Nkombo Island

Today the whole team went to Nkombo island a very overpopulated island in the lake. It has received a lot of help in the last few years so looks much better. It now has electricity and agronomists have helped improved the soil and removed some grubs which were in the soil and ate the roots.
After a colourful ride down the lake in the diocesan boat  down the lake  we arrived on the island and had a very steep walk up to the new school where they hold a feeding clinic twice a week which helps stave off  malnutrition among the children as do the filters which stops the chronic diarrhoea which was so debilitating. You can see a video of the team at the feeding clinic Here

A passing boat on the lake

  

We arrive on the island

The team feeding the children

After this we split up into two groups both visiting TDF projects the micro-finance initiative  with money from some donors from our church. Also we visited homes which had Aquafilters which Rob had initiated on the island.

This TDF widow was buying wood on a tree arranging for it to be cut down

Seasoning the wood and selling it on

Griffaid aquafilter being demonstrated

This lady had used her loan to learn how to do tailoring

and had bought a sewing machine

We went to the pastor's house for a wonderful meal they had provided, then on to the secondary school where Rob serviced and taught the use of their large community Aquafilter.

Our meal at the pastor's house

Rob teaching on the water filter

Then home for a rest after a very hot day.

Kittens and St Matthew

Today the morning started beautifully clear with views over the lake. Then we went, together with Jan,  to Jill Barham school which is next door to the guest house to help reorganise the library. The library had been moved to a new classroom, with a few library shelves and most of the books in boxes. However we set to work to sort out the books putting two of the sets of books on the book shelves. The rest, which were duplicates, were put back in boxes  We also spent some time teaching them how to use the aquafilters which the school had but were not using. We discovered a nest of kittens hidden among the books.
In the afternoon we went to St Matthew's school and did a tour of the school. We were invited into each classroom and asked to introduce ourselves. We were greeted in each by a chant and clapping.
The school does all ages from Juniors at the top to  seniors down a steep slope of the hill.
We presented them with toys for the nursery school pens and pencils footballs and some posters which were all gratefully received.

Senior girls with posters

The school has two cows which supply milk for the nursery school 

and manure for the school garden

The junior school with posters of body parts painted on wall behind

In the evening Mary did her Godly play session the Good Shepherd. We then went for a farewell supper with the Bishop and Ester, Berta and Ephraim, and some Rwandan friends who just turned up. As it was the tenth anniversary of our visits to Rwanda we were all presented with very special presents in the form of colourful Rwandan clothes.  

Party time

Cathedral and Gashonga Church

We awoke to bright skies and the songs of the fishermen on the lake. After a hearty breakfast of eggs and Mandazi the little deep fried doughnut type which are not too sweet.

Then off to the 8am English service which was quite traditionally Anglican their where two groups our own and one from Canada. We all had to stand up and introduce ourselves, say where we were from and a little about ourselves.  An American couple who were out here helped with the music together with our friend Boniface.

Ian Graham one of our team preached a very good sermon on James how we overcome trials and temptations then we had a simple communion service.

The team arriving at the cathedral

After a brief loo stop back at the guest house we were driven down the road towards Bugarama where there are tea and coffee plantations. We arrived at our friend Ephraim’s church where there was already loud exuberant singing going on.

The church is newly constucted with help from people at Southover it had grown alot and they were now sending six evangelists out into the little villages up in the hills which were relatively unchurched,, their task being to plant new churches. 

 The service was very simple with lots of singing and little bits of liturgy. They also acted out a bible story with a sketch and a song which was very effective for them and does not need much translating into different language

I preached on the wise and foolish builders ending with an altar call to which a few people responded and several of us prayed for them as Ephraim led them through a commitment to follow Christ. There was a presentation for everyone from the team who had contributed. Then we were ushered into the back room where we were given a lunch of delicious fruit and bread and offered the ubiquitous Fanta or coffee. Then back on the bus just as it started to rain.

Our planned walk in the afternoon was rained off so we were able to have a quiet time reading and catching up on things.

