Better to light the candle than curse the dark - K'naan

So, we just got back from a one-day trip to Papias' villagem (out translator and awesome companion) and another 3 day-trip to Chabajua. This is turning out to be a 2-month long road trip! These two last trips were both 4-hour drives from Kigali.

Papias' village is in the KIBUNGO province and is mostly made up of children. This seems to be very typical of the villages here. The children-factor was soooo noticable in this particular village. When the kids heard our car drive into the village, there was a massive out-pour of children out of their classrooms swarming around the car. There must have been over 300 kids that day. They remembered the group from last year, and were obviously awaiting the 2006 visit.

Sam and Steve had made up a song a few years back, and when Sam pulled out the drum and started banging on it and shouting out the words, the kids all answered back in unison. 300 voices chanting in unison. Amazing!

A lot of the children here are orphans and so many of the villages have taken on the responsibility of taking care of the orphan children. I have noticed that you almost never see people in their 20's and 30's in the villages. It's typical to see older people in their 40's, 50's and 60's and a huge number of pre-pubescents. It's clear that orphanages would be of great service to the Rwandese. I'm thinking of orphanages that would also give a holistic education to these children. Considering the amount of funding that is available for such programs, I'm sure it's doable. I've had this idea stuck in my mind the last couple of days.

Our other trip to Chibajua was long and tiring. I'm getting used to not having the spoils of western life. My sleeping bag is my refuge at night and the setting of the sun makes me long for sleep. Life here starts at day-break and, in the villages, ends just after sun-set. In the evenings we have jam sessions, with Sam playing the drum and everyone one else following with the appopriate lyrics. And lots of dancing too. During the day, we hang out with the kids, play soccer with them, talk to the parents about their needs. Some of the kids are malnourished so we took some pictures and will send them appopriate vitamins. We had a hygiene class, and bought some sandals for some children.

Out team is getting along pretty well. There's a budding romance between 2 of the youngest volunteers, and I think only 3 of us have caught on, so it should get a little interesting.

All but 2 of us came down with colds in the last few days, so we're back in Kigali to recoup before the next trip. So stay tuned....