Bitter Sweetness

Ok I know it has been a while but I have been in a transition phase and haven’t had much access to a computer. I finally made it to Cape town, South Africa. Leaving Rwanda was definitely harder then I imagined, saying goodbye to the people I had interacted with regularly and had established meaningful relationships with really tugged on my heart. A couple of nights before we left, Jim and I slept over at the University guy’s house for one last farewell get together. Imagine 6 guys staying in one room that is no bigger than a dorm. It was great. Doing nothing different than I would do with friends at home, we simply hung out, goofed off (I taught them the robot arm swing, which they loved), and talked about what we had enjoyed that summer. The next morning they took us out to breakfast, where we shared some last thoughts and then totally unexpectedly they paid for the bill. This may seem like a normal jester, but to Jim and I it meant a lot more. When you’ve spent a whole summer engulfed in a culture where the Mazungu represents money, which many times leads people to take advantage of you, and friends like Felix, Eugene, Prudent, Prosper, Christian, and Emmanuel pay for a bill it takes on a whole new meaning. It confirmed for Jim and I that we were not seen as Mazungu’s but had true friendships in these guys. Throughout the summer these friends had taught me more about myself and my faith, then they know and for that I am forever grateful. After exchanging emails and Skype names, Jim and I were off, thankful that God had placed our university friends into our summer experience.

Every day, for the last three days, I invited Israel over for lunch. This provided us some quality time for conversation, and enabled us to get know each other better. Israel has definitely been put through plenty of difficult times, experiencing a lot of the evil that engulfs this world, but still manages to display a faith and a love for Christ that I can only wish someday to possess. An orphan due to the genocide, that had been on the bottom, poor, lost and hopeless, and through his faith and determination Israel now is on his last year at the National University in Kigali, leads a choir that sings at various churches and is creating a gospel album, which he has written all the songs for, has put his younger brother through school, and enjoys life through the joy Christ has brought him. The morning that I left Israel showed up at 7 in the morning to drop off a gift for me and another gift for my mom, on my gift attached was a note that read,

“Aaron you’ve been a blessing to our country and especially for me. Really your love is from God!! I’ll never forget the way you used to invite me for lunch. I’ve seen and got the Love, not the food! I pray to see you back in Rwanda. You pray to see me in the USA one day even if it is like a dream”

The letter speaks for itself and sums up everything I tried to tell you about this man. I hope that everyone at some point in their life can meet someone like him.

Rwanda definitely exceeded my expectations. The internship, friends, the culture, living arrangements, the food, security, etc.. all made my time in Rwanda exactly what I wanted. The top 10 things that I will miss from Rwanda, in no particular order are:

1. Mazungu Celebertiy Status
2. Samboussa’s - triangular crusted pockets filled with spicy meat!
3. Traveling in the Matatu’s or on a moto, always provided an entertaining expierence
4. The Food for the Hungry staff and fellow interns
5. The children
6. Orange Fanta
7. Felix, Emmanuel, Eugene, Prudent, Prosper, Christian, Israel, Felix (the 2nd one)
8. Hooping it up with the locals
9. Having an excuse to not take a shower
10. African hospitality

Top 5 things I will not miss, in no particular order are:

1. Rice, beans, and bubble gum beef
2. Mosquito nets
3. Poverty
4. Anti-malaria medicine
5. Large amount of methane gas from the food

I am now in Capetown, South Africa with my friend Craig. I arrived a day an a half ago, and other then the fact that it has been pretty much rainy and cold the whole time, I am surely enjoying myself. It is good to see Craig again and kind of debrief with him everything that I experienced throughout the summer. Capetown is definitely different then Rwanda. The first few hours I think I was having a little culture shock. It is hard to believe that I am still in Africa and not in a European City. I haven’t had a chance to go visit any of the townships (poorer areas of South Africa) yet though, and am sure it will be a different experience. Capetown is beautiful; Craig and I yesterday hiked Table Mountain, in which we were able to see a full view of the city with the ocean by its side. Then meeting with the friends I met in Rwanda later that night, we were able to enjoy our night at a couple of the local pubs. Very Nice! Well I think from here on out, since I don’t have a lot of time to be on the computer every day, I will write each day about the “Event of the Day”. I love you all and miss you. Family, I know you are all together in Texas so if you want to meet up someday, message me and we will figure something out.

The Final Days!

Welllll....Hello everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their last few days of summer. Things are really wrapping up here in Kigali. Last Friday Jim, Emily, and I combined all of our efforts on the e-sponsorship project into one final draft report, basically explaining everything. Even though we were pushed for time, making things a little stressful, we were able to finish and send it out to various people for feedback. Overall we have recieved very positive feedback and feel that e-sponorship has a huge amount of potential. For the most part, e-sponsorship has been an enjoyable and exciting project to help draft and has allowed Jim, Emily, and I to feel like we had really contributed. Along with the resettlement camp Jim and I were invovled with, which is still in the Switzerland funding stage, was an incredible expierence. Catering to exactly the types of areas I want to be involved in, these two expierences were both truely, beyond a doubt, God provided blessings that have made my work here in Rwanda an unexplainable expierence to which I have genuinely benefited from.

