Visit to Rambura

Rambura:                Félicien called me a few weekends ago using his mom’s phone (he doesn’t have one of his own).  I was super surprised to hear from him because he is away at a boarding school. Well, I was flattered when he explained to me that it was parent’s day, and his mom was at school. So of course he’s gonna borrow her phone to call his English teacher from back home…aw. Well, he told me that the next weekend, Sr.  Gisele was going to come visit their school to do a talk on vocations, and that I should go with her! I asked her about this, and she said I’m welcome to join.  So I went, and I had a fantastic day at this school!

I’m gonna try to summarize:

Took my first ride in a local taxi. That is, a junky beat-up van that is pretty much an unfinished metal shell with retro-print, plastic-covered seats. The people are packed-in, and there is no aisle, so when somebody needs to get out, the whole row must get up. But the people don’t mind at all. It’s really a very friendly atmosphere, and I can never tell if the people on the bus have been friends for years, or if they’ve all just met each other and are chatting happily on their way here and there. I was indeed the only muzungu inside, and everybody who boarded the bus did a double-take.

We first went to the parish that is near the school. It turns out it was Fr. Théophile’s parish, a priest who I taught a few English lessons to when he came to visit Gisenyi a few months ago! He was so welcoming and has an unbelievable memory. He recounted everything we discussed in those English lessons.

This parish was in the real village. As Sr. Gisele and I mounted the hill, a flock of about 50 children encircled us and stared. It was the first time many of them had seen a muzungu, and the first time many of them had ever seen a Sister in full habit. Sr. Gisele asked them why they weren’t at Mass, which was taking place, and actually many of them ran out of the church to come join the flock. They disbursed as she told them they should go back to Mass.

I received a huge, personalized welcome from three girls that I didn’t recognize but who apparently knew me! And of course Felicien came shortly afterwards, and Jules, another former student who I didn’t even know studied at that school! It was super fun to see all of them again.

The girls carried our bags everywhere, which is what you do for guests who are uber-extra special.

Another priest and a Sister from Poland also came to talk about their respective congregations. Sr. Gisele started the talks, and she did the bulk of the talking actually! The three different congregations didn’t even know they’d all be together talking about vocations, so there was a lack of planning. But everything went very smoothly, it was quite providential. Sr. Gisele talked for at least 2 hours about just vocational discernment in general, and then specifically about the Salesians. Providentially again, all of us had brought little pamphlets about each congregation. The students were so attentive and really eager to learn. I was deeply impressed. They asked tons of intuitive questions, and I even got a question about what it means to be a Salesian volunteer. That was fun. The whole meeting was a 4-hour ordeal, but the students didn’t seem tired or hungry at all, they were just ready to listen and learn. And they sang and danced to welcome us and to close the day. 

  It was excellent. 

We went for a nice little walking tour with a few students, and I felt bad because Felicien was all ready to take us over to the school and show us everything. But Fr. Théophile had lunch and a separate walking tour arranged for us .

. I never did get to meet up with the students again after our lunch and tour, which bummed me out a bit.

We saw one of the houses that belonged to former President Habyarimana, whose assassination sparked the genocide.