checking in!

It has been, I confess, a difficult three weeks here...but it has also been, at times, encouraging, fascinating, heartbreaking, and exhilarating. I haven't posted regularly for so many reasons, but here is a run-down of the goings-on around here lately:

It's hard not to start with a tragic and sorrowful event that has colored the last few weeks in a singular way and has been somewhat alarming at a personal level....except for I can't really write much about it here on this blog! Security issues. Bear has had to leave the country he was working in because of a senseless tragedy that occurred to one of his co-workers. Please do send me an email if you'd like more info. And thank you all so much for your prayers during this time...I can't even begin to tell you how you've encouraged me. It's been kind of scary.

I was supposed to go visit Bear next week where he was working (a planned trip for quite some time), and now instead I will go and join him and his co-workers in the UK, where they've evacuated and are doing debrief. In fact, I am en route as we speak, typing this in the Nairobi airport and hoping that in a minute I can catch up on some personal emails I owe some of you.... I am SO looking forward to seeing him and also meeting the people he's been working with, although I confess I wish it were under different circumstances.

Another difficult situation has arisen in the past 10 days just across the northwest border of Rwanda, about two hours from here by car, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have been fleeing their villages and trying to survive in makeshift camps as fighting has broken out between rebels and government soldiers in this area. But, like many other African conflicts, "rebels" might actually be a mis-nomer, as this group of fighters claim that they are actually protecting their people against Hutu militants whose antics the government forces have allegedly failed to adequately address. There is a long and complicated history here, and Rwanda is involved in a unique way because of the ethnic component to the conflict. For more information, here are two news articles:

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/05/labott.foreign.policy/index.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/05/afghanistan.civilians/index.html?iref=topnews

We have been praying a lot for an end to this conflict, and supernatural intervention seems to be the only hope at this moment. WR has an office and staff in Goma, a town very close to the fighting, which adds a personal element to the unfolding tragedy. Last week, we actually were able to host at our house a family of girls from Goma whose father, Amos, a WR accountant, had to travel to Uganda. Amos knew it wasn't safe to leave the girls behind while he traveled, so he brought them down to Kigali.

With much laughter (which was either a defense mechanism or simply non-cohesive emotional response, or maybe both?) the young woman told us stories of how they had been hiding under the kitchen table for two days while they heard shooting and grenade explosions not far from their home. They said they were scared, but they would sing and pray and then stop when they heard explosions, and then they would start again.

Beyond the terrible circumstances that led them to us, they were a delight to get to know and to spend time with. Here they are singing the Congolese version of Happy Birthday to Phil:



In other news, something I haven't shared yet on this blog, the results of the PhotoVoice activity from a few months' ago is proceeding in a new direction. From the start, I really hoped and desired that these young people would take ownership of the results of the initial project, especially since my time here is up at the end of this year. Perhaps about 6 weeks ago I was able to help the young adults select a leadership committee and then I went through a foundational lesson about relief vs. development with them. I also explained that since I wouldn't be in the country long-term, I wasn't going to be able to lead any more activities, but I could help out where I could.

Well, how many ways can I say that I am SO proud of them? They have completely taken the initiative, arranged to meet together weekly, and have come up with a project involving all of the young adults at their church. Their plan is to help 20, and eventually 40, of their most impoverished neighbors plant home gardens, so that these families will have fruits and vegetables year-round.

What's more, they wrote a letter to Interior fellowship back home in CA requesting funding for fruit trees -- the young adults here wanted to give one fruit tree to each poor family as a gesture of good will. The very cool thing was that in one night, Interior raised almost twice as much money as was requested for this project....yay Interior! Of course, that's the very generous and giving spirit of that group; I guess I can say safely that I'm not too surprised! But if you are from Interior and reading this, on behalf of the young adults here, I'd like to say THANK YOU. :)

We started planting seedlings together last week, and (don't laugh, please) I got another chance to hoe. You might remember the last time I did some hoe-ing was in the Philippines, and everyone laughed at me, I have no idea why.