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Apart from my work, I have only 7 days left and will make them enjoyable. Last Friday, two new members arrived to the guest house, David and Jason. They flew in from Capetown, South Africa where they had been filming a documentary about poverty for over a month. Continuing their documentary, they will be staying for 10 days filming a couple of different keys areas in Rwanda. For those that don't know, after Rwanda I am traveling to Capetown to visit a friend (Craig) for 10 days that will be studying at Capetown University next semester. The crazy part is that David and Jason are returning to Capetown on the same flight, also they will be flying from Capetown to London on my flight. What are the chances? So rather then spending over 30 hours traveling by myself, I now will only be traveling from London to Phoenix alone for 12 hours. Which is still long and will require me to talk to myself, but is not nearly as bad. Also in Capetown they have invited me to tag along in the townships and observe them filming and meet a few of the people they have come in contact with. From the little they have already told me, I am looking forward to contrasting the differences between the challenges faced in South Africa compared to Rwanda. So I am super excited!

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(Mom disregard the next three lines) I actually talked to Craig randomly on Skype yesterday and he proposed the idea of participating with the World's Largest Bungee Jump in Capetown!!!!! Hmmmmm.....if the price is right count me in.

Continuing, Sunday night I recieved a phone call from a friend named, Ibrahim, to come hoop it up (play basketball). Ohhh yea! I figured this was a perfect opportunity to show Rwanda my flawless b-ball skills. After David and Jason expressed interest, we decided that it was time and headed out towards the court. After arriving we noticed that only 1 of the 4 basketball hoops had a rim, forcing us to wait in line for a half court 3 on 3 match. After winning our first game, I felt my old 16 year old self coming back. I felt the jump shot, the dribble, the rebound skills tingling in my fingertips. That was short lived though. Let's just put it this way, the 21 year old Aaron is not nearly in the same physical condition the 16 year old Aaron was. During and after the first game David and I were gasping for oxygen, which allowed the second team to dominate us. But I will say we did represent for Mazungu's everywhere. It was a lot of fun and I think the kids really enjoyed having some crazy Mazungu's on the court. Hopefully we will have an opportunity to play again before I leave.

A couple of weeks ago Jim and I went to work with Karen, another Intern that works with Peace Healing and Reconcilation Program (PHARP). The PHARP office has around 30 women that arrive every week day for a morning devotional, English lessons, and sewing class. These types of interactions provide fellowship to help with reconciling individuals from seperate ethinc groups by encouraging forgivness and unity. This is only one of the many programs PHARP provides to address the emotional effects of the genocide. I feel this is one of the most long lasting and detrimental effects of the genocide that is largely ignored. PHARP is really amazing at addressing those areas and assisting individuals to find closure with what has happened. Jim and I visited to observe as well as to get measured? A few weeks ago, Jim and I purchased African material at the market so the ladies at PHARP could sew us together African outfits. That is right African outfits: pants, a shirt, and a hat. This provides them a little income and for ourselves a way to look good. Today we went back to PHARP to pick up our outfits. It was awesome. After changing in a back room Jim and I came out walking down the hall as if we were on a catwalk. We entertained for a little while strutting back and forth as the women erupted in laughter. The outfits are awesome and are exactly what we wanted (As seen in the pictures). So that made for a excitng and enjoyable morning. We then went back to the FHI/R office for lunch and here I am writing on my blog.

For those of you that want to know exact dates of my traveling here they are: August 8th I leave Kigali at 11:00 and arrive in Capetown at 8:00 p.m. Then on August 18th I leave Capetown to London, where I have a 7 hour layover, and then from London to Arizona arriving on August 19th at 5:45 p.m. The horrible thing is that clases start the next morning on the 20th. I love you all and can't wait to hear about Aubrey and Clint's baby, Grandma it's good to always hear from, Joe and Ashley I will keep the next year of your guy's life in prayer, which is well needed, Amy your awesome, Adam go take a nap, Mom your beautiful, Dad go eat a burger!

Mount Kigali

It is always hard to figure out how to introduce these posts, so for this one I will not. Also, I'm going to stop putting so much time into my blog, cause no one leaves me comments, unless I call them and tell them to (and aunt Debby). So my blog effort is a reflection of your effort to leave comments. Just joking....hhmmmm.....kind of.

Today is Saturday the 21st of July, 18 days left. I am really not looking forward to leaving, but I trying to make the best of the time I have left. This past week one of the Food for the Hungry Staff informed Jim and I about a trail that guides its way up a hill named, "Mount Kigali". We were told that the trail leads to an amazing view of Kigali. Taking interest in this, we decided it was a feat we could accomplish.

This morning Israel (the university student I met at church), Christian, Emmanuel, Felix, Thatius (the students from the Kigali Institute of Education), the other interns, and I went on the footing adventure. Which is actually a hiking adventure, but here in Rwanda they refer to hiking as footing, I know, a little strange. Well as our friends arrived bright and early at 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday, I was hyped up and ready to go. Yeah right, all I wanted was one more hour to sleep, but I guess it's not all about me, how lame! After taking a quick picture of the whole group, we were on our way. After two Matatu rides and an hour later we arrived at a gravel road climbing up the side of a hill, that I guess is Mount Kigali.

Nothing new, but from the large amount of stares and yelling of Mazungu, I believe we were the first Mazungu's this part of town had seen in a while. Seeming though someone had said action, the children start popping out of everywhere, the ground, houses, fields, trees, animals, rocks and followed us from the beginning of our hike to the very end. I love it! Even though there is a language barrier, the children are always one of my favorite aspects of anything we do. They are very easily entertained by any noise or action I make, and are absolutely amazed by my hairy arms. The trip overall took a couple hours, but was a lot of fun. The trip really allowed us to get to know our Rwandan friends and take advantage of our limited time we have left, to really have fellowship with them. They are some amazing people and have battled through a lot, which for myself, has been very self motivating.



