps around the city, the marathon four). I was amazed to see that the Kenyans were lapping me - ugh. Also, there was a guy with only one leg who ran the half marathon on his crutches. That's incredible.         

I finished the half marathon in 2:13:07, which put me in 235th place out of about 500. The top runners were all African, mostly Kenyan - 1:04 was the best time. The first place marathon runner was around 2:46, which is really good considering the heat, the hills, and the altitude. It's just amazing what these runners can do!!

All in all, well worth it. But I think I'll stick to biking for my exercise for the rest of my year here :)