The good news is I think I'm actually getting better. Honestly. Perhaps I'll be a farmer.



....And here are some of the young people showing me how it's REALLY done....



More shots of the day:





In the past three weeks, there have also been some positive developments in the work I've had the privilege of being involved with this year. The research project has been successfully terminated, the key behavior change message workshop yielded a whole set of what we hope and believe are culturally sensitive behavior change messages about child health issues, and now (via the MOH) WR has been tasked with taking the lead on the application of the messages in the community. This basically means creating training modules for community-based health workers. There's a lot of work but it's been interesting so far (my role has been to work on counseling cards, which are simple tools for community workers to use with their neighbors). What a year -- I've learned so much and feel very thankful.

Okay...over and out. I don't know when I will be able to blog next, but I'll do my best. I am looking forward to getting caught up in person with many of you, in just a couple of months! Wow! Take care for now... - C

Inspiring story

Hi - I just saw this great story about an East Africa refugee on CNN.com (link below), and it reminded me about the power of forgiveness. This woman didn't let herself be poisoned by unforgiveness, and instead saw a miraculous chain of events unfold when she chose to forgive...

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/10/16/heroes.sarandon.mapendo/index.html

I read these types of stories and always want to ask myself afterward if I'm holding on to any unforgiveness in my life, you know? Letting go of past hurts and anger can be hard, but not nearly as hard as carrying them around with us, I think.... and nothing is impossible with God.

Encouraging news about child survival in Rwanda....

Over the weekend I was down in Kibogora again (this time for work, although yes, I missed Bear not being there!). I snapped the above shot on Tuesday morning, during a child nutrition meeting for mothers. The mothers in the background are washing their hands and the hands of their children in preparation for eating the (nutritious, balanced!) meal they had prepared in the house behind them. Props for handwashing, and for mothers' nutrition meetings! Here these gatherings and habits can actually be life-saving practices.

Related to this, while I was in Kibogora I was also working on my final report for the research project results, and I read some exciting news while I was going through the hot-off-the-press, newest version of the Rwanda Demographic Health Survey (DHS). The Rwandan government puts out a new DHS every two to three years, and the survey examines the most pressing health needs in the country.

Here's the hopeful news: while in 2005, 1 in 7 children here in Rwanda were dying of preventable disease (malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea, etc.), in early 2008 (the survey was conducted from January to April), only 1 in 10 children were dying of preventable disease. So the child mortality rate has now dropped from 14% to 10% for children under five years old; that's the lowest rate since 1992, pre-war days, and the rate appears to be dropping even more.

There are lots of factors contributing to this drop; country-wide health interventions such as the one pictured above are just one factor among many. And of course there is MUCH work still to be done (1 in 10 children is still an unacceptably high rate....). But here in the child survival community, we are delighted to see the numbers moving this way. Thanks for rejoicing with us!! I was reminded to thank God for the ways He has and is answering prayer on behalf of the most vulnerable children in this country.

about the ring, and a few other things

Hi everyone --- first, I just want to thank you SO much for your sweet comments and your emails of encouragement....I feel so so so blessed by you. Wow, thank you. :) I will try to respond to each of you personally very soon...thanks for your patience as I am battling somewhat spotty internet and trying to catch up with work (Bear left today...so it is back to work for me!).



I forgot to tell you more about the ring (photo above)!! (Jen D and Chris B, thanks for the first reminders...just what I would expect from stellar wedding photographers!).

After we talked about it, a ways back, Bear and I had decided that a diamond alternative was the right thing for us, and an aquamarine turned out to be our stone of choice. The significance of an aquamarine is partly geographical (it's a popular and precious stone in the country where Bear works), partly financial (it's affordable while still being beautiful) and partly symbolic (an aquamarine symbolizes faithfulness, courage and friendship, three qualities we pray characterize our marriage and future life together).