After the hike we ended our afternoon with a lunch at the guest house, which Christian showed me he was able to shove a whole fish in his mouth. So then I had to show him up with stuffing a sliced potato into mine, which was quite large. Around 2:30, they all had to get going to take care of their various activities, at which we led them to the gate and departed by telling each other how much we appreciated the morning we had just spent together. These type of experiences is what assures me that I would able to live in Africa, hanging out with these guys was like hanging out with my friends back home.


On Sunday, believe it or not, Rick Warren (wrote the Purpose Driven Life) was here in Kigali A couple of the interns and I decided to go, I mean how many other times in a person's life is their the an oppportunity to listen to Rick Warren in Rwanda. His message was directed towards the youth of Rwanda and their unique individual purposes, as they are the next generation that will lead Rwanda. A couple of years ago Paul Kagame (Rwanda's President) finished Rick Warren's infamous book, "The Purpose Driven Life", and decided to call up ol' Ricky to help shape the purpose for Rwanda. In the past two years Ricky has visited Rwanda quite often to work with churches, government officials, and the people of Rwanda to help envision their future. Needless to say, Ricky has been provided an amazing opportunity in help making Rwanda an example for all of Africa, and the world. Go Ricky!

So that was a glimpse of my weekend. I think Wednesday the interns and I might be going on a safari, so that should be pretty cool. Also for all you skeptics, I am working as well as participating in all these other activities. I am just trying to keep you entertained throughout the whole blog, becuase the things I do in the office are not always very fun. Welp, love and miss you all. Peace out from Rwanda.

The Memorials

Well hello everyone. I hope everyone’s summer is going well. I have been procrastinating writing another post due to laziness and the fact that nobody leaves comments when I pour so much time and effort into the words I write. I’m not hinting towards anything, just plainly stating.

Last Monday a few of the interns and I went and visited a couple of memorials dedicated to the victims of the 1994 genocide. Prior to 1994 there were several times when the Hutu extremist would go on killing sprees murdering ten’s of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutu’s. In the times of these occurrences the targets of the Hutu extremist would find refuge in community churches. Churches were considered a place of sanctuary and for the most part would be a safe zone. However this was a false hope for the Tutsis and moderate Hutu’s in 1994. In the 100 days that the genocide took place churches all over Rwanda were packed full of potential victims in hopes to escape the killers and stay alive. The memorials we visited last Monday were churches where these types of events took place.

The first church was a rural church called “Ntarama”. Ntarama consisted of three separate buildings: a sanctuary, Sunday school classroom, and a kitchen. In the beginning stages of the genocide all three buildings had become overflowing with families to come to find refuge and turn to the Lord in prayer. The Churches, at this time were not considered safe zones by the murderers, and turned into an easy target to kill thousands at one time. When the interhamwe (the name given to Hutu extremist) reached the Ntarama, the Church was sheltering around 5,000 people, in which were all eventually killed. By launching grenades inside and then covering the building with bullets, the interhamwe wiped out the entire Church. The memorial was very vivid, consisting of a shelving unit that contained the victims personal belongings and hung on rafters around the sanctuary were the victims clothing, most of which were blood stained. At the other end of the sanctuary sat a large shelving unit that stored a large amount of bones, which included skulls, arm and leg bones, and pelvic bone structures. The site was very overwhelming and a visitor could only think about, what the Church must have looked like in the final hours before the interhamwe arrived. All the families crammed inside the church, some knelt down in prayer, while others were in complete panic and unable to remain calm, some surrounded by their families and friends, while others stood all alone, some questioning their God, while others were ready to meet theirs. At this point I walked outside to process all that I was observing, trying to understand it, though knowing I never would succeed. I tried to find comfort with that the people came to God’s house in their final hours, and by God’s grace were saved and are free now from the evil that engulfed Rwanda in 1994.

The second memorial was also a Church that the people went to find refuge. Only after a week from when the Genocide had begun, the Church was overtaken by the interhamwe. As we walked through the Church, blood still stained the walls and the holes created from the grenade’s ricochet were still evident throughout the building. In the back yard, there were two cemented mass graves containing a large amount of caskets, each filled with the skeletal remains of the victims. Both of the graves offered stairs to walk down into the cemented structures to witness the site of the caskets, I simply declined. As we returned to the front of the Church, signing our names and leaving a small donation, everything that I had just experienced seemed so surreal. An event that I have spent a large amount of time studying in school had all just become real to me.

What happened at these two Churches, two locations that were overwhelming in themselves, continually happened throughout Rwanda in 1994. The numbers are impossible to wrap my head around, 800,000 people killed in a 100 days with the sole intention to wipe out an entire ethnic group. With the whole world aware, not a single country intervened to bring an end to the genocide. As I write this blog it's ironic to think that the same circumstances are taking place in the Sudan, and still the international community patiently watches.

Visiting these two memorials only motivated my passions more; the affects of what took place in 1994 are still evident throughout Rwanda. Children live without families, AIDS is rapidly spreading, the pains still exist and the grace of Christ is needed. My hopes and passions lie within such circumstances, that I, one person with the empowerment of Christ, can make a difference and hopefully bring a change to the evil patterns of this world and provide a sense of comfort and joy, for those that have already been affected.

The Job

A beautiful day in Kigali, Rwanda, as I sit outside overlooking the rolling hills and am listening to the sounds of people going about their daily lives, i am struck by a light breeze swirling around in a perfect 74 degree temperature, and I think to myself, it dosen't get any better than this (unless Joe was here with some clove's). With a temperature usually ranging between 70 and 85 degrees, having consistently 3 meals a day, helping to develop areas that live without basic needs, expierencing Muzungu celebrity status, and being surrounded by amazing people is going to make it tough to leave on August 8th. I cannot believe it is already half over and I have only a month left. The time is flying by so fast and I still have so many things I want to do. But I am excited for the next month, the projects that Jim and I have been working on are coming together, creating alot of aniticipation and excitement. I know many of you are questioning my work at the office since I mainly have been writing about other events, but I want you to know work has been done and what has come of it so far.