Our team having lunch in the back room of the church

All the people greeting us as we leave church

Ephraimthanking the team and telling us of his plans for the  future

Umuganda and visit to our Compassion child

Today is the day of community work called Umuganda it is always on the last Saturday of the month, coming together for a common purpose everyone from the President downwards has to join in.
So this morning our team joined with the workers from the guest house to weed the drive.

It was really good to join in with our Rwandan Brothers and sisters 

in their community day.

The team at work

As the day started to warm up we became quite hot and the work was finished about 10.30 and we were all treated to some nutritious porridge which the workers enjoy.

Jean Pierre a pastor from DR Congo arrived and later Nbonga one of the leaders of the Congolese church. We have been meeting them for several years and have built up a friendship. I brought out some medical equipment for their diabetic and hypertension clinics. In the afternoon the group split up some going to Pastor Bertha's where the ladies did some training for teenage girls and Rob measured up the church for a water harvesting system.

We went to visit our Compassion child first going to the centre where they are taught and then going to his house which is way down a long series of mud roads. We went in a tiny Toyota taxi which bumped and banged along the rutted road.

Ian and Mary with their Compassion child Theophyle

Their large family of 8 children and 2 grandchildren 

all living in the little mud house with crumbling walls

There was great joy all round as we talked and prayed together we exchanged gifts and took photographs.

Compassion UK is an organisation which organises sponsorship for poor children all over the world.

There is a centre where they going for feeding and activities on Saturday and they are sponsored through school and the sponsors in the UK are encouraged t. o visit the family.

Then we went back to the guest house to have a meal with Theophyle. He really enjoyed the beef brochettes which I think he would hardly ever eat at home.

Sunset over the lake

Rain in torrents

 We were woken up by the most tremendous electric storm followed by real torrents of rain which turned all the minor roads into rivers of mud. So there was a drastic change in the program today.
The pastors wives still had their training which finished today, and everyone felt that it was really successful.
I was pleasantly surprised, by the arrival of Pastor Ephraim who together with Bertha have adopted Mary and I as their Mummy and Daddy, it has been a pleasure to have partnered with them over the last 8 years.
Ephraim has just been given a new church plant in an un-evangelised area. He had to set about building a church which is now well established, and has now sent out six church plants up in the hills just a single Rwandan evangelist  in a rented house, tasked with starting a house church.
He is full of enthusiasm for the immense task ahead.
Later in the morning we went to a newer hotel by the lake and had a cappuccino coffee and watched a fisherman working hard with a very small catch to show for it. Also down there, there is some wonderful bird life. In the afternoon we went to look around the splendid new annex to the guest house which is only partially open at present. Then off to the clinic to meet Dr Mark a dutch doctor who is over here for several years.    

Boy in a barrel and demonstrating body parts

Today was not dissimilar to yesterday with training still going on and construction of the water harvesting system. Again a group went visiting different micro-finance projects in the diocese. These seemed to be doing well.  

A group of villagers walking to market with large plastic bowels full of pineapples

This is the widow of the house we are attaching rainwater harvesting 

she is feeding her cow which is literally boarded into its stall, so it will not be stolen.

Before her house was built by the team from Blakeney she lived in a little room next to her cow with her goats and rabbits, and three children. She had to cook in the same room on three large stones and use her neighbours toilet.,  

Progress was fairly slow today. We encountered a little bit of a problem in that we had to drill a hole in the side of the barrel at the bottom for the tap which needed a washer and nut putting on inside the barrel. However the hole in the top of the tank was smaller than previous and despite many ingenious attempts to put the nut on all failed finally a small boy from the family was lowered into the tank and was able to screw it on, and came out sweating but happy. He was greeted with loud applause and a bottle of water.

Meanwhile the training for the wives was hygiene demonstration of body parts and female health.

Dot with paper cut outs of her heart lungs and liver

Some of the pastor's wives receiving there gifts from Southover.

Brenda with a translator from world vision demonstrating her model of intestines.

Training pastor's wives, water harvesting and micro-finance visiting

Wednesday 22 2 17
Today there were various activities going on , the pastor's wives arrived for their training. Led by Jeanette and Brenda with Berthe translating. Then a whole group went on the bus, first to pick up various pipes and assorted ironmongery for the water harvesting then on to drop the water harvesting team a mixture of Dutch, British and Rwandans. Then the rest went on to see various micro-finance.

