Christmas Party with our Staff

We are so blessed to have a wonderful staff of people who help make our household run smoothly. 

Ritah manages the house, cooks our dinners and cares for Presley when she's not at school.

Faustin is our day guard who maintains the yard and helps with cleaning.

Patrice is our night guard who tends the garden. 

At his last house, even the fence he made sprouted. 

Fils helps out on some Saturdays with whatever work we need.

It kind of sounds luxurious to have so many people working for us. 

I guess it is, but without these people, we don't know how we could live life here. 

For Christmas, we wanted to throw our staff a party where we would cook and clean and they would enjoy the food and company. Patrice was able to bring his family of 6 and Fils got to bring his little son. Ritah and Faustin also attended.

a few gifts

a doll for Ritah's daughter

Patrice giving a speech in Kinyarwanda

the meal

To end the night with fun...

Wii Dance.

We are so thankful for reliable workers who bless our home every day.

Baby Shower - Rwandan Style

Coach Jeph and his wife Esperance became parents this year.

We decided to throw them a baby shower - Rwandan Style, with a western twist.

In a traditional Guhembe Umubyeyi, friends parade into the couple's home with gifts to bless the parents and baby... mostly food, like porridge for a nursing mother, beans, sugar and a

LIVE CHICKEN.

I was officially heading up this baby event, so my sister Becky and I headed to the market on the day of the shower to buy gifts, including INHOKO (the chicken). When the chicken guys at the market found out we wanted to buy one, you'd better believe they wanted to sell us six or seven. We settled on a feathery friend at a reasonable price. Then they tied its legs together and put it in our bag. Once back at the car, the chicken was placed in a box for the remainder of our trip. We made one final stop at a store near our school and when we got back to the car...  

the CHICKEN WAS FREE, 

inside the car.

The smiling parking attendant was kind enough to catch it for us and get it back in the box.

Once at school, the chicken was very well behaved and mostly pecked around near the front gate until the school day was over.

PARTY TIME!

To do this event well, we wanted to follow traditional customs, 

so we started with the crates of FANTA

Followed by IGITOKI (bananas that you cook)

Next came 

INHOKO

(you've already met her).

Then, BASKETS of porridge, milk, other food and soap.

                                              After that came other gifts and party snacks.

Once we were in the house I realized that 

ALL of the gifts had been put away in a back room.

"NO NO NO." 
"how did this happen?" I'm asking myself.

the Western Twist comes in now - 

"WE WANT TO SEE YOU OPEN YOUR GIFTS!"

So, we brought everything back out.

We had a prayer of blessing, led by our Director.

Then, a brief welcome...

MURAKOZE

thank you

NITWA MELIA

I am Melia

TURI UMURYANGO WA KICS

we are KICS family 

WE ARE SO HAPPY TO HONOR BABY JOSHUA GWIZA.

THANK YOU FOR WELCOMING US TODAY.

In keeping with the custom, we gave an envelope of money directly to the baby. 

Then, we started eating snacks and opening those gifts.

The parents were excited and so very gracious.

mobile of fabric animals

Our Rwandan celebration with an American flair was a success.

I guess the meshing of two (or more) worlds is where we find ourselves most of the time.

Isn't it always a challenge to meet the deadlines and experience the realities of our physical world and at the same time remember, honor and live out the realities of the spiritual realm as well?

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." ~ 2 Peter 1:3

Joshua Gwiza, we are so glad you're here!

KICS Cultural Festival

For our school festival this year, everyone was encouraged to represent their home culture.

American Football Player, Captain America, Cowgirl and Cowboy

Rosie the Riveter

There were so many beautiful outfits. 

This year, KICS represents 21 different nations.

We are constantly amazed at what it's like living in an international context...

so rich.

Rpresenting Rwanda

RAIN

By the end of the long dry season, we are ready for water from the sky.  

Here's a video of when it finally came down. 

It's common on those rainy days for Wyatt and Presley 

to head out in their rain gear,  ready for fun.

Michal is 10!

Here is our sweet and CRAZY Michal.

For her party, we had the other girls from 4th grade over to our house.

We decided to do a craft...

paper birds in cages.

Aren't they cute?

These angel food cakes look a bit ugly, but they tasted great.

Happy Birthday, Michal! We love you.

Umuganda

In Rwanda, the last Saturday of every month is UMUGANDA.

From somewhere around 8 to noon, people gather in their villages and do physical labor together. The work might be picking up trash, shovelling rock, digging ditches, clearing brush ... 

Umuganda is the word for the center pillar that supports the roof of a grass hut.

So, participating in Umuganda is a way to support your community.

It's actually required for Rwandese, and anyone seen out and about can get in trouble with the authorities. 

No shops or businesses are open during the Umuganda hours.

However, the work isn't intended for kids, and foreigners are exempt. When you don't speak the language and you don't understand the process and you're exhausted from living as a foreigner, it is common to lay low during Umuganda and wait for it be over.

Our family has finally found a way to participate in umuganda and still try to experience the rest that we need on the weekends.

We decided to gather trash on the road by our home.

Everyone has a glove and we're ready to work.

We found all kinds of trash to pick up.

It wasn't long before we had the attention of a few neighbors and a crowd of children.

They just watched us for awhile and then...

they joined in the work.

Some quotations from our kids:

Presley - "The other kids were kind."

Wyatt - "It was fun helping the community."

Michal - "It's kind of like what we're learning about in chapel... making an impact. Once we started cleaning up, other people said, 'Maybe we should do that too.'"

Afton - "Being part of umuganda made me feel like the people who were watching us changed their minds about foreigners. It's way different than what they're used to."

* Side note. This country is full of expats who are constantly pouring into their Rwandan communities, whether that is visible on Umuganda or not. However, many locals still have the perception that foreigners are above this kind of work.

Our contribution to the community may be small and it doesn't match the work that others in our village are doing at the end of every month. But, it's a step. 

And a passer-by even said to us, "Thank you for doing umuganda." 

So, I guess it counts.

School Days

First Day of School - 2015

 Do we look excited, or what?

7th Grade

4th Grade

1st Grade

Pre-school

This little one had to stay home for the first couple of weeks, but her turn finally came.

She was so EXCITED...

until she realized that her school was on a different campus than the rest of us.

She goes to her new school 2 days a week and she has finally managed to be dropped off with
no crying.

Presley loves her teachers at First Impressions.


It's going to be a great year of learning for all of us!