The Fabric of Life

24 June 2013

Amani's brother, Nuru, has come to Rwamagana from Congo, so that he did not get swept up by the military to be a soldier. Since he arrived he has been coming to me for English lessons once a week. Last week he called and asked if he could meet more frequently! On Friday he arrived at 9 am and left at 2 pm!! My brain wasn't working very well by the time he left! But HE has improved tremendously! Namin, our Korean friend and English student, has returned from Kigali and hosted the expat Bible study for a Korean dinner which was fabulous!! Seaweed soup, sweet and sour pork, kim chee, pickled vegetables, sticky rice... We made fruit salad. Jonas (German) made carrot-tomato salad and we ate for hours over lovely conversation.

After meeting with the head of ALARM Saturday it appears they are going to ask the contractors to base their estimations for the library at IWE on the floor plans Ally drew up for them, according to the proper budget and calculations Ally made regarding what size it should be (in comparison to the old floor plans). Amazing! Ally just designed a building and its furnishings ... not your average 17 year old.

Below are some pictures of fabric, of me washing dishes, and of Rachel, one of my sewing students.

Seamstress & Architect

21 June 2013

Maja asked me to post today. She was very tired when we spoke at 2200 her time; but it was a good tired.

Again this week, she’s done most of the English teaching, because the swelling in Sarah’s legs is still preventing her from being on her feet much. After school she has divided her time between teaching sewing to two of the female teachers (Rachel and Claire) and redesigning the plans for the library, which is supposed to be built between now and the end of October. The sewing instruction is going well. Both girls are progressing quickly, but Claire seems to have “the knack,” which really excites Maja. Together with Maja they have used a Land’s End blouse of Maja’s to create a pattern from newspaper, transferred the pattern to vinyl, and begun cutting pieces to produce new, female-shaped blouses for the students. Despite the fact that they only have one, treadle sewing machine, the project is advancing. It’s good that the machine is not dependent on electricity, because last night the power went out, but Maja was able to continue sewing by candlelight (photo from www.cathywu.com).

She and Ally have invested hours in the library project. They were given the plans which the ALARM office had approved, only to discover that most of the building was dedicated to an admin office, with a library “room” on the side. The project’s instigators, however, had raised money to build a library building. So she and Ally have redesigned the building so that it will not only accommodate 4700 volumes (3000 of which will arrive in a shipping container later in the summer), but also have room for students to read at tables in the library. The new plans must be submitted for approval, both in Rwanda and back at ALARM’s headquarters – this process begins on Saturday, two days before Ally returns to America.

With four weeks left in the term, Maja asks that you continue to pray for wisdom as she negotiates cultural differences and stamina as she works on several projects at once (her health has been good for the past two weeks now). … Below is a photo of her and a group of the older students.

This and That

15 June 2013

Updates: Sarah is suffering from an undiagnosed case of swelling in her legs. Up to her knee in her left leg. (One Dr. said it was a result of too much standing while teaching!) Her legs are very hot where they are swollen. She has been on antibiotics since Tuesday and the swelling is  going down. I had to take all her classes Mon - Thursday and it was a real strain for me. I am so happy to have had Ally with me. I don't see how I could have done it w/o her: No concentration or mental organization even with written lesson plans. I couldn't find my class schedule, forgot to take the chalk to class, or the resource book, or the reading text... Thank God that was on Thursday!

I brought Ally up to Kigali with me on Friday. We spent the day shopping for fabric for her Uncle Allen in Tucson who is an aerospace engineer and quilter! A young man whom her family sponsored in Uganda will come Saturday afternoon and spend the day with her. He is very special: When Ally’s parents began to sponsor him, they were unable to have children. They told him this was one of the reasons they were sponsoring him. He said he would pray that God would give them children. Soon thereafter Ally was conceived; two years later her brother arrived. Ally has helped me work with the modem and my computer so I have been successful in connecting every time I attempt to! That is such a relief! (Here is Ally and her first batch of guacamole.)

