At the office today, Melene wanted to make some notes on a piece of paper.
"I need some....what do you call this....to make notes on?" she asked as she reached into her desk for some scratch paper.
I knew she was asking me to clarify the English term, so I replied, "Scratch paper."
Melene offered one of her priceless quizzical looks. "Scratch?" she asked. With furrowed eyebrows, she asked, "How do you spell that?"
I spelled it for her and then made a scratching motion on a mosquito bite (an actual one) on my arm. "Scratch," I repeated.
"Ah!" she nodded thoughtfully for a moment, familiar with the word in that context. And then the quizzical look returned. "Hmm. Scratch." She didn't say anything more, but I think she was wondering why we would ever call it scratch paper. I never thought about it -- and I suppose that 'scratch' is somewhat of an odd word choice for someone who's not a native English speaker.
Just an example of one of many odd-but-fun little conversations that color our days here together! I have my moments of quizzical looks too (like the hyena weddings, for instance...oh, and spelling! Kinyarwandan spelling is a mystery to me, with all of these silent 't's and 'd's).
Advertising is another. There's a huge billboard (for, uh, beer), on the drive from the EIP office to the WR office. "Hehe Intoyoka!" it proclaims in bold letters, with golden beer coloring the entire three square meters of the board. I know that "hehe" (which is pronounced "hey-hey") means "where," because one of the first phrases I learned that has come in totally handy, especially in the villages where nobody speaks French, is "Hehe wese?" (hey-hey way-say), which means, "Where is the restroom?" In the village, this has to be interpreted by the villagers as "Where is the pit latrine?" but it works. Anyhow. I asked Melene what "intoyoka" meant, and she said, "Thirst." My puzzled look prompted further explanation, which is, in a nutshell, that "Hehe Intoyoka" is slang for "No thirst!" or "Where did your thirst go?"
These kinds of things are a fun part of cross-cultural experiences, though; they remind me of what a many-splendored world we live in, with all of the nuances and intricacies of what we term as "culture." There are difficult moments too, of course (some of which I would relay, but I never quite know who is reading this, and I don't want to offend anyone). Shoot me an email if you'd like my take on the dark side of cross-cultural experiences.... :) Honestly, though, it's fun most of the time.
On to other topics, I had a fantastic time yesterday witnessing Baraka begin the second phase of her training of lay counselors....I'll post photos shortly....
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
nothing is impossible with God
A few posts back, I shared an email forward, about....well, about how difficult conditions in Africa can be.
Well, today I got another email forward, this time from my sister back in the States, who received it from her almost-mother-in-law (3 more weeks!).
I enjoyed the story (thanks Lauretta, and Alice!), and wanted to share it here with you.
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD
"Have you ever felt the urge to pray for someone and then just put it on a list and said, 'I'll pray for them later?' Or has anyone ever called you and said, 'I need you to pray for me, I have this need?' Read the following story that was sent to me and may it change the way that you may think about prayer and also the way you pray.
"A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan 'While serving at a small field hospital in Africa , every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point.
"On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine, and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital. Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord.
I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident....
"Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines.
"He said, 'Some friends and I followed you in to the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.'
"At this, I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, however, and said, 'No, sir, I was not the only person to see the guards, my friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone.'
"At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day this happened.
"The missionary told the congregation the date and the man who had interrupted told him this story: 'On the night of your incident in Africa , it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?'
"The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were, he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26!
"This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of the Lord moves in behalf of those who love Him. If you ever hear such prodding, go along with it."
Well, today I got another email forward, this time from my sister back in the States, who received it from her almost-mother-in-law (3 more weeks!).
I enjoyed the story (thanks Lauretta, and Alice!), and wanted to share it here with you.
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD
"Have you ever felt the urge to pray for someone and then just put it on a list and said, 'I'll pray for them later?' Or has anyone ever called you and said, 'I need you to pray for me, I have this need?' Read the following story that was sent to me and may it change the way that you may think about prayer and also the way you pray.
"A missionary on furlough told this true story while visiting his home church in Michigan 'While serving at a small field hospital in Africa , every two weeks I traveled by bicycle through the jungle to a nearby city for supplies. This was a journey of two days and required camping overnight at the halfway point.
"On one of these journeys, I arrived in the city where I planned to collect money from a bank, purchase medicine, and supplies, and then begin my two-day journey back to the field hospital. Upon arrival in the city, I observed two men fighting, one of whom had been seriously injured. I treated him for his injuries and at the same time talked to him about the Lord.
I then traveled two days, camping overnight, and arrived home without incident....
