We have arrived in Kigali! After several exhausting flights and much anticipation, we finally arrived in Rwanda. By a stroke of luck, three of us ended up getting bumped up to business class and got to fly the two longest legs of the journey (20 hours total) on cloud nine! The first day of my volunteer trip to Africa was spent being waited on hand and foot. It was rough living, let me tell you. The last two legs of the journey were from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Entebbe, Uganda, and from there to Kigali. Once we got low enough to see the landscape through the clouds the excitement started to build. Not only is the land incredibly lush and green, but the dirt is a bright brick red and the contrasting colors are striking.
The city of Kigali is much larger than I expected (it has a population of 1 million people), and the hills give it so much dimension that even without the large skyscrapers, it seems huge. Looking out at it, it reminds me of looking at the Smokey Mountains, but instead of purple rock, there are green African trees, small white buildings, and red roofs covering the rolling land. A picture really can’t do it justice. Although, hopefully soon I will have a good one to put up here.
We are staying at St. Paul’s Mission, a Catholic mission that rents out rooms for about $12 a night. The rooms are small, but clean and there are showers available…these were much in desire after hauling 120lbs of luggage around.
I have heard a little more about my school, Kelly Jo, our field director said that it is the most beautiful place she has visited in the country and that the headmistress is really nice. Hopefully on Saturday she, along with the other headmistresses and headmasters will be coming for a brunch so we can ask them questions.
Internet seems to be pretty accessible in Kigali, so I should be able to be fairly regular about posts for the next couple of weeks.
Such good news. We're especially excited that you have had such a good first impression of Kigali and are expectant about what you will find when you get to the school. We'll be praying about that first meeting with the headmistresses.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it just like the Lord to give us more than we ask for? First class? Not bad!
Praying,
The Z's
Meghan!
ReplyDeletePraise and thanks to God! I am overjoyed to read this! I cannot wait to read every post you write! I'm so excited for you! Even as I write this I am just all smiles. You'll have to give me your address when you can and I will write and send you pictures of snow. Happy American New Year.
Looking forward to the next post,
and praying everyday for you,
your younger brother in Christ,
tim
PS: I was at a missions conference in St. Louis this past week and I saw a Rwandan man named Antoine Rutayisire speak. He was the leader of a reconciliation group and has been involved in that type of work for a while. Now he's actually the dean of the Anglican Cathedral in Kigali. He talked about his personal journey of conversion and repentance for his hatred of the Hutus and forgiveness. It was quite moving.