Meeting the mayor

We met with the mayor of Gatsibo District (where Nyabikiri is located) and talked for quite a while. Later in the week, he came to Nyabikiri and helped build the classrooms, had lunch with us and played Go Fish. (He won.) He appears to be a real servant.

Children under the trees

Having class under the trees would be fine.... if the children had desks, chairs, visual aids, books or supplies.... or if it never rained. Food for the Hungry, the band Phillips, Craig and Dean, and the radio station KLOVE teamed up for a one-day fundraising event and raised enough money to build 34,000 classrooms in Rwanda and other countries. That was the focus of our team's project and Paul, the man in the last two photos, is a fantastic FH national staff member who works very closely with the children as a Child Development Program Officer. The children love him!

Classrooms

The first photo shows a classroom and "chairs" built by parents in Nyabikiri. The last two photos show headmasters of schools in neighboring communities. The photos in between are pretty self-explanatory: teachers, students and a workbook.

Landscape

"The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth; you founded the world and all that is in it." Psalm 89:11

A sponsor meets his child

Usama, from South Carolina, has sponsored eight-year-old Darius since May. "Imana ishimwe, imana ishimwe," repeated Darius while he hugged Usama. "Praise God, praise God." Usama spent about half an hour with the family talking (with the help of a translator), singing, dancing and giving gifts and a lot of hugs. Darius told Usama he wants to be a leader when he grows up, and Usama's sponsorship which, among other things, helps pay Darius' school fees, may help Darius reach his goal.

Capital city: Kigali

This city of more than 850,000 inhabitants is in hilly country, in keeping with Rwanda's name, "The Land of a Thousand Hills." We spent one night in the city.

The first two photos show Food for the Hungry/Rwanda's headquarters and the view of the city from the headquarters. The following two show a garden sculpture at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre. The first signifies the country before and during the genocide: divided. The second signifies the country after the genocide: united.

Akagera Game Park

Prior to the genocide, this park was double the size it is now. So many people fled to neighboring countries during the genocide that, when they finally returned to their home country, the government was faced with the problem of accommodating everyone. Consequently, half of this game park was designated resettlement land.