"Two weeks later I repeated my journey. Upon arriving in the city, I was approached by the young man I had treated. He told me that he had known I carried money and medicines.
"He said, 'Some friends and I followed you in to the jungle, knowing you would camp overnight. We planned to kill you and take your money and drugs. But just as we were about to move into your camp, we saw that you were surrounded by 26 armed guards.'
"At this, I laughed and said that I was certainly all alone in that jungle campsite. The young man pressed the point, however, and said, 'No, sir, I was not the only person to see the guards, my friends also saw them, and we all counted them. It was because of those guards that we were afraid and left you alone.'
"At this point in the sermon, one of the men in the congregation jumped to his feet and interrupted the missionary and asked if he could tell him the exact day this happened.
"The missionary told the congregation the date and the man who had interrupted told him this story: 'On the night of your incident in Africa , it was morning here and I was preparing to go play golf. I was about to putt when I felt the urge to pray for you. In fact, the urging of the Lord was so strong I called men in this church to meet with me here in the sanctuary to pray for you. Would all of those men who met with me on that day stand up?'
"The men who had met together to pray that day stood up. The missionary wasn't concerned with who they were, he was too busy counting how many men he saw. There were 26!
"This story is an incredible example of how the Spirit of the Lord moves in behalf of those who love Him. If you ever hear such prodding, go along with it."
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
recent events
I've been trying to post these photos all week long, but have had a difficult time with our internet connection! Usually I don't have too much of a problem, but this week it was verrrrry slooooow....
Anyhow! Here's just a taste of life here in the past 10 days.
On May 1st (time flies!!) it was Labor Day here in Rwanda (I heard it was Labor Day in China too, so it makes me wonder if there is some connection, only because there was a heavy influx of Chinese laborers here building roads, about 10 years ago). Anyhow. It was Labor Day, so it was a holiday, and Baraka stayed the night at my home this time (remember last time I went to her place). Then in the morning, we had a group of our ex-pat friends over for fun and french toast. Most of these ladies are working in an NGO or as teachers at an international school.
(Check out the maracuja juice, otherwise known as passionfruit juice, on the table....people drink maracuja juice here like we drink orange juice in the USA).
Another event of the past week was that Erica, my researcher buddy from Johns Hopkins working in the child survival program, left to go back to the States after being here for eight months! She laid the groundwork for a lot of the research methodology that I will be using when my own project begins, so I am thankful to her for that. And I will miss her friendship! Here's a photo of the child survival program staff, at her goodbye party (from L to R, back row: me, Erica, Melene, Eliane, Clemence; front row: Josef, Bernard, Laurent). Rose, the child survival program director, took the photo.
As a final goodbye to Erica last weekend, we took her out to dinner at a local Rwandan place. Here's a photo of our friend Natasha eating a common local dish, "ugali", which is ground-up-then-steamed cassava (manioc). It reminds me a lot of a big ball of tofu. It doesn't taste like anything and is best with salt and sauce; in that way it also reminds me of grits, only it's usually not eaten for breakfast and it's a lot stickier!
Last Tuesday, I was out in the field all day for a community health worker evaluation session....I'll post more photos soon of that trip....it was really interesting. And last night (Saturday), Kigali was one of about 100 cities all over the world who participated in "Pangaea Day," which you can look up on the net if you like. Essentially there was a simultaneous broadcast of 24 short films and performances from all over the world, in an effort to promote world peace. It was nighttime here, but I have a shot of that as well that I'll try to post soon....I think the Kigali community felt honored to be on the guest list.... :)
Anyhow! Here's just a taste of life here in the past 10 days.
On May 1st (time flies!!) it was Labor Day here in Rwanda (I heard it was Labor Day in China too, so it makes me wonder if there is some connection, only because there was a heavy influx of Chinese laborers here building roads, about 10 years ago). Anyhow. It was Labor Day, so it was a holiday, and Baraka stayed the night at my home this time (remember last time I went to her place). Then in the morning, we had a group of our ex-pat friends over for fun and french toast. Most of these ladies are working in an NGO or as teachers at an international school.
(Check out the maracuja juice, otherwise known as passionfruit juice, on the table....people drink maracuja juice here like we drink orange juice in the USA).
Another event of the past week was that Erica, my researcher buddy from Johns Hopkins working in the child survival program, left to go back to the States after being here for eight months! She laid the groundwork for a lot of the research methodology that I will be using when my own project begins, so I am thankful to her for that. And I will miss her friendship! Here's a photo of the child survival program staff, at her goodbye party (from L to R, back row: me, Erica, Melene, Eliane, Clemence; front row: Josef, Bernard, Laurent). Rose, the child survival program director, took the photo.
