Here are some cute little moments and reasons why I love Rwanda sooo very much! I have never (before here) met such a people who will embrace you and take you in as their own, knowing nothing more about you than the fact that you are from America. It's little moments like these that make me feel right at home and so happy that the Lord (and Peace Corps) decided that Rwanda was the best country for me to serve in!
Wellness Check
Me and this not
having a fridge thing is hardly working.
I do my best to cook just enough for two meals (lunch and dinner), but
sometimes I have a little extra and seeing how I absolutely positively hate to
waste food, after letting it sit out all day and/or all night, I end up eating
the last little bit. Well last night
something certainly didn't agree. I
don't know if it was the leftover food or the pineapple that I had cut earlier
in the day, but something definitely stirred up a rumbly in my tumbly. I woke up this morning feeling a little under
the weather, but I decided to go to work anyway (I spend too much time alone in
this house as it is). As the day
progressed, my tummy ache progressed and I eventually told one of my coworkers
that I didn't feel well and was going home.
I went home with the intent to nap and rest until I felt better, but
just as I had fallen into a peaceful slumber, I heard two people knocking on my
door and hollering out, "Keza!! Keza!!!" When I didn't come to the front door, they
went around to the front window and then to the back door to get me to open
up. I didn't feel much like being
bothered since I wasn't feeling well, but I got up and went to open the door
anyway. And what did I see?? Two of the
nurses from the health center coming to check on me to make sure I was feeling
okay and didn't need anything. In a
broken English, one of them said, "We came to see the situation with
you." This warmed my heart. These two women had no obligation to come and
check on me, yet they came anyway, realizing that I am here all alone and have
no one to take care of me, but me. I
really appreciate them and their care.
Before they left, one of the nurses said that she was going home to cook
and would bring me some food (at least I think that's what she said, this was
in Kinyarwanda). My final thoughts on this?? I heart Rwanda...and the people
(: I really do!
Safety and Security
A while back, one
of my coworkers came to my house to sit out some poison for my little friends
that live in my ceiling...and while he was here, he took it upon himself to
evaluate the safety of my house. He
didn't quite approve of my back door (a flimsy piece of wood) so he said that
we would get a steel one to replace it with; he didn't like the fact that
chickens just wander into my backyard at their own leisure so we would finish
the fence immediately; he didn't approve of the that fact that I don't have a
water hookup so he said that we would put a tap in my front yard...the list
goes on. After his very thorough
evaluation of the conditions of my house, he suggested that since there is so
much that needs to be done, I could just move into the duplex that houses one
of the nurses and serves as the police post.
That way, I'll live in a nice, brick house and I won't have to worry
about thieves and village drunks coming to bother me. He said to me, "The Lord brought you to
us so we must keep you safe." I
couldn't help, but smile at this comment.
Here I am in this totally new place, feeling like I'm putting people out of their way
since there is so much that needs to be done.
I hate to be a burden on anyone, but when he said this to me I no longer
felt like a burden. They genuinely want
me here and genuinely want me safe and happy during my stay. And I genuinely appreciate that.
Your Father is Beautiful
I've gotten in
the habit of showing pictures of my family to just about everyone I meet here
and each time I pull out the photo of my family at a Globetrotter's game, the
first thing they say is, "Your father...he is beautiful!" Then after
I smile proudly and say thank you, they ask, "Is he Rwandan?" I tell them that he is America and then they
proceed to tell me (not ask me) that someone from his family just has to have
been born in Rwanda. I just smile again
and say, "Maybe." Everyone
here is so excited to meet my family.
Even though they already know that they aren't coming until next year,
they still ask me every week, "When will your family come to greet
us? When will we meet them??"
Best Friends
I found a church
that I really like so I've been doing my best to go there faithfully every
week. I missed a couple of Sundays due
to my being out of the village and on the third week, the man who translates
for me at the church showed up at my house.
When I opened the door, the first thing he said to me was, "You are
lost." I said,
"Huh?" He said, "You are
lost." I made this funky baffled
face and said again, "Huh?? I don't understand." And then the man said again, " You are lost."
Then added on, "You have not been to church so you are
lost." I chuckled at this. I was a tid-bit offended as I am anything but
lost in Christ, but I smiled anyway and told him that I had been out of town
and would be at church the following Sunday.
And please believe, I was in church the following Sunday. The last thing I want to be seen as in my
village is lost and Godless.
After church this
past Sunday, this same man told me that he wanted me to greet his mother and
take me to visit the Pastor's house. I
obliged and after church we went to greet his mother and father (he has a beautiful house btw). Very
nice. And then we went along to the
Pastor's house and sat with the First Lady for a while; the Pastor wasn't
home. On the way to walk me back to my
house, the translator and I ran into one of the health center workers and the
two of them began to speak in what I call Kinyarwenglish (a mixture of
Kinyarwanda and English). The translator
didn't know that I knew this other man so he went ahead and introduced me,
"This is my best friend Keza. We
are best friends." He smiled
brightly and said this as if he had a golden nugget walking along next to
him. I couldn't help but smile
too...this warmed my heart. I just love
how much pride the people here take in their friends...and even in me, as a
stranger. This certainly isn't something
you see every day in America so it's nice to have it here...even if it is just
for two years.
Love and Peace
Corps,
Dametreea
you are so very blessed to have strangers truly car for you. There is no doubt in my mind that God is showing you how we over her are suppose to be toward each other. you are truly blessed to experience the love,compassion and care of a stranger. It's amazing. I try to make it a point to speak to people I pass on the streets and some don't speak back or even look me in my eyes. I don't take it personal because this is the American way. Sad but true. And about your step Dad who I look at as your Dad, is a very beautiful,giving,loving person. I feel blessed to have him in my life. He asked me to be a guest speaker for his class last Thursday. I spoke about what i did for a living. He introduced me to some people and I was told that he speaks very highly of his wife and his two girls all the time. He thanks me often for marring him and tells me that he has never been this happy. So with that said please thank the next person who speaks on how beautiful he is because it really is true. l love and miss you much. mom
ReplyDeleteWhy do I tear up every time I read one of your comments...I'm such a big baby. I love you and miss you too! Tell Dee I'm just as grateful for him as he is for us!! (:
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