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At the end of July, we prepared ourselves to go on a trip to Rwanda. We made this journey with David Palmer (an elder of our church), his wife Kathy and their daughter Helena. Whilst in Africa we stayed in a small area of Rwanda and only visited a few places; David and his family traveled further afield when they were not with us. For the first week all five of us were at a youth camp ('youth' = age 12 to 30). At one point there were 1200 young people there! David and Kathy were featured as the main preachers and the rest of us helped them. We did drama, singing (badly), sharing of testimonies and so on. David and Kathy encouraged them to read the word of God and gave them important teachings. We were treated to real African tribal dancing done to music - drumming and singing (with Christian lyrics) and also many different African church choirs. They were amazing! We got covered in dust from their dancing!! They were so enthusiastic. In response to everything their pastors said, the congregations replied "Hallelujah" or "Amen" or "Praise the Lord" in their language. For the second week we went to help in a physiotherapy centre at a beautiful place called Gahini. This was organised for us to work with a lady who lives and works at Gahini - Liz Harding from Plymouth, Devon. For this week under the supervision of Liz and an African lady called Jeanette, we basically helped play with the children, doing jigsaws, drawing, playing card games, draughts (made from a painted wooden board with Fanta bottle lids as the draughts!) and other handmade games using recycled materials. One day we made greetings cards with three of the children that could use their hands but not their legs so well. For Katy this week was a valuable experience as she wants to work with children in the future, hopefully in Africa. For myself I found this experience sad and slightly shocking, but the children were so beautiful and most were happy. It was an experience we will not forget. Most of the children seemed to have a leg or arm in plaster being straightened - many caused by an injection administered incorrectly when still a baby. Others you would not think had anything wrong with them until they got up to walk; one lovely boy walked on tiptoes and with a slight bent over back. We only saw one girl who was bedridden - most seemed to be fairly active.
It was a pleasant environment which was friendly and relaxed, but very basic compared to anything in England. It was so good to see them make the most of the materials they had. Also it was strange to see children learn to play with toys they had never seen before, because they have toys and so many of them don't know what to do with toys. But as the week went on we noticed many had learnt new games. Some children's capabilities were very impressive given the fact that they have limited toys and education in Rwanda. For example, we met a boy of about 13 who had no hands and only stumps as arms, but he was able to draw a very detailed church using a ruler and pencils. It was an amazing drawing one that was very skilled. It was also surprising how many children could speak a few English words and phrases. Some of the kids learnt some English while we were there with them. For the rest of our trip we spent time visiting churches and spending time in Kigali the main city (almost the only city). Kathy described it as a huge shantytown! - a pretty accurate description although it did have more built up areas that could have been vaguely European at a push!
Visiting The Family of God Church in Kigali is an experience we will never forget. We thought our home church is lively but Rwandans put a whole new meaning on that word. It was not always easy to follow - sometimes African worship feels slightly disjointed although to them it's normal. People came to the front to ask Jesus into their lives at all the different churches we went to, and there were always a lot of people openly repenting of their sins! At every church they have choirs, and in Kigali church they had at least 3 - women's, men's and children's. All in all I think we had the most amazing trip ever, and we would definitely both go back. Several things we got out of it were: 1) how busy and impatient we are in England. In Rwanda they spend a lot of time just talking because they do not have much to do. 2) Gahini and the children there - not an experience we will forget easily. 3) Rwandans are not as different to us as we think. Certainly in the capital Kigali, they have the opportunity to do many sports, listen to pop music and watch films. But also (talking to some friends I made) they face a lot of the same issues as us. There is still a lot of problems such as teenage pregnancy outside of marriage, smoking and drinking alcohol is common for teenagers to do and so on. WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK DAVID AND KATHY AND HELENA FOR TAKING US TO RWANDA, COLIN AND JOY AND KINGS CHURCH FOR SUPPORTING US IN GOING TO RWANDA, SADIKI AND VIOLETTE AND FAMILY AND CHANTEL AND FAMILY FOR LOOKING AFTER US WHILE WE WERE IN RWANDA AND ALL THE FRIENDS WE MADE FOR MAKING US FEEL WELCOME IN RWANDA. THANK YOU! Hannah and Katy Parsons
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