Last week when I got sick and vomited, teacher Rachel suggested that I might have been poisoned by a merchant (not an uncommon practice, evidently). Regina, who overheard part of this conversation is furious, and thinks Rachel was suggesting that it was she who poisoned me! Regina has talked to headmistress Theopiste, who then warned me that Rachel is a bad person and not to be friends with her! I am teaching Rachel about sewing: drafting patterns, using the machine, sewing garments, etc at my home, so when Regina came Thursday and saw her there, she became very upset. This is a spiritual battle! I tried to reason with Theopiste and she remained adamantly against Rachel. What will this mean for Rachel's teaching contract next year?! If they have difficulty forgiving in a situation like this, what does this say about the supposed culture of forgiveness toward the genocide perpetrators?!

Sarah and her brother Paul took a bus to Tanzania to check out the orphanage which their church in the U.S. has been sponsoring. The bus drove for 12 hours, then stopped. They had to find their own housing that night before continuing for another 12 hour ride the following day. The orphanage program turned out to be a scam. Nothing has been done toward the project after funding it for over a year! They had one day to see Tanzania on their own before the grueling two days of bus ride home again. And all this with Sarah's legs so swollen that she could hardly walk!

In a similar vein, as Sarah, Ally and I have looked in detail at the blueprints for the new library/admin building, we have realized that it is basically an admin building with a library room! The money was raised to build a library and that is NOT where it appears the money will be spent! We plan to  meet with Benjamin again this weekend. Please pray that he will be reasonable, as it seems he has his heart set on using the money for an administration building instead of a library.

Now it is time to have breakfast with the delicious tiny Rwandan strawberries!

The thought of concern and prayer from our friends has been very encouraging. A very necessary element of encouragement in my life here this trip!

Love to you all,

Maja

Conversational Update

4 June 2013

This update per Doug’s conversation with Maja today:

1. Clearly, connecting my computer with the internet has been an exercise in frustration. Over the weekend, I visited the MTN cellular store in Kigali, so the technicians there could make the appropriate adjustments. They seemed to be able to make it work, but when I am alone with "The Machine," I might as well be in the bowels of Cheyenne Mountain for all the connectivity I have with the outside world. I'm trying not to be cynical, but grrr...!

2. Sarah and her brother leave tomorrow for Tanzania for a week of vacation. She has prepared all the lesson plans ahead of time. So, while I will be alone in the classroom, I won't be completely on my own. Actually, I'm quite excited to continue the work we've been doing together. Our focus has been on using nouns and verbs in complete sentences. Alongside this basic skill, we're teaching them to recognize the difference between fragments and complete sentences, and we're working on comprehension by making them write simple sentence summaries of more complex paragraph compositions. We are pleased with the progress we've seen.

3. I now have a sewing machine from ALARM HQ in my house, and I've learned how Rwandans transpose measurements to patterns (made of newspaper). So I will make some patterns for different sizes of blouses, then transfer the patterns to reusable plastic sheeting. Then I'll teach a couple of the teachers how to use all this, so that when I depart, they can transfer these skills to the girls. ... The blouses the girls now wear were made from patterns for boy's shirts, which means there are no darts to accommodate female anatomy.

4. Benjamin (the Rwanda country director for ALARM) and I have established a good working relationship. I have a better understanding of the process involved in building the library. We still need to address some details regarding the building plans, but we are making progress. It seems that Bruinsma's Law (Everything takes longer!) applies world-wide.

5. Last weekend I made a trip back to Cyuru to visit Moses and his family. Charissa's friend Bosco acted as my interpreter. The good news is that Moses' father has begun building a livable home for his family. That's it. The not-so-good news: He's been selling items given to the family by Compassion (blankets, kitchen equipment, etc.) for money to buy booze. Also, instead of taking Moses to the clinic for medical care, he used "traditional" providers/methods. So Moses had a bad case of impetigo, which has left scars; and now he has an abscess on the skin at the base of his spine, which has erupted since I was there three weeks ago. Bosco and I took the dad to the local Compassion office, where we had a long talk about his responsibilities, and about possible consequences if he does not act. Compassion and Bosco said they will keep a closer eye on the situation.

6. Ally Pennell, the high school age daughter of one of the key organizers behind the library project, arrived today. She will be here for three weeks, adding her efforts to all that we do. I'm so glad to have someone staying in the house with me. She even brought a care package from Charissa, which included probiotics and Pedyalite -- Thank you, my gracious and thoughtful daughter!