The symbolic meaning of the color blue also has a Biblical meaning symbolizing heavenly grace...something that we have been given over-abundantly, can never do without, and know we need lots of!

And finally, the aquamarine is named from "aqua marina," which means "sea water," and in folklore the aquamarine was a symbol of security and safety during travel (across the seas). So even though we don't travel BY sea today, the significance was still, well, kind of appropriate, we thought, for overseas travel.

The band itself was custom-made in the US (isn't it pretty? wow!) and it actually crossed the Atlantic twice (because of re-sizing) before it was tucked in a pouch around Bear's neck and made the journey into Africa. This ring should have frequent flyer miles attached! (If you happen to be reading this and you were a ring courier along any part of the way...thank you so much!). The stone too saw some mileage; it was mined in Bear's country and then shipped across the border for polishing before coming back, only to be shipped off to the US for ring completion.

So, that's the ring story. :) I have some traditional Rwandan marriage-related conversation that you might find to be interesting, but that will also have to wait for another post. For instance, engagements don't happen here the same way they do in the West, so when I tell Rwandans that "I got engaged" this week they aren't nearly as excited as westerners are. Anyhow, more on that later.

Again, I do regret that we haven't been able to touch base with each of you personally to share our news...thank you so much for understanding!! After a few days of rest (and the proposal!) in Kibogora, we headed north to visit some good friends and colleagues, and when we got back to Kigali we had a rushed few days of visits and socializing with friends here before going north to spend quality time with some mountain gorillas (pictures to follow in a later post). We finished off our trip as the very blessed guests of Baraka and her family, and Vic got to meet some precious friends at church this morning in Gasabo. All this to say that we haven't been very close to internet (and therefore, skype) very often...the fastest way to share our news was to blog and go the un-preferred route of the email blast...

I look forward to catching up with each of you....thank you again for your notes of encouragement! xo

Yego means Yes :)

After a crazy crazy busy month here (hence the lack of recent posts!), Bear came for a 10-day visit!! Actually, he's still here. And I am so excited to share....we are engaged!!

We spent a relaxing four days out in Kibogora at one of my favorite places in Rwanda, a quiet and lovely mission compound with a beautiful view of Lake Kivu and with a rich history of compassionate missionary activity spanning back at least 70 years. It's always fun to see old friends there (you probably know I've been out there several times already this year because of work that WR does in that region), and it's a fun place to be to meet new people who are staying on the grounds (there are a few different houses where guests can stay).

Bear and I arrived at the mission compound on Thursday, and for a few days spent time relaxing, catching up with one another, enjoying the scenery, and spending time with other guests as well as with Sheila (a British woman who runs the mission and who's been there for 25 years!). It was such a nice time to unwind from a busy work schedule and just spend time together.

On Sunday Bear and I took an early-morning walk to watch the sunrise, something I've never done in Rwanda. It was a beautiful, clear morning, with a slightly cool breeze. We walked through the nearby village of Kibogora and up a hill at the end of the road, where we had a great view of the hills across the valley over which the sun would come up. The sky began to lighten and brighten in front of our eyes, and we chatted and took photos as we waited for the sun to appear. I found out later that Bear had planned to ask me to marry him then, just as we watched the sun poke out over the hilltops across the way. But Bear noticed (and I had noticed also!) that our hilltop watch also happened to be the location where the villagers came to fill their jerrycans every morning with water from the nearby water pump, and the line for water was getting longer every minute. And while they waited to get water, they began to form a semi-circle around us, out of curiosity to see what these two muzungus were doing there! So for the sake of privacy Bear changed his mind and decided to wait!

After watching the rays of sun peek over the horizon, and after snapping a few more photos, we headed back to the mission compound for a quiet and peaceful breakfast on the back porch of the place I was staying on the mission compound. Our view looked down out over the lake, and as the sun began to shimmer in the waters and the world around us continued to stir and awaken, we reminisced about the way God has led our friendship and our relationship, and talked about the future ahead.