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The resettlement camp project that I have mentioned in the previous posts is really starting to take off. After Dwight read the report Jim and I had written and after long discussions we have now moved to the next process, which is writing a concept paper. The point of a concept paper is primarily to provide a brief overview of a 3 year project plan that: identifies the critical issues, how Food for the Hungry plans to address such issues, and includes a budget proposal. The concept paper will then be sent to the Food for the Hungry National office in Switzerland, in hopes that they will share our vision and provide financial support. If that is true then, in collaboration with the district, we will draft a very detailed project proposal addressing each issue with efforts that will be implemented by Food for the Hungry, in partnership with other organizations, to bring transformational development to the Retete Resettlement Camp. Last week we finished up our concept paper on Friday and sent it to the Country director in Swizterland. Now we wait for Switzerlands response and will then restructure our proposal according to the amont of money that they see best fit. If this is succcessful, Dwight wishes to at one point have these type of efforts in all of the 19 resettlement camps. The whole process has been an amazing learning expierence and is almost surreal that I am invovled in a project that could affect the lives of thousands of people.

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The other project that we are in the process of developing is an internet based child sponsorship program, called e-sponsorship. Even though I have already explained e-sponsorship, I am going to refresh your memories. E-sponsorship is a new way to conduct child sponsorships, in which Food for the Hungry for the most part would be the first to implement anything like it. The program would utilize the internet and various media sources to create a more personal relationship between the sponsor and the sponsored child. Jim and I have basically been left to brainstorm and develop what this sponsorship would look like. The bases of all our ideas derives from allowing the sponsor to become part of the program. We want the sponsor to be fully particpatory in the program and allow, but not expect, the sponser to engage more in the program. Very very briefly the program would include three options, adopt-a-child, adopt-a-family, and adopt-a-community, and the sponor or sponsors would choose according to their desired efforts. Once a person becomes a sponsor they are given a user account, which leads them to their own personal webpage of their adopoted unit. To make the page as personal as possible it would include these features:

• A picture of their child and information pertaining to their childs age, area, family, etc... - A
• refer a friend program, in which everytime a sponsor persuades a friend to sponser a child 10 dollars is credited to their account to be put towards visitng their sponsored child.
• A bi-monthly child video and on altnernating months a community video
• Providing Weather and Regional news updates of the childs area
• An updated list of airline tickets from the sponsors hometown and into Kigali, also offering links to informaiton on fundraising ideas and tips
• Access to email, where the sponsor would be able to provide messages and video and picture uploads of themselves, family, or group.

That is the very brief update of where we are at with the brainstorming process on the sponsor's end of it. We are now working on the child, family, and community management aspect of the program. So that is a look at the working side of my time here in Rwanda for all you skeptics. I have been busy, but it has been good times, great oldies. Anywayz it took me a really long time to sum all that up and I need to do some reading. So I love and miss you all!

Happy Fourth of July! ( I meant to post this last week, sorry)

Good morning, afternoon, evening or night, depending on when you read this. I have had a very exciting past week, so bare with me as I try and catch you up on my life.

To begin, last weekend Jim did not manage to ruin, which is always a plus. After work on Friday the four other interns, staying in Gitarama, traveled to Kigali to stay for the weekend. Therefore, my Friday afternoon consisted of telling stories, hearing about their internships. and napping. However Friday night Jim, Karen, Emily, and I walked to a nearby hotel, the hotel is pretty high class and has a back area containing a pool, tennis courts, a patio, and restaurant. So we were able to sit back, drink Fanta's, and play cards as a band played for a few hours. Very nice!

Saturday morning a local friend that I had met, Israel, came over to hang out and joined all of us for lunch in town. "To add, at lunch for some stupid reason I ordered a hamburger hoping for a better outcome then the last, and it was actually very good." Israel is involved in the church's choir that we have been attending, leading me to meet with him afterwards one Sunday. A little bit about him, he has been blessed with the opportunity to attend the University in Kigali through sponsors living in England. His studies pertain to administration management and he is fluent in three languages, Kinyarwandan, French, and English. The choir that he is involved is currently putting together an album and will be traveling to London in November to perform in a few church's. It's always fun to talk to him and get his perspective on a lot of issues, and share mine as well.

Also, for the past couple of weekends a few University students (Felix, Christian, Felix, and Emmanuel) that we met have been coming over and hanging out at the guest house. So this weekend we decided to visit them and get a glimpse of a students life in Rwanda. We ended up getting a grand tour of their campus, which is very nice and is steadily growing. They all seemed to be really thankful for the opportunity to attend a university and took their studies serious (another lesson I learn about myself). We then visited their apartment/house, no bigger then a dorm room, where four of them are currently living. Their cost of living for each is 5,000 francs (10 dollars) a month, quite crazy, after then explaining to them how much we pay each month for rent I decided it would be financially beneficial to finish my studies here. So that's what I am going to do starting next year. Just joking mom, but it would be a money saver. All in all it turned out to be a very enjoyable day, especially because the students know English, but also there a fun group of guys that remind me of my friends at home.