As a final goodbye to Erica last weekend, we took her out to dinner at a local Rwandan place. Here's a photo of our friend Natasha eating a common local dish, "ugali", which is ground-up-then-steamed cassava (manioc). It reminds me a lot of a big ball of tofu. It doesn't taste like anything and is best with salt and sauce; in that way it also reminds me of grits, only it's usually not eaten for breakfast and it's a lot stickier!
Last Tuesday, I was out in the field all day for a community health worker evaluation session....I'll post more photos soon of that trip....it was really interesting. And last night (Saturday), Kigali was one of about 100 cities all over the world who participated in "Pangaea Day," which you can look up on the net if you like. Essentially there was a simultaneous broadcast of 24 short films and performances from all over the world, in an effort to promote world peace. It was nighttime here, but I have a shot of that as well that I'll try to post soon....I think the Kigali community felt honored to be on the guest list.... :)
interesting website
A quick post:
Someone alerted me to this website today. It's one of the best websites I've seen giving detailed and up-to-date information about Rwanda. Hope you enjoy!
http://www.rwandagateway.org/
Someone alerted me to this website today. It's one of the best websites I've seen giving detailed and up-to-date information about Rwanda. Hope you enjoy!
http://www.rwandagateway.org/
fwd: a local call
I wanted to share this fwd I received in my in-box a few days ago, from a Rwandan colleague in the child survival program:
"Three individuals of American, British and DR-Congolese nationality die in an accident and end up in hell.
"After some time the American, wanting to know if bin Laden was finally caught, sought the opportunity to make a phone call to America. The devil accepted, and as soon as the 3-minute phone call was completed, he charged the American 3 million USD. The American pulled out his cheque book and paid his debt without raising his eyebrows.
"The Brit in turn sought the same favour, to ascertain the health of the Queen Elisabeth. The devil accepted, and as the 3-minute conversation concluded, he charged the Brit 4 million pounds. The Brit was quick to pay.
"Then it was finally the turn of the Congolese man. Although hesitant because he was a man of few means, the Congolese still decided to seek permission to call Africa to receive news of the continent. Satan accepted. So the Congolese began a long telephone conversation during which he learned that a civil war raged in the DRC, that Rwandans continued to make the law in the east, that Ruberwa and Mbemba were 2 of 4 vice-presidents and Junior Kabila replaced his father, while AIDS rates continued to rise across the continent. He learned that the Congolese were facing only a facade of peace while famine and locusts were rampant in Burkina Faso and Mali, just like in Niger, the same it is every year, etc. ... etc. ... etc. ...
"The conversation finally ended after three hours! The Congolese hardly dared to look at the devil, and stuttering, asked him the price of the phone call.
"The devil, dispassionate, answered: Oh, for the three hours it will cost you three dollars.
"Surprised, the Congolese asked, But how ..... how .... how can this be?
"The devil replied: Well, Hell to Hell is a local call!!"
A little taste of African humor. But it's not really so funny....not really. Thank you for your prayers for this continent and its people, that God would bring peace out of strife, light from the darkness, calm from chaos.... Thank you! :)
"Three individuals of American, British and DR-Congolese nationality die in an accident and end up in hell.
"After some time the American, wanting to know if bin Laden was finally caught, sought the opportunity to make a phone call to America. The devil accepted, and as soon as the 3-minute phone call was completed, he charged the American 3 million USD. The American pulled out his cheque book and paid his debt without raising his eyebrows.
"The Brit in turn sought the same favour, to ascertain the health of the Queen Elisabeth. The devil accepted, and as the 3-minute conversation concluded, he charged the Brit 4 million pounds. The Brit was quick to pay.
"Then it was finally the turn of the Congolese man. Although hesitant because he was a man of few means, the Congolese still decided to seek permission to call Africa to receive news of the continent. Satan accepted. So the Congolese began a long telephone conversation during which he learned that a civil war raged in the DRC, that Rwandans continued to make the law in the east, that Ruberwa and Mbemba were 2 of 4 vice-presidents and Junior Kabila replaced his father, while AIDS rates continued to rise across the continent. He learned that the Congolese were facing only a facade of peace while famine and locusts were rampant in Burkina Faso and Mali, just like in Niger, the same it is every year, etc. ... etc. ... etc. ...
"The conversation finally ended after three hours! The Congolese hardly dared to look at the devil, and stuttering, asked him the price of the phone call.
"The devil, dispassionate, answered: Oh, for the three hours it will cost you three dollars.
"Surprised, the Congolese asked, But how ..... how .... how can this be?
"The devil replied: Well, Hell to Hell is a local call!!"