  

Rob up a ladder

The family for whom we are putting in the rain water harvesting.

Mother has three children of her own and two orphans 

she has taken in from the community

Finally home for our time of meeting together for a thought for the day, time toshareour experiences and prayers. 

Followed by another lovely African buffet including Sambasa the little fish they get from lake Kivu

Then a surprise in the form of a birthday cake for Carol together with firework on top.

Survey at Jill Barham and visiting widows

Tuesday 21 2 17

Rob with Peter Headmaster, Basile water engineer, and Rob inspecting a water collection chamber

Mary greeting Bernadette our old friend.

We all woke early for breakfast. The ladies spent the time planning for the training of the pastors wives while the men went of to Jill Barham to inspect the water collecting system. There were a number of  improvements and repairs needed. Peter the headmaster takes a keen interest in the system and works hard to keep it  operating .  A new classroom had been built which replaced one damaged by a falling tree when the road was remade.
Then back for a sandwich lunch then some of us went off to visit Josephine and Bernadette two of the widows for whom we first built houses. Bernadette's  house is now ten years old and the corrugated iron sheets are starting to rust through.

Church with two archbishops and genocide memorial

Sunday 19th

We awoke to a pleasant morning and a very good Solace breakfast with lots of fruit. The rest of the group having arrived last night. We then went in our bus to the service for Justin Welby who is visiting East Africa. Most of the Rwandan Bishops were there as well as lots of church and local dignitaries and the deputy British high commissioner who turned up in her car resplendent with Union Jack. There was lots of joyous singing and dancing. Justin preached on Nehemiah rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.Building for the glory of God by the Grace of God in the Power of God.

The two archbishops Rwanda and Canterbury

After many more speeches and singing we finally went home for lunch.

Then off to the Kigali Genocide memorial site which is the main site in the country although there are many more scattered through the whole of the country. 

The site consists of banks of mass graves containing over 250,000 bodies; with more being found and added every year. Sited in a beautiful garden and an exhibition area where the story of the genocide is told through pictures and multimedia.      

Wall of names of  victims whose bodies have not been found

One of the graves which can be seen so people can pay heir respects 

The rest are sealed with concrete.

After walking round, Mary and I sat in quiet contemplation in the beautiful knot garden and read from Lamentations 3 . A cry of hope in the middle of despair. 

Marambi and the ride through the forest.

Monday 20th
We awoke for our last breakfast at Solace before our days journey through Rwanda

The roads are all very much improved so the drive was much quicker and comfortable compared to even last year. As we drove out of Kigali we went from the finely groomed diplomatic centre through the more commercial areas and finally into the country. Even in the  rural areas there was much development with new houses being built and most of the roofs looking bright and shiny with little evidence  of rust.

After a brief stop at Nyanza which is a dairy centre with good loos  and delicious yogurt which they make locally. 

Then on to Marambi a large genocide memorial site.

.

The group walking up to the school where the genocide took place.

The memorial is a school where 50,000 people where butchered by the militia while French peace keeping troops did nothing. Only 34 people escaped alive to tell the tale.

The place is a very sombre memorial where bodies have been preserved in lime in the classrooms.

It acts as a warning for everybody about the dangers of racism and propaganda and how all people should be treated equally. The denigration and dehumanisation of any group must be actively resisted and the evil exposed before further evil ensues.

The mood was lightened as we drove out by the cheerful children running after the bus shouting "Muzungu" the kinyarwandan word for white rich people.

We then made a stop at the Kamembe diocese where we met  the archdeacon, and dropped of the water filters we had bought before starting our journey through the wonderful Nungwe forest  the highestt high level rain forest in Africa