Then here comes Saturday night, oh yea!!! So after hearing about a dance club called, The Cadillac" that is in walking distance of our guest house, we decided there is no way we can pass up an opportunity like this. The clock strikes 10 o'clock and there we go, 12 Muzungus on their way to a dance club in Kigali, Rwanda. Tickets to the club 1,500 francs, a Fanta at the club 500 franc's, and a white man taking over dance floor in an all African Club.....Priceless! Upon our arrival there happened to be nobody on the dance floor, did that stop us from dancing though, sure did not. Around 5 of us showed Kigali how the Muzungu gets their groove on. Though it did not take long for the dance floor to become packed and for the infamous circle to form and people to take turns inside strutting their stuff. I must admit something. As everyone is entering the circle and performing all these crazy dance moves, the crowd is starting to get hyped up and a little crazy, and then I decided to enter. Oh yea I entered and guess what move I pulled out, the arm swing. I slowly creped my way towards forward with my head down, then I come to a complete stop and after a couple seconds of not moving, it begins. The robot arm sways back and forth back and forth and the crowd loves it, a simple move but always a pleaser. Then the arm swings around pops me on my head which knocks me slightly down, in which i pretend to be a puppet by grabbing invisible strings that pull me back up, and the cheers begin. OHHHHHHH I love it! That was my shining moment. Then the night started to slow down around 12:30 as we come to discover it is totally acceptable in their culture for men to dance on men. And after Jim was approached a couple of times with open legs we decided that it was about time to take off. But the night was a blast and definitely will be something that I will remember for quite some time.

So that was my weekend, tons of fun and full of excitement. I hope everyone's Fourth of July went well. Here coincidentally the fourth of July is considered there Liberation Day, which marks the end of the genocide (this is the date the government was overturned). Around 40,000 people, including us, took part in a huge celebration the government held at the National Futbol Stadium. We planned on meeting Felix (one of the university students) in the morning at 6 o'clock a.m. (it was horrible), the celebration began at 10 o'clock but he told us to obtain good seats you had to get their early. So I wake up at 5:30 a.m. and we arrive at the stadium around 6:25 only to discover Felix is not there. After calling him, we discover that he was still in bed sleeping, he said he was unable to get up that early. ohhhhh......Felix. So anyways we waited in line outside of the gates, and as soon as the gates swung open it was a free for all, basically a stampede. Everyone ran in every direction trying to get the best seats, we ended up getting a prime location at the 50 yard line. The celebration was very entertaining, it started out with a parade led by a marching band and following was the Rwandan Army. The parade went on for about 45 minutes as several groups paraded around the stadium, marching to the music. Then the best part was combat role playing by the army. The army showed different scenarios and how they would react using trained combat skills, it was sweet. Then they showed their skill in throwing knives, machetes, spades, and pick axes at targets. The crowd loved it. And the whole celebration ended around 1 o'clock with President Paul Kagame's speech. It was definitely a cultural expierence and I guess it was worth waking up at 5:30 for.

This weekend we are taking a trip to Lake Kivu, which is suppose to be a beautiful Lake on the western side of the country. Also, I guess we are traveling to a bat cave??? I don't know should be pretty interesting. But as you can see I am really enjoying my time here in Kigali. It's crazy to think that it is July, 5th and my internship is half way over. But if it was to stop right now, it would of all been worth it. I have built some great relationships and am thankful that God has blessed with such an opportunity. Thank you guys for your continued prayers, they are definitely being answered. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful weekend.

I Am Pretty Much A Big Deal!

Holla mi amigos, Bonjour mis amis, Hello my friends (I'm slick). Life in Rwanda is getting more and more exciting every week. The guest house is filling up with some permanent guest for the summer and is creating a lot of fun. Currently there is Nathan from Seattle, who is teaching English at a special needs orphanage, Andy from Australia, who is working with some AEE (African Evangelistic Enterprises) Austin a grad student from Texas who is working with International Justice Mission (IJM), an older couple from the UK that will be living in Burundi for the next three years as Hunger Corps, Abby also an Arizona State Student who manages the guest house and monitors our internships, and then the two other Interns and Myself. People like this having wide ranges of expierences and listening to their experiences privides not only a great learning expierence but some good stories as well. Should be a fun and entertaining summer.

Jim and I finished our report on the resettlement camp this week. The report included efforts that were currently taking place, issues of concerns, and potential programs and projects Food for the Hungry could implement. It turned out really well. We are just waiting on some feedback from Dwight, which is exciting but scary as well. If any of you are interested in reading it, tell me, and I will email it to you.

Food for the Hungry is now in the thought process of expanding their child sponsorship program and is mainly looking at e-sponsorship as a solution. E-sponsorship will be a internet friendly sponsorship program that will provide sponsers with videos, e-mails, webpages, etc.. of their child. It is largely a new method of how to conduct Child Sponsorship Programs and Food for the Hungry will be one of the first to widely implement it. Very exciting! My role is to brainstorm and write up different ways that Food for the Hungry can approach this. How can it be marketed? Where do you market it? How will it be setup? How can we reach certain places (keeping in mind it will be international)? These are some of the questions I am trying to answer. So that is one of the projects they have me working on.

In addition, Food for the Hungry/ Rwanda is collectively creating a regional office (including Burundi, The DRC, and Uganda) by expanding their present office. And When you have new offices you need new furniture. This is where I come in. Yesterday I was given the mission to design and furnish these offices with desks, shelves, chairs, tables, etc... So there I went to the market by myself to compare prices. Oh and I love language barriers, they make everything so much easier, NOT! But I managed to find a few furniture stores and collect quite a bit of different prices. So I am still in the process of the furnish office assignment. Good times, great oldies!

