After 2 days in Gisenyi we started the 3 hour roller coaster ride drive home in the van. On a positive note we all got some good praying in! It was a CRAZY ride home and the driver seemed to be in the biggest hurry- right up until he decided to slam on the brakes to buy pineapples, carrots, potatoes etc. At some point I told him that was enough- we needed to get home. Parker got sick (thankfully I had fully stocked my backpack with airplane barf bags!) And we were all just WORN OUT by the time we drove into Kigali. But our wonderful guide and friend, Jane insisted on feeding us:) so we stopped at a pizza place. The boys made it about 4.2 seconds.
We were exhausted when we made it back to Domus Pacis, the catholic guest house where we stayed. I was unpacking our bags to find everyone's toothbrushes etc and the kids asked if they could walk around the guest house grounds while I unpacked. Sure- go for it. After about 5 minutes I hear them yelling MOM!!!!!! I run outside and they run up with some of the peace house boys!!!! They had found out that we were getting in late that night so they walked over to see us! Best surprise ever!!! It was SO great to see those precious boys!! We made a plan to meet at church the next morning and then crashed!
We waited on the boys the next morning but they didn't show so I just told everyone I was "pretty sure" I remembered how to get to the church and we took off walking! We made it to the church after about 20 min of walking (I totally remembered how to get there!) but no peace house boys. We listened to a wonderful sermon that was thankfully translated for us and then started the walk back home. As we did here came the boys:) They were going to late service-ha! So we told them to come get us after church and we'd walk to their house with them. I'm going into way too much detail but this is where our trip started going downhill (no pun intended:))
On our way to the boys house Patty slipped and fell on a dry, dusty dirt road. The moment she fell she knew....she had broken her leg. Thankfully the Crowsen's had given us their spare phone and I immediately called him. He came to pick her and Wade up and take them to see Dr. Robinson. The kids and I walked on to the peace house with the boys while they went to the hospital.
While we waited to hear how bad it was, we let the boys open the trunk of goodies we had brought them. They were SO thankful for everything. Of course we remembered the 3 most important things to bring boys in Africa... soccer ball, silly string, and water balloons. :)
SOO excited about their new shirts!
Me and my boy, Yves. I cannot tell you how much I love this boy! I told him that our family loves him like he is part of our family and he said "I am your son" I was a MESS the rest of the trip:) He told Chandler that she was his sister:) I am so thankful he knows how much we love him and wish we could always be with him. He is going through a hard time during this next month so please pray for him! Reunification with family is the ultimate goal for these kids but since Yves doesn't have parents, he is going to stay with his brother for a month. He was NOT happy about it and it grieves me to know he is not at the peace house this month.
I gave one of them my camera on the walk back home and they took about 50 pictures of us:)
We finally did get the call about Patty....broken fibia, clean through:(( Good news was, no surgery and she can stay!! Bad news, cannot put ANY weight on it. Such sweet spirits still the whole trip!
She and Wade had planned to go on a safari the next morning. Here they are modeling their shirts they bought just for the safari!! She kept saying, It's just so stupid of me, and now everyone is always going to be asking "What are we going to do about Patty!!!!":) And so of course, we did say that everytime we saw her:)
So the Weavers stayed at the guest house the next day, while me and the kids went to a boarding school about 2 hours south of Kigali. We were traveling again with Jane (so so sweet and such a wonderful family!!). This is her little boy, Joel, who we all fell in love with! Tori and Patton fought over him the whole day:)
It was a FULL day- we were all SO tired but it was so worth it! The Jacobs' have been able to get 55 awesome kids from Noel Orphanage sponsored to go to this boarding school. We traveled there to see them, encourage them, and give them each a encyclopedia and a bible. They were all THRILLED!! Kept saying "WE LOVE HIS CHASE!" So precious!
Before we left the school, Chandler and I asked to use the restroom!:) This is what we got..
Using a drop toilet is always a TAD bit easier when it's painted turquoise:)
Adjacent to the school were several mud huts and farms. Several people had come outside to see what we were doing there. Chandler noticed some PRECIOUS girls with their mom and asked me if she could give them some fruit snacks. After getting permission from their mom, Chandler started walking up to them. One of the girls was a little hesitant to come to her, but after seeing the fruit snacks she got up her courage:)! She wore a torn and tattered dress and was completely filthy, and completely beautiful!
Her sister never did get up her courage- so Chandler asked if she could just throw her the snacks!
We were so sad that that was all we had with us to share with these sweet kids!
From there we headed to Jane's cousins house to feed all 55 school kids! On one of the roads to her house, we saw some kids running alongside our van. They were waving and shouting Muzungu! Muzungu! (white people!!) We had to make a turn and when we stopped we were saying hi to this sweet little girl who had run down the entire street to catch up with us. It was then that we noticed that she had on one regular shoe and one high heel!:) Girls are girls everywhere!
Ok that is probably enough for today!ha! I actually might end up posting all 2000 pictures after all!!
We waited on the boys the next morning but they didn't show so I just told everyone I was "pretty sure" I remembered how to get to the church and we took off walking! We made it to the church after about 20 min of walking (I totally remembered how to get there!) but no peace house boys. We listened to a wonderful sermon that was thankfully translated for us and then started the walk back home. As we did here came the boys:) They were going to late service-ha! So we told them to come get us after church and we'd walk to their house with them. I'm going into way too much detail but this is where our trip started going downhill (no pun intended:))
On our way to the boys house Patty slipped and fell on a dry, dusty dirt road. The moment she fell she knew....she had broken her leg. Thankfully the Crowsen's had given us their spare phone and I immediately called him. He came to pick her and Wade up and take them to see Dr. Robinson. The kids and I walked on to the peace house with the boys while they went to the hospital.
While we waited to hear how bad it was, we let the boys open the trunk of goodies we had brought them. They were SO thankful for everything. Of course we remembered the 3 most important things to bring boys in Africa... soccer ball, silly string, and water balloons. :)
So the Weavers stayed at the guest house the next day, while me and the kids went to a boarding school about 2 hours south of Kigali. We were traveling again with Jane (so so sweet and such a wonderful family!!). This is her little boy, Joel, who we all fell in love with! Tori and Patton fought over him the whole day:)
It was a FULL day- we were all SO tired but it was so worth it! The Jacobs' have been able to get 55 awesome kids from Noel Orphanage sponsored to go to this boarding school. We traveled there to see them, encourage them, and give them each a encyclopedia and a bible. They were all THRILLED!! Kept saying "WE LOVE HIS CHASE!" So precious!
Adjacent to the school were several mud huts and farms. Several people had come outside to see what we were doing there. Chandler noticed some PRECIOUS girls with their mom and asked me if she could give them some fruit snacks. After getting permission from their mom, Chandler started walking up to them. One of the girls was a little hesitant to come to her, but after seeing the fruit snacks she got up her courage:)! She wore a torn and tattered dress and was completely filthy, and completely beautiful!
Her sister never did get up her courage- so Chandler asked if she could just throw her the snacks!
From there we headed to Jane's cousins house to feed all 55 school kids! On one of the roads to her house, we saw some kids running alongside our van. They were waving and shouting Muzungu! Muzungu! (white people!!) We had to make a turn and when we stopped we were saying hi to this sweet little girl who had run down the entire street to catch up with us. It was then that we noticed that she had on one regular shoe and one high heel!:) Girls are girls everywhere!
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