A little taste of African humor. But it's not really so funny....not really. Thank you for your prayers for this continent and its people, that God would bring peace out of strife, light from the darkness, calm from chaos.... Thank you! :)
Friday, May 2, 2008
2005 revisited
It was a privilege to be here in 2005 with an awesome group of people from Ev. Free; we had a short service trip, where we helped to construct homes for widows, and we also visited local churches to help minister where we could.
One special Rwandan person on that trip was Fidele, who drove one of the vehicles that our team used to get around rural southwest Rwanda. His dream was to go to seminary and help plant churches.
Well, it is a joy and privilege to report that, nearly three years later, Fidele is in the midst of seminary (while holding down a full time job and raising a pretty large family at the same time) and is part of a small group of leaders from the Apostolic denomination who have planted eight churches in Rwanda in the past 18 months.
I went to visit Fidele's family last weekend (they live very close by!) and nearly all of the Apostolic church-planting team happened to come to Fidele's house at the same time! So I met them all. Here's a picture of us in Fidele's yard:
Then on Sunday, Fidele invited me to one of the eight churches, way outside of Kigali (two mutatu rides and a moto trip, to give you an idea). It was so much fun, a very interesting experience, and a very lively church. It reminded me of 2005!
Of course, as you can imagine, the eight churches have many needs. Thank you for your prayers for them as they have started these churches on minimal resources and are praying for God's provision for their needs.
One special Rwandan person on that trip was Fidele, who drove one of the vehicles that our team used to get around rural southwest Rwanda. His dream was to go to seminary and help plant churches.
Well, it is a joy and privilege to report that, nearly three years later, Fidele is in the midst of seminary (while holding down a full time job and raising a pretty large family at the same time) and is part of a small group of leaders from the Apostolic denomination who have planted eight churches in Rwanda in the past 18 months.
I went to visit Fidele's family last weekend (they live very close by!) and nearly all of the Apostolic church-planting team happened to come to Fidele's house at the same time! So I met them all. Here's a picture of us in Fidele's yard:
Then on Sunday, Fidele invited me to one of the eight churches, way outside of Kigali (two mutatu rides and a moto trip, to give you an idea). It was so much fun, a very interesting experience, and a very lively church. It reminded me of 2005!
Of course, as you can imagine, the eight churches have many needs. Thank you for your prayers for them as they have started these churches on minimal resources and are praying for God's provision for their needs.
go badgers (rwanda edition)
It happened that UW-Madison Spirit Day coincided with Africa Malaria Day (April 25). I saw on an alumni email update that UW-Madison was holding a photo contest for Spirit Day, and there were prizes for, among other things, the "Badger furthest from the UW campus."
While I may not be the furthest Badger from the UW campus, Rwanda is still pretty far from Madison. So in the hopes of winning some unknown prize, I asked some of my verrrry nice colleagues to pose for a photo outside the Kirehe Health Center last Friday, where bednets were being distributed for Africa Malaria Day (see post below). Go Badgers!
From L to R are: Naissan (Care Group leader in Kirehe), me, Clemence (assistant to WR's Director of Programs), and Leonard (child survival program Manager of Quality Assurance). It's hard to read the signs, maybe, but they say "Africa Malaria Day: Kirehe, Rwanda" and "Badgers: 1; Mosquitoes: 0." Please notice that I am wearing red (a requirement of the contest). And yes, I am a nerd. But you know that already.
I mentioned that the woman in the hat in the previous blog post is Ashley Judd, who attended the event and was greeting the children. Here is proof that the woman is, in fact, Ashley Judd (and not just a woman in a wide-brimmed hat):
And then, here are some of the children...the real future of Rwanda!
While I may not be the furthest Badger from the UW campus, Rwanda is still pretty far from Madison. So in the hopes of winning some unknown prize, I asked some of my verrrry nice colleagues to pose for a photo outside the Kirehe Health Center last Friday, where bednets were being distributed for Africa Malaria Day (see post below). Go Badgers!
From L to R are: Naissan (Care Group leader in Kirehe), me, Clemence (assistant to WR's Director of Programs), and Leonard (child survival program Manager of Quality Assurance). It's hard to read the signs, maybe, but they say "Africa Malaria Day: Kirehe, Rwanda" and "Badgers: 1; Mosquitoes: 0." Please notice that I am wearing red (a requirement of the contest). And yes, I am a nerd. But you know that already.
I mentioned that the woman in the hat in the previous blog post is Ashley Judd, who attended the event and was greeting the children. Here is proof that the woman is, in fact, Ashley Judd (and not just a woman in a wide-brimmed hat):
And then, here are some of the children...the real future of Rwanda!
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