So there is my update on my life in Rwanda. Hope you guys are not becoming bored and are still reading, i'll try to spice the next one up with a good story. Also, thanks for all of you that are leaving comments and updating me on your lives it's good to hear form you. And for those of you who are not, I'm disappointed, and expect more out of you. Love you all

Last Weekend

Hello everyone. I have some extra time to write, after just devouring pizza that was prepared for lunch at the office. Oh how I love pizza so very much. I apologize for not being consistent with my blog posts, but I'm a busy man taking care of business. We actually just had a 15 person church group stay at the guest house for a week, so that's what kept me occupied. Family you will enjoy this, we played multiple games of Mafia, and I represented like a champ (will someone get this dust off my shoulder(mom ask Amy to interpret that)).

Anywayz, last weekend I planned on using as a down weekend, you know, to hang out around the house, experience Kigali, or maybe get some reading done; but it turned about to be the exact opposite. I have titled last Friday as, "How Jim ruined my Friday in five different ways", Jim being another intern that I live with. Last Friday I had the day off of work and was very eager to see what the day had in store for me, but unfortunately Jim was off as well. Jim managed to single handedly destroy the entire day in these five different ways:

1. First I had awoken from a great night of sleep and anticipated a nice warm shower. Before entering the shower, I relayed the message to "JIM" that I would be occupying the shower for the next 10 minutes. I did this because, earlier in the week Jim and I discovered that if two people occupy two showers at the same time, the water flow turns into a cold drip, and the situation becomes very frustrating. "Jim, I am going to go get in the shower so wait till I get out before you get in", Ok Aaron, no problem. As I am a washing my face and enjoying my very close to perfect shower, the water comes to a complete stop. Immediately I am filled with anger and follow it up with yelling JIM, and then come to the realization that I am on the third floor and Jim is on the first. Very frustrated, I finish washing my face by cupping my hands together to create a bowl like structure, and begin splashing cold water on my face to rinse of the soap. I then cut my shower time early. In the first 20 minutes of my day, Jim managed to ruin a time for me that I thought was 10 minutes guaranteed of happiness.

2. After I share my feelings of anger with Jim and his actions, I recover from the shower incident and keep an optimistic outlook on the rest of my day. It is now around 8:30 now and I am ready to go to the market and pick up a few things. Jim then asks if he can accompany me to the market and myself, being the good christian that I am, accept. Keeping in mind that Jim is the slowest person ever, I then tell him, "Jim I am in a hurry, I have a lot of things to get done today, so try and hurry up. He responds by saying, Ok I'll be ready in five mintues. For a future reference for those of who interact with Jim back in America, five minutes to Jim is actually sixty minutes. So it is now 9:30 and Jim has managed to waste an hour of my day.

3. As Jim and I walk through town we come to the realization that were are getting hungry. We then pass a restaurant that is advertising burgers, hotdogs, and french fries. Having not had a burger for over three weeks we both decide that it would definitely be a spot hitter. After entering the restaurant I become weary that the burger might not be what we expect (in Rwanda American food isn't really American all the time). Jim then points out the picture on the menu that portrays a fat, brown, juicy, vegetable covered burger. Jim then assures me that the burger will be everything we want and dream of. Even though I am still a little skeptical I agree to stay, basically just to make Jim happy. So we both order our burgers. About 10 minutes pass and with our mouths watering, we see the burgers headed our way. The waitress then sets them before us and..........let's just put it this way, THE PICTURE LIED!! Not only was the hamburger the flattest thing I have ever experienced, but it was also bright red. And I do not mean it was undercooked red, the burger was well cooked, the meat was just red. Yes, red! I was right and Jim was wrong. MY lunch on MY day off was ruined because Jim insisted on staying.



4. Leaving lunch, still hungry, Jim tells me he needs to stop by the United States Embassy (Jim has an internship in the fall with the State Department and has to be fingerprinted). The embassy closed at 2 and it was now 11:30, due to a deadline Jim had to get it done by today. The embassy being only a five minute walk away, I agreed that I would accompany him. As we arrive I told Jim that I would wait outside while he took care of his fingerprints, thinking to myself, this can't take that long. So I wait......5 minutes.....10 minutes.....30 minutes pass by and it's hot out, people are begging me for money, kids are pointing and shouting Mazungu, and I'm getting irritated. After 45 minutes Jim pops his head out the door and waves his arm and yells, "I'm still waiting you should just come in". What? You've been waiting this whole time in an air conditioned building and NOW you tell me to come in? Thanks Jim. As I enter the embassy it is now 12:30 and I am almost sure that Jim will be done soon. So Jim patiently, and I impatiently, sit in the waiting room. A half hour passes by and trying to keep myself occupied, I decide to flip through a magazine. Then a half an hour turns into 45 minutes and 45 minutes turns into a hour and by this time I have every picture in the room memorized. After a hour in a half the person Jim is suppose to meet finally enters the room. It is now 2:00 and the whole process takes another half an hour, and there I sit quietly waiting. So from a supposed short visit to the embassy that started at 11:30, we ended up walking away around 2:30. Hmmmm.....I'll just leave it at that.

5. After we leave the embassy, Jim and I decide to go back to the guest house and catch a ride to a different market, hoping I will be able to get a few things done. After a few minutes of relaxation at the house Jim decides it would be a good idea to launch couch cushions at me. So as I lay there, half asleep, I hear a thud on the floor next to me. Jim has totally missed while only standing 8 feet away....Pathetic. In an attempt to protect myself from oncoming cushions I raise my legs to guard my body and this is when it happened. It was as it was in slow motion, I saw another cushion flying towards me and before I can reach out my hands and block it, the cushion hit me square in the ______! Figure it out? Yea so for the next 5-10 minutes I sit there in agony as Jim stands there and laughs. In this incident Jim not only ruined my, day but he also ruined future plans as well.