I remember thinking, 'Wow, I hope he asks me now....this would be perfect.' But then it actually got a bit more perfect, as Bear took my hand and began to pray, thanking God for His leading and blessing, and praying for God's guidance for the future. And then he got down on his knee, took out a beautiful, delicate aquamarine ring (more on that in a minute), and asked me to marry him... I paused, just taken up with the moment and a little bit awed at how this was really happening, so thankful for all God had done and was doing..... And then I said yes! A lot of times. In a few different languages. :)

So, that is the story. Bear is an amazing man and I feel so blessed to be with him. We didn't have good internet connection for three days after that, so we couldn't tell any of our far-away loved ones (you!) right away. And we would also have preferred to tell you individually! But thanks for letting us share the news this way. And we are so excited to share the news! I have to go right now to dinner but I will share more later.... Thank you all for your love and support!

IRS is not what I thought

I am swamped with data analysis from the research during the past few weeks, and I am in the midst of preparing for our upcoming week-long workshop (we'll be using the findings from the research to develop appropriate messages targeting the communities). BUT I wanted to share with you a few photos from the past few days (this may be it for a while, until I am un-swamped!):

First of all, due to limited staff availability I was tapped to attend the annual IRS launch in a nearby health district. (I admit that it was a little tough to be pulled away from my desk and workload...but this is for the team!) At first I thought, IRS? What? But here, IRS stands for Indoor Residual Spraying, and is part of the (US) President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) to reduce malaria incidence in countries where malaria is endemic. (Rwanda is one of those countries.) The Rwandan Ministry of Health also has a malaria-reduction program, so together the governments have aggressively been tackling the problem. IRS is one component of the approach used to reduce malaria incidence here; it's pretty self-explanatory, i.e., homes are sprayed with an insecticide, so mosquitoes carrying the malaria virus are killed when they land on walls that have been sprayed. The IRS program is one example of our US tax dollars at work, and it is exciting to report that since 2005, malaria prevalence here in Rwanda has been reduced by 40%! In addition, while only a year ago 40% of overall caseloads in the health centers were related to malaria, today only 15% of health center caseloads can be attributed to malaria. Yay!! This means fewer child deaths too, of course, as the majority of malaria deaths in Rwanda occur in children 10 and under.

Here are a couple of photos of the event yesterday, which included a big ceremony and then the inaugural house-spraying (pictured). While the chemical spray (a DDT derivative) is harmless to humans once it's been sprayed (and it's environmentally safe, for those of you who wondered), it's still toxic while being sprayed, so the sprayers are well-protected:



Here's the house that was sprayed:



Secondly....this is a random shot from last week, out in Nyamasheke. There was a huge vaccination campaign in Rwanda last week, in fact. You will be happy to note that twice a year the government has been sweeping the country, vaccinating every child, administering Vitamin A and Mebendazole (anti-worm medicine), and counseling families about family planning methods. Here are moms and children proudly displaying their vaccination cards:



Finally, the President of WR is here in town, staying at Phil and Becca's, and the other night some WR-Rwandan staff were over for dinner. Becca decided to serve Chinese food, for fun, and the staff learned how to use chopsticks. Some had never used them before, and they were very fast learners (they didn't want to eat with their hands!):



Talk to you again soon, I hope...I'll do my best to keep in touch here! Hope all's well back home....

PhotoVoice (thanks, Interior!)

I was going to write about culture shock today, but I think I'll leave it till later. In case you wondered if I ever experience culture shock here, I do....and as I recently came to realize, sometimes I don't even realize it! But maybe that will be tomorrow's post.

Today, I want to share how the PhotoVoice activity has been going at Baraka's church.

PhotoVoice is a community development tool I learned about while earning my MPH. The activity itself is simple: send small teams of community members (usually youth) out into their local communities with disposable cameras. Instruct them to take photos of both the needs they see in their communities, and the strengths in their communities (also known as community assets).