Flying to Rwanda

Today was a very early flight to Rwanda we set of at 4 am to the airport, on clear roads, to the new rebuilt airport which is now very plush. We met up with a very tired Andy Hince, one of our group who had started his journey in Inverness via Heathrow.
The flight was delayed slightly by fog the pillot having had to abort his first attempt at landing.
However we were finally down and was met by a smiling Jonathan and or lovely bus driver, Modeste.
And on to a friendly greeting at Solace Ministries where we are staying for two days.
The morning was spent unpacking and relaxing after the journey with an little walk down to the local shops for tea and some locally roasted peanuts. On the way back we met up with a couple of boys selling cards on the street, they are very friendly wanting to know all about you where you come from what are   you doing. We joined the group from Yaxley near Peterborough who are just finishing their visit, they are all very excited and enthusiastic about what they have been doing, we enjoyed a light lunch with them.
In the afternoon we visited the Inema art gallery a wonderful centre created and run by two Rwandan artists.Emmanuel and Innocent who are producing a lot of very vivid inspirational Rwandan art. They were very pleased to show us around. There are about 14 artists in residence plus the work with children especially orphans and run weekly workshops.
The young people had also produced some really great art.

The founding artists

Some of the young people with their art works

We had a very lively meal with the Yaxley team and were invited to join them in an informal communion led by their vicar, Finally there were lots of thank yous and goodbyes and speaches on both sides which the  Rwandans love.

Finally to an early bed. 

The rains have come:

The first rain fell last night a massive storm which settled the dust. The Masai herdsmen quickly brought  their herds to feed on the new grass on the sides of the roads. They used to graze their animals on this land until the English came and were sadly displaced. 

Today we went for a lovely walk in the Oloolua forest. we hired a guide t take us around who was very knowledgeable. He showed us dik dik, small very shy deer, that were feeding in the forest.
We also saw several sorts of monkey and bats in a cave.

Stkes's monkey  typical of this area pretty little monkeys living in the tree tops.

 Our group resting on a bench by the water fall

A flowering cactus

After a good walk we went to a cafe for spicy african tea and vegetable samosas. Then to Simon and Cecilias old house in Ngong which was in between tenants t fill up water from the water harvesting talk which is very good for drinking, once filtered with the aquafilter.
Then Mary and Cecilia went for a little pamper., while Simon and I unloaded the water.
We finished our time in Kenya with a wonderful Kenyan dish prepared by Cecilia consisting of a potato pumpkin leave and bean mash with a little beef and peas.

A quiet day

Today Cecilia and Mary woke up with slightly queasy stomachs this morning so we decided to have a fairly quiet day. We relaxed on the balcony, just going out to collect supplies from the Nakumatt the local supermarket which is found all over this part of Africa.  We had mandazi a type of African doughnut which is not too sweet and a Kenyan staple.

In the afternoon we all felt much better so went to a local walking track which is very popular a rubberised circular track around a local cricket pitch which is free for everyone to use.

For supper we had an organic ugali. Ugali is a white cornmeal staple. however we had a healthier version made with a mixture of corn millet and sphorgum flours. Which contains more fibre and nutrients than maize flower alone which if the only source of nutrition causes protein malnutrition which is a common problem in children . We finished of with banana and yogurt. The banana was purchased from a salesman in the middle of the rush hour traffic.    

Karura Forest

Today we went to a native forest on the outskirts of Nairobi. It consisted of well laid out trails in native woodland. We managed to get there fairly early while it was reasonably cool and had a very pleasant morning walk. One of the problems they have is invasion of foreign species such as eucalyptus and they are trying to thin these out and re-plant with native species.

There were many butterflies in the forest this one was happy to be photographed

 There were some helpful labels on the trees

Another butterfly resting on the path

There was a small lake with native water lilies

One of the waterbirds on the lake.a hamerkop a curious stork like bird

 which builds an enormous nest  in a fork in a tree decorating the outside 

with any bright coloured trinkets  they can find.

A very dainty little wader walking on the lilypads

After the walk we headed up to a shopping mall which have very pleasant cafe restaurant called Art Cafe.Here we met out friends George and Mary Ogalo. George heads up an organisation called  FOCUS   which co-ordinates the universities Christian unions. Mary heads up several projects empowering women and is at present finishing off here doctoral thesis. They were both very well as where there children, we spent a very pleasant time with them over a delicious lunch.

 In the afternoon we went to view another house on the outskirts but again not ideal. On the way home we dropped in on Cecilia's friends where we were offered samosas and very spicy spare ribs washed down with a Tusker a very good African beer served ice cold. 

Then home for fruit and tea.