That is how he did it. Jim Single handedly ruined any chance of me having a down day. The funny part is on our way to the next market we ran into a language barrier with the moto drivers (moto's are motorcycles that you can catch rides on) and were unable to explain where the market was. After finding a translator we thought we had it all figured out, only to find ourselves 30 minutes later dropped off in the middle of nowhere. Good times, great oldies. Surprisingly though we were able to end our night very well. We met the two other interns at a pizza restaurant, where I was able to relax with a nice Kenyan beer and share my story with the other interns. This provided us with enough laughter to last us all dinner and a chance to finally RELAX!

Life Is Great!

Holla! Hello everyone! Sorry for the delayed blog post, I've kind of been busy ( not really, just lazy). Alright so I'm going to try and update you on my life here in Kigali. My internship is going very well. The resettlement camp (refugee camp) I was explaining earlier, that Jim and I visited, has provided an amazing opportunity for us to really get involved. Jim and I have been given the opportunity to brainstorm ideas that would guide the resettlement camp into transformational development. Meaning, we are working on a proposal that would provide an on going and long term development program. The only other organization that is involved with the camp is the World Food Program (WFP) and then the Rwandan government (district level). We met with both parties last week to get a grip on what projects are already being implemented and how Food for the Hungry can assist. We have learned that there are two projects that are addressing the camps needs. The 1st one is a cultivation project that will help with agriculture training and food security. The 2nd is to construct 274 homes inside the camp. This will be done through a food for work program. Kind of straight forward, the people that work with the construction of the houses will receive food for their labor. This takes away from them becoming totally dependent on food aid and includes them in the construction process. Jim and I have come to the conclusion that there is no clear objective for long term development yet. So we have come up with a few things, but are still brainstorming. Essentially though we want to make this development possible by empowering the people at the camp. We would do this by organizing some type of governmental structure and leave a lot of the decision making up to them. We would only be there to guide them or lend them our assistance when needed. Second the community needs some type of micro-economic activity. There is absolutely no money in the community, so if we can guide them in creating a commodity that we would sale in relatively close markets and create some money that way. So yea, that is a real brief explanation on that, if you don't understand just email me. (or just read it over and over). Other things I am involved with are just little things here and there. It is exciting though to actually have a voice in something that could actually become implemented.

God is truly blessing the other Interns and I with an awesome experience this summer. I really believe in a lot of things Food for the Hungry stands for and Dwight (the area director) has been so helpful and is teaching me a lot. I attended a meeting with Dwight last week in the Eastern Province with the Mayor and financial director of that province. Oh yea, I felt like I was a big shot. Well minus the fact that the whole meeting was in French and I just nodded my head like I understood what they were talking about. But in reality I was just concentrating on acting important. Also it is customary for the people here to offer tea to their guest, so after the meeting we sat there and had tea.....hmmmmm, i'm a balla! So that is an overview on some of the things I am involved with here. I was going to write more about my weekend and some of the stories but I will save that for tomorrow. This turned out to be longer then I thought. But I miss you all and love you very much. Do not be afraid to email me at Aaron.Martin@asu.edu or write comments on my blog either. It is fun when you do. Alright peace from Kigali, Rwanda.

The Weekend In Gitarama!

Hello everyone. This weekend the two other interns and I traveled to Gitarama (about an hour away) where 4 of our friends are staying for their internships. First let me describe to you our traveling situation. In Rwanda they use taxi's (Matatu's) to travel, basically like a city bus system instead they use vans. It costs a 100 F's (twenty cents) to get a ride and they are usually very very packed. Ok so picture a van with 4 rows of back seats, a driver, and a passenger riding shotgun and then picture it filled with 22 people including 3 Mazungu's (this is the term they call us, it means white person) stuffed in the farthest back corner for a hour an a half. To occupy my time I tried talking to the Rwandan man sitting next to me, but since I don't know Kinyarwandan there was alittle bit of a language barrier. So instead I shared my ipod with him and we jammed out to American music all the way to Gitarama. Fun Times!

Gitarama was a lot of fun. Friday night we basiallly just hung out, which somehow turned into "let's see how ridiculous we can dance" session. So needless to say I dropped down and got my eagle on, but it just wasn't the same though without my partner Craig. On Saturday afternoon we spotted a cool looking tree from our porch and decided we were going to walk to it. The tree looked approximately 3 miles away, something we thought we could handle, so we decided to go.

-I'm going to interupt for a second to tell you about the celebrity status you recieve when your a Mazungu in Africa because we expierenced it alot on our walk. First of all everyone stares. It does not matter where you are at, people are in awe when a white person is in their presence. Then it is followed by yelling outloud Mazungo and pointing in the direction of the white people. This then grabs everyone elses attention who may not of noticed you yet and they begin to stare and point. The children believe, I think, that the white person is Santa Clause. Everywhere we go there is a pact of children following us, we don't know where they come from, they just appear from nowhere. Every afternoon we walk out of our guest house there are literally around 20 children waiting to attack the Mazungo's. Now don't get me wrong it is an enjoyable expierence, but day after day after day after day, it starts to get old. But you can't resist them, they are just too cute! Dangit! So if you want a glimpse of what it feels like to be a celebrity and your white, go to Africa. -

