How Can I Be so Blesed???

1/2/10 – How can I be so blesed???


How can I be so blest to have best friends in Rwanda?! I remember the first week or so of mission. When I learned that this was only a secondary school and not an orphanage, I was a little disappointed. I had to remind myself frequently that God made no error in placing me in Gisenyi rather than Kigali. In Kigali, I would have "little sisters" all over the place. I had prepared interiorly to accompany girls, to teach them English but also to teach them the rosary, to give them big sisterly advice, and to be their role model as they grow up. So realizing that none of this would actually happen was a bit of a downer.

But I remained optimistic and never let it get the best of me. More and more, and today especially, I've seen that truly, Gisenyi is where I belong.  And I came at the perfect time. If I would have arranged the dates differently, I may not have been here for Patronage and would have never met the animators, who have become my best friends here. They are usually the cause of the big smile on my face, and they are often the distractions going through my mind when I'm trying to pray. It’s a beautiful problem (but a problem nonetheless that I must work through) to have – to be distracted in prayer because I'm too preoccupied with beautiful memories spent with friends.

We had a thank-you party today for the animators. Sr. Charlotte was running behind schedule picking up the food for this party, so we began about an hour and a half late. I showed up with the boom box and my zumba cd's, but we did not have a place to plug it in. So we basically lingered around for an hour and a half, but man alive did we have a ball! I have a great time just talking with these guys and gals. They are so very friendly, and even though there is a language barrier, we have managed to work around it quite effectively. We took lots of pictures, actually they took lots of pictures. They were being a bit too grabby with my camera, so I tried to be a bit more assertive. But still, Marietta walked away with my camera and I had no idea where she went. I cannot allow this. Fortunately we found her by the stadium, and she still had it. They really love to take pictures of anyone, any pose, and there was tons of laughter in the air as we captured scenes and looked at them.

Then, we started singing Kinyarwanda songs. When I joined in during one I knew, everybody cheered and Fabrice was so impressed that he tried to give me money (as a joke). Then they all wanted to see what else I knew, so we basically sang all kinds of mass songs and they were really wowed by how much I knew. It is very cool when people are ecstatic over the fact that you are attempting to speak their language. I loved every second. After more hanging out, talking, taking pictures, meeting other kids from my class who were at a different meeting at the church, Sr. Charlotte and the Fathers finally came back. By this time, we were able to get into a room and plug in the boom box to zumba. But I had to go help assemble the secret gifts that they would each receive. But I think they probably had their own zumba party because they're just that awesome. So I went to help assemble gifts.

Each animator received an expandable portfolio filled with notebooks, a math set (protractor, compass, ruler), a pencil, a pen, an eraser, a box of crayons, and a rosary.

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This is a very good gift, as it is something that all of them need. I'm very happy that we were able to give them these things, especially if any of them would have had difficulty purchasing them on their own. When we finished this, we rejoined the group and ate samboosa (a tasty meat and onion-filled fried triangle of dough) and drank fanta. Next there were some inspirational talks given by Fr. Antoine and Sr. Charlotte in Kinyarwanda, I'm pretty sure it was to thank them and send them forth as they begin the school year soon.

We then did Chin Chin and Barb's Cumbia, and this was pretty much the best we've ever done them! Almost everyone joined in…I wish I would have invited those who were sitting. All it takes is a simple invitation. Epimathe joined right away when I beckoned him, so why didn't I do the same for the other two or three who were sitting there? Especially Fr. Antoine, who I know really wants to learn. So next time I'll seize that opportunity. We took a fantastic video of Barb's Cumbia in all its glory. It was the bomb. People were making crazy facial expressions, singing or humming or whistling along since they know the beat very well now, and hooting and hollering up a storm. And Edouard and Fabrice were pretending to be drunk off Fanta…hilarious. I had so much fun that I can't even describe it.

After this we closed the party off with some more thank you's to all the animators. Fr. Antoine also thanked me in English for coming here freely, without expecting any kind of payment. He said that I have surely changed the lives of these animators in some way by giving an example of love, of leaving my country simply to help. I was touched. At the end of the talks and the thanks, I also thanked them for their work and told them that I was very happy to be here specifically in Gisenyi, and especially that I came at the right time in order to meet all of them and to become good friends. I feel that my word choice was crap and did not at all convey how much I love them. But I wanted to speak simply and slowly so that they would understand my English. They all clapped afterwards, so I think that means they got the picture.

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