This is a quick tangent (if you prefer to track the main point of this blog entry, please skip to the next paragraph, where the main point continues!): whenever I see the word "asset," I have to smile, because it reminds me of Bear. This is because one of the first movies we went to together was the third Bourne movie (Ultimatum? or Supremacy? I can never quite keep them straight) where one of my favorite lines was, "Eliminate the asset." And now I can't see or write or say the word 'asset' without thinking of that movie, and then thinking of Bear, and then smiling. It's like a little gift from God, that word.

So. Back to the main point. Where were we? Assets. (Smile.) After the youth take photos of the strengths and assets (smile) in their community, the photos are developed and handed back to the teams. The teams then use their photos to create a presentation about the needs (and assets!) they discovered in their community in the course of taking the photos, and then all the teams share their presentations with one another. Finally, the groups brainstorm together ways that they can help meet the needs in their community (using their community's assets[!], where possible).

There are layers of purpose to the activity: besides just a tool to raise awareness and reach out to serve the local community, the activity is also designed to empower young people to believe they can make a positive difference in the world around them.

We did the PhotoVoice activity together in Baraka's church this past month (while I was home on weekends I helped introduce and facilitate the activity to a group of young adults, and while I was gone during the weeks, they forged ahead, taking photos, creating presentations, etc.). Right now, we are at the brainstorming stage; the young adults have finished presenting their photos to one another and are now thinking and taking time to pray (their suggestion!) about what needs God would have them to prioritize in their community, because they discovered a lot of different needs.

I want to thank the Interior adult fellowship at Ev Free Fullerton for providing the disposable cameras for this project....you have played an important role in a project that is still growing, here in this Rwandan community. Special thanks to Baraka who didn't think twice about doing all the translating necessary in order for the project to go forward. And thank you all for your continued prayers, that God would continue to use the young adults in this church to impact the world around them and make a positive difference in the lives of their neighbors. I feel certain that God smiles at this, as He sees these wonderful, motivated, and amazing young people being light to a dark world.

Here's a photo of the young adults at the first meeting:


Here are a few shots of some of the teams, with their cameras. Each of the groups had a team leader and they each had a team name (I don't have the list of team names with me, but they had names like "The Good Samaritans" and "The Five Brothers")







Here are a few shots of the teams presenting their photos to one another:







The needs that the young adults identified in their community ran the gamut. One group took this photo, explaining that this was an unmarried woman who had three children, by three different men. All she wanted out of life was to find another man and have more children. The group identified "family planning" as the need, stating that it wasn't good to birth children you couldn't care for, but they also understood that this woman was looking for love in all the wrong places. Understanding the love of God through Jesus' love for her could dramatically alter this woman's whole pursuit in life:



Another group identified the reaaaaaally dusty main road as a big community problem:



Still another saw that child labor was a big issue:


Other needs listed were: weeds everywhere, lack of care of grounds/property, drunkenness, young children taking care of even younger siblings, street children (b/c of single mothers), one-room home (for 7 children plus the goats), men over-eating while their hungry children stood behind and watched, two men fighting while others stand around to watch and clap, wasting food instead of giving it to others who are hungry, no graves for the poor -- just for the rich, too much food of bad quality, a local beggar who is dirty and eats anything, local people who have disabilities, smoking, no latrines, malnutrition, stagnant water that encourages the mosquitoes, cooking from dirty pots, inadequate facilities for pre-school, and mis-use of water by those who have too much of it.

The assets (smile, sigh) in the community were: kids in the community playing sports together, kids coming to church together, small businesses succeeding in the community, children washing themselves, and children working well together to solve problems.

Thanks again for your prayers of support....I am looking forward to seeing how God will be using the young adults at Baraka's church to address some of these needs that they have identified. During our last meeting, we talked about how God Himself, and His love and power, were HUGE assets(!)....much opportunity lies ahead to change the world around them for the better. :)