Anyways, our trip to the tree, so as we are walking and things are taking place as I just explained we find a road that leads straight to the tree. The road led us through a valley and up a hill past more rural family settings and turned out to be a very beautiful walk. As we start getting closer to the tree we pass a little rural village, and as we are passing we hear behind us kids shouting Mazungu, Mazungu. As I look behind there are probably 20 kids about a mile away in full sprint towards us, basically a stampede of children. Once they caught up to us the group of kids grew to about 30. The children must of been sprouting from the ground because a few mintues later we were surrounded by 50 children. To entertain all the kids we played Duck, Duck, Goose for a about a half an hour. They then taught us a song where we danced around in a circle singing. The children were hysterical and it turned out to be a lot of fun.
On Sunday we decided to go to a Pentecostal Church. The service was very energetic and lively and caused me to get my groove on in my sit. The groove started to shut down though after the 2nd hour of the service, and then it shut down completely after the 3rd hour, and at 3 in a half hours we left the service early (yes i said early) becuase we had to catch the Matatu back to Kigali. The service last around 4 hours total. Now don't get me wrong I love to give the Lord Praise, but when it is in a different language and Rwandans are staring at you the whole time cause your a Mazungu, a person can only take so much. But overall it was encouraging to watch these people that have been through so much and are still so in love with the Lord. So that was my very eventful weekend. It is crazy to think that I have only been here for 10 days and have 50 more to go, which I would describe as "Me living the dream". HOLLA!

What I Am Doing?

I'm sure many of you are wondering what I am actually doing on this internship. Well........let me share with you. This internship is to develop my leadership skills (I'm basically a born leader, so there isn't a whole lot of work to done). I will be working with the Rwanda/Burundi area director for Food for the Hungry throughout the summer. The director's name is Dwight Jackson, he is a tid- bit intimidating to work with considering he was a sociology professor, but his laid back personality gives me comfort. My internship activities will consist of reading program proposals and assessments, attending meetings, research, and observing whats going on in the field.
So far I haven't done a whole lot, but I was able to sit in on a regional directors meeting (area directors from the Congo and Uganda) and take a trip to a refugee camp. The meeting was very helpful for me in understanding a little bit about how running a non-profit area works. Plus I felt like I was one of the big dogs......ruff ruff! And today I visited my first refugee camp!! The camp was about an half an hour south of Kigali by the Burundi border. The refugee's fled Rwanda to Tanzania in 1960 and now the Tanzania government has literally forced them back to Rwanda. The Tanzanian government didn't recognize them as Tanzania citizens and either does the Rwandan government because they left so long ago. So basically they have no nationality, it's pretty sad . There are about 500 families in the camp and an estimate of 1,100 people. For the most part they live in mud constructed huts with thatch roofs. Another intern and I, along with other FH staff members walked throughout the camp talking with the refugees and trying to get an understanding of what problems exist. Even though it was really hard encountering poverty at that scale, it was an awesome experience that I am glad I had. Also, I have been trying to post pictures but the computer won't let me. So once I figure it out I will post a bunch of pictures so you guys can see what I am talking about. Welp, I need to go to bed, I love you all.

First Few Days!

Hello everyone! I arrived in Kigali safe and sound after a nasty total of 24 hours of being in an airplane, but it was all well worth it. Kigali really is a wonderful place. Rwanda's slogan is "the Land of a Thousand Hills" and they are beautiful. The city is built throughout the hills, which makes for spectacular views no matter where you are at. The city is also relatively well developed and very clean. The President of Rwanda - Paul Kagame - was voted Democratic President of the year and it is well noticeable. The 6 other interns and I are staying in Food for the Hungry's guest house. It is frankly Awesome. The house is built on a side of a hill overlooking different parts of the city, the view is beautiful. We also have internet, electricity, and hot water. Now keep in mind that this is all relative. For example, the electricity is not always dependable, we were without electricity for about a day (taking advantage of having no light we played hide and seek thorughout the house, may sound lame but it was alot of fun). It has been alot of fun living with 6 other interns, we all get a long well and seem to never stop laughing. Seriously!

Something that comes with living in Rwanda is the Genocide that took place in 1994 becomes more real. If you do not know much about it I encourage you to look it up and read about it. On April 6th in 1994 and ending on July 12th (i think) 800,000 people were killed because they identified themselves with a group called the Tutsis. I have studied the subject quite abit but have been exposed to it here differently. A friend of one of the Food for the Hungry staff members came to the guest house on sunday night and shared with us his expierences with the genocide. His story was very hard to listen to and gave me a personal look at what really happened in those 100 days. Yesterday we also visited the National Memorial/Museum, to understand and process what when on here seems to be impossible at times. The realities of what took place are unimaginable for many westerners and are largely ignored. That is all I am going to tell you though, I really want you to read about it I want you to learn about where I am and why Food for the Hungry got started here.

Before It All Begins!

Hey friends and family, this will be my blog while I am in Rwanda this summer. I thought this would be easier to post pictures, messages, and maybe even videos then trying to send it all through an email. Plus it will last forever!
Ok well, the last two days of orientation have been very encouraging and uplifting. I have been surrounded by 2o other interns and an office full of individuals that share the same passions that I do. Finally, people that understand me. Not only do they have the same passion to work overseas but they also love the Lord. It's not very often that I am surrounded by a room full of Christians that understand God's hopes and desires for this world. Each intern has protrayed large amounts of leadership in their faith and aspirations, which has made the last two days encourging for me to follow my God given passions. It has been an awesome growing and learning expierence, and I know that God has placed me at Food for the Hungry this summer.

So Fianlly, I leave today at 5:30 p.m. and couldn't be more ready. I'm sick of talking about this summer and am ready to expierence it. First I want to think everyone that has supported me in finances and prayer (hopefully it doesn't turn out to be a bad investment), and I ask that you keep praying for me throughout the summer. Pray that God does big things this summer for my team and the people of Rwanda. I do not want this to be a cool expierence, I want it to be a life changing